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Psalm 4 · a question people ask

Is "Be angry, and don’t sin" (Ephesians 4:26) quoting this psalm?

In the text

Paul (Ephesians 1:1) writes, "Be angry, and don’t sin" (Ephesians 4:26), and the WEB sets those words in quotation marks. But Paul doesn't say where they come from, and the WEB words this psalm differently: "Stand in awe, and don’t sin" (Psalm 4:4). In Hebrew the psalm's verb is ragaz (tap awe). Brown-Driver-Briggs gives it as "be agitated, quiver, quake, be excited, perturbed", and Strong's as "to quiver (with any violent emotion, especially anger or fear)". The same verb is in Joseph's word to his brothers, "See that you don’t quarrel on the way" (Genesis 45:24), and in "Let the peoples tremble" (Psalm 99:1). The New Testament is written in Greek, and these notes don't compare the Greek, so they don't say whether Paul had this psalm in mind.

The verses

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus, and the faithful in Christ Jesus:”
Ephesians 1:1 · World English Bible
““Be angry, and don’t sin.” Don’t let the sun go down on your wrath,”
Ephesians 4:26 · World English Bible
“Stand in awe, and don’t sin. Search your own heart on your bed, and be still. Selah.”
Psalm 4:4 · World English Bible
“The sons of Israel did so. Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way.”
Genesis 45:21 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Psalm 4

Psalm 4: Answer me when I call

"Answer me when I call" (4:1) and "The LORD will hear when I call to him" (4:3) share one Hebrew word, beqor'i. In the first verse the psalm asks for relief, rachav, being made wide, in distress, tsar, a tight place. And Strong's gives the safety of the last verse (4:8) as "from 982", the verb of "Put your trust in the LORD" (4:5).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions