INTRODUCTION
Reading through Ephesians 4:26 in the original Greek text, something peculiar will stick out to the reader. The first Greek word in Ephesians 4:26, ὀργίζεσθε (orgizesthe) ,which best translates to “be angry,” comes in the imperative form. At first glance, it would seem as if the verse commands anger. This command becomes even more confusing a few verses later, when Ephesians 4:31 commands removing all anger from life. Now it looks like Ephesians 4:26 contradicts Ephesians 4:31! A thorough exegesis of these verses, however, will reveal how both imperatives work together in harmony.
EXPLAINING THE SCRIPTURES
Look up Ephesians 4:26,27,31. While looking up the passage, consider the overall purpose of the message of Ephesians. The church in Ephesus, the recipient of this epistle, makes things easier on Paul, in comparison to many of Paul’s other churches. Unlike 1 Corinthians or Galatians, in which Paul has to persuade the church to stop doing the wrong thing and start doing the right thing, Paul’s letter to the Ephesians has more to do with motivating, meaning Paul has to encouraging the church to continue doing the right and to continue spiritually growing, both on the individual level and the communal level. In a way, think of Paul becoming a spiritual trainer, and the church in Ephesus as a spiritual bodybuilder. Paul wants the church in Ephesus to continue building up the spiritual body, on both the individual level and the communal. The book of Ephesians splits neatly into two equal halves of 3 chapters each. The first 3 chapters teaches the doctrine, and the last 3 chapters teach the applications. Paul begins this application section with an appeal for unity in the church. Paul recognizes, however, that sin stands as the biggest adversary to this unity. Paul reminds the Ephesians Christians that sin reflects the old self, before Christ. Now in faith, Christians should reflect Christ. In Ephesians 4:25-32, Paul lists off several way to become more like Christ and less like the old, sinful self. Since this study focuses on the subject of anger, this study will only zoom in on Ephesians 4:26,27,31 of 4:25-32.
ὀργίζεσθε καὶ μὴ ἁμαρτάνετε· ὁ ἥλιος μὴ ἐπιδυέτω ἐπὶ παροργισμῷ ὑμῶν,
~Ephesians 4:26 (NA28)
Be angry and do not sin; the sun [must] not set upon your
anger;
~Ephesians 4:26 (my translation)
Although Ephesians 4:26 has become the famous verse among Christians in regard to anger, Paul actually cites the Old Testament here, more specifically, Psalm 4:4. The first half of Ephesians 4:26 quotes the first half of Psalm 4:4 with the exact same words (Psalm 4:4 in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, has the same exact Greek words as Ephesians 4:26 in the Greek New Testament). The second half Ephesians 4:26 alludes to the second half of Psalm 4:4, as one can see similarities between “do not let the sun go down on your anger” and “ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent.” In Psalm 4:4, David’s instructions to anger and not sinning encourages his hearers to trust in Yahweh in dealing with the godly and ungodly. In short, the words of Psalm 4:4 direct towards God. In Ephesians 4:26, Paul’s command to anger and not sin urges how believes should interact with one another. In short, the words of Ephesians 4:26 direct towards the people of God.
The first Greek word in Ephesian 4:26 is ὀργίζεσθε (orgizesthe), an imperative form of the Greek verb ὀργίζω (orgizo) which is
literally a verb form of the Greek noun ὀργή
(orge), meaning “anger.” Hence, “be angry” fits as the best translation
of ὀργίζω (orgizo) at the
beginning of Ephesians 4:26. Remember, the Greek verb ὀργίζεσθε
(orgizesthe) is an imperative (in Greek, verbs actually look different
when in the imperative), just as much as the imperative μὴ ἁμαρτάνετε (me hamartanete), which means “do not sin.”
Scholars debate on how to handle which seems as a command to be angry. Some
argue for a concessive, meaning the Lord allows sin as long as does not devolve
into sin, while others believe a conditional, if somebody just so happens to
find himself or herself angry, then do not sin. Recently, an extreme minority
of scholars claim that Paul does command anger here, like anger against sin or
anger against injustice, yet simultaneously, that anger itself cannot turn into
sin or injustice. Thus, all 3 possibilities deserve consideration when trying
to understand the implications and applications of this verse. In all 3
instances, it comes down to self-control. Anger should never cause a person to
lose control, for if it does, it could lead even the best of Christians to sin.
