《Eadie’s Commentary on Ephesians (Vol. )》(John Eadie) 04 Chapter Introduction Chapter 4

ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὰς ἀρχάς, πρὸς τὰς ἐξουσίας—“but against principalities, against powers.” The combat is with spirits, and those of high rank and position. It has been remarked by Meyer and de Wette, that οὐκ . . . ἀλλά does not mean non tam, non tantum, for the apostle excludes flesh and blood from the lists altogether: the combat is only with principalities and with powers. Winer, § 55, 8; Klotz-Devarius, vol. Ephesians 2:9. The two substantives are explained under Ephesians 1:21. The terms there employed to denote the good are here used to denote the evil chiefs. The apostle therefore refers to fallen spirits, who once occupied positions of rank and prerogative in heaven, and may still retain a similar place among the hosts of apostate angels. It is no vulgar herd of fiends we encounter, but such of them as are darkly eminent in place and dignity. For we fight-

πρὸς τοὺς κοσμοκράτορας τοῦ σκότους τούτου—“against the world-rulers of this darkness.” The Received Text interposes τοῦ αἰῶνος before τούτου, but without valid proof. The words are wanting in A, B, D¹, F, G, and in many versions and Fathers, though they are found in D³, E, K, L. It is wrong on the part of Harless to sink the meaning of κόσμος by explaining the compound term as meaning only rulers. When applied to earthly sovereigns, it is always to those of most extensive sway, who were supposed to have the world under control-munditenentes. Tertullian. The strong term denotes world-lords, and is so far equivalent to ὁ ἄρχων τοῦ κόσμου τούτου in John 12:31; John 14:30; John 16:11; and ὁ θεὸς τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου in 2 Corinthians 4:4. The rabbins have also adopted the word- קוֹזַמוֹקרָטוּר . See also 1 John 5:19. What influence is ascribed in these texts to Satan, is here ascribed to others of his unholy associates or subjects. These evil spirits, who are our wary and vengeful antagonists, have acquired a special dominion on earth, out of which they are loath to be dislodged. “This darkness” is that spiritual obscurity which so painfully environs the church-that zone which surrounds an unbelieving world with an ominous and lowering shadow. The moral obscurity of paganism and impiety is fitly presided over by beings congenial in gloom and guilt. See Ephesians 2:2, Ephesians 5:8; Acts 26:10. The darkness, as Chrysostom says, is not that of the night, but τῆς πονηρίας. It is plain that fallen spirits have a vast and mysterious agency in the world, and that in many ways inscrutable to man they lord it over ungodliness-shaping, deepening, or prolonging the means and methods of spiritual subjugation. Not, says Theophylact, as if they were lords of the creature, but only of the world of sin-of such as voluntarily submit to them- αὐθαιρέτως ὑποδουλωθέντων; not, says Theodoret, as if God gave them such government- οὐχ ὡς παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ τὴν ἀρχὴν δεξαμένοις. This dark spirit-world is anxious to possess and maintain supremacy, and therefore Christians must wage incessant warfare with it. The term κοσμοκράτωρ is used by Irenaeus as synonymous with the devil- διάβολον, ὃν καὶ κοσμ. καλοῦσι. Contra Haereses, lib. i. cap. v. p. 64; ed. Stieren, Lipsiae, 1848-52. The same idea pervaded the demonology of the later Judaism, as Schoettgen (Horae Hebr. p. 790), Buxtorf (Lexicon Talmud. p. 2006), and Wetstein (in loc.) abundantly prove. Elsner has also produced similar language and epithets from the “Testament of Solomon” and Jamblichus “on the Egyptian Mysteries.” Observat. p. 229. Not that the apostle fancifully adopted either their nomenclature or their notions, but these citations prove that the inspired language was well understood and recognized in the Eastern world.

πρὸς τὰ πνευματικὰ τῆς πονηρίας ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις—“against the spirits” or “spiritual bands of evil, in heavenly places.” Our English version, preceded by Erasmus, Zegerus, and a-Lapide, renders “spiritual wickednesses”-spirituales nequitiae. Adopting such a meaning of the adjective, the sense, as Meyer suggests, would be, the spiritual elements or aspects of evil. But the following genitive shows that the preceding adjective has the form of a substantive, and here of a collective noun. Winer compares πνευματικά with δαιμόνια, which is really an adjective (§ 34, note 3). So we have τὸ ἱππικόν-the cavalry. Revelation 9:16. Other critics compare τὰ δαιμόνια to the τὰ λῃστρικά-band of robbers, Polyaenus, Strat. 5.14; τὸ πολιτικόν, Herodot. 7.103; τὰ ναυτικά, etc. Kühner, § 474, δ, § 479, b; Bernhardy, p. 326; Lobeck, ad Phryn. p. 378. The genitive will then be that of character or quality-the spiritual cohorts of evil. Scheuerlein, p. 115. Their nature is evil, their commission is evil, their work is evil. Evil and evil only are they, alike in essence and operation. This interpretation has the concurrence of Harless, Meyer, Olshausen, Meier, Matthies, Stier, Ellicott, and the Greek fathers OEcumenius and Theophylact.

