This interesting phrase consists of two Greek terms, the familiar (me), translated “not”; and the word (orgilos), translated in the NKJV “quick-tempered”.
The word orgilos, an adjective, only appears in Titus 1:7. It appears four times in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament), in Proverbs 18:48, 21:9, 22:24, and 29:22.
Though the adjective only appears once, the verb forms (orgizo and parorgismos) and the noun (orge) also are found in the New Testament. Of interest is the verb (orgizo) in Ephesians 4:26, “‘Be angry, and do not sin’: do not let the sun go down on your wrath.” “Be angry” indicates provocation, and Vine states in this passage it indicates a “just occasion for the feeling.”
Everyone gets angry, but is there a legitimacy to the anger? If so, one may be angry, but is not allowed to let that anger cause him to sin — “do not let the sun go down on your wrath.”
It is not acceptable, though, to be prone to anger, or soon angry (Thayer and Strong’s definition of our word). In the KJV the phrase is translated “not soon angry.”
This should be true with every Christian. “For pressing milk produces curds, pressing the nose produces blood, and pressing anger produces strife” (Proverbs 30:33).
For an elder, to be quickly provoked to anger leads to destruction rather than edification. Overseers are to feed and protect the flock. This takes patience, and a mildness of manner that is incompatible with being “quick-tempered.”
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