חֵמָה H2534
Heat, rage, wrath, fury; intense anger especially of God; also venom or poison of serpents.
Chemah is one of the Hebrew Bible's most visceral anger words — etymologically rooted in heat (from yacham, 'to be hot'), it denotes the burning fury that rises in God or in human beings when provoked beyond endurance. Of its 124 occurrences, the overwhelming majority describe divine wrath: God's chemah 'pours out' like fire (Nah 1:6), 'burns' against Israel (2 Kgs 22:17), and must be 'turned away' through repentance or intercession. Spanish furor, German Grimm, and French fureur all capture the white-hot intensity. But chemah has a second, entirely distinct meaning — 'venom, poison' — appearing six times in connection with serpents (Deut 32:24, 33; Ps 58:4). This homonymous sense preserves an ancient Semitic connection between heat and venom found also in Arabic huma ('poison') and Aramaic yachma, suggesting that the burning sensation of snakebite gave both meanings their common root.
3. sense 3 — Heat or fever — a single occurrence at Hos 7:5 in the phrase chamat miyayin ('heat/fever from wine'), describing the flushed, feverish state of drunkenness among Israel's corrupt leaders. BDB classifies this as the literal base meaning: physical heat or fever. English 'heat of' and Spanish 'ardor de' both render the thermal sense directly. This sole occurrence preserves the etymological starting point from which both the wrath and venom senses developed — raw physical heat that metaphorically extended in two directions: inward as rage, outward as toxic burning. 1×
AR["بِحَرارَةِ"]·ben["জ্বর-"]·DE["Grimm"]·EN["with-heat-of"]·FR["Hamath"]·heb["חמת"]·HI["गर्मी"]·ID["kepanasan"]·IT["furore"]·jav["murka"]·KO["뜨거움으로"]·PT["calor-de"]·RU["от-жара"]·ES["con-ardor-de"]·SW["joto-la"]·TR["ateşiyle"]·urd["گرمی"]
▼ 2 more senses below
Senses
1. wrath, fury, rage — Wrath, fury, rage — the dominant sense at 117 occurrences, describing intense anger in both divine and human contexts. God's chemah is 'poured out' (2 Chr 12:7; 34:25), 'kindled' (Ps 89:46), and threatens to 'consume' (Jer 4:4). Human chemah drives Esau's murderous intent (Gen 27:44), Nebuchadnezzar's rage (Dan 3:13), and the fury of the wicked (Job 19:29; 36:18). Spanish furor/furia, German Grimm, French fureur, and Arabic ghadab all converge on the burning-anger pole. The possessive forms — chamati ('my wrath'), chamato ('his wrath') — account for a large share of occurrences, almost always referring to God's own fury in prophetic judgment oracles. 117×
AR["حَميَّتي","حَمِيَّةً","غَضَباً","غَضَبٌ","غَضَبَ","غَضَبِي"]·ben["আমার-ক্রোধ","আমার-রোষ","ক্রোধ","ক্রোধ-আমার"]·DE["Grimm"]·EN["Wrath","my-wrath","wrath","wrath-my","wrath-of-me"]·FR["fureur"]·heb["חמה","חמתי"]·HI["अपना-क्रोध","अपना-प्रकोप","क्रोध","क्रोध-अपना","जोश","मेरा-क्रोध"]·ID["-amarah-Ku","Kemarahan","amarah-Ku","kemarahan","murka","murka-Ku"]·IT["furore","il-mio-furore"]·jav["bebendhu-Kawula","bebendu","bebendu-Kula","bebendu-Kula;","bebendunipun-Kawula","duka","duka-Kawula","kanepson"]·KO["나의-분노를","내-분노를","분노-나의가","분노가","진노가","진노를","진노를-나의"]·PT["Fúria","fura-minha","fúria","fúria-minha","ira","meu-furor","minha-furia","minha-ira"]·RU["Я","в-пустыне","гнев-Мой","гнева","завершить","излил","пока-не-","ярости-моей","ярость","ярость-Мою","ярость-Моя","ярость-мою"]·ES["Furor","furia","furia-de-mí","ira","ira-de-mí","ira-mía","la-furia","mi-furor","mi-ira"]·SW["Ghadhabu","ghadhabu","ghadhabu-yangu","hasira-yangu","yangu"]·TR["Ofke","et","gazabım","gazabımı","hiddetimi","öfke","öfkemi","öfkeyi"]·urd["اپنا-غضب","اپنا-قہر","غصہ","غضب","غضب-اپنا","غضب-میرا","قہر","قہر-اپنا","قہر-اپنے"]
2 Kgs 22:17, 2 Chr 12:7, 2 Chr 34:25, Job 19:29, Job 36:18, Ps 78:38, Ps 79:6, Ps 88:7, Ps 89:46, Ps 106:23, Prov 21:14, Prov 27:4 (+38 more)
2. venom, poison — Venom, poison — a homonymous sense appearing 6 times, entirely distinct from the wrath meaning. In Deut 32:24 God sends 'the venom of crawling things'; in Deut 32:33 the wine of the wicked is 'the venom of serpents'; in Ps 58:4 the wicked have 'venom like the venom of a serpent.' Arabic huma ('poison') preserves the same etymological connection between heat and toxic substance. Spanish veneno and English 'venom' clearly separate this from the anger sense, though French fureur and German Grimm sometimes blur the boundary. The Semitic root yacham links both senses through the shared concept of burning — the burn of rage and the burn of snakebite. 6×
AR["سُمُّ","سُمُّها","سُمِّ"]·ben["তাদের-বিষ","বিষ","বিষ-"]·DE["Grimm","der-venom-von-","venom-","venom-of","venom-von"]·EN["the-venom-of-","their-venom","venom-","venom-of"]·FR["fureur","leur-fureur-eux","venom-de"]·heb["חמת","חמת-","חמתם"]·HI["उनका-ज़हर","जहर","ज़हर"]·ID["Bisa","bisa","racunnya"]·IT["furore","furore-loro","venom-di"]·jav["Racun","racun","sami-kesasar","sami-nyimpang","wisa","wisanipun"]·KO["독(접)","독-을","독-의","독-이"]·PT["Veneno","Veneno-de","de-veneno-de","veneno-de","veneno-delas"]·RU["Яд","яд-","яд-их","ядом","яду-"]·ES["su-veneno","veneno-","veneno-de","veneno-de-"]·SW["Sumu","sumu","sumu-ya","sumu-yake"]·TR["zehiri","zehiri-","zehirinin-","zehiriyle","zekirleri"]·urd["زَہر-","زہر"]
BDB / Lexicon Reference
חֵמָה (once חֵמָא)121 n.f. heat, rage (for יְחֵמָה; NH id.; Aramaic יַחְמָא poison, ܚܶܡܬܳܐ heat, wrath, poison, BrockLex. 116, also Nö§ 105; Arabic حُمَةٌ poison, Lane 651; Assyrian imtu, spittle, breath, poison, DlHWB 78 Muss-ArnoltCD 62)—abs. חֵמָה Na 1:2 + 39 times; חֵמָא †Dn 11:44; cstr. חֲמַת Gn 27:44 + 25 times; sf. חֲמָתִי Je 4:4 + 36 times; חֲמָֽתְךָ Je 10:25 + 8 times; חֲמָתֶ֑ךָ ψ 88:8;…