StrongerBible

qatsaph

קָצַף

HebrewH7107be wroth, be angry, ...

Appears 34 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Gen 40:2Gen 41:10Exo 16:20Lev 10:6Lev 10:16Num 16:22Num 31:14Deu 1:34Deu 9:7Deu 9:8Deu 9:19Deu 9:22Jos 22:181Sa 29:42Ki 5:112Ki 13:19Est 1:12Est 2:21Psa 106:32Ecc 5:6(5)Isa 8:21Isa 47:6Isa 54:9Isa 57:16Isa 57:17 (2×)Isa 64:5(4)Isa 64:9(8)Jer 37:15Lam 5:22Zec 1:2Zec 1:15 (2×)Zec 8:14
Root family
Word studykaw-TSAFverb

What qatsaph means

to be angry: to flare up in wrath, usually with the intent to punish

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintySettled

This is a strong word for anger that boils over. It is not a passing irritation but a burst of displeasure that expects to act, whether a king ordering an execution or God moving to judge. The same verb covers a person losing their temper and God's settled anger against wrongdoing, so the shade depends entirely on who is angry and why.

When a person is the one who is angry, the word paints a ruler or a leader whose fury lands on someone beneath them: Pharaoh with his officials, Moses with the priests, a foreign king with his queen. When God is the one who is angry, the same fury becomes his righteous reaction to sin, the anger that stands behind exile and disaster but that Scripture insists is not forever.

A related use turns the anger outward as a cause: to provoke someone to this wrath. Israel in the wilderness is repeatedly said to have made God this angry, treating his anger not as an accident but as something their rebellion deliberately kindled.

Because the anger so often issues in punishment, the word carries the sense of consequences on the way. To say God was angry in this sense is usually to say that judgment followed.

Nuances

1ato be angry (of a person): a ruler or leader flaring up in fury against someone
Gen 40:2Gen 41:10Exo 16:20Lev 10:16Num 31:141Sa 29:42Ki 5:112Ki 13:19Est 1:12Est 2:21Isa 8:21Jer 37:15
1bto be wroth (of God): God's righteous anger against sin, the wrath that stands behind judgment
Lev 10:6Num 16:22Deu 1:34Deu 9:19Jos 22:18Ecc 5:6(5)Isa 47:6Isa 54:9Isa 57:16Isa 57:17 (2×)Isa 64:5(4)Isa 64:9(8)
1cto provoke to wrath: to make someone (usually God) this angry
Deu 9:7Deu 9:8Deu 9:22Psa 106:32Zec 8:14

What scholars say about qatsaph

The standard lexica (BDB; HALOT) treat קצף as essentially monosemous, glossing the qal "be wroth, angry" and distinguishing uses by subject (human vs. divine) rather than by distinct senses; the hiphil is causative ("provoke to wrath") and the single hithpael (Isa 8:21) reflexive. The noun קֶצֶף (H7110) frequently denotes divine wrath as an outbreak against covenant breach, and TWOT notes the verb's concentration in the wilderness provocation traditions (Deut 9) and in prophetic announcements of judgment (Zechariah; Isaiah 40 to 66).

Sources

  • BDB, s.v. קצףlexicon
  • HALOT, s.v. קצףlexicon
  • TWOT, s.v. קצףtheological-dictionary

All attested forms of קָצַף

qal consecutive-imperfect 3ms

וַיִּקְצֹף

Gen 40:2, Exo 16:20, Lev 10:16, Num 31:14, Deu 1:34, 2Ki 5:11, 2Ki 13:19, Est 1:12

qal perfect 3ms

קָצַף

Gen 41:10, Deu 9:19, Est 2:21, Zec 1:2

qal imperfect 3ms

יִקְצֹף

Lev 10:6, Jos 22:18, Ecc 5:6

qal perfect 1cs

קָצַפְתִּי

Isa 47:6, Isa 57:17, Zec 1:15

qal consecutive-imperfect 3mp

וַיִּקְצְפוּ

1Sa 29:4, Jer 37:15

qal perfect 2ms

קָצַפְתָּ

Isa 64:5, Lam 5:22

hiphil consecutive-imperfect 3mp

וַיַּקְצִיפוּ

Psa 106:32

hiphil infinitive-construct construct

הַקְצִיף

Zec 8:14

hiphil participle m p absolute

מַקְצִפִים

Deu 9:22

hiphil perfect 2mp

הִקְצַפְתֶּם

Deu 9:8

hiphil perfect 2ms

הִקְצַפְתָּ

Deu 9:7

hithpael consecutive-perfect 3ms

וְהִתְקַצַּף

Isa 8:21

qal conjunctive-imperfect 1cs

וְאֶקְצֹף

Isa 57:17

qal imperfect 1cs

אֶקְּצוֹף

Isa 57:16

qal imperfect 2ms

תִּקְצֹף

Num 16:22

qal infinitive-construct construct

קְּצֹף

Isa 54:9

qal jussive 2ms

תִּקְצֹף

Isa 64:9

qal participle m s absolute

קֹצֵף

Zec 1:15