Ephesians 4:26

4:26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on the cause of your anger.

Ephesians 6:3

6:3that it may go well with you and that you will live a long time on the earth.

Ephesians 3:14

Prayer for Strengthened Love

3:14 For this reason I kneel before the Father,

Ephesians 2:2

2:2 in which you formerly lived 10  according to this world’s present path, 11  according to the ruler of the kingdom 12  of the air, the ruler of 13  the spirit 14  that is now energizing 15  the sons of disobedience, 16 

Ephesians 3:17

3:17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, so that, because you have been rooted and grounded in love,

Ephesians 4:17

Live in Holiness

4:17 So I say this, and insist 17  in the Lord, that you no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility 18  of their thinking. 19 

Ephesians 5:31

5:31 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and will be joined to his wife, and the two will become 20  one flesh. 21 

sn A quotation from Ps 4:4. Although several translations render the phrase Be angry and do not sin as “If you are angry, do not sin” such is unlikely on a grammatical, lexical, and historical level (see D. B. Wallace, “᾿Οργίζεσθε in Ephesians 4:26: Command or Condition?” CTR 3 [1989]: 352-72). The idea of vv. 26-27 is as follows: Christians are to exercise a righteous indignation over sin in the midst of the believing community (v. 26a; note that v. 25 is restricting the discussion to those in the body of Christ). When other believers sin, such people should be gently and quickly confronted (v. 26b), for if the body of Christ does not address sin in its midst, the devil gains a foothold (v. 27). “Entirely opposite of the ‘introspective conscience’ view, this text seems to be a shorthand expression for church discipline, suggesting that there is a biblical warrant for δικαία ὀργή [dikaia orgh] (as the Greeks put it) – righteous indignation” (ExSyn 492).

tn The word παροργισμός (parorgismo"), typically translated “anger” in most versions is used almost exclusively of the source of anger rather than the results in Greek literature (thus, it refers to an external cause or provocation rather than an internal reaction). The notion of “cause of your anger” is both lexically and historically justified. The apparently proverbial nature of the statement (“Do not let the sun go down on the cause of your anger”) finds several remarkable parallels in Pss. Sol. 8:8-9: “(8) God laid bare their sins in the full light of day; All the earth came to know the righteous judgments of God. (9) In secret places underground their iniquities (were committed) to provoke (Him) to anger” (R. H. Charles’ translation). Not only is παροργισμός used, but righteous indignation against God’s own people and the laying bare of their sins in broad daylight are also seen.

tn Grk “be.”

tn Grk “will be.”

sn A quotation from Deut 5:16.

sn For this reason resumes the point begun in v. 1, after a long parenthesis.

tn Grk “I bend my knees.”

tc Most Western and Byzantine witnesses, along with a few others (א2 D F G Ψ 0278 1881 Ï lat sy), have “of our Lord Jesus Christ” after “Father,” but such an edifying phrase cannot explain the rise of the reading that lacks it, especially when the shorter reading is attested by early and important witnesses such as Ì46 א* A B C P 6 33 81 365 1175 1739 co Or Hier.

sn The relative pronoun which is feminine as is sins, indicating that sins is the antecedent.

tn Grk “walked.”

tn Or possibly “Aeon.”

10 tn Grk “domain, [place of] authority.”

11 tn Grk “of” (but see the note on the word “spirit” later in this verse).

12 sn The ruler of the kingdom of the air is also the ruler of the spirit that is now energizing the sons of disobedience. Although several translations regard the ruler to be the same as the spirit, this is unlikely since the cases in Greek are different (ruler is accusative and spirit is genitive). To get around this, some have suggested that the genitive for spirit is a genitive of apposition. However, the semantics of the genitive of apposition are against such an interpretation (cf. ExSyn 100).

13 tn Grk “working in.”

14 sn Sons of disobedience is a Semitic idiom that means “people characterized by disobedience.” However, it also contains a subtle allusion to vv. 4-10: Some of those sons of disobedience have become sons of God.

tn On the translation of μαρτύρομαι (marturomai) as “insist” see BDAG 619 s.v. 2.

10 tn On the translation of ματαιότης (mataioth") as “futility” see BDAG 621 s.v.

11 tn Or “thoughts,” “mind.”

11 tn Grk “the two shall be as one flesh.”

12 sn A quotation from Gen 2:24.