Anaph means to be angry, to breathe hard with fury, or to be enraged. The word is etymologically related to aph (nose/anger, H639), reflecting the Hebrew understanding of anger as a hot breath or flaring of the nostrils. Used predominantly of divine anger in response to sin and covenant-breaking.
The wrath of God in Scripture is not capricious or irrational — it is the holy response of a loving God to the violation of covenant and the corruption of what He has made good. Divine anger always serves redemptive purposes: it purges, disciplines, and ultimately drives sinners toward repentance. God's anger is real but never separate from His mercy (Psalm 30:5).