CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0;"/><title>Ephesians 6 Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</title><link rel="canonical" href="https://biblehub.com/commentaries/expositors/ephesians/6.htm" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/5001com.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 4800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 4800px)" href="/4801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1550px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1550px)" href="/1551.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1250px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1250px)" href="/1251.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1050px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1050px)" href="/1051.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 900px), only screen and (max-device-width: 900px)" href="/901.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 800px)" href="/801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 575px), only screen and (max-device-width: 575px)" href="/501.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-height: 450px), only screen and (max-device-height: 450px)" href="/h451.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-LR4HSKRP2H"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-LR4HSKRP2H'); </script><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/ephesians/6.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="//biblehu.com/bmcom/ephesians/6-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="/commentaries/">Commentary</a> > <a href="../">Ellicott</a> > <a href="../ephesians/">Ephesians</a></div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../ephesians/5.htm" title="Ephesians 5">◄</a> Ephesians 6 <a href="../philippians/1.htm" title="Philippians 1">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</div><div class="chap"> <div class="versenum"><a href="/ephesians/6-1.htm">Ephesians 6:1</a></div><div class="verse">Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.</div><span class= "bld">VI.</span><p>(4<span class= "ital"> b</span>.) In <a href="/context/ephesians/6-1.htm" title="Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.">Ephesians 6:1-4</a>. St. Paul passes from the detailed exposition of the true relation of husbands and wives, to deal with the relation of parents and children, far more cursorily and simply, but under the light of the same idea. It is to be thought of as existing “in the Lord,” <span class= "ital">i.e., </span>within the unity binding all to Christ, in virtue of which the parental authority and the right freedom of the child are both hallowed.<p>(1) <span class= "bld">In the Lord.</span>—The phrase itself, though familiar in St. Paul’s writings generally, is specially frequent in the Epistles of the Captivity, where it occurs in various connections no less than twenty-one times. (See, for example, <a href="/ephesians/2-21.htm" title="In whom all the building fitly framed together grows to an holy temple in the Lord:">Ephesians 2:21</a>; <a href="/ephesians/3-11.htm" title="According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:">Ephesians 3:11</a>; <a href="/ephesians/4-1.htm" title="I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation with which you are called,">Ephesians 4:1</a>; <a href="/ephesians/4-17.htm" title="This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you from now on walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,">Ephesians 4:17</a>; <a href="/ephesians/5-8.htm" title="For you were sometimes darkness, but now are you light in the Lord: walk as children of light:">Ephesians 5:8</a>; <a href="/ephesians/6-10.htm" title="Finally, my brothers, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.">Ephesians 6:10</a>; <a href="/ephesians/6-21.htm" title="But that you also may know my affairs, and how I do, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to you all things:">Ephesians 6:21</a>.) It is, in fact, a brief indication of their great subject—unity with and in Christ. Here to “obey in the Lord” is to obey under the light and grace of that unity, as already belonging both to parents and children, and transfiguring all natural relations to a diviner glory.<p><span class= "bld">This is right.</span>—Right, <span class= "ital">i.e., </span>by fundamental laws of humanity, recognised in all races and all ages, declared and sanctioned in God’s commandments (<a href="/context/ephesians/6-2.htm" title="Honor your father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise;">Ephesians 6:2-3</a>), which are at once both old and new “in the Lord.”<p>(1) In <a href="/context/ephesians/6-10.htm" title="Finally, my brothers, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.">Ephesians 6:10-17</a>. St. Paul sums up his practical exhortation in that magnificent description which has ever since laid hold of Christian imagination, both in metaphor and in allegory. He paints the Christian life as a battle against spiritual powers of evil, waged in the strength of the Lord, and in the panoply of God. We trace the germ of this great passage first in St. Paul’s earliest Epistle (<a href="/context/1_thessalonians/5-8.htm" title="But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.">1Thessalonians 5:8-9</a>), and then in the later Epistle to the Romans (<a href="/romans/13-12.htm" title="The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.">Romans 13:12</a>). In both these cases the image is of soldiers starting from sleep at day-break to arm for the fray in the morning light. But it is characteristic of the more elaborate and thoughtful style of this Epistle, and of the circumstances under which it was written (in the watchful presence of the full-armed Roman “soldiers that kept” St. Paul), that the image there briefly touched is here worked out in full beauty of detail.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/ephesians/6-2.htm">Ephesians 6:2</a></div><div class="verse">Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;)</div>(2) <span class= "bld">The first commandment with promise.</span>—It is, indeed, in the Decalogue “the only commandment with promise” distinctly attached to it. But it is still the first; the Decalogue being itself the introduction to the Law, in which similar promises are repeated again and again.<p>(2) (18) <span class= "bld">Praying always with all prayer and Supplication.</span>—In this verse the metaphor gives place to direct exhortation, unless, indeed, in the word “watch” there still lingers some reference to the soldier on guard. “Prayer” is the general word for “worship,” appropriated to God alone; “supplication,” used also towards man, is one element of such worship—the asking what we need from God. In <a href="/philippians/4-6.htm" title="Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.">Philippians 4:6</a> we have first the general word “prayer,” and then the two chief elements of worship, <span class= "ital">“</span>supplication with thanksgiving.” It is by prayer that all the heavenly armour is put on.<p><span class= "bld">In the Spirit.</span>—That is, “in the Spirit of God” (as in <a href="/ephesians/6-18.htm" title="Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;">Ephesians 6:18</a>). Compare the relation of prayer to the inspiration of the Holy Ghost in <a href="/context/romans/8-26.htm" title="Likewise the Spirit also helps our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.">Romans 8:26-27</a>.<p><span class= "bld">And watching thereunto with all perseverance.</span>—These words in themselves obviously supply the other part of our Lord’s command, “Watch and pray,” naturally apposite to the consideration of the Christian warfare. “Perseverance” implies exertion, holding out against fatigue and difficulty. The corresponding verb is used in relation to all kinds of spiritual labour (see <a href="/acts/2-42.htm" title="And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.">Acts 2:42</a>; <a href="/acts/6-4.htm" title="But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.">Acts 6:4</a>; <a href="/acts/8-13.htm" title="Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.">Acts 8:13</a>); but especially in connection with prayer (<a href="/acts/1-14.htm" title="These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.">Acts 1:14</a>; <a href="/romans/12-12.htm" title="Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;">Romans 12:12</a>; <a href="/colossians/4-2.htm" title=" Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;">Colossians 4:2</a>). Perhaps from this frequent connection St. Paul is induced to add to it “supplication,” and this time “for all saints,” so leading on to his usual request for the prayers of his brethren. For this he is willing to sacrifice some part of the perfect appropriateness of idea; since the whole picture hitherto has been of the fight, waged by each for himself (although side by side with others), in the combined power of watchfulness and prayer for God’s help.