The Greek verb aganakteo (ἀγανακτέω) means to be indignant, to be angry, or to be greatly displeased. It appears 7 times in the New Testament and describes a strong emotional reaction to something perceived as wrong or unjust. The word can describe both righteous indignation and self-righteous displeasure, depending on the one who feels it and the cause.
The word carries the sense of inner agitation or vexation — a feeling that something has gone wrong and should not be tolerated. It is not the same as rage (orge) but a sharp moral displeasure at perceived injustice or transgression.
The most theologically significant uses of aganakteo involve Jesus Himself. In Mark 10:14, when the disciples tried to keep children away from Jesus, He was indignant — a rare glimpse of Jesus's emotional response to human behavior that obstructed access to God's kingdom. His indignation here is not arbitrary anger but righteous displeasure that God's most vulnerable were being turned away.
The disciples also experience aganakteo — sometimes rightly (Matthew 20:24, at the presumption of James and John) and sometimes wrongly (Matthew 26:8, at the "waste" of the perfume poured on Jesus). This contrast illustrates that indignation itself is morally neutral — it takes its character from whether it is directed at a genuine injustice or merely at something that offends human sensibility. The question for disciples is: what stirs our indignation? Is it what stirs God's?