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Ephesians

About this book
Chapter 4

1 I, therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live worthily of the calling with which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, putting up with one another in love, 3 making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit,⁠ just as you too were called to the one hope of your calling, 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he captured captives; he gave gifts to men.”⁠ 9 Now what is the meaning of “he ascended,” except that he also descended to the lower regions, namely, the earth?⁠ 10 He, the very one who descended, is also the one who ascended above all the heavens, in order to fill all things. 11 And he himself gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, that is, to build up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God—a mature person, attaining to the measure of Christ’s full stature. 14 So we are no longer to be children, tossed back and forth by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching by the trickery of people who craftily carry out their deceitful schemes.⁠ 15 But practicing the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ, who is the head. 16 From him the whole body grows, fitted and held together through every supporting ligament. As each one does its part, the body builds itself up in love. 17 So I say this, and insist in the Lord, that you no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts. 19 Because they are callous, they have given themselves over to indecency for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. 20 But you did not learn about Christ like this, 21 if indeed you heard about him and were taught in him, just as the truth is in Jesus. 22 You were taught with reference to your former way of life to lay aside the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires, 23 to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and to put on the new man who has been created in God’s image—in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth. 25 Therefore, having laid aside falsehood, each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor because we are members of one another.⁠ 26 Be angry and do not sin;⁠ do not let the sun go down on the cause of your anger.⁠ 27 Do not give the devil an opportunity. 28 The one who steals must steal no longer; instead he must labor, doing good with his own hands, so that he will have something to share with the one who has need. 29 You must let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but only what is beneficial for the building up of the one in need, that it would give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,⁠ by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.⁠ 31 You must put away all bitterness, anger, wrath, quarreling, and slanderous talk—indeed all malice. 32 Instead, be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you.

Texts in conversation

Compare Plutarch, Moralia 17 and Ephesians 4:26

Classical · New Testament

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Summary

Ephesians gives advice similar to Plutarch's Moralia, which urges resolving anger before night. Plutarch credits the Pythagoreans for his advice, suggesting this was a common moral teaching also adapted for a Christian audience.

Passages

Plutarch, Moralia 17

Classical
We should next pattern ourselves after the Pythagoreans, who, though related not at all by birth, yet sharing a common discipline, 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 just as it is nothing alarming if a fever attends a swelling in the groin, but if the fever persists when the swelling is gone, it is thought to be a malady and to have a deeper origin: so when the dissension of brothers ceases after the matter in dispute is settled, the dissension was caused by the matter; but if it remains, the matter was but a pretext and contained some malignant and festering reason.
75–100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Plutarch, Moralia

Ephesians 4:26

New Testament
25 Therefore, having laid aside falsehood, each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor because we are members of one another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on the cause of your anger. 27 Do not give the devil an opportunity. 28 The one who steals must steal no longer; instead he must labor, doing good with his own hands, so that he will have something to share with the one who has need. 29 You must let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but only what is beneficial for the building up of the one in need, that it would give grace to those who hear.
90–100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Ephesians

References

"... membership in the community implies an attitude toward other people that precludes lying. Exhortations against excessive or unjustified anger as in 4:26 were well known in the ancient Mediterranean world, as were, apparently, supporting sayings like "Do not let the sun set on your anger". This saying, together with the following "give no place to the devil" (4:27) provides implicit and rhetorical support for being angry without sin by suggesting that prolonged anger is wrong and may be an area that allows one to be susceptible to potential evil ..."
Roy Roger Jeal, The Relationship between Theology and Ethics in the Letter to the Ephesians (University of Sheffield, 1990), 243–244.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Plutarch, Moralia 17 and Ephesians 4:26

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