Jesus warned his disciples about this in regards to hate (Matthew 5:21-24), and
Paul applies the same principle to anger here in Ephesians 4:26.
Of all 3 theories on how to handle the imperative, the conditional theory seems most plausible. It fits the literary flow of the near context. Ephesians 4:26 acknowledges everybody gets angry, Ephesians 4:27 reminds how harmful anger can become and Ephesians 4:31 rejects all anger. Therefore, ultimately, the command here has to do with not sinning in anger, not anger itself. Thus, Paul’s audience really has no need to discuss and debate the when, why, what of acceptable anger. Even in the case of righteous anger over sin and injustice, the truth remains the same. Andrew T. Lincoln provides an excellent paraphrase of the truth in the Word Biblical Commentary: “Anger is to be avoided at all costs, but if, for whatever reason, you do get angry, then refuse to indulge such anger so that you do not sin.”
A command to anger over sin and injustice seems the next most possible. If the case, a believer must consider a couple things. First, the Christian must consider the heart of the anger, whether the anger comes from reflecting the Lord’s anger over the sin or injustice or if the anger comes from somebody disagreeing with an opinion. Anger over sin and injustice should lead to righting a wrong, making the self right and the others wrong. Similarly, righteous anger can never become an excuse for pride, arrogance or egotism. Too often has Christian used righteous anger as excuse for pride, arrogance or egotism. If anger leads to pride, arrogance or egotism, it has very much literally violated Ephesians 4:26. Second, if Paul does command anger to the church of Ephesus, he instructs it within the church of Ephesus, not outside the church towards the rest of Ephesus. Sin in Ephesus does not catch Paul by surprise. In fact, Paul almost expects it. Paul has issues when that sin enters the church with tolerance toward it. If Paul commands anger towards sin and injustice as the opposite of complacency towards sin and injustice. To bring it up to 21st century America, Christians should expect sin and injustice in their communities, their state and their country. Sin and injustice is a reality of a corrupt, fallen earth. Christians should never tolerate sin in the church. If the opposite of complacency towards sin and injustice in the church is anger, then so be it.
A concessive imperative seems least likely here. Concessive imperatives also get called permissive imperatives because the imperative allows something, but it does not encourage it. As the best defensive for the concessive imperative, it would seem that the church historically held this position. For example, the medieval friar Thomas Aquinas comments on this passage, “He does not command it [anger] but permits it.” As an argument against this position, in general, concessive imperatives appear rarely in the Bible. If needing a good example, turn to John 2:19, in which Jesus says, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” With these words, Jesus does not command the Jews to put him to death, yet Jesus allows the Jews to do so to bring about God’s redemptive plan. Even if a concessive imperative, ultimately, it would apply in the same way as the command to anger, just mentioned above. This permitted anger cannot exceed the anger God has, or else it will become sin.
Paul probably has several sources inspiring this command. As a former Jewish Pharisee, Paul naturally used the Old Testament as his primary source. (Before proceeding any further, remember that, according to the Jewish calendar, a night comes before the day, and thus sunset marks the end of the day.) As discussed earlier, Paul probably alludes to the second half of Psalm 4:4. Psalm 4:4 talks about pondering in bed, and going to bed finalized the day. On top of consulting the Psalms, Paul perhaps consulted the Torah. According to many laws in the Pentateuch, any business needing completion by the close of the day would have to happen by sunset (see Deuteronomy 21:23 & 24:13-15, for example). Paul includes dealing with anger as business needing completion by the end of the day. Paul maybe consulted the Jewish rabbis of the day. The rabbis taught “Do not flare up, so that you do not sin” and “They shall rebuke each man his brother according to the commandment and shall bear no rancor from one day to the next.” Also quite possible, Paul consulted the Greek philosopher Pythagorus (yes, the triangles guy), who, according to Plutarch, taught his students “if ever they were led by anger into recrimination, never let the sun go down before they joined right hands, embraced each other, and were reconciled.” For the sake of the mixed Jewish and Gentile church of Ephesus, Paul mixes Old Testament theology and Greek philosophy to teach a profound truth about anger. He commands anger should last only a short time, and the new day should start fresh towards forgiveness and reconciliation. When Christians goes to bed, their anger ends when the day ends. When Christians awakes, they should think or even consider what the anger from yesterday. In essence, don’t look back in anger! (See, the reference to the Oasis song in the title does fit the message!) Therefore, a Christian’s final thought of the day should involve pondering whether he or she got angry, and if he or she resolved that anger by the end of the day. After all, that sleep may be the last sleep into death, and no one wants their last words or last actions of the last day on earth involve communicating anger.
