4360. prosochthizó

Lexical Summary

prosochthizó: To be indignant, to be grieved, to be displeased

Original Word: προσοχθίζω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: prosochthizó
Pronunciation: pros-okh-thee'-zo
Phonetic Spelling: (pros-okh-thid'-zo)
KJV: be grieved at
NASB: angry
Word Origin: [from G4314 (πρός - against) and a form of ochtheo ?χθ?ω "to be vexed with something irksome, to be sorely angered"]

1. to feel indignant at

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance

be grieved at.

From pros and a form of ochtheo (to be vexed with something irksome); to feel indignant at -- be grieved at.

see GREEK pros

NAS Exhaustive Concordance

Word Origin
from pros and ochtheó (to be sorely angered)
Definition
to be angry with
NASB Translation
angry (2).

Thayer's Greek Lexicon

STRONGS NT 4360: προσοχθίζω

προσοχθίζω: 1 aorist προσώχθισα; to be wroth or displeased with: τίνι, Hebrews 3:10, 17,(from Psalm 94:10 (); not found besides except in the Sept. for גָּעַל, to loathe; קוא, to spue out; קוּץ, to be disgusted with etc.; add, Sir. 6:25 Sir. 25:2 Sir. 38:4; (l. 25; Test. xii Patr., test. Jud. § 18; Sibylline Oracles 8, 411). Profane writings use ὀχθέω, more rarely ὀχθίζω. πρός denotes direction toward that with which we are displeased (πρός, IV. 1). Cf. Bleek, Br. an d. Hebrews 2:1, p. 441f.

Topical Lexicon

Etymology and Semantic Range

Formed by the preposition meaning “toward” joined to a verb that expresses irritation or deep vexation, the term depicts an active, personal displeasure that moves toward the object that provokes it. It is stronger than a passing annoyance and speaks of an abiding resentment that has reached the point of moral revulsion.

Old Testament Background

The Septuagint repeatedly uses the cognate verb in texts that recount Israel’s unbelief in the wilderness (for example, Psalm 95:10 LXX 94:10; Deuteronomy 9:7-8). There the Lord’s settled anger grows out of covenant love spurned by stubborn hearts. The word therefore carries a covenantal flavor: it is the righteous reaction of the faithful God when His people disdain His gracious purposes.

New Testament Usage

Hebrews alone employs the verb, twice quoting Psalm 95.
• Hebrews 3:10, quoting the Psalm verbatim: “Therefore I was angry with that generation”.
• Hebrews 3:17, applying the quotation: “And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned…?”.

The author of Hebrews builds an urgent exhortation from these occurrences. The wilderness generation serves as a negative paradigm, and the verb highlights God’s personal refusal to overlook chronic unbelief. The context contrasts the enduring anger provoked by hardened hearts with the enduring rest offered through faith in Jesus Christ, the greater Moses.

Theological Significance

1. Divine Holiness and Patience: The word affirms that God’s patience has limits set by His holiness. Forty years of longsuffering ended in judicial anger, showing that grace never cancels righteousness.
2. Covenant Accountability: The audience is a covenant community. As the Exodus generation faced God’s anger inside the covenant, so the church must heed the warning that privilege does not immunize against judgment.
3. Christological Warning: Hebrews welds the verb to the “Today” of Psalm 95, interpreted as the present voice of the exalted Son (Hebrews 3:6-7). Rejecting the Son’s voice awakens the same divine anger that once fell on the wilderness rebels.
4. Soteriological Urgency: The term deepens the contrast between “anger” and “rest” (Hebrews 3:11, 18-19; 4:1-11). Salvation is not only rescue from sin’s penalty but also from God’s wrath.

Historical Implications for Ministry

Early Christian preachers read Hebrews aloud to congregations under pressure to drift back to Judaism. The use of this rare verb sharpened their call to persevere. Patristic writers such as Chrysostom echoed the warning, urging hearers to fear provoking God by unbelief.

Practical Ministry Applications

• Preaching: The verb supports messages that balance God’s patience with His intolerance of sustained rebellion.
• Counseling: It helps believers understand that chronic unbelief, not isolated lapses, arouses divine anger, encouraging repentance rather than despair.
• Corporate Worship: Reading Psalm 95 before worship (a common practice) gains added weight; the community is reminded that worship without obedience provokes the Lord.
• Discipleship: The term underlines the seriousness of “heart drift” (Hebrews 3:12-13). Mutual exhortation is a preventive against the hardening that incurs God’s anger.

Pastoral Reflections

The rarity of the verb in the New Testament does not lessen its relevance. It stands as a bright warning light on the road of faith: God’s covenant love cannot be treated lightly. Yet its setting in Hebrews also magnifies grace; the very context that speaks of anger simultaneously offers “confidence” and “assurance” (Hebrews 3:6, 14). The preacher therefore wields the word both to alarm the complacent and to comfort the humble, directing all to the perfect obedience of Jesus Christ, in whom alone believers find freedom from the anger described by Strong’s Greek 4360.

Forms and Transliterations

προσοχθιεί προσοχθιείς προσοχθιείτε προσοχθίση προσόχθισμα προσοχθίσμασί προσοχθίσματα προσοχθίσματι πρόσοψις προσπαίζουσιν προσώχθικα προσωχθισα προσωχθίσα προσώχθισα προσώχθισαν προσώχθισε προσωχθισεν προσώχθισεν προσωχθίσθη prosochthisa prosōchthisa prosṓchthisa prosochthisen prosōchthisen prosṓchthisen

Englishman's Concordance

Hebrews 3:10 V-AIA-1S
GRK: διὸ προσώχθισα τῇ γενεᾷ
NAS: THEREFORE I WAS ANGRY WITH THIS
KJV: Wherefore I was grieved with that
INT: Therefore I was indignant with the generation

Hebrews 3:17 V-AIA-3S
GRK: τίσιν δὲ προσώχθισεν τεσσεράκοντα ἔτη
NAS: And with whom was He angry for forty
KJV: with whom was he grieved forty
INT: with whom moreover was he indignant forty years

Strong's Greek 4360
2 Occurrences

προσώχθισα — 1 Occ.
προσώχθισεν — 1 Occ.