Differences between Hebrew words for "anger"

John W

Is there an easy/quick way to  figure out the differences between the various uses of "anger" in the OT? I'm specifically interested in understanding the significance of why the Hebrew word for anger in Judges 2:12 is used rather than the more prevalent word for anger used throughout Judges. 

Mark Barnes

If you run a Bible Word Study (BWS) on anger, and look at the Hebrew Words section, you'll see all the Hebrew words that are sometimes translated as 'anger'. Most often the word אף is used, but as you point out in Judges 2:12, the word כעס is used instead.

If you then hover over כעס in the translation wheel, you'll see another wheel pop-up (it may take a few seconds), which shows you the normal translation of this word. You'll see it normally means 'to provoke' (which is how it's translated in most English versions).

What this should alert you to is that the more prevalent word is a noun meaning 'anger', whilst the less common form is a verb meaning 'provoke to anger'.

You could also see that one word was a noun and the other a verb by hovering over the word in Hebrew or English versions and looking for the parsing popup, or displaying the reverse interlinear information.