The Meaning of Ephesians 4:26 Explained

Ephesians 4:26

KJV: Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:

YLT: be angry and do not sin; let not the sun go down upon your wrath,

Darby: Be angry, and do not sin; let not the sun set upon your wrath,

ASV: Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Be ye angry,  and  sin  not:  let  not  the sun  go down  upon  your  wrath: 

What does Ephesians 4:26 Mean?

Study Notes

sin
Sin.
sinned
Sin, Summary: The literal meanings of the Heb. and (Greek - ἀλεκτοροφωνία sin," "sinner," etc)., disclose the true nature of sin in its manifold manifestations. Sin is transgression, an overstepping of the law, the divine boundary between good and evil Psalms 51:1 ; Luke 15:29 , iniquity, an act inherently wrong, whether expressly forbidden or not; error, a departure from right; Psalms 51:9 ; Romans 3:23 , missing the mark, a failure to meet the divine standard; trespass, the intrusion of self-will into the sphere of divine authority Ephesians 2:1 , lawlessness, or spiritual anarchy 1 Timothy 1:9 , unbelief, or an insult to the divine veracity John 16:9 .
Sin originated with Satan Isaiah 14:12-14 , entered the world through Adam Romans 5:12 , was, and is, universal, Christ alone excepted; Romans 3:23 ; 1 Peter 2:22 , incurs the penalties of spiritual and physical death; Genesis 2:17 ; Genesis 3:19 ; Ezekiel 18:4 ; Ezekiel 18:20 ; Romans 6:23 and has no remedy but in the sacrificial death of Christ; Hebrews 9:26 ; Acts 4:12 availed of by faith Acts 13:38 ; Acts 13:39 . Sin may be summarized as threefold: An act, the violation of, or want of obedience to the revealed will of God; a state, absence of righteousness; a nature, enmity toward God.

Verse Meaning

The second exhortation is to avoid sinning when angry and to deal with sin quickly if it does accompany anger (cf. Psalm 4:4). Anger is not sinful in itself (cf. John 2:13-16). There is such a thing as righteous indignation (cf. Ephesians 5:6; Mark 3:5). [1] Still it is easy to lose control of our anger, to let it control us instead of controlling it. Anger becomes sinful when it is inappropriate. The way to deal with sinful anger is to confess it as sin ( 1 John 1:9). If apologies to other people are necessary, we should offer them quickly as well. Letting the sun go down on one"s wrath is a figure of speech that emphasizes the need to deal with sin soon (cf. Deuteronomy 24:13-15). That we need not take it literally should be clear since the sun does not literally set on one"s anger since anger is not a physical object.

Context Summary

Ephesians 4:20-32 - Putting On The "new Man"
The Lord Jesus is our text-book and our teacher, the schoolhouse in which we are taught, and the object lesson in which all truth is enshrined. But all is in vain unless we definitely and forever put away the old man; that is, our old manners and customs in so far as they are contrary to the Spirit of Christ. With equal decision we are called upon to seek the daily renewal of our spirit and the outward conformity of our mode of life to the example of Jesus. But it should never be forgotten that the latter will be a dry husk unless it is energized from the true vine. There can be little of Christ without unless He dwells without a rival within. But the Holy Spirit will see to this, if only we grieve Him not.
What a transformation immediately ensues! Truth instead of falsehood, gentleness for anger, earnest toil for dishonesty, cleansed instead of filthy speech. If all believers were to live like this, the world would know that the Son of God has come. It is not enough that a man should believe to secure deliverance from the wrath of God; he must daily seek to attain to such resemblance of Jesus as shall make men recall Him to mind. [source]

Chapter Summary: Ephesians 4

1  He exhorts to unity;
7  and declares that God therefore gives various gifts unto men;
11  that his church might be edified,
16  and grow up in Christ
18  He calls them from the impurity of the Gentiles;
24  to put on the new man;
25  to cast off lying;
29  and corrupt communication

Greek Commentary for Ephesians 4:26

Be ye angry and sin not [οργιζεστε και μη αμαρτανετε]
Permissive imperative, not a command to be angry. Prohibition against sinning as the peril in anger. Quotation from Psalm 4:4. [source]
Let not the sun go down upon your wrath [ο ηλιος μη επιδυετω επι παροργισμωι]
Danger in settled mood of anger. Παροργισμος — Parorgismos (provocation), from παροργιζω — parorgizō to exasperate to anger, occurs only in lxx and here in N.T. [source]
Be ye angry and sin not [ὀργίζεσθε καὶ μὴ ἁμαρτάνετε]
Cited from Psalm 4:5, after the Septuagint. Hebrew, stand in awe and sin not. Righteous anger is commanded, not merely permitted. [source]
Wrath [παροργισμῷ]
Irritation, exasperation; something not so enduring as ὀργή angerwhich denotes a deep-seated sentiment. See on John 3:36. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Ephesians 4:26

Ephesians 4:31 Wrath []
What is commanded in Ephesians 4:26is here forbidden, because viewed simply on the side of human passion. [source]

What do the individual words in Ephesians 4:26 mean?

Be angry and yet not sin The sun let set upon - anger of you
Ὀργίζεσθε καὶ μὴ ἁμαρτάνετε ἥλιος ἐπιδυέτω ἐπὶ [τῷ] παροργισμῷ ὑμῶν

Ὀργίζεσθε  Be  angry 
Parse: Verb, Present Imperative Middle or Passive, 2nd Person Plural
Root: ὀργίζω  
Sense: to provoke, to arouse to anger.
καὶ  and  yet 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: καί  
Sense: and, also, even, indeed, but.
ἁμαρτάνετε  sin 
Parse: Verb, Present Imperative Active, 2nd Person Plural
Root: ἁμαρτάνω  
Sense: to be without a share in.
ἥλιος  sun 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: ἥλιος  
Sense: the sun.
ἐπιδυέτω  let  set 
Parse: Verb, Present Imperative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: ἐπιδύω  
Sense: to go down, set (of the sun).
ἐπὶ  upon 
Parse: Preposition
Root: ἐπί  
Sense: upon, on, at, by, before.
[τῷ]  - 
Parse: Article, Dative Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
παροργισμῷ  anger 
Parse: Noun, Dative Masculine Singular
Root: παροργισμός  
Sense: indignation, wrath, exasperation.
ὑμῶν  of  you 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive 2nd Person Plural
Root: σύ  
Sense: you.