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/ephesians/6-3.htm">Ephesians 6:3</a></div><div class="verse">That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.</div>(3) <span class= "bld">That it may be well with thee . . .</span>—The quotation is but slightly varied from <a href="/exodus/20-12.htm" title="Honor your father and your mother: that your days may be long on the land which the LORD your God gives you.">Exodus 20:12</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/5-16.htm" title="Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you; that your days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with you, in the land which the LORD your God gives you.">Deuteronomy 5:16</a>. But by the omission of the limiting words, “which the Lord thy God hath given thee,” St. Paul at once generalises the application and determines it to the earth, and not to “the good land” of heaven. The words so interpreted are, therefore, a promise that obedience “in the Lord” to the great natural law on which society rests, shall bring with it reward on earth; just as our Lord tells us of “meekness” that it shall “inherit the earth” (<a href="/matthew/5-5.htm" title="Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.">Matthew 5:5</a>), and St. Paul of “godliness” that it “has the promise of the life that now is, as well as of that which is to come” (<a href="/1_timothy/4-8.htm" title="For bodily exercise profits little: but godliness is profitable to all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.">1Timothy 4:8</a>). The visible exemplification of this law is, indeed, as in all other cases, obscured by the disorder brought in by sin, and, moreover, is affected by the consideration that this life, being a discipline for heaven, must present, in the true sense of the word, “imperfection” or incompleteness, if viewed alone. But it is still a natural law, and is still accordingly fulfilled in actual experience. The promise is not to us so important as to them of old; but it is ours still.<p>(3, 4) <a href="/context/ephesians/6-21.htm" title="But that you also may know my affairs, and how I do, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to you all things:">Ephesians 6:21-24</a> form the conclusion of the Epistle, in commendation of Tychicus’ salutation and blessing. The extreme brevity and generality of this section here—in contrast with St. Paul’s practice in every other Epistle, except the Second Epistle to the Corinthians and the Epistle to the Galatians (both of which have the abruptness of indignation) and especially with the parallel Epistle to the Colossians—seem to bear on the question of the encyclical character of this Epistle.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/ephesians/6-4.htm">Ephesians 6:4</a></div><div class="verse">And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.</div>(4) <span class= "bld">Provoke not your children to wrath.</span>—The word is the same as in <a href="/ephesians/4-26.htm" title="Be you angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down on your wrath:">Ephesians 4:26</a>. It denotes the exasperation produced by arbitrary and unsympathetic rule.<p><span class= "bld">Nurture and admonition of the Lord.</span>—In this phrase we have the two elements of education. “Nurture” is a word signifying generally “the treatment due to a child,” but by usage appropriated to practical training, or teaching by discipline; while “admonition” is the “putting children in mind” by word of instruction. It may be noted that in accordance with the characteristic sternness of ancient education, both words have a tinge of severity in them. The “nurture” of this passage is the same as the “chastening” of the famous passage in <a href="/context/hebrews/12-4.htm" title="You have not yet resisted to blood, striving against sin.">Hebrews 12:4-11</a>. (Compare the cognate verb in <a href="/luke/23-16.htm" title="I will therefore chastise him, and release him.">Luke 23:16</a>; <a href="/1_corinthians/11-32.htm" title="But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.">1Corinthians 11:32</a>; <a href="/2_corinthians/6-9.htm" title="As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed;">2Corinthians 6:9</a>; <a href="/1_timothy/1-20.htm" title="Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered to Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.">1Timothy 1:20</a>; <a href="/revelation/3-19.htm" title="As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.">Revelation 3:19</a>.) The “admonition” is used in <a href="/titus/3-10.htm" title="A man that is an heretic after the first and second admonition reject;">Titus 3:10</a> for rebuke, and, inasmuch as it implies warning, is distinguished from teaching in <a href="/colossians/3-16.htm" title=" Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.">Colossians 3:16</a>. In this, as in other cases, Christianity gradually softened this stern authority of the father—so strikingly exemplified in the old Roman law—by the idea suggested in the addition of the phrase “of the Lord.” The children belong not to the parent only, but to Christ, taken into His arms in baptism, and sealed as His little ones. Hence the “reverence,” which Juvenal enforced in theory as due to children’s natural purity, become realised in Christian practice, and gradually transformed all Christian education to greater gentleness, forbearance, and love.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/ephesians/6-5.htm">Ephesians 6:5</a></div><div class="verse">Servants, be obedient to them that are <i>your</i> masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ;</div>(4 <span class= "ital">c.</span>) In <a href="/context/ephesians/6-5.htm" title="Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as to Christ;">Ephesians 6:5-9</a> the hardest form of subjection, that of slaves to masters, is dealt with, still under the same idea that both are “in Christ.” The slave is the servant of Christ in obeying his master, the master is a fellow-servant with his slave to the same Divine Lord. We notice on this particular subject a remarkable emphasis, and a singular closeness of parallelism between this Epistle and the Epistle to the Colossians; probably to be accounted for by the presence of Onesimus with St. Paul at the time, which would naturally press on him some special consideration of the relation of Christianity to slavery. Accordingly St. Paul’s general attitude towards slavery will be best considered in the Epistle to Philemon (which see). Here it will be sufficient to note that while the institution, unnatural as it is, is left untouched, the declaration of a common fellowship in Christ enunciates a principle absolutely incompatible with slavery, and destined to destroy it.<p>(5) <span class= "bld">Your masters</span> <span class= "bld">according to the flesh.</span>—This phrase (used also in <a href="/colossians/3-12.htm" title=" Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering;">Colossians 3:12</a>) at once implies the necessary limitation of all human slavery. It can subjugate and even kill the body, but it cannot touch the spirit; and it belongs only to the visible life of this world, not to the world to come. The slave is a man in spiritual and immortal being, not a “living tool” or “chattel,” as even philosophy called him.<p><span class= "bld">With fear and trembling.</span>—The phrase is a favourite one with St. Paul. (See <a href="/1_corinthians/2-3.htm" title="And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.">1Corinthians 2:3</a>; <a href="/2_corinthians/7-15.htm" title="And his inward affection is more abundant toward you, whilst he remembers the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling you received him.">2Corinthians 7:15</a>; <a href="/philippians/2-12.htm" title="Why, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.">Philippians 2:12</a>, in all which cases it is applied to the condition of man as man under the weight of solemn responsibility before God.) It recognises the “spirit of bondage unto fear” (<a href="/romans/8-15.htm" title="For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but you have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.">Romans 8:15</a>) necessarily belonging to all who are “under law,” <span class= "ital">i.e.