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Eph_6:11. What they are to do in order to become thus strong, in connection with which the figurative discourse represents the readers as warriors (comp. 2Co_10:4; 1Th_5:8; Rom_6:13; Rom_6:23; Rom_13:12; 1Ti_1:18; 1Ti_6:12; 2Ti_4:7). The more familiar, however, this figure was to the apostle, the more freely and independently is it here carried out, although (comp. on τοῦ σωτηρίου , Eph_6:17) a reminiscence of Isa_59:17 (comp. Wis_5:17 ff., and thereon Grimm, Handb. p. 119 f.) underlies it.[297]
τὴν πανοπλίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ ] τὴν πανοπλ . has the emphasis. In the very fact that not merely single pieces of the armour (Luther: harness), but the whole armour of God is put on (“ne quid nobis desit,” Calvin), resides the capacity of resistance to the devil. If τοῦ Θεοῦ had the emphasis (Harless), there must have been a contrast to other spiritual weapons (for that no material, actual weapons were meant, was self-evident). Rightly, therefore, have most expositors kept by the literal meaning of πανοπλία , complete suit of armour of the heavy-armed soldier, ὁπλίτης (see Herod, i. 60; Plato, Legg. vii. p. 796 B; Bos, Exercitt. p. 192; Ottii Spicileg. p. 409); and the assertion (recently by Harless) that it here is equivalent generally to armatura (Vulgate, which was justly censured by Beza), is arbitrary and contrary to linguistic usage; even in Jdt_14:3, 2Ma_3:25, the notion of the complete equipment is to be adhered to.[298] According to Polybius, vi. 23. 2 ff., there belong to the Roman ΠΑΝΟΠΛΊΑ shield, sword, greaves, spear, breastplate, helmet. But the circumstance that in the detailed carrying out of the figure, Eph_6:13 ff., not all these parts are mentioned (the spear is wanting), and withal some portions are brought in (girdle, military sandals) which did not belong exclusively to the equipment of the heavy-armed soldier, but to military equipment in general, can, least of all in the case of Paul, occasion surprise or betray a special set purpose. Whether, we may add, the apostle thought of a Jewish or a Roman warrior is, doubtless, substantially in itself a matter of indifference, since the kinds of armour in the two cases were in general the same (see Keil, Arch. § 158); but the latter supposition is the most natural, inasmuch as the Roman soldiery wielded the power in all the provinces, Paul himself was surrounded by Roman soldiery, and for most Gentile readers in a non-Jewish province the term πανοπλία could not but call up the thought of the Roman soldier. Even though Paul had, as we must suppose, the recollection of Isa_59:17 when he was employing such figurative language, this did not prevent his transferring the prophetic reminiscence to the conception of a Roman warrior (in opposition to Harless).
τοῦ Θεοῦ ] genitivus auctoris: the πανοπλία , which comes from God, which God furnishes. Sense without the figure: “appropriate to yourselves all the means of defence and offence which God bestows, in order to be in a position to withstand the machinations of the devil.”
στῆναι πρός ] stand one’s ground against; a military expression in keeping with the figure. See Kypke, II. p. 301. Comp. Thucyd. v. 104, and Poppo’s note thereon. The same thing is implied by στῆναι , with the dative, Hom. Il. xxi. 600. Comp. ἀντίστητε τῷ διαβόλῳ , Jam_4:7.
ΤᾺς ΜΕΘΟΔ .] See on Eph_4:14. The plural denotes the concrete manifestations, Kühner, ad Xen. Mem. i. 1. 11. Luther aptly renders: the wily assaults.
τοῦ διαβόλου ] “principis hostium, qui Eph_6:12 ostenduntur,” Bengel.
[297] According to de Wette, we have here “a playful imitation in detail of 1Th_5:8, in which use is made of Isa_59:17 (perhaps also of Wis_5:17 ff.).” An unwarranted judgment, inasmuch as Paul himself could here carry out more comprehensively his figure elsewhere thrown out in only a few outlines, and this he has done worthily and without attempt at play. An imitator, on the other hand, would here have assigned no other signification to the pieces of armour mentioned 1Th_5:3 than they bear in that place.
[298] Of the manner in which Paul himself wore and wielded the πανοπλία τοῦ Θεοῦ , his whole labours and each one of his Epistles afford the most brilliant evidence; the latter especially in such outbursts as Rom_8:31 ff.; 2Co_4:4 ff., 2Co_4:11; 2Co_4:13 ff. Comp. also 2Co_10:4 f.