μηδὲ δίδοτε τόπον τῷ διαβόλῳ.
~Ephesians 4:27
(NA28)
do not give a place to the devil.
~Ephesians 4:27 (my translation)
Ephesians 4:27 in the Greek text literally reads, “Do not give a place to the devil,” but figuratively, “place” means an opportunity, hence why the ESV translates Ephesians 4:27 as “and give no opportunity to the devil.” Paul adds Satan into the conversation about anger. Paul constantly reminds the church in Ephesus about the spiritual warfare in which the church engages with devil and his demons. Elsewhere in the epistle, Paul reminds the Ephesian church to prepare themselves for that spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6:10-16). In the Gospels, Jesus linked the devil to lies (John 8:31-45). Here, Paul links Satan with anger, and he does it through Jesus’s link between the devil and lies. If anger can become an opportunity to the devil, and Satan uses lies to provoke anger, then the best way to fight that anger involves speaking the truth and avoiding falsehoods, as prescribed in Ephesians 4:25. Remembering that Ephesians 4:26 argues that indulging anger will lead to sin. Ephesians 4:27 takes it a step further. Ephesians 4:27 adds that indulging anger equates to indulging the devil. Satan always looks for an opportunity to tempt a person to sin. An angry person the devil can easily tempt to sin. As a matter of fact, when anger overcome a person, the person has lost control of himself or herself and gives control over to the devil. Again, it goes back to spiritual warfare. While God the Holy Spirit equips the Christian to fight of sin and temptation, the Christian has to put up that fight against Satan. The Christian has to allow the Holy Spirit to take control in order to prevent losing control to the devil. What a better way than to avoid anger!
πᾶσα πικρία καὶ θυμὸς καὶ ὀργὴ καὶ κραυγὴ καὶ βλασφημία ἀρθήτω ἀφʼ ὑμῶν σὺν πάσῃ κακίᾳ.
~Ephesians 4:31
(NA28)
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and
slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
~Ephesians 4:31 (ESV)
In Ephesians 4:31, Paul commands the Ephesian Christians to put away 6 vices. At first glance, it may seem like splitting hairs to distinguish the difference of these terms. In actuality, Paul has not only carefully chosen his terms, he has actually carefully choice the word order as well. Bitterness means resenting not having a blessing someone else has. It ignores the blessings the Lord has already given, and it can even sometimes blind the person for how God can bless in the future. In short, the church needs to put away bitterness because bitterness equates to selfishness, which does not belong in the community of the church. Remember, bitterness is an attitude, a heart problem, which will lead to the next attitudes and behaviors, which the church in Ephesus needs to rid of itself.
Bitterness escalates into wrath and anger. In this case, understand these words as synonyms. Do no treats these words as redundancies because Paul repeats himself to add emphasis. The New Testament uses the Greek term for “wrath” usually refers to the Lord’s condemnation of the wicked. Consider this a righteous anger that only God deserves to have. Wrath and anger evolves into clamor and slander. Clamor refers to a loud yell, which one could almost describe as an eruptive yell, deficient any kind of logic and any kind of self-control. Slander means purposely belittling a person in speech, which may or may not contain foul language. Consider treating “cursing” as a synonym (in fact, the Greek term here, βλασφημία [blasphēmiā], is where the English word “blasphemy” comes from). These three terms link together under the commonality of abusive speech. Finally, Paul lists malice, which refers to any act of evil. By keeping malice to any type or any kind of evil, malice in a way serves as an “etc,,” covering any aspect of evil Paul might have missed. Again, go down the list and see how each term intensifies. It begins bitterness, an emotion. It heightens to wrath, it worsens into anger, which turn into abusive speech, like slander, which leads to malice, or evil actions. If the Ephesian church can keep their feelings in check, then they don’t need to worry about their speech or actions getting out of hand. Nevertheless, Paul instructs the church in Ephesus to be put away all of them, just in case one does escalate to another, the body of believers should stop in their tracks.