</span>, under obedience to the will of another, as enforced upon them by compulsion; and this fear, moreover, is viewed as showing itself in “trembling” anxiety to obey. So St. Peter commands (<a href="/1_peter/2-18.htm" title="Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the fraudulent.">1Peter 2:18</a>), “Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward;” and it is to be noted that he describes the suffering herein implied as a fellowship with the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ (<a href="/context/ephesians/6-21.htm" title="But that you also may know my affairs, and how I do, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to you all things:">Ephesians 6:21-24</a>).<p><span class= "bld">Singleness of your heart, as unto Christ.</span>—The phrase “singleness of heart,” is here used in its proper sense, from which all others (see <a href="/romans/12-8.htm" title="Or he that exhorts, on exhortation: he that gives, let him do it with simplicity; he that rules, with diligence; he that shows mercy, with cheerfulness.">Romans 12:8</a>; <a href="/2_corinthians/8-2.htm" title="How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded to the riches of their liberality.">2Corinthians 8:2</a>; <a href="/2_corinthians/9-11.htm" title="Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causes through us thanksgiving to God.">2Corinthians 9:11</a>; <a href="/2_corinthians/9-13.htm" title="Whiles by the experiment of this ministration they glorify God for your professed subjection to the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal distribution to them, and to all men;">2Corinthians 9:13</a>) may be derived. It means having but one aim, and that the one which we profess to have, with no duplicity of reservation or hypocrisy. Such singleness of heart cannot be given perfectly to any merely human service, because no such service has a right to our whole heart; hence St. Paul adds, “as unto Christ,” bidding them look on their service as a part of the service to Him who can claim absolute devotion.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/ephesians/6-6.htm">Ephesians 6:6</a></div><div class="verse">Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;</div>(6) <span class= "bld">Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers.</span>—This verse is merely an expansion of the idea of singleness of heart. The word “eyeservice” (used here, and in <a href="/colossians/3-22.htm" title=" Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eye-service, as men pleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God;">Colossians 3:22</a>) is peculiar to St. Paul, and to these passages; the word “menpleasers” is not found elsewhere in the New Testament, but is used in the LXX.; and the antithesis of “pleasing men” and “pleasing God “is not unfrequent with St. Paul. (See <a href="/context/galatians/1-10.htm" title="For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.">Galatians 1:10-11</a>; <a href="/1_thessalonians/2-4.htm" title="But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which tries our hearts.">1Thessalonians 2:4</a>.) To a slave, looking on his master’s authority as mere power imposed by the cruel laws of man, this “eyeservice” is found to be an all but irresistible temptation. It is only when he looks on himself as “the slave of Christ”—who Himself “took on Him the form of a slave” (<a href="/philippians/2-7.htm" title="But made himself of no reputation, and took on him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:">Philippians 2:7</a>) in order to work out the will of God in a sinful world, and to redeem all men from bondage—that he can possibly serve from the heart.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/ephesians/6-7.htm">Ephesians 6:7</a></div><div class="verse">With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men:</div>(7) <span class= "bld">With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men.</span>—Here we ascend to a still higher quality than “singleness of heart.” To do service “with good will,” that is, gladly and cheerfully, “counting it joy to spend and to be spent” in the service, is really to serve, not as a slave, but as a freeman. Only so far as in the relation of slaves to masters there is, or has been, any shadow of the filial and parental relation, is this possible on merely human grounds. But St. Paul urges, in <a href="/1_corinthians/7-22.htm" title="For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ's servant.">1Corinthians 7:22</a>, that the slave “when called in the Lord, becomes the Lord’s freeman,” entering a “service which is perfect freedom.” That conception, logically worked out, has ultimately destroyed slavery. Meanwhile it gave to the slave in his slavery—lightened though not yet removed—the power of service “with good will, as to the Lord.”<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/ephesians/6-8.htm">Ephesians 6:8</a></div><div class="verse">Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether <i>he be</i> bond or free.</div>(8) <span class= "bld">The same shall he receive of the Lord.</span>—This verse clenches the previous exhortations by the inculcation of a sense of responsibility and hope. The phrase itself is emphatic—not <span class= "ital">“he</span> shall receive the reward of his deed,” but “he shall receive the deed itself,” considered as a thing still living and returning on his head, both in the judgments of life and in what we rightly call the “Last Judgment” of the Great Day. A slave in the eye of the law had no rights, and therefore no responsibility or hope. St. Paul therefore bids him, as a Christian, lift his thoughts to a region in which all, bond and free alike, may hear the blessing, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/ephesians/6-9.htm">Ephesians 6:9</a></div><div class="verse">And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him.</div>(9) <span class= "bld">Do</span> <span class= "bld">the same things unto them</span>—<span class= "ital">i.e.</span>, treat them as flesh and blood like yourselves, having, as men, the same claims on you as you on them; “do unto them as ye would that they should do unto you.” The parallel passage in the Colossian Epistle (<a href="/ephesians/4-1.htm" title="I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation with which you are called,">Ephesians 4:1</a>) is the best comment on this, “Give unto your servants what is just and equal.” “To forbear threatening,” or, as in the original, “<span class= "ital">the</span> threatening,” which is so common, is one example of this sense of sympathy. For threatening implies at every moment compulsion and coercion from a position of tyrannical superiority; dealing with the slave as one who has in him no free energy and no sense of duty, and who must be driven like a brute-beast, not led or guided as a man.<p><span class= "bld">Your Master also.</span>—The stronger marginal reading is perhaps better, <span class= "ital">their Master and yours.</span><p><span class= "bld">Respect of persons.</span>—In this phrase the word “person” is used in its original sense (still lingering in our modern use of “person” and “personal,” for “body” and “bodily,”) of the <span class= "ital">persona, i.e., </span>“the mask” of outward condition, circumstance, and privilege. In this general sense our Lord (<a href="/matthew/22-16.htm" title="And they sent out to him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that you are true, and teach the way of God in truth, neither care you for any man: for you regard not the person of men.">Matthew 22:16</a>) is said “to regard not,” and (<a href="/luke/20-21.htm" title="And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that you say and teach rightly, neither accept you the person of any, but teach the way of God truly:">Luke 20:21</a>) “to accept not” the person of man, because “He teaches the way of God <span class= "ital">in truth.”