True sun and place for the devil; work, speech, Spirit, seal (Eph 4:26–31)

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Just as the sun sets on your prophets at midday, it sets on every sinner and no longer grants its rising while they keep sinning. Paul therefore orders us not to act in anger so that this sun sets on us and night fills our souls.

Ephesians 4:27 "Do not give place to the devil." Origen links this with Ecclesiastes: if a ruling spirit rises over you, do not leave your place, for healing stops a great sin. We give the devil—or that ruling spirit—room when the governing part is empty of holy teaching, saving faith, and discerning thoughts that counsel what is best. As with Zechariah, Satan camps on the soul's regions; assents to worse things invite him in. Judas shows the pattern: first the devil cast betrayal into his heart; later, after the morsel, Satan entered. Had Judas resisted the first cast, Satan would have found no later place.

Ephesians 4:28 "Let the thief steal no more, but rather labor, working the good with his hands, so he may share with the one in need." Even among those thought believers—clean, it seems, of idolatry and fornication—buying, selling, and trade often hide theft under the excuse of getting necessities. So Paul does not shrink from rebuking thieves still at work in Ephesus. "Working the good" marks just provision: unjust gain works evil; reverent securing of necessities works the good.

Ephesians 4:29 "Let no rotten word leave your mouth, but only what is good for needed building-up, that it may give grace to hearers." The good word teaches, urges virtue, and strips vice. The rotten word feeds vice and pushes toward worse.

Ephesians 4:30 "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for a day of redemption." Strictly, grief is a passion—a fresh judgment that evil is present and one should contract. The Spirit does not form such judgments, so in that sense it is not grieved. Yet as far as it depends on us, by doing these things we grieve God's Holy Spirit; the Lord says in Ezekiel, "In all these you grieved me." Our earlier notes on anger, wrath, sleep, and God-spoken human feelings help here too.

Sealing with the Spirit gives us its imprint while the Sealer stays undivided, so we become holy—and our human spirit, and I think the soul too. God seals; the Spirit is the seal. Everyone who believes God true receives that seal from the Father, to keep it unbroken until the day of redemption and be counted among the redeemed.

Ephesians 4:31 "Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and blasphemy be removed from you, with all malice." Some make anger a species under desire: desire to punish one who seems to have wronged you wrongly. Among its forms they place bitterness as anger hard for others to receive, or as anger that bursts out at once—continued in the next section.

