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Shorter Rules
St Basil the Great, tr. Lowther Clarke, 1925
Rule 55: What is the Difference Between Bitterness, Wrath, Anger and Exasperation? (R.…
The difference between wrath and anger lies, I suppose, in disposition and motive. The angry man is affected only in disposition, as the words3 “Be ye angry and sin not45 show. But the wrathful man goes further. “Their wrath” it says “is like a serpent.”6 And “Herod was wrathful with them of Tyre and Sidon.”7 And the more violent emotion that comes from wrath is called exasperation. But bitterness shows a more serious array of wickedness.8
Notes
- 2 Tim. 111. 2.
- Jn. xii. 25.
- Eph. iv. 31 (πικρία, θυμός, ὀργή).
- παροξυσμός (Acts xv. 39).
- Eph. iv. 26.
- Ps. lviii. 4.
- Acts xii. 20.
- R. goes on to explain “clamor” (κραυγή Eph. iv. 31). This answer, in the style of Trench’s Synonyms, is helpful. “Anger” (ὀργή) is commonly predicated of God in the N.T. “Wrath” (θυμός) is classed by St. Paul with things to be put away, but is ascribed to God in the Apocalypse. “Exasperation” (or “contention” παροξυσμός) expresses the outward signs of wrath, while “bitterness” (πικρία) is the most wicked.