</span> This sense is illustrated in different forms by the other uses of the word “respect of persons,” and the corresponding verb in the New Testament. Thus in <a href="/acts/10-34.htm" title="Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:">Acts 10:34</a>, <a href="/romans/2-11.htm" title="For there is no respect of persons with God.">Romans 2:11</a>, it is used of the distinction of privilege between Jew and Gentile, circumcision and uncircumcision; in <a href="/galatians/2-6.htm" title="But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatever they were, it makes no matter to me: God accepts no man's person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me:">Galatians 2:6</a>, of apostolic dignity in the eyes of men; in <a href="/james/2-1.htm" title="My brothers, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.">James 2:1</a>; <a href="/james/2-9.htm" title="But if you have respect to persons, you commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.">James 2:9</a>, of distinction of social rank; here and in <a href="/colossians/3-25.htm" title=" But he that does wrong shall receive for the wrong which he has done: and there is no respect of persons.">Colossians 3:25</a>, of the difference between the slave and the freeman. In the modern sense of “person,” as signifying the real man, there is, and must be, “respect of persons” in all righteous judgment, whether of God or man.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/ephesians/6-10.htm">Ephesians 6:10</a></div><div class="verse">Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.</div>(6. <span class= "bld">Conclusion</span> (<a href="/context/ephesians/6-10.htm" title="Finally, my brothers, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.">Ephesians 6:10-24</a>).<p>(1) FINAL EXHORTATION to put on the whole armour of God, in order to stand fast in the struggle, not against flesh and blood, but against unearthly powers of evil (<a href="/context/ephesians/6-10.htm" title="Finally, my brothers, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.">Ephesians 6:10-17</a>).<p>(2) SPECIAL DESIRE OF THEIR PRAYERS, as for themselves and for all men, so especially for St. Paul himself (<a href="/context/ephesians/6-18.htm" title="Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;">Ephesians 6:18-20</a>).<p>(3) COMMENDATION OF TYCHICUS (<a href="/context/ephesians/6-21.htm" title="But that you also may know my affairs, and how I do, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to you all things:">Ephesians 6:21-22</a>).<p>(4) CLOSING SALUTATION (<a href="/context/ephesians/6-23.htm" title="Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.">Ephesians 6:23-24</a>).]<p>(10) <span class= "bld">Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord.</span>—The address “my brethren” appears to be an interpolation (probably from <a href="/philippians/3-1.htm" title="Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.">Philippians 3:1</a>). Frequent as it is from St. Paul, it is not found either in this or in the Colossian Epistle.<p><span class= "bld">Be strong.</span>—Properly, <span class= "ital">be strengthened in the inner man; go</span> on from strength to strength (as in <a href="/acts/9-22.htm" title="But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelled at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ.">Acts 9:22</a>; <a href="/2_timothy/2-1.htm" title="You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.">2Timothy 2:1</a>). So in <a href="/philippians/4-13.htm" title="I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.">Philippians 4:13</a> we have the cognate expression, “Christ that strengtheneth me,” in whom “I can do all things.” The conception is nearly that of <a href="/ephesians/3-16.htm" title="That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;">Ephesians 3:16</a>; except that there the idea is rather of passive strength and firmness, here of active power to fight “in the power of God’s might,” working in us, because it works in our Master. (Comp. <a href="/context/ephesians/1-19.htm" title="And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,">Ephesians 1:19-20</a>.) It differs also from that which follows. “Christ in us” is here our life and indwelling strength; in the next verses the likeness of Christ, as manifested in various graces, is the armour “put on” for the battle.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/ephesians/6-11.htm">Ephesians 6:11</a></div><div class="verse">Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.</div>(11) <span class= "bld">Put on the whole armour.</span>—The special emphasis in this verse is on “the whole armour,” or “panoply” (a word only used here and in <a href="/luke/11-22.htm" title="But when a stronger than he shall come on him, and overcome him, he takes from him all his armor wherein he trusted, and divides his spoils.">Luke 11:22</a>); not mainly on its strength or its brightness, as “armour of light” (comp. <a href="/romans/13-12.htm" title="The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.">Romans 13:12</a>), but on its completeness, providing against all “the wiles” and “all the fiery darts” of the Evil One, leaving no one point unguarded by a carelessness which may be fatal on all. In this it accords well with the general completeness and harmony of idea so characteristic of this Epistle.<p>To put on the “armour of God”—given us, that is, by God—is declared (by comparison of <a href="/romans/13-12.htm" title="The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.">Romans 13:12</a>; <a href="/romans/13-14.htm" title="But put you on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.">Romans 13:14</a>) to be to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” Hence its completeness corresponds to the divine perfection of His true humanity. We are “to grow up unto Him in all things” (<a href="/ephesians/4-15.htm" title="But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:">Ephesians 4:15</a>), to put on His image in all the harmony of “truth” and “righteousness,” of “peace” and “faith,” to receive and use His “salvation” and wield the spiritual energy of His “Word.”<p><span class= "bld">The wiles of the devil.</span>—The word “wiles” (used only here and in <a href="/ephesians/4-14.htm" title="That we from now on be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;">Ephesians 4:14</a>) is an almost technical word for the stratagems of a skilful leader. It is notable that these “wiles” are ascribed to the devil, the “prince of the evil spirits” directing his hosts against the army of Christ; the actual “wrestling” of hand-to-hand struggle is with these evil spirits themselves. The word “wrestling” is, of course, not used technically, otherwise the counsel must have been (as in <a href="/hebrews/12-1.htm" title="Why seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,">Hebrews 12:1</a>) to divest oneself of all encumbrance. It is the personal grapple with the foe. Still it is possible that there may be some allusion to the “wrestling with the angel” of <a href="/context/genesis/32-24.htm" title="And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.">Genesis 32:24-29</a>, though with a wholly diverse application.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/ephesians/6-12.htm">Ephesians 6:12</a></div><div class="verse">For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high <i>places</i>.</div>(12) <span class= "bld">For we wrestle.</span>—Properly, <span class= "ital">For our wrestling is.</span> That there is a struggle, a “battle of life,” must be assumed at once by all who look at the world as it is; the question is whether it is against flesh and blood, or against a more unearthly power of evil.<p><span class= "bld">Flesh and blood.</span>—Or rather (as perhaps also in <a href="/hebrews/2-14.htm" title="For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;">Hebrews 2:14</a>), <span class= "ital">blood and flesh.</span> So in <a href="/john/1-13.htm" title="Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.">John 1:13</a>, “Not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh.” In <a href="/matthew/16-17.htm" title="And Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood has not revealed it to you, but my Father which is in heaven.">Matthew 16:17</a>, <a href="/1_corinthians/15-50.htm" title="Now this I say, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit incorruption.">1Corinthians 15:50</a>, we have “flesh and blood.” The sense is clearly, as the comparison of all these passages shows, “mere human power.” Possibly the word “blood” is here put first to prevent even a moment’s confusion with the idea of wrestling against “the flesh” as an evil power within ourselves. In many passages of this Epistle St. Paul had dwelt on the opposition of the Christian to the heathen life, and the duty of rebuking and putting to shame the works of darkness; but here he warns us that the struggle is not a struggle with the “flesh and blood” of wicked men—a struggle which may still admit of some reserve of sympathy—but a truceless war with the spiritual powers of evil themselves.