The fivefold repetition of πρός adds intensity to the sentiment, which displays the emphatic vehemence of martial excitement. Not only is πρός repeated, but the usual καί is omitted. The verse is thus a species of asyndeton, in which each clause, as it is dwelt upon and individualized, stands out as a vivid, independent thought. Winer, § 50, 7. To rouse up the Christian soldiery, the apostle brings out into bold relief the terrible foes which they are summoned to encounter. As to their position, they are no subalterns, but foes of mighty rank, the nobility and chieftains of the fallen spirit-world; as to their office, their domain is “this darkness” in which they exercise imperial sway; as to their essence, they are not encumbered with an animal frame, but are “spirits;” and as to their character, they are “evil”-their appetite for evil only exceeds their capacity for producing it.

ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις—“in the heavenly places.” See under Ephesians 1:3; Ephesians 1:20, Ephesians 2:6, Ephesians 3:10. It needs scarcely be remarked-1. That the exegesis which makes τὰ ἐπουράνια signify heavenly things cannot be borne out, but is wholly against the idiom of the epistle. See under Ephesians 1:3. Yet this false meaning is adhered to in this place by Chrysostom, Theodoret, and OEcumenius, by Cajetan, Heinsius, Glassius, Rosenmüller, and Tyndale, who renders—“against spretuall wickednes for hevenly thinges,” giving ἐν an unsustainable signification. 2. We need not stay to refute the notion of those who, like Schoettgen, Wilke, Crellius, Van Til, Brennius, and the editors of the “Improved Version,” think the apostle means, in whole or in part, in this verse to describe bad men of station and influence, like the Jewish rabbinical doctors, or provincial Gentile governors. The meaning of the phrase depends on the connection assigned it:-1. The phrase may describe the scene of combat. To sustain this interpretation, there is no necessity either, with Augustine, to join the words to ἡμῖν, or to connect them with πάλη, as is done by Rückert, Matthies, and Baumgarten-Crusius, for perhaps they are too remote in position. Or, 2, τὰ ἐπουράνια may mean the seat of these evil spirits. This view is maintained by no less names than Jerome, who adds-haec autem omnium doctorum opinio est; by Ambrosiaster, Luther, Calvin, Beza, Estius, Grotius, Bengel, Hammond, Meier, Holzhausen, Meyer, Olshausen, Harless, de Wette, Ellicott, and Alford. See Photius, Quaest. Amphiloch. p. 94; Petavius, Dogmata Theol. lib. iii. c. iv. But Jerome says-non quo daemones in coelestibus commorentur, sed quo supra nos aër hoc nomen acceperit. But the “heavenly places” have been referred to by the apostle as the scenes of divine ble ssing, of Christ's exaltation, of His people's elevation, and as the region of unfallen and pure intelligences, and how can they be here the seat or abode of impure fiends? The first opinion does not, as Alford hints, stultify itself; for the scene of warfare may be different from the scene of proper residence. His view is, in effect at least, coincident with ours-the place of abode becomes the place of combat. Nor is there any proof that τὰ ἐπουράνια means heaven, in the sense of the air or atmosphere. None of the other clauses in which the phrase occurs can bear such a signification, and yet such is the sense put upon the words by the majority of those whom we have quoted. Allioli renders-in der Luft. Consult what is said under Ephesians 2:2, as to the meaning of ἀήρ. τὰ ἐπουράνια are the celestial spots occupied by the church (Ephesians 1:3, Ephesians 2:6); and in them this combat is to be maintained. Those evil spirits have invaded the church, are attempting to pollute, divide, secularize, and overthrow it; are continually tempting its members to sin and apostasy; are ever warring against goodness and obstructing its progress; and therefore believers must encounter them and fight them “in the heavenly places.” Such appears to us to be the plain allusion of the apostle, and the exegesis is not beset either with grammatical or theological difficulty. Still the subject is one of mystery, and we dare not definitely pronounce on the express meaning of the terms employed.

