Ephesians 6:10-20
Put on the armor of God
6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power;
6:11 put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil,
6:12 for our struggle is not against blood and flesh but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
6:13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on the evil day and, having prevailed against everything, to stand firm.
6:14 Stand, therefore, and belt your waist with truth and put on the breastplate of righteousness
6:15 and lace up your sandals in preparation for the gospel of peace.
6:16 With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
6:17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
6:18 Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints.
6:19 Pray also for me, so that when I speak a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel,
6:20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.
St Paul, Ephesians 6:10-20
[10] Τὸ λοιπόν, ἀδελφοί μου, ἐνδυναμοῦσθε ἐν Κυρίῳ καὶ ἐν τῷ κράτει τῆς ἰσχύος αὐτοῦ.
[11]ἐνδύσασθε τὴν πανοπλίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ πρὸς τὸ δύνασθαι ὑμᾶς στῆναι πρὸς τὰς μεθοδείας τοῦ διαβόλου·
[12]ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἡμῖν ἡ πάλη πρὸς αἷμα καὶ σάρκα, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὰς ἀρχάς, πρὸς τὰς ἐξουσίας, πρὸς τοὺς κοσμοκράτορας τοῦ σκότους τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου, πρὸς τὰ πνευματικὰ τῆς πονηρίας ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις.
[13] διὰ τοῦτο ἀναλάβετε τὴν πανοπλίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἵνα δυνηθῆτε ἀντιστῆναι ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ πονηρᾷ καὶ ἅπαντα κατεργασάμενοι στῆναι.
[14]στῆτε οὖν περιζωσάμενοι τὴν ὀσφὺν ὑμῶν ἐν ἀληθείᾳ, καὶ ἐνδυσάμενοι τὸν θώρακα τῆς δικαιοσύνης,
[15]καὶ ὑποδησάμενοι τοὺς πόδας ἐν ἑτοιμασίᾳ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου τῆς εἰρήνης,
[16] ἐπὶ πᾶσιν ἀναλαβόντες τὸν θυρεὸν τῆς πίστεως, ἐν ᾧ δυνήσεσθε πάντα τὰ βέλη τοῦ πονηροῦ τὰ πεπυρωμένα σβέσαι·
[17]καὶ τὴν περικεφαλαίαν τοῦ σωτηρίου δέξασθε, καὶ τὴν μάχαιραν τοῦ Πνεύματος, ὅ ἐστι ῥῆμα Θεοῦ, –
[18] διὰ πάσης προσευχῆς καὶ δεήσεως, προσευχόμενοι ἐν παντὶ καιρῷ ἐν Πνεύματι, καὶ εἰς αὐτὸ τοῦτο ἀγρυπνοῦντες ἐν πάσῃ προσκαρτερήσει καὶ δεήσει περὶ πάντων τῶν ἁγίων,
[19]καὶ ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ, ἵνα μοι δοθῇ λόγος ἐν ἀνοίξει τοῦ στόματός μου, ἐν παρρησίᾳ γνωρίσαι τὸ μυστήριον τοῦ εὐαγγελίου,
[20] ὑπὲρ οὗ πρεσβεύω ἐν ἁλύσει, ἵνα ἐν αὐτῷ παρρησιάσωμαι ὡς δεῖ με λαλῆσαι.
Comments
St Paul girds his text with military and political metaphors from classical Athens. One is struck by his mention of the panoply, donned by the citizens of Athens (although the military outfits of his day may have changed). A classicist’s ears will prick up at the mention of παρρησία, ‘freedom of speech and thought’, the constitutional cornerstone of Athenian democracy. The ‘semantic shift’ of this term is noteworthy, esp. as it is correlated to one’s relationship to God in the LXX and NT.