<p><span class= "bld">Against principalities, against powers.</span>—See Note on <a href="/ephesians/1-21.htm" title="Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:">Ephesians 1:21</a>.<p><span class= "bld">Against the rulers . . .</span>—“Principalities” and “powers” describe simply angelic powers, whether of good or evil. But in the following clauses St. Paul defines them as powers of evil, and appears to indicate two different aspects of this evil power. The original phrase is striking and powerful, “against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual powers of wickedness in the heavenly places.”<p><span class= "bld">The rulers of the darkness.</span>—Properly, <span class= "ital">the world-rulers of this darkness.</span> This phrase is simply a poetical expression of the idea conveyed by the title “the prince of this world,” applied to Satan in <a href="/john/12-31.htm" title="Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.">John 12:31</a>; <a href="/john/14-30.htm" title="Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world comes, and has nothing in me.">John 14:30</a>; <a href="/john/16-11.htm" title="Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.">John 16:11</a> (on which see Notes). For “this darkness” is obviously (as our version renders it, following an early gloss on the passage) “the darkness of this present world,” as a world overshadowed by sin, and so kept, wholly or partially, from the light of God. The title “the prince of this world,” was applied by the Jews to Satan, especially in reference to his power over the heathen, as lying outside the safety of the covenant. St. Paul applies it in a corresponding sense here to those outside the wider covenant of the gospel; just as in <a href="/1_corinthians/5-5.htm" title="To deliver such an one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.">1Corinthians 5:5</a>, <a href="/1_timothy/1-20.htm" title="Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered to Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.">1Timothy 1:20</a>, he speaks of excommunication from the Church as a “delivery to Satan.” The spirits of evil are therefore spoken of as wielding the power which the Tempter claims for himself (in <a href="/luke/4-6.htm" title="And the devil said to him, All this power will I give you, and the glory of them: for that is delivered to me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.">Luke 4:6</a>) over such souls as are still in darkness and alienation from God. This is a power real, but limited and transitory, able only to enslave those who “yield themselves” to it, and destined to be overcome; and it seems to refer especially to the concrete power of evil, exercised through physical and human agency.<p><span class= "bld">Spiritual wickedness in high places.</span>—The “spiritual powers” are not spiritual principles, but “spiritual hosts” of wickedness; and the phrase “in the heavenly places,” corresponding to “the power of the air” in <a href="/ephesians/2-2.htm" title="Wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience:">Ephesians 2:2</a> (where see Note), stands obviously in antithesis to “the darkness of this world.” The sense, as in all other cases, seems to be local. (See Note on <a href="/ephesians/1-3.htm" title="Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:">Ephesians 1:3</a>.) The spiritual hosts of evil are described as fighting in the region above the earth. But the meaning underlying this figure surely points to the power of evil as directly spiritual, not acting through physical and human agency, but attacking the spirit in that higher aspect, in which it contemplates heavenly things and ascends to the communion with God. As the former idea corresponds to the gross work of temptation on the high mountain, so this to the subtler spiritual temptation on the pinnacle of the temple.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/ephesians/6-13.htm">Ephesians 6:13</a></div><div class="verse">Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.</div>(13) <span class= "bld">In the evil day.</span>—Comp. <a href="/ephesians/5-15.htm" title="See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,">Ephesians 5:15</a>, “Because the days are evil.” The evil day is any day of which it may be said in our Lord’s words, “This is your hour, and the power of darkness” (<a href="/luke/22-53.htm" title="When I was daily with you in the temple, you stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness.">Luke 22:53</a>). In this life all days may be evil, but, except to the reprobate, none wholly evil; for out of evil “all things work together for good.”<p><span class= "bld">Having done all, to stand.</span>—The rendering (see Chrysostom) “having overcome all” is tempting, but does not accord with St. Paul’s use of the original word. The exhortation is first “to withstand,” <span class= "ital">i.e., </span>to resist all distinct attacks; then, when in this we have “done all” that we are from time to time called to do, “to stand,” <span class= "ital">i.e., </span>to plant our feet firmly on the rock, being “steadfast and unmovable” (<a href="/1_corinthians/15-58.htm" title="Therefore, my beloved brothers, be you steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.">1Corinthians 15:58</a>). The one conveys the idea of bravery and activity; the other of calm, well-balanced steadfastness.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/ephesians/6-14.htm">Ephesians 6:14</a></div><div class="verse">Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;</div>(14-17) In this magnificent passage, while it would be unreasonable to look for formal and systematic exactness, it is clear that (as usual in St. Paul’s most figurative passages) there runs through the whole a distinct method of idea. Thus (1) the order in which the armour in enumerated is clearly the order in which the armour of the Roman soldier was actually put on. It nearly corresponds with the invariable order in which Homer describes over and over again the arming of his heroes. First the belt and the corselet, which met and together formed the body armour; then the sandals; next the shield, and after this (for the strap of the great shield could hardly pass over the helmet) the helmet itself; then the soldier was armed, and only had to take up the sword and spear. It is curious to note that St. Paul omits the spear (the <span class= "ital">pilum</span> of the Roman soldier)—exactly that part of his equipment which, when on guard within, the soldier would not be likely to assume. (2) Again, since “to put on the armour of light” is to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ,” it follows that the various parts of the defensive armour are the various parts of the image of the Lord Jesus Christ; hence they are properly His, and are through His gift appropriated by us. Thus the “righteousness” is clearly the righteousness of Christ, realised in us (comp. <a href="/philippians/3-9.htm" title="And be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:">Philippians 3:9</a>); the sandals, which give firm footing, are the gospel of our peace in Him; the salvation is His salvation worked out in us. Only the sword is in no sense our own: it is the “Word of God” wielded by us, but in itself “living and powerful and sharp” (<a href="/hebrews/4-12.htm" title="For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.">Hebrews 4:12</a>).<p>(14) <span class= "bld">Your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness.</span>—There is here an obvious reference to two passages of Isaiah (<a href="/isaiah/11-5.htm" title="And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.">Isaiah 11:5</a>; <a href="/isaiah/59-17.htm" title="For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation on his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak.">Isaiah 59:17</a>), “Righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins,” “He put on righteousness as a breastplate.” Truth and righteousness are virtually identical, or, at least, inseparable. Hence they are compared to the strong belt, and the breastplate continuous with it, forming together the armour of the body. Perhaps “truth” is taken as the belt because it is the one bond both of society and of individual character. But it is in the two together that men stand “armed strong in honesty.” In <a href="/1_thessalonians/5-8.htm" title="But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.">1Thessalonians 5:8</a>, the metaphor is different and perhaps less exact. There the breastplate is the “breastplate of faith and love”—that which here is the shield.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/ephesians/6-15.htm">Ephesians 6:15</a></div><div class="verse">And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;</div>(15) <span class= "bld">Shod with the preparation of the gospel</span> <span class= "bld">of peace.</span>—This passage is one which even to the Greek interpreters (see Chrysostom) was obscure. What is “the preparation of the gospel of peace”? (1) It has seemed to many natural to illustrate this phrase by the celebrated passage (<a href="/isaiah/52-7.htm" title="How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him that brings good tidings, that publishes peace; that brings good tidings of good, that publishes salvation; that said to Zion, Your God reigns!">Isaiah 52:7</a>; <a href="/romans/10-15.htm" title="And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!">Romans 10:15</a>), “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace”; and to interpret, “shod in (or, <span class= "ital">for</span>) preparing the way of the gospel of peace.” But this is inappropriate to the whole context; for each piece of armour is a quality, and not a function. (2) Again, the word rendered “preparation,” is found nowhere else in the New Testament; in the LXX. we find it used in its most obvious sense of “preparedness” or “readiness” (as in <a href="/psalms/10-17.htm" title="LORD, you have heard the desire of the humble: you will prepare their heart, you will cause your ear to hear:">Psalm 10:17</a>, “preparedness of heart,” and <a href="/nehemiah/2-3.htm" title="And said to the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchers, lies waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?">Nehemiah 2:3</a>); but this sense will not suit the passage, for “readiness of the gospel of peace” is hardly intelligible, and certainly is not a quality of the soul. (3) We come therefore, at last, to a derivative and improper sense, which, however, is most frequently used in the LXX., viz., “foundation” or “base,” as in <a href="/daniel/11-7.htm" title="But out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up in his estate, which shall come with an army, and shall enter into the fortress of the king of the north, and shall deal against them, and shall prevail:">Daniel 11:7</a>; <a href="/ezra/2-6.htm" title="The children of Pahathmoab, of the children of Jeshua and Joab, two thousand eight hundred and twelve.">Ezra 2:6</a>; <a href="/ezra/3-3.htm" title="And they set the altar on his bases; for fear was on them because of the people of those countries: and they offered burnt offerings thereon to the LORD, even burnt offerings morning and evening.">Ezra 3:3</a>; <a href="/zechariah/5-10.htm" title="Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Where do these bear the ephah?">Zechariah 5:10</a>; <a href="/psalms/88-14.htm" title="LORD, why cast you off my soul? why hide you your face from me?">Psalm 88:14</a>. The context certainly suggests that we should explain the word here by this last Hellenistic use, as signifying simply the “footing” or “basis.” The <span class= "ital">caligœ, </span>or sandals, of the Roman soldiers were heavy sandals studded with hobnails, to give a secure foothold to those who would stand firm. St. Paul identifies these with the firm “footing of the gospel of peace.” Clearly the word “peace” is here emphatic. The gospel is looked upon as the declaration of “peace on earth, goodwill towards men.” The firm stand on this message is the firm assurance of God’s love. In this, and this alone, we stand. No doubt, this is in some sense faith, but faith of a wholly different character from the defensive faith of the next verse.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/ephesians/6-16.htm">Ephesians 6:16</a></div><div class="verse">Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.</div>(16) <span class= "bld">Above all.</span>—Properly, <span class= "ital">over all, </span>or <span class= "ital">besides all else.</span> The shield here is the large heavy shield covering the whole body, in which the “fiery darts”—that is, the arrows, with the points made red hot, or wrapped in with burning tow (comp. <a href="/psalms/7-14.htm" title="Behold, he travails with iniquity, and has conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood.">Psalm 7:14</a>; <a href="/psalms/120-4.htm" title="Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.">Psalm 120:4</a>)—may fix and burn themselves out without harm. St. Paul likens it to “faith.” This, however, is neither the “faith in which we stand” (<a href="/2_corinthians/1-24.htm" title="Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith you stand.">2Corinthians 1:24</a>), nor the energetic faith of Hebrews 11. It is the faith of patience and endurance, the almost passive faith, trusting in God’s protection and submissive to His will, on which the darts of temptation, whether from fear, or from lust, or from doubt, fall harmless. The best commentary after all, on the words is found in Christian’s conflict with Apollyon in the <span class= "ital">Pilgrim’s Progress.</span><p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/ephesians/6-17.htm">Ephesians 6:17</a></div><div class="verse">And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:</div>(17) <span class= "bld">And take.</span>—There is a break here. We are said not to put on, but to “take” (or rather, <span class= "ital">receive</span>)—a word specially appropriate to “salvation.”<p><span class= "bld">The helmet of salvation.</span>—The word here (as in <a href="/luke/2-30.htm" title="For my eyes have seen your salvation,">Luke 2:30</a>; <a href="/luke/3-6.htm" title="And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.">Luke 3:6</a>; <a href="/acts/28-28.htm" title="Be it known therefore to you, that the salvation of God is sent to the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.">Acts 28:28</a>) rendered “salvation,” is not the word commonly so rendered in the New Testament. It is, indeed, not “salvation” in the abstract, but a general expression for “that which tends to salvation.” But it occurs in the LXX. version of <a href="/isaiah/59-17.htm" title="For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation on his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak.">Isaiah 59:17</a>, which seems obviously referred to, “He put” a helmet of salvation upon his head.” In <a href="/1_thessalonians/5-8.htm" title="But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.">1Thessalonians 5:8</a>, where the breastplate is “of faith and love,” the helmet supplies the third member of the triad of Christian graces in “<span class= "ital">the hope</span> of salvation.” Here the metaphor is probably somewhat different. The helmet guarding the head, the most noble and vital part, is “salvation” in the concrete—all that is of the Saviour, all that makes up our “state of salvation” by His atonement and grace—received in earnest now, hoped for in perfection hereafter.<p><span class= "bld">The sword of the</span> <span class= "bld">Spirit, which is the word of God.