Greek

δύ εται ὁ ἥλιο ἐπὶ τοὺ προφήτα ὑμῶν με ημβρία , οὕτως καὶ δύει ἐπὶ πάντας τοὺς ἁμαρτάνοντας, οὐ χαριζόμενος αὐτοῖς ἔτι ἁμαρτάνουσι τὴν ἰδίαν ἀνατολήν. ἐντέλλεται οὖν ἡμῖν ὁ Παῦλος μὴ ποιῆσαι τοιαῦτα κατὰ τὴν ὀργὴν ὡς ἐπιδῦναι ἡμῖν τὸν ἥλιον καὶ γενέσθαι ἐν ταῖς ψυχαῖς ἡμῶν νύκτα. 20 Eph. iv27 [μηδὲ δίδοτε τόπον τῷ διαβόλῳ.] [Ὠριγένης δέ φησιν] ὅμοιον τοῦτό ἐστι τῷ ἐν τῷ Ἐκκλησιαστῇ εἰρημένῳ, ἐὰν πνεῦμα τοῦ ἐξου ιά ζοντο ἀναβῇ ἐπί ε τόπον ου μὴ ἀφῇ , ὅτι ἴαμα καταπαύ ει ἁμαρτία μεγάλα . τόπον δὲ δίδομεν τῷ διαβόλῳ ἢ τῷ ἐξου ιάζοντι πνεύματι ἀναβάντι ἐφ' ἡμᾶς, ὅτε οὐ πεπλήρωται ἡμῶν τὸ ἡγεμονικὸν ἁγίων μαθημάτων ἢ τῆς σωτηρίου πίστεως καὶ λογισμῶν διαφερόντων καὶ συμβουλευόντων ἡμῖν τὰ ἄριστα· κατὰ γὰρ τὸν πατέρα Ἰωάννου Ζαχαρίαν ἐπὶ τὰ κλίματα τῆ ψυχῆ ἐπι κηνοῖ ὁ Σατανᾶ , καὶ αἱ τοιαίδε συγκαταθέσεις τοῖς χείροσι καὶ ῥοπαὶ ἐπὶ τὰς συγκαταθέσεις προκαλοῦνται τὸν διάβολον εἰσελθεῖν ἡμῶν εἰς τὰς ψυχάς. καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἰούδα γοῦν γέγραπται τοῦ προδότου, πρότερον μὲν τοῦ διαβόλου ἤδη βεβληκότο εἰ τὴν καρδίαν ἵνα παραδῷ αὐτὸν Ἰούδα Σίμωνο Ἰ καριώτη , μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ὅτι μετὰ τὸ ψωμίον εἰ ῆλθεν εἰ ἐκεῖνον ὁ Σατανᾶ · ὡς εἰ, βεβληκότο τοῦ διαβόλου εἰ τὴν καρδίαν Ἰούδα ἵνα παραδῷ τὸν Κύριον, πρὸς τὸ βληθὲν στὰς ὁ Ἰούδας ἦν, οὐκ ἂν ὕστερον εὑρήκει τόπον εἰς αὐτὸν εἰ ελθεῖν ὁ Σατανᾶ . [ iv 28] ὁ κλέπτων μηκέτι κλεπτέτω, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ κοπιάτω ἐργαζόμενος τὸ ἀγαθὸν ταῖς χερσίν, ἵνα ἔχῃ μεταδιδόναι τῷ χρείαν ἔχοντι. ἐπείπερ ἐν ταῖς τοῦ βίου πραγματείαις ἀναστρεφόμενοι προφάσει τοῦ πορισμοῦ τῶν ἐπιτηδείων καὶ πολλοὶ τῶν πεπιστευκέναι νομιζομένων, κἂν δοκῶσι καθαρεύειν ἀπὸ εἰδωλολατρείας καὶ πάσης πορνείας, οὐκ εὐκόλως ἀφίστανται τοῦ κλέπτειν ἐν τῷ ὠνεῖσθαι καὶ πιπράσκειν καὶ συμπραγμα τεύεσθαί τισι, διὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ὤκνησεν, ὡς ἔτι κλεπτόντων (καὶ ταῦτα ἐν Ἐφέσῳ) τινῶν, οἱονεὶ ἐλέγξαι ὡς εἰδὼς τοὺς τοιούτους· τὸν δὲ δίκαιον πορισμὸν δηλοῖ αὐτὸ τὸ ἐργαζόμενος τὸ ἀγαθόν, τῶν μὲν ἀδίκως ποριζόντων οὐ τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἀλλὰ τὸ πονηρὸν ἐργαζομένων, τῶν δὲ μετ' εὐλαβείας περιποιούντων αὐτοῖς τὰ ἀναγκαῖα καὶ ἐν τούτῳ τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἐργαζομένων. 