Ephesians 6:13

διὰ τοῦτο�, Ephesians 6:16. Constantly used of taking up arms, Deuteronomy 1:41; Jeremiah 26:3; Jdt 6:12; 2Ma 10:27 etc. with τὰς πανοπλίας αὐτῶν Jdt 14:3.

τὴν πανοπλίαν του θεοῦ, Ephesians 6:11. The figure is now to be worked out in detail. The armour, as we have seen in the light of the O.T. parallels quoted above, is the armour of the Christ, the Suffering Servant who is at the same time the Conquering Warrior. It consists, to use the language of St John 1:17, of grace and truth, of moral qualities rooted in and guarded by the truths of the Christian Revelation.

ἵνα δυνηθῆτε� Matthew 5:39; James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:9.

ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ πονητᾷ. Cf. Ephesians 5:16.

καὶ ἅπαντα κατεργασάμενοι στῆναι. It is surely impossible to give στῆναι a different sense from στῆτε. It cannot therefore refer to ‘standing’ in the sense of being approved before the judgement seat of Christ as in Revelation 6:17; Luke 21:36; Romans 14:4. It must mean ‘to stand at attention,’ ready for offence or defence. If so the conflict cannot be regarded as over, i.e. ἅπαντα κατεργασάμενοι cannot mean ‘when you have finally worked out your salvation’ (Philippians 2:12), or ‘reaped all the fruits of Christ’s victory.’ It may refer to each successive crisis in the struggle, ‘after each fresh assault has been successfully repulsed.’ This is just the moment when the warrior is most likely to be found off his guard. Wetstein quotes many passages to illustrate the meaning of ‘overcoming,’ ‘wearing down opposition.’ Cf. Ezekiel 34:4. It may however be taken simply ‘having done all that is in your power,’ which in this context would mean ‘having completed your preparations.’ The Latin rendering, ‘in omnibus perfecti,’suggests this idea, however it was arrived at. κατεργάζεσθαι from time to time assumes from the context the sense of preparation. Cf. 2 Corinthians 5:5; Exodus 15:17; Exodus 35:33; Exodus 38:24; Deuteronomy 28:39.