</span>—In this we pass to the one offensive weapon of the Christian, “the sword of the Spirit”—<span class= "ital">i.e., </span>given by the Holy Spirit—which, like the helmet, but unlike the rest of the defensive armour, does not become a part of himself, but is absolutely of God. The passage reminds us at once of <a href="/hebrews/4-12.htm" title="For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.">Hebrews 4:12</a> : “The word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword.” But there (as in <a href="/1_corinthians/14-26.htm" title="How is it then, brothers? when you come together, every one of you has a psalm, has a doctrine, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done to edifying.">1Corinthians 14:26</a>; <a href="/2_corinthians/2-17.htm" title="For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.">2Corinthians 2:17</a>; <a href="/colossians/1-25.htm" title=" Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God;">Colossians 1:25</a>; 2 Tim. 2:29) the original word is the larger and deeper word (<span class= "ital">Logos</span>)<span class= "ital">, </span>signifying the truth of God in itself, and gradually leading up to the ultimate sense in which our Lord Himself is the “Word of God,” revealing the Godhead to man. Accordingly the work of the Word there, is that of the “engrafted Word,” “to divide asunder the soul and the spirit” within. Here, on the contrary, we have another expression (<span class= "ital">Rhema</span>)<span class= "ital">, </span>signifying the Word as spoken; and St. Peter (in <a href="/1_peter/1-25.htm" title="But the word of the Lord endures for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached to you.">1Peter 1:25</a>) defines it exactly: “The word of the Lord endureth for ever; and this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.” We cannot, of course, limit it to Holy Scripture, though we naturally remember that our Lord used the Scriptures as His only weapon in the Temptation. It is the gospel of Christ, however and wherever spoken, able to put to shame and to flight the powers of evil.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/ephesians/6-18.htm">Ephesians 6:18</a></div><div class="verse">Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;</div>(18, 19) <span class= "bld">And supplication for all saints; and for me.</span>—It is curious, and probably not accidental, that the prepositions in these two clauses are different. The first is properly “touching all saints,” and the second “on behalf of me.” Both are often interchanged; but there is, perhaps, here a touch of greater earnestness in the request of their prayers for himself, in especial reference to the need which is spoken of in the next words.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/ephesians/6-19.htm">Ephesians 6:19</a></div><div class="verse">And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,</div>(19) <span class= "bld">That utterance may be given me, that I may open my mouth . . .</span>—This hardly renders the original “that word may be given me in opening my mouth.” The “opening the mouth”—an expression always used of solemn and deliberate utterance—seems taken for granted. What the Apostle desires them to pray for is that “word may be given him”—“the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge, by the Spirit” (<a href="/1_corinthians/12-8.htm" title="For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;">1Corinthians 12:8</a>), according to our Lord’s promise (<a href="/context/matthew/10-19.htm" title="But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what you shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what you shall speak.">Matthew 10:19-20</a>), “It shall be given you in the same hour what you shall speak; for it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you.” Then he adds as a consequence of this—<span class= "ital">to make known in plainness of speech the mystery of the gospel.</span> For to make known a mystery in simplicity needs not only boldness to speak, but also the knowledge of the true word of God.<p><span class= "bld">The mystery of the gospel.</span>—The word “gospel” being used emphatically is, of course, the mystery of the new and universal grace of God to the Gentiles of which he speaks at large in <a href="/context/ephesians/3-1.htm" title="For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,">Ephesians 3:1-10</a>. This was “made known to him;” he desires inspiration “to make it known” to others.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/ephesians/6-20.htm">Ephesians 6:20</a></div><div class="verse">For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.</div>(20) <span class= "bld">In bonds.</span>—Rightly, as in the margin, <span class= "ital">in a chain.</span> The word is the same which is used in <a href="/acts/28-20.htm" title="For this cause therefore have I called for you, to see you, and to speak with you: because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.">Acts 28:20</a>, “For the hope of Israel I am bound in this chain.” It occurs also in <a href="/mark/5-4.htm" title="Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him.">Mark 5:4</a>, <a href="/luke/8-29.htm" title="(For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had caught him: and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters; and he broke the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.)">Luke 8:29</a>, where it is distinguished from a “fetter” properly so called, as binding the feet, and therefore obviously signifies a “manacle” binding the hand. Both are included (see <a href="/luke/8-29.htm" title="(For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had caught him: and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters; and he broke the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.)">Luke 8:29</a>) in the general word “bonds.” The allusion is undoubtedly to the custom of chaining the prisoner by the hand to the soldier who kept him. Thus in <a href="/acts/12-6.htm" title="And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison.">Acts 12:6</a> we read that Peter “was sleeping between two soldiers,” and therefore “bound with two manacles;” and in <a href="/acts/21-33.htm" title="Then the chief captain came near, and took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains; and demanded who he was, and what he had done.">Acts 21:33</a> that a similar precaution was used on the first apprehension of St. Paul. Here the singular number is probably to be understood literally. St. Paul was free except for the one chain, which the soldier was responsible for holding, and perhaps did not always think it needful to hold. That chain he seems to speak of as the badge of his ambassadorial dignity. To ambassadors, indeed, it belongs to be safe from imprisonment; but it was his greater glory to wear the chain for Christ.<p><span class= "bld">That therein . . .</span>—This is simply an enforcement of the previous phrase, in “plainness of speech.” The same word is used, and with the same signification of simplicity, as well as boldness, which (St. Paul here adds) alone befits his office.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/ephesians/6-21.htm">Ephesians 6:21</a></div><div class="verse">But that ye also may know my affairs, <i>and</i> how I do, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to you all things:</div>(21) <span class= "bld">That ye also</span>—<span class= "ital">i.e., </span>ye as well as others. There is evidently an allusion to Tychicus’ similar mission to Colossæ; and we may, perhaps, also trace some indication of a generality of scope in this Epistle.<p><span class= "bld">Tychicus</span> is first mentioned with Trophimus in <a href="/acts/20-4.htm" title="And there accompanied him into Asia Sopater of Berea; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timotheus; and of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus.">Acts 20:4</a>, as being “of Asia,” and accompanying St. Paul on his last journey from Corinth to Asia, although he is not, like Trophimus, actually named as with the Apostle at Jerusalem. It is highly probable that he was one of the “messengers of the churches” spoken of in <a href="/context/2_corinthians/8-18.htm" title="And we have sent with him the brother, whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the churches;">2Corinthians 8:18-23</a>, as sent to bear the alms to Jerusalem. We now find him again with St. Paul, and made by him the bearer of this Epistle and the Epistle to the Colossians. Lastly, he is alluded <span class= "ital">to</span> as still his companion in the interval between the first and second captivity (<a href="/titus/3-2.htm" title="To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, showing all meekness to all men.">Titus 3:2</a>), and in the second captivity is despatched once more to Ephesus (<a href="/2_timothy/4-12.htm" title="And Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus.">2Timothy 4:12</a>). It is evident that he well deserved the title of a “faithful minister” to the Apostle; and we note (in <a href="/context/2_timothy/4-11.htm" title="Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with you: for he is profitable to me for the ministry.">2Timothy 4:11-12</a>) that the command to bring Mark, as being “profitable for ministration” is immediately connected with the remark, “Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus.”