21 Eph. iv29 [πᾶς λόγος σαπρὸς ἐκ τοῦ στόματος ὑμῶν μὴ ἐκπορευέσθω ἀλλ' εἴ τις ἀγαθὸς πρὸς οἰκοδομὴν τῆς χρείας ἵνα δῷ χάριν τοῖς ἀκούουσιν.] [Ὠριγένης φησίν] ἀγαθὸς λόγος ἐστὶ πρὸς οἰκοδομὴν τῆς χρείας διδοὺς χάριν τοῖς ἀκούουσιν ὁ διδασκαλικὸς καὶ ἐπ' ἀρετὴν μὲν προτρεπτικὸς κακίας δὲ ἀποστερητικός· σαπρὸς δέ, ὁ συναύξων τὴν κακίαν καὶ ἐρεθίζων ἐπὶ τὰ χείρονα. [ iv 30] καὶ μὴ λυπεῖτε τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἐν ᾧ ἐσφραγίσθητε εἰς ἡμέραν ἀπολυτρώσεως. εἴπερ ἡ λύπη πάθος ἐστί, καὶ καλῶς ἀποδίδοται περὶ αὐτῆς ὅτι ἐστὶ «δόξα πρόσφατος κακοῦ παρουσίας ἐφ' ᾧ καθήκει συστέλλεσθαι,» οὔτε δὲ δοξάζει τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα οὔτε (ἵνα δοθῇ δοξάζειν) δοξάζει τὸ κακὸν αὐτῷ παρεῖναι, οὐ λυπήσεται τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα. μήποτ' οὖν, τὸ ὅσον ἐφ' ἡμῖν, τάδε πράττοντες λυποῦμεν τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ; καὶ ὁ Κύριος δέ φησιν ἐν τῷ Ἰεζεκιήλ καὶ ἐν πᾶ ι τούτοι ἐλύπε ἐμέ. τὰ δὲ πολλάκις ἡμῖν εἰρημένα περὶ ὀργῆς καὶ θυμοῦ ὕπνου τε καὶ τῶν ἀνθρωποπαθῶν φωνῶν χρήσιμα καὶ εἰς τὸν λόγον τὸν περὶ τοῦ μὴ λυπεῖτε τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον τοῦ Θεοῦ. ἐσφραγίσθημεν δὲ τῷ ἁγίῳ πνεύματι, ἵνα τὸν τύπον τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος δεξάμενοι, ἀμερίστου μείναντος τοῦ σφραγίσαντος, τοὺς τύπους λαβόντες τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος ἅγιοι γενώμεθα, καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ ἀνθρώπου καθ' ἕκαστον ἡμῶν τὸ ἐν ἡμῖν ἅγιον γένηται, οἶμαι δὲ ὅτι καὶ ἡ ψυχή. τῷ πνεύματι μὲν οὖν τῷ ἁγίῳ ὁ σφραγιζόμενος σφραγίζεται, ὁ δὲ Θεός ἐστιν ὁ σφραγίζων. σφραγίζεται δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς τῷ ἁγίῳ πνεύματι πᾶς ὁ ἐκ τοῦ πιστεύειν τῷ Θεῷ φραγί α ὅτι ἀληθή ἐ τιν ὁ Θεό · καὶ σφραγίζεται ἵνα τηρήσας τὴν σφραγῖδα καὶ δείξας αὐτὴν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ἀπολυτρώσεως ἄθραυστον τοῖς ἀπολυτρουμένοις συναριθμηθῇ. 22 Eph. iv31 πᾶσα πικρία καὶ θυμὸς καὶ ὀργὴ καὶ κραυγὴ καὶ βλασφημία ἀρθήτω ἀφ' ὑμῶν σὺν πάσῃ κακίᾳ. [Ὠριγένης φησίν] γενικὸν μέν τινες πάθος ᾠήθησαν εἶναι τὴν ὀργήν, καὶ αὐτὴν τάξαντες ὑπὸ γένος τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν· καὶ ὅρον γε ἀποδεδώκασι τῆς ὀργῆς τοιοῦτον «ὀργή ἐστιν ἐπιθυμία τιμωρίας τοῦ δοκοῦντος οὐ προσηκόντως ἠδικηκέναι.» εἴδη δὲ πολλὰ τῆς ὀργῆς ἀναγράψαντες, συγκατατάττουσιν αὐτοῖς τὴν πικρίαν μὲν εἶναι ὀργὴν δυσπαράδεκτον ἢ παραχρῆμα ἐκρηγνυμένην (εἰλῆφθαι δέ φασι τὸ δυσπαράδεκτον

About this text

Origen of Alexandria, Fragmenta ex commentariis in epistulam ad Ephesios (Greek).

Catalogue & scope

Khazarzar scan

Witnesses

Copy-text PG 14 (Khazarzar) (Greek)

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