The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated as “anger” or similar in English in this verse is translated with a variety of solutions (Bratcher / Nida says: “Since anger has so many manifestations and seems to affect so many aspects of personality, it is not strange that expressions used to describe this emotional response are so varied”).
Chichewa: “have a burning heart” (source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation) (see also anger burned in him)
Citak: two different terms, one meaning “angry” and one meaning “offended,” both are actually descriptions of facial expressions. The former can be represented by an angry stretching of the eyes or by an angry frown. The latter is similarly expressed by an offended type of frown with one’s head lowered. (Source: Graham Ogden)
In Akan, a number of metaphors are used, most importantly abufuo, lit. “weedy chest” (the chest is seen as a container that contains the heart but can also metaphorically be filled with other fluids etc.), but also abufuhyeε lit. “hot/burning weedy chest” and anibereε, lit. “reddened eyes.” (Source: Gladys Nyarko Ansah in Kövecses / Benczes / Szelid 2024, p. 21ff.)
Following are a number of back-translations of Ephesians 4:31:
Uma: “So, stop [lit., release / let-go-of] all deeds like this: easily angered/hurt, angry and carrying-grudges [lit., bony hearted], fighting, cursing and slandering. Let go of all these with all other evil character.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Leave/give up now all hurt/pain in your liver (idiom for very strong bad feelings, similar to anger but stronger) your anger and voicing your anger. Don’t shout-at (people) any more. Don’t speak bad to/about your companions anymore. Don’t hate your companions any more.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Stop being against each other; don’t become disgusted or angry at your companion; do not quarrel; don’t gossip; don’t you permit that anything that your companion does causes your breath to become bad. (causes you to become resentful, offended).” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “So you ought to avoid all hurt feelings, hatred, and anger toward your fellows. Neither should you quarrel/fight and argue and you should not speak-evil-of your fellows. Neither should you have any thought of treating-your fellows -maliciously.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Therefore what is really necessary is, remove now all of this from your life, a mind/inner-being which is-quickly-incensed, anger, spurning/ignoring (people), and angry, loud words with which you express your anger at others. Don’t now stongly-mouth-off at your companions in which you really want to harm them. Really throw off all of these.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Now separate from all the words I tell you now: the strife, the anger, the arguments, the insults. Do not hate anyone.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Illustration by Horst Lemke (1922-1985) for the GermanGute Nachricht für Sie – NT68, one of the first editions of the Good News Bible in German of 1968. Lemke was a well-known illustrator who illustrated books by Erich Kästner , Astrid Lindgren and many others.
Here the writer names six sins which are to be gotten rid of. The Greek verb “carry off, take away, remove” is in the passive voice, but it does not seem that the writer means anything other than what a speaker in English would mean by ordering someone “This must be gotten rid of.” Barth, however, takes it to indicate God as the actor. The passive serves to make the personal element in the command a little less direct, or the use of the passive may be a purely stylistic device.
In a number of languages an expression such as get rid of is perfectly appropriate when speaking of objects but makes little or no sense in talking about emotions. Therefore, instead of saying get rid of all bitterness it may be necessary to say “cease completely being bitter.”
Of the six sins listed, four are also included in Colossians 3.8: passion, anger, insults, and hateful feelings.
Bitterness translates a noun found also in Acts 8.23; Romans 3.14; Hebrews 12.15. As Robinson says, it denotes “an embittered and resentful spirit which refuses reconciliation.” This is often expressed figuratively, “to feel stings because of someone” or “to feel heat in one’s stomach because of someone.”
Passion and anger are here practically synonymous. Some commentators see the Greek for “anger” as the settled condition and the Greek for “passion” as an occasional outburst of emotion. Care should be taken to avoid the idea of sexual desire in a word for passion; instead, what should be expressed is strong resentment and anger because of what someone else may have done.
Shouting here probably has the idea of “disputes, quarrels” (see the use of the word in Acts 23.9). New International Version has “brawling” (which sounds like fights in a saloon), and Translator’s New Testament has “bawling” (which sound like weeping); New American Bible has “harsh words”; New English Bible “angry shouting.”
Insults (Good News Translation) or “slander” (Revised Standard Version and others) is abusive speech against someone by telling lies or otherwise offending him. (The word may mean “blasphemy,” that is, irreverent speech about God, but this meaning is hardly possible here.)
With terms such as shouting and insults it is frequently necessary to indicate some goal or object, and therefore no more shouting or insults may be rendered as “you must no longer yell at people or insult them.” The final phrase no more hateful feelings of any sort may be rendered as “you must no longer hate anyone at all.”
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert C. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1982. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
Get rid of all: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Get rid of all is literally “Let all (bitterness, rage, anger) be removed from you.” This is a passive. The Berean Standard Bible and some other translations have changed the passive form to an active form. This active form is a strong way of saying, “Eliminate all…” or “Stop being [bitter, angry…].”
This is a figure of speech similar to “put off” in 4:22a. It is as if the sins of bitterness and anger are physical objects that we can throw away.
Translate this command in a way that is natural in your language. The first two meaning lines of the Display are examples with an active form. The third meaning line is an example of a passive form.
4:31b
bitterness: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as bitterness means feeling resentful or hatred toward someone or something that happened.
Here are some other ways to translate this word:
resentment
-or-
very bad feelings against others
-or-
hatred
rage and anger: The Greek words the Berean Standard Bible translates as rage and anger are very similar. The word translated as rage refers to a loud outburst of anger. The word translated as anger refers to an inward angry feeling.
Here are some ways to translate these words:
bad temper or anger (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
hot tempers, anger (God’s Word)
-or-
angry and mad (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
intense feeling of anger or wrath
4:31c
outcry: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as outcry refers to a loud shout of grief or anger.
Here are some other ways to translate this word:
loud quarrelling (God’s Word)
-or-
harsh words (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
loud disputes
slander: The word slander refers to insults, or saying untrue things about people.
along with every form of malice: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as malice is a general word covering all kinds of evil or hateful behavior. Some other ways this phrase has been translated include:
all types of evil behavior (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
hateful feelings of any sort (Good News Translation)
General Comment on 4:31b–d
Think about idioms or natural ways to describe these kinds of behavior in your language. For example, “bitterness” may be “having a small liver,” “rage and anger” may be “Do not be angry and have bones in your heart” or “do not let your intestines be all knotted up.”
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
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