<p><span class= "bld">A faithful minister.</span>—The word “minister” is <span class= "ital">diaconus;</span> but there is no reason to think that it is used technically to describe Tychicus as a deacon. In the Colossian Epistle the words “and fellowservant” are added, showing clearly that the word “minister” refers only to ministration to St. Paul.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/ephesians/6-22.htm">Ephesians 6:22</a></div><div class="verse">Whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that ye might know our affairs, and <i>that</i> he might comfort your hearts.</div>(22) <span class= "bld">Whom I have</span> <span class= "bld">sent unto you.</span>—This verse corresponds word for word with <a href="/colossians/4-8.htm" title=" Whom I have sent to you for the same purpose, that he might know your estate, and comfort your hearts;">Colossians 4:8</a>, being a quasi-official statement of Tychicus’ commission. The words “that he might comfort (or, <span class= "ital">encourage</span>) your hearts,” although they might apply generally to all messengers from an Apostle, may probably be best explained by reference to the tone of the Epistle to the Philippians—in which St. Paul shows so much affectionate anxiety lest his converts should be disheartened by his continued imprisonment—and to the exhortation in this Epistle not “to faint at his tribulations for them” (<a href="/ephesians/3-13.htm" title="Why I desire that you faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.">Ephesians 3:13</a>).<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/ephesians/6-23.htm">Ephesians 6:23</a></div><div class="verse">Peace <i>be</i> to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.</div>(23) <span class= "bld">Peace be to the brethren . . .</span>—In the conclusion of the Epistle, as at the beginning, St. Paul gives the double benediction, “Peace and grace be with you all.” But it. is impossible not to notice the difference between the generality of the terms here used (“the brethren,” and “all who love the Lord Jesus Christ”) and the personal “you” of all the other Epistles—a difference which would be inexplicable if this Epistle were addressed to the well-known and loved Church of Ephesus alone.<p>Peace seems especially dwelt upon in the Epistles of the Captivity, of which the Epistle to Philippi contains (in <a href="/ephesians/4-7.htm" title="But to every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.">Ephesians 4:7</a>) the fullest description of the “peace of God which passeth all understanding.” It is naturally connected here with love (as in <a href="/2_corinthians/13-11.htm" title="Finally, brothers, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.">2Corinthians 13:11</a>; <a href="/context/colossians/3-15.htm" title=" And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also you are called in one body; and be you thankful.">Colossians 3:15-16</a>)—a “love with faith,” “making perfect” (as in <a href="/galatians/5-6.htm" title="For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision avails any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which works by love.">Galatians 5:6</a>) the faith which St. Paul takes for granted as being in them. For peace is first with God, in the thankful receiving of His mercy; from this naturally arises “love with faith” towards Him; and out of this, again, peace and love towards men, in the conviction that, “if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another” (<a href="/1_john/4-11.htm" title="Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.">1John 4:11</a>). All these are gifts from “God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/ephesians/6-24.htm">Ephesians 6:24</a></div><div class="verse">Grace <i>be</i> with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen. </div>(24) <span class= "bld">Grace be with all them . . .</span>—The salutation, “Grace be with you,” in various forms, is, as St. Paul himself says in <a href="/2_thessalonians/3-17.htm" title="The salutation of Paul with my own hand, which is the token in every letter: so I write.">2Thessalonians 3:17</a>, “the token,” or characteristic signature, in every one of his Epistles, written with his own hand. It may be noted that it is not found in the Epistles of St. James, St. Peter, St. Jude and St. John, and that it is found in the Epistle to the Hebrews. Here, however, it is at once general and conditional, “to all them who love the Lord Jesus Christ.” So in <a href="/1_corinthians/16-22.htm" title="If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.">1Corinthians 16:22</a>, “If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema.”<p><span class= "bld">In sincerity.</span>—The original is far stronger, “in <span class= "ital">incorruptibility,” </span>a word usually applied to the immortality of heaven (as in <a href="/romans/2-7.htm" title="To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life:">Romans 2:7</a>; <a href="/1_corinthians/15-42.htm" title="So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:">1Corinthians 15:42</a>; <a href="/1_corinthians/15-50.htm" title="Now this I say, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit incorruption.">1Corinthians 15:50</a>; <a href="/context/1_corinthians/15-53.htm" title="For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.">1Corinthians 15:53-54</a>; <a href="/2_timothy/1-10.htm" title="But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death, and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:">2Timothy 1:10</a>); only here and in <a href="/titus/2-7.htm" title="In all things showing yourself a pattern of good works: in doctrine showing soundness, gravity, sincerity,">Titus 2:7</a>, applied to human character on earth. Here it evidently means “with a love immortal and imperishable,” incapable either of corruption or of decay, a foretaste of the eternal communion in heaven.<p><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers<br /><br />Text Courtesy of <a href="//biblesupport.com" target="_top">BibleSupport.com</a>. Used by Permission. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/">Bible Hub</a></div></div></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="left"><a href="../ephesians/5.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Ephesians 5"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Ephesians 5" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../philippians/1.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Philippians 1"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Philippians 1" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="rightbox"><div class="padright"><div id="pic"><iframe width="100%" height="860" scrolling="no" src="//biblescan.com/mpc/ephesians/6-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></div></div><div id="rightbox4"><div class="padright2"><div id="spons1"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td class="sp1"><iframe width="122" height="860" scrolling="no" src="/commentaries/ellicott/sidemenu.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></div><div id="bot"><br /><br /><div align="center"> <script id="3d27ed63fc4348d5b062c4527ae09445"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=51ce25d5-1a8c-424a-8695-4bd48c750f35&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script> <script id="b817b7107f1d4a7997da1b3c33457e03"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=cb0edd8b-b416-47eb-8c6d-3cc96561f7e8&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-2'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-0' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-3'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-1' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div align="center" id='div-gpt-ad-1531425649696-0'> </div><br /><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:200px;height:200px" data-ad-client="ca-pub-3753401421161123" data-ad-slot="3592799687"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script> <br /><br /> </div><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhchap.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></td></tr></table></body></html>