The verb for these six vices, ἀρθήτω (arthētō), meaning, “to put away” or “to remove” is not only an imperative, but also a passive imperative. A literal translation would best render “be put away” or “be removed” but a better translation or “shall be removed” may drive the meaning better. Only by the power of the Holy Spirit can any Christian take off the old self and put on and the new self. The Holy Spirit will do the work. The Christian should merely not avoid it and instead embrace it. A broader study of the Greek verb ἀρθήτω (arthētō) will reveal how much this interpretation makes sense. John loves using ἀρθήτω (arthētō) to explain what Jesus did with humanity sin. Indeed, the gospel message preaches that Jesus did all the work removing humanity’s sin. People merely have to allow Jesus into their life and not resist him. In Ephesians 4:31, Paul teaches the Holy Spirit’s regeneration works the same way. The Lord will take away these 6 vices; the Christian needs to merely allow it.
Paul does not expect perfection from the Ephesian Christians, yet Paul does expect to act less like the old, sinful self and more like the redeemed Christian, who Jesus bought and paid with price. Anger reflects more of the old, sinful self and less like new, born-again Christian. Paul writes the epistle Ephesians to motivate Ephesians to continue building up the church body. Sinful speech, like clamor and slander will not build up the church. If anything, it ruins unity. Therefore, Paul’s instruction to put away these six vices all have in mind preserving the body of believers. The best way to preserve the body of believes requires love, and those 6 vices will not display love. Paul does not want those sinful words or actions to get out of hand, so he commands the Ephesians to end it at the source of the emotions, which include bitterness, wrath and anger.
For a modern-day equivalent to explain Paul’s point here, consider hate speech. Hopefully, this phrase has triggered no one. True, some have tried to argue Christian beliefs as hate speech, causing the phrase to trigger Christians. While worth fearing how Christian belief can become hate speech, the truth of the principle remains the same. Governments realize that hate speech can evolve to hate actions. Even if they do not, verbal abuse can psychologically damage and even schism relationships. Christians must recognize their words can harmful effects, and they must also recognize those sinful words may come from sinful emotions developing in the heart.
ILLUSTRATING THE SCRIPTURES
An Illustration from the Bible
A good example of what Ephesians 4:26 warns comes from the account of Cain and Abel, as found in Genesis 4. In Genesis 4:5-7, Yahweh calls out Cain’s anger because he sees it has led Cain to consider sin, more specifically, murdering his brother. Ultimately, Cain does give into his anger. Cain’s anger turns into hate, and his hate turns into the suffering and death of his brother Abel. Doesn’t that sound familiar?
An Illustration from Pop Culture
Back in the 1990s, screenwriter, director and producer George Lucas decided to reboot the Star Wars franchise with a prequel trilogy, which tells the story of Luke Skywalker’s father, Anakin Skywalker (yes, I have chosen my words carefully). While the Star Wars prequel trilogy has received its fair share of criticism, it illustrates well the dangers of anger. In Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Jedi master Yoda senses fear in Anakin Skywalker. Yoda warns Anakin, “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” Yoda’s warning becomes prophetic, as Anakin fulfills it in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones. In StarWars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, bad dreams has led Anakin to fear the worst has happen to his mother. Anakin discovered that tuskan raiders abducted his mother. Anakin finds his mother barely alive. Happy to see her son one last time, she dies in his arms. As Yoda prophesied, Anakin’s fear turns to anger, anger turns to hate, and hate leads to suffering. He murders every single tuskan raider. Anakin reports back to his girlfriend Padme, “I... I killed them. I killed them all. They're dead... every single one of them. And not just the men. But the women... and the children, too. They're like animals, and I slaughtered them like animals! I HATE THEM!” Padme replies, “To be angry is to be human.” Ladies, your boyfriend or husband has just confessed he committed genocide on an entire village. Are you really going to reply, “Everybody gets a little angry every now and then?” In all seriousness, the Star Wars prequel trilogy illustrates two biblical truths about anger. While anger does reflect human nature, and even and reflect the image of God, anger can too easily lead to hatred and suffering.