[10] Τὸ λοιπόν: adv. acc., as the 1st word in a clause, esp. when assoc. with ἀδελφοὶ (μου), expresses a consequence, ‘as a result, so’, Polybius. (Camb. Lex. Anc. Gk, s.v. λοιπός; EDNT, s.v. λοιπός, 3). λοιπόν, now rarely τὸ λοιπόν, is still used in modern Greek as the equivalent of French alors or Italian allora.
[11] πανοπλίαν: ‘suit of armour of a hoplite (i.e. infantryman), i.e. shield, helmet, breast plate, greaves, sword, and lance’, cl. Gk (LSJ s.v.). St Paul uses military imagery.
τὰς μεθοδείας: ‘craft, wiliness’, 1st attested in Eph. Cf. Engl. method.
[13] ἀναλάβετε τὴν πανοπλίαν: ‘Take up, lift up the full suit of armour’. ἀναλαμβάνω, ‘take upon oneself, assume’ (LSJ s.v. I.3). Cf. v. 16, ἀναλαβόντες.
ἀντιστῆναι: inf.,2nd aor., act., intr. οf ἀνθίσταμαι, mid., ‘stand against, esp. in battle, withstand’ (LSJ s.v. ἀνθίστημι).
στῆναι: here, ‘to stand (ready)’. Cf. v. 14, στῆτε, 2nd pers. pl. imper. 2nd aor., ‘Stand!’ [16] τὸν θυρεὸν: ‘οblong shield (shaped like a door, θύρα)’, late (LSJ s.v II).
[18] προσευχῆς καὶ δεήσεως: synonyms; προσευχή, ‘prayer’, LXX. Cf. προσεύχομαι, ‘offer prayers or vows’, c. dat., θεοῖς (‘to the gods’); absol., ‘pray, worship’, cl. Gk (LSJ s.v. I.1, 3).
δέησις (δέομαι), ‘entreaty’ (in a secular sense), cl. Gk (LSJ s.v. I.1); but in LXX, ‘prayer to God’, Si. 32.20 (Muraoka s.v.). Cf. δεήσει in the same verse.
The tautological phrase προσευχῆς καὶ δεήσεως is found in LXX, 1 M 7.37, οἶκος προσευχῆς καὶ δεήσεως (Muraoka s.v. προσευχή). Tautology can be a pointless repetition and hence a pleonasm, but here the doubling gives emphasis to the idea of ‘prayer’.
ἐν πάσῃ προσκαρτερήσει: προσκαρτέρησις, ‘perserverance, patience’ (Hellenistic Gk) (LSJ s.v.); here the phrase means ‘with all perserverance’, referring to persistent and enduring prayer (ΕDNT s.v.).
[19] ἐν παρρησίᾳ γνωρίσαι: γνωρίζω, ‘to make known’, already cl. Gk—its basic meaning also in LXX and NT, esp. Paul; here = ‘to report’ (LSJ s.v. A.1, Muraoka, & EDNT s.v.2). παρρησία was the trademark of Athenian democracy by the second half of the fifth century BC: ‘freedom of speech and thought’ (J. Ober, Mass and elite in democratic Athens, Princeton, NJ, 1989, p. 296). In LXX ‘freedom of action’; ‘candid and uninhibited manner of speech’ (Muraoka s.v. a, b), e.g. Lev. 26:13, God declares that ‘I delivered you μετὰ παρρησίας, “in freedom”).
In our pericope = ‘in all candour, boldness’ (EDNT s.v. , p. 47).
[20] πρεσβεύω ἐν ἁλύσει: πρεσβεύω, ‘be an ambassador or serve as one’, cl. Gk (LSJ s.v. IIa).
ἅλυσις, ‘chain’, cl. Gk (LSJ 1).
παρρησιάσωμαι: παρρησιάζομαι, mid., ‘speak freely’, cl. Gk (LSJ s.v.); in LXX, ‘act with boldness’; ‘speak boldly’ (Muraoka s.v. a, b). In NT the vb means ‘speak candidly’; ‘gain courage’ (EDNT s.v.).
Insights into Biblical Greek Grammar and Syntax 