"
THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA
Ang'er
" Fury is n necessary clement of His moral order. It is restmined and not in me" (Isa. xxvii. 4). controlled by divine mercy, the correlate attribute of justice. As Ilosea. .i. 8. 9 says; "Mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together; I will not execute the fierceness of mine he many a time anger." "Full of compassion turned away his anger and did not stir up all his
698
explained later with reference to Amos,
but
is
is
The
.
wrath"
(P.s!
Ixxviii. 3H).
God
.
is
.
also " long-sulTcr-
ing" {enkappin/im) ani "slow toanger" (Ex.xxxiv. "Though lliou wast angry with 6; Nahnm, i. ii). me, thine anger is turned away, an<l thou comfortest nie" (Isa. xii. 1). "In wrath thou rememberest mercy" (Hab. iii. 2, //<*.). "I will not contend forever,"neitlier will I always be wroth " (Isa. Ivii. 16). "In my wrath I smote thee but in my favor have I had nurey on thee" (Isa. Ix. 10). Anger at sin (the outflow of middat Juidin = justice) and compassion upon tlie sinner (the outflow of miilditt hii-rntinmim = mercy), wliile they are merely human conceptions of God. are insejianible from God's manifestations as the rigliteous ruler of t he world. Without the former there would be no fear of God or obedience to His law (p>x. xx. 20; Deut. xi. 16, IT; Josh. xxiv. 19. 20); without the latter, no repentance or return of the sinner to the ya of life Great (>Iicab, vii. IS; Jonah, iii. 9; Kzek. xviii. 'J3). calamities that befell the laud under Ilerod were ascrilx'd to the " anger of God " (Josephus, " Ant. XV.
9,
S
).
In Rabbinical Literature:
God's Anger
is
God sjiid to often niaile the sulijeet of discussion. Sloses: "Let my face of wrath jia.ss by and I will give thee ease " (Ex. xxxiii. 14, Uih.). Isthere wratli before God? Yes, "God is angry every day" (Ps. vii. 12, Ileh.) that is. for a brief moment imperceptible to an}' creature: "For his anger endureth bit a moment in his favor is life " (Ps. xxx. 6), or, again, "Hide thyself for a little moment until the wrath [A.V. "indignation"] is passed "(Isa. xxvi. 20). Balaam alone was able to select the ri.slit moment for his curses; anil he would have annihilated the people of Israel, had not God withheld Ilis anger at the critical moment- "How shall I curse if (Vod doth not curst:? or how shall I pour out wrath if tlie Lord doth not pour out wrath?" (Xum. xxiii. 8, Ileh.). This withholding of wrath by God is the " rigliteousness " or mercies spoken of in Micah. vi. Joshua b. Levi, knowing the time most favorable 5. to cursing to be the early morning, wanted to use it against some troublesome heretic in his neighborhood. But as he slejit on Ijeyond the appointed hour, he took this as a hint tliat heaven was against such jiractises (Ber. "ki 'Ab. Zarah. 44). Rabbi Jleir says; "AVhen the heathen kings rise in the morning and prostrate themselves before the sun. this is the time when God is angry" (Ber. 7rt). "As long as there are wicked men in the world, so lr)n.ff is there wrath in the world" (Sanh. xi., last Mishnah. pp. llli, 113i). " Every hypocrite brings wrath Kabbinical intotheworld"(Sotah.41i/;J(ili. xxxvi. Sayings. 13, " The hypocrites in heart hea|i uji wrath"). "God's indignation is roused when the Shekinah in the house of worship has to wait for the number of ten to begin the regular service " (R. Johanan. Ber. (Hi). If one verse reads." God is wrathful every day" (Ps. vii. 12, lieh.) and another." Who can tarry before his wrath " (Xahum. i. 6, Jlih.). the one refers to the judgment of the community, the other to that of the individual ('Ab Zarah, An). If one Biblical passage reads, " Fury is not in me" (Isa. xxvii. 4), and another, "The Lord revengeth and is furious " (Xahum, i. 2), the one refers to Israel, the other to the heathen nations. This
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iii
2, Ileli.
