What Does Ephesians 4:26 Mean?
Two renderings of the same sentence, the verses it belongs to, and what the passage is doing — so you can decide what it means rather than take someone's word for it.
"Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:" Ephesians 4:26, King James Version
The same verse in modern English
"“Be angry, yet do not sin.” Do not let the sun set upon your anger," Ephesians 4:26, Berean Standard Bible
What it sits inside
A verse quoted on its own is the commonest way one gets misread. Here it is with what comes immediately before and after, in the King James Version.
Ephesians 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Ephesians 4:25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
Ephesians 4:26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
Ephesians 4:27 Neither give place to the devil.
Ephesians 4:28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
A conversation built on it
Feeling angry can seem like proof something is wrong with you. Paul thought otherwise — he gave the Ephesians permission to feel it, and only then warned them where it turns. The heat itself was never the sin. It's what you let it become overnight.
Questions people ask
What does Ephesians 4:26 mean?
In modern English (Berean Standard Bible) it reads: ““Be angry, yet do not sin.” Do not let the sun set upon your anger,” The King James rendering most people know is: “Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:”
What is the context of Ephesians 4:26?
The verses immediately around it read: (Ephesians 4:24) And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. (Ephesians 4:25) Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. (Ephesians 4:26) Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: (Ephesians 4:27) Neither give place to the devil. (Ephesians 4:28) Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
How is Ephesians 4:26 used in a conversation about this?
Feeling angry can seem like proof something is wrong with you. Paul thought otherwise — he gave the Ephesians permission to feel it, and only then warned them where it turns. The heat itself was never the sin. It's what you let it become overnight.
Reading it is one thing. Saying what it stirs up is another.
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