An Illustration from Science
Researchers Brad Bushman, Roy Baumeister and Angela Stack wanted to test the theory that punching a pillow relieve anger. The researchers invited a bunch of undergraduate students to participate in a study in exchange for extra credit. Of course, the researchers could not tell the students the actual purpose of the study, lest the students consciously or subconsciously mess up the results. Therefore, the researchers told the students they sought to study the effectiveness of peer grading and peer judging. First, the researchers had to make the students angry. What a better way to make undergraduate students angry than to criticize a deeply held belief, so the researchers had them write a paper defending their views on abortion, using whatever means necessary (logic & reasoning, appeal to emotion, etc.) While the students thought their peers would fairly grade their papers, the researchers instructed the peer reviewer to purposely give bad evaluations with very negative comments, like “This is the worst paper I ever read!” Sure enough, students got angry! Then half of the students got the opportunity to punch a punching bag to “relieve steam” while waiting for the next part of the experiment. The other half of the students had to “cool down” by reading a story, listening to music or playing a game.
For the next part of the experiment, the experimenters told the student they would continue testing peer review and peer judging in a different format. Experimenters told students that a peer would answer multiple choice questions, and for every incorrect answer, the student got to blast his or her peer with a loud noise (can’t shock people anymore because that’s unethical). On a scale of 1 to 10, those who punched punching bags blasted noise at a 7.5 on average, whereas those who did not punch the punching bag blasted noise at a 2.5 on average. Yes, those who punched punching bags blasted their peer 3 times as higher than those who had to cool down.
The experimenters rewarded the students with a lunch of tacos. The experimenters allowed the students to decide how much hot sauce to put on their peer grader’s tacos. Again, those who punched a punching bag put on 3 times more hot sauce than those who cooled down with other activities. While waiting for the taco lunch, the experimenters asked the student to fill out a worksheet in which students had to guess the word by figuring out the missing letters. Such examples include, att_c_, cho_e, ki_ _, r_pe. Those who punched the punching bag thought up violent words, like attack, choke, kill and rape. Those who cooled down naturally chose non-violent words like attach, chose, kiss and rope.
The researchers concluded that aggravating anger makes people more aggressive. Thinking about, it only makes sense. One researcher compared it to cooking. When a cook finishes cooking food on a stove or an over and turns the stove or off, the cook does not leave the food in the hot oven or on the hot burner because the food could still burn. Instead, the cook will remove the food from the hot oven or hot burner to prevent it from burning. Likewise, remaining in anger will only make anger worse. Removing the anger will yield the best results.
APPLYING THE SCRIPTURES
Social psychology does not merely say what does not work. It does say what does work, easily summed in four words. First, delay. Do not immediately act when provoked to anger, for the anger makes decision then, not the person. Wait for the anger to subside, and then act. (Not to trigger some people with a controversial topic, but some people argue waiting periods on gun purchase, claiming it will decrease gun-related homicide and suicide because it allows the anger to subside.) Second, relaxation. Do not do something active. Do something passive. It relaxes the muscles and thus relaxes the anger. Third, distraction. Do not dwell upon the anger. Think of anything but the anger. Try looking up other verses in the Bible about anger, and try applying them. Fourth, do the opposite. Do something not associated with anger, liking hugging a person or petting a pet. Even bolder, find the person inciting the anger and do something kind and nice. By doing so, it stops the anger in its place.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Anders, Max. Galatians-Colossians. Vol. 8. Holman New Testament Commentary. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999.
Barth, Markus. Ephesians: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary on Chapters 4-6. Vol. 34A. Anchor Yale Bible. New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2008.
Cohick, Lynn H. The Letter to the Ephesians. Edited by Ned B. Stonehouse, F. F. Bruce, Gordon D. Fee, and Joel B. Green. New International Commentary on the Old and New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2020.
Dockery, David S. “The Pauline Letters.” Holman Concise Bible Commentary. Edited by David S. Dockery. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1998.
Hoehner, Harold W. “Ephesians.” The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures. Edited by J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985.
Lincoln, Andrew T. Ephesians. Vol. 42. Word Biblical Commentary. Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1990.
Richards, Lawrence O. The Teacher’s Commentary. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1987.
Spence-Jones, H. D. M., ed. Ephesians. The Pulpit Commentary. London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1909.
Turner, Max. “Ephesians.” Pages 1222–44 in New Bible
Commentary: 21st Century Edition. Edited by D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J.
A. Motyer, and G. J. Wenham. 4th ed. Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL:
Inter-Varsity Press, 1994.