tniusgressions of Israel are i>nnished in this world, while those of the heathen accumulate and are punished in the next ('Ab. Zarah, 4<(; compare Shab. 30//). Similariy (Ps. Ixxvi. 11, ll,h., A. V. 10), "The wrath of man shall praise thee, the remainder of thy wratli shall thou restrain," is thus explained in Yer. Maas. iii. !iii: "The divine wrath expended upon the rigliteous in this world cnnduci's to praise; while the wrath is all reserved for the wicked in the next." In Midi-. Teh. the wrath is referred to Israel in this world and to the heathen nations f>n the Day of Judgment in the next (.Midr. Teh., ed. Buber. 342). "Thedav of wrath " (Zeph. i. 15) is understood by thcrabbis(B. B. 10f(,116<;;.Shab. 118.(;Ab. Zarah, 18i) to refer to the Judgment of Gehenna; The Day likewise, " the day that shall burn as an of 'Wrath, oven " (Mai. iii. 9"; see Sanh. 111)/.; 'Ab. Zarah, 4((; Gen. R. vi., xxi., xxvi., xlviii., and elsewhere). So is the "day of vengeance" (Dent, xxxii. 3.5, Samaritan text) understood tobethe great Judgment Day in Targ. Yer. and Sifre Deut. 325 (see Geiger, "Urschrift," p. 247;"Jiid. Zeit."ix.
Commentjiry on Deuteronomy," pp 374 Thisideaof a day of wralh reserved for the
92; Driver's" itneq.).
wicked (referred tofrerpientlv in the "Sibvllines," ii. 170 anil Fragment, ii. 3s. iii." ,55l)-.561, sio", iv. 1,59 f< ««/., V. 35S; in Book of Enoch, cd. Dillmann, xcl. 7-9; and also in the Hasidic, II. Mace. vii. 30-38, but not in Eccius. [Sirach], v. 7) finds its emphatic utterance in the New Testament; "O g<iieration of hypocrites [A.V., "vipers "], who hath warned you to tiee from the wrath to come? " (John the Baptisi, in Matt. V. 9)
7) Paul, in Rom. ii. 5: "Thou treasure.st up again.st the day of wrath" (compare ih. i. IS, xii. 19 " Avenge not yourselves, liut give place
iii.
wrath
unto the [divine] wrath; as it is written. To me belongeth vengeance " (Deut. xxxii. 3.5) " The wrath of God Cometh upon the sons of disobedience " (Eph, V. 6; compare I Thess. i. 10; Col. iii. 6; Rev. vi. 17, xix. 15; John, iii. 36; Sanday, "Epistle to the Romans." p. 41; and Hastings, "Diet. Bible," «.r. "Anger"). Still, God's anger is ever tempered with mere}', as is evident from Hosea, i. 6: "I will not have mercy
and yet
will
I
forgive
Tempered HVi; A. V., differently). by Mercy, powerof God consists in
them" "The
(Pes.
great
his con.strain-
ing his anger and being longsnifering
even toward the wicked (Yoma. 69//). "He is longsuffering inasmuch as he sends his anger and wrath far away from his presence, so as to grant the people time for rei)entance; like a king who has two harsh and fiery legions, which he sends into different cr)untries lest their zeal and eagerness to |)unish might interfere with the pacification of his subjects " "
(Yer. Ta'anit,
ii. 6.5//.).
"
What is the meaning of
'
the
Lord spake unto Moses face to face ":' " (Ex. xxxiii. Hesaidtohim; " When thy face shows anger, 11). I shall ajijieai^e thee, and if I show a face of anger, thou niayest a|>pease me" (Ex. R. xlv.). "Sodj^I Ishmael lien Elislia pray upon entering the Holy of Holies with the holy incense, and, seeing Akatriel, the head of the archangels, seated upon the throne of the Most High who addressed him in the name of 3Iay it be thy will that God, Bless me. my son thy mercy prevail over thine anger and "thy mercy be uppermost among thy attriliutes. so that thou mayest deal with thy children after the measure of loving-kindness and go beyond that of strict justicel'" Another version is: God Himself prays; "Jlay my mercy prevail upon mine anger and my mercy be uppermost among mine attributes, so that I may deal with mv children after the measure of
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