Ephesians 4:26

Angry. The quotation is from the LXX of Ps. 4:4 (v. 5, LXX). Commentators differ as to whether the Hebrew of Ps. 4:4 should be translated as in the KJV of that passage, or as in the LXX, with which Paul’s passage agrees. In the Greek both elements “be ye angry” and “sin not” are commands. Various suggestions have been made in an effort to avoid the implication of a command to be angry, none of them satisfactory. The simplest solution seems to be to regard the anger here spoken of as a righteous indignation. A Christian who is not aroused to the point of indignation by manifest wrongs and injustices may be insensitive to some things that ought to concern him. Righteous indignation has a most important function in stimulating men in the battle against evil. Jesus was not angered by any personal affront, but by hypocritical challenges to God and injustices done to others (see Mark 3:5). Justifiable anger is directed against the wrong act without animosity toward the wrongdoer. To be able to separate the two is a supremely great Christian achievement.

Sin not. This is a command, as the Greek clearly indicates. A warning is issued lest justifiable anger lead to feelings of personal resentment, vindictiveness, and loss of control. Someone has aptly remarked, “We do well to be angry at times, but we have mistaken the times.”

Sun go down. Here is provided a safeguard against the abuse of righteous indignation. While there should always remain an indignation against sin, harbored resentments are soul destroying. A fair test of the quality of one’s anger is whether one can readily pray for the person against whose wrong act the anger is directed.

Wrath. Or, “irritation,” “exasperation,” the evil sense of personal resentment into which even justified anger easily turns.