Ephesians 4.26c-The Prohibition Forbidding Procrastinating Practicing Church Discipline
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday October 28, 2025
Ephesians Series: Ephesians 4:26c-The Prohibition Forbidding Procrastinating Practicing Church Discipline
Lesson # 289
Ephesians 4:26 Each and every one of you as a corporate unit must continue to make it your habit of permitting yourselves to be justifiably angry with the result that each and every one of you as a corporate unit continue to make it your habit of not committing sin. Each and every one of you as a corporate unit must continue to make it your habit of not letting the sun go down when justifiably angered. (Lecturer’s translation)
Ephesians 4:26 is composed of the following:
(1) command: orgizesthe (ὀργίζεσθε), “Each and every one of you as a corporate unit must continue to make it your habit of permitting yourselves to be justifiably angry” (Lecturer’s translation).
(2) prohibition: mē hamartanete (μὴ ἁμαρτάνετε), “each and every one of you as a corporate unit continue to make it your habit of not committing sin” (Lecturer’s translation).
(3) prohibition: ho hēlios mē epidyetō epi tō parorgismō hymōn (ὁ ἥλιος μὴ ἐπιδυέτω ἐπὶ τῷ παροργισμῷ ὑμῶν), “Each and every one of you as a corporate unit must continue to make it your habit of not letting the sun go down when justifiably angered.” (Lecturer’s translation)
As we noted, the second prohibition: ho hēlios mē epidyetō epi tō parorgismō hymōn (ὁ ἥλιος μὴ ἐπιδυέτω ἐπὶ τῷ παροργισμῷ ὑμῶν), “Each and every one of you as a corporate unit must continue to make it your habit of not letting the sun go down when justifiably angered” (Author’s translation) should not be taken literally but rather figuratively for abandoning one’s righteous indication before sundown.
As we also noted, it modifies the previous prohibition.
Also, we noted that it is figurative language for the abandonment of anger before the sun goes down.
It is also used in relation to church discipline.
Therefore, it is figurative language for administering church discipline immediately when it is required.
Like the verbs orgizomai (ὀργίζομαι) and hamartanō (ἁμαρτάνω), the referent of the second person plural form of the verb epiduō (ἐπιδύω) is the recipients of this letter, who we noted were Gentile Christian community living throughout the Roman province of Asia.
Like the verb hamartanō (ἁμαρτάνω), the meaning of this verb epiduō (ἐπιδύω) is negated by the negative particle me (μή), which denies the idea of the meaning of this verb.
Together, they form a prohibition, which forbids the sun going down on the justifiable anger of a member of the Christian community.
This prohibition is a figurative or poetic way of describing the abandonment of one’s anger toward another person.
Therefore, together they are used figuratively of the recipients of this letter confronting immediately in gentleness and in private those who are a part of their community and are involved in unrepentant sinful activity or in other words, they were not to procrastinate in administering church discipline to the guilty party.
Like the verbs orgizomai (ὀργίζομαι) and hamartanō (ἁμαρτάνω), the present imperative conjugation of the verb epiduō (ἐπιδύω) is a customary present imperative.
Therefore, this would indicate that Paul is commanding the recipients of this epistle “to continue to make it their habit of” not letting the sun go down on their anger.
Like the verbs orgizomai (ὀργίζομαι) and hamartanō (ἁμαρτάνω), the interpretation of the present imperative conjugation of the verb epiduō (ἐπιδύω) can also be supported by the fact that Paul affirms in Ephesians 1:15 that the recipients of this epistle were practicing the love of God when interacting with each other.
Thus, they were not letting the sun down on their anger because they were obeying the Lord’s command to love one another, which would require them to administer church discipline with those in the Christian community involved in unrepentant sinful behavior.
In this second prohibition, Paul employs the genitive second personal plural form of the personal pronoun su (σύ).
As was the case throughout this epistle, the referent of this word is the recipients of this epistle who Paul describes here in Ephesians 2:11 as Gentile Christians.
The word means “each and every one of you as a corporate unit” or “all of you without exception” because it not only refers to these Gentile Christians as a corporate unit but is also used in a distributive sense emphasizing no exceptions.
In other words, it not only refers to them as a corporate unit but also as individuals.
Like the verb orgizomai (ὀργίζομαι), the noun parorgismos (παροργισμός) means “justifiably angered” since the word is used in a passive rather than an active sense and thus should be rendered “justifiably angered” rather than “angry.”
The word pertains to a strong emotion or feeling that is oriented to some real or supposed grievance.
In other words, it speaks of being provoked to anger by what someone has said or did in relation to them.
Like the verb orgizomai (ὀργίζομαι), the word parorgismos (παροργισμός) speaks of righteousness indignation, which is justifiable anger.
Like the verbs orgizomai (ὀργίζομαι) and hamartanō (ἁμαρτάνω), the present imperative conjugation of the verb epiduō (ἐπιδύω) and this noun parorgismos (παροργισμός) are used in relation to the administering church to those members of the Christian community who are involved in unrepentant sinful activity.
The articular form of this noun parorgismos (παροργισμός) is employed with the genitive second personal plural form of the personal pronoun su (σύ) to denote possession.
Therefore, this construction expresses the idea that this justifiable anger is the “possession” of one of the members of the Christian community.
The noun parorgismos (παροργισμός) is the object of the preposition epi (ἐπί), which functions as a temporal marker indicating “when” the recipients of this epistle were to obey this prohibition to not the let sun down.
Therefore, it expresses the idea that they were not to let the sun down “when” justifiably angered by not procrastinating practicing church discipline.
Like the verbs orgizomai (ὀργίζομαι) and hamartanō (ἁμαρτάνω), the present imperative conjugation of the verb epiduō (ἐπιδύω) is a customary present imperative.
Therefore, this would indicate that Paul is commanding the recipients of this epistle “to continue making it their habit of” not letting the sun go down when justifiably angered by those in the Christian community who were involved in unrepentant sinful behavior.
They would not let the sun go down on this justifiable anger by not procrastinating practicing church discipline with the guilty party.
Like the verbs orgizomai (ὀργίζομαι) and hamartanō (ἁμαρτάνω), this interpretation of the present imperative conjugation of the verb epiduō (ἐπιδύω) is supported by the fact that Paul affirms in Ephesians 1:15 that the recipients of this epistle were practicing the love of God when interacting with each other.
Consequently, they were not letting the sun down on their justified anger because they were obedient to the Lord’s command to love one another as He has loved them, which would require them to administer church discipline with those in their community who were involved in unrepentant sinful activity.
As was the case with the previous prohibition, this second prohibition has the force of a general precept and also does not make a comment about whether the action is going on or not.
However, as noted above, Ephesians 1:15 that the recipients of this epistle were practicing the love of God when interacting with each other.
Thus, they were not letting the sun go down on their justified anger because they were practicing the love of God with each other by practicing church discipline when required.
