How to read this page

An Intertextuality Pair — one connection between two passages, shown as linked verse cards: the Later text and the Earlier text it quotes, alludes to or echoes. The Significance essay explains why the link matters and where it points in Christ.

Reference Type— how explicit the link is: Quotation, Allusion, or Echo
Connection Method(s)— how it carries meaning: e.g. Typology, Promise-Fulfillment, Analogy, Longitudinal Theme
Found via— where the connection was identified, e.g. the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge or an Anchor-Text Network

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Intertextuality Pair

Ephesians 4:26 → Psalm 4:4

Quotation

Later text

Ephesians 4:26BSB

“Be angry, yet do not sin.” Do not let the sun set upon your anger,

Earlier text

Psalm 4:4BSB

Be angry, yet do not sin; on your bed, search your heart and be still. Selah

+ 1 more earlier text

Earlier text

Psalm 4:2-4BSB

How long, O men, will my honor be maligned? How long will you love vanity and seek after lies? Selah Know that the LORD has set apart the godly for Himself; the LORD hears when I call to Him. Be angry, yet do not sin; on your bed, search your heart and be still. Selah

Walk the Square · a single-voice walk of this pair around the Clowney square7:48

Significance

Paul quotes Psalm 4:4 within a broader ethical pattern connecting multiple OT texts (Zechariah 8:16 on truthfulness, Psalm 4:4 on controlled anger). The psalm's context - prayer against deceitful adversaries and call for righteous conduct - fits Paul's concern that the "new man" live distinctly from former Gentile practices. The hermeneutical move acknowledges righteous anger exists but requires careful control, with Paul adding the practical time limit ("don't let sun set on anger") possibly drawn from the psalmist's counsel to ponder rather than act rashly. The theological significance integrates OT wisdom about community conduct into the church's eschatological identity, showing that truthfulness and self-control characterize God's restored people.

Found via: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Direct Quotation
Connection Method(s): Analogy