Our translators felt a dilemma here, and shrank from the same right rendering which they had given in the other verses where the phrase occurred. Under the same perplexity, some have proposed to read ὑπουρανίοις, for which unwarranted emendation Erasmus and Beza had a kindly preference; and the version of Luther is-unter dem Himmel. The Syriac also renders דתחית שׁמיא - “under heaven.” The perplexity was felt to be so great, that no less a scholar than Daniel Heinsius actually proposes the desperate shift of transposing the words ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις to the beginning of the verse, and making out this sense—“in heavenly things our contest is not with flesh and blood.” Exercitat. Sac. p. 472. Neither of the renderings of Storr can be sustained-qui in coelo fuere, or qui coelestes origine sunt. Opuscula, i. p. 179; Observat. p. 174. The opinions of Locke and Doddridge are erroneous. The former renders—“the spiritual managers of the opposition to the kingdom of God;” and the latter—“spirits who became authors and abettors of wickedness even while they abode in heavenly places.” Hofmann generalizes, or as Meyer says, rationalizes the phrase in saying-that it refers not to place-that evil spirits are not confined to this or that locality of this earthly world-sondern dieselbe überwaltend, wie der Himmel die Erde umspannt. Schriftb. i. p. 455. Not much different from the view of Doddridge is that of Cocceius and Calovius, who join πονηρίας closely with the phrase - “spirits who do evil in the heavenlies.” The exegesis of Peile is as arbitrary as any of these—“wickedness exhibited in spiritual beings who kept not their first estate, their righteous principality in the centre of heaven.”

Verse 13

(Ephesians 6:13.) διὰ τοῦτο ἀναλάβετε τὴν πανοπλίαν τοῦ θεοῦ—“Wherefore take up the panoply of God.” “Wherefore,” the foes being so formidable in power, operation, and nature, what need is there not to be fully protected with this complete and divine suit of mail? The charge is repeated from Ephesians 6:11, and the words employed are the usual military phraseology, as is shown by the illustrations of Elsner, Kypke, and Wetstein. Thus, Deuteronomy 1:41 - ἀναλαβόντες ἕκαστος τὰ σκεύη τὰ πολεμικὰ αὐτοῦ; Jeremiah 26:3; 2 Maccabees 10:21.

ἵνα δυνηθῆτε ἀντιστῆναι ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ πονηρᾷ—“that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day.” The soldier is equipped for the purpose of defending himself and opposing the enemy. The Christian armour is not worn for idle parade, or as holiday attire. The enemy must be encountered. But what is meant by “the evil day”? Similar phraseology is found (Psalms 41:1; Psalms 49:5) in the Septuagint version. If we preserve the spirit of the imagery, we should at once be led to conclude that it was the day of battle, or, as Theodoret calls it- τῆς παρατάξεως. That is an evil day; for it may lead to wounds, though it does not destroy life. It is not specially and of necessity the day of death, as Schmid supposes, though it may be, and has often proved so. Nor is it every day of our life, as Chrysostom, OEcumenius, and Jerome understand it- τὸν παρόντα βίον-for there may be many a lull during a campaign, and there may be a long campaign ere a decisive battle be fought. Our view is that of most modern commentators, with the exception of Koppe and Meyer, who suppose Paul to refer to some future and terrible outbreak of Satan before the expected advent of Christ, which the apostle thought to be near at hand. Such is also the view of Usteri. Paulin. Lehrbeg. p. 341. But there can be no allusion to such a prospect in the verse before us. The evil day is that of resolute Satanic assault; “evil” - on account of the probability, or even possibility, of the sad consequences which failure or unpreparedness so often involves-damaged reputation, impaired usefulness, and the bitter regrets and memories of subsequent years. To how many has it been an evil day! Did not our Lord bid us pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”?

καὶ ἅπαντα κατεργασάμενοι στῆναι—“and having done all to stand.” Two distinct interpretations have been given of the deponent middle participle κατεργασάμενοι:-1. Some give it this sense, “having subdued or overcome all,” as in the margin of our English Bibles. This is the exegesis of OEcumenius and Theophylact, the former of whom expressly says that κατεργασάμενοι is used for καταπολεμήσαντες. The view of these Greek critics is followed not only by Beza, Grotius, and Wetstein, but also by Harless, Olshausen, Rückert, Conybeare, and de Wette. There is no doubt that the verb does bear such a meaning among the classical writers; but though the word occurs often, there is no instance of such a sense in the New Testament. Raphelius, in loc.; Fritzsche, ad Rom. i. p. 107. Why then should this place be an exception?

2. Others, therefore, prefer the signification “having done or accomplished all,” that is, not simply “having made all necessary preparation,” as the Syriac, Morus, and Bengel too narrowly take it; but having done everything which the crisis demanded, in order to quell the foe and maintain their position. This preferable exegesis is supported by Erasmus, Bucer, Meier, Meyer, and Baumgarten-Crusius. Now, not to say that the neuter ἅπαντα is against the former view, and more in accordance with the second, which refers it not to enemies, where we would have expected another gender, but to the general elements of military duty, we may add, in contradiction of Harless, that the spirit of the context is also in favour of the last exegesis. For, 1. The apostle proceeds to arm the Christian soldier, and it is not natural to suppose that he speaks of victory prior to equipment and battle. 2. The verb στῆναι cannot be supposed to have a different signification from what it has in Ephesians 6:11. If the first opinion be adopted, “having vanquished all your enemies, to stand,” then στῆναι would denote to stand victorious; or, as Luther has it, das Feld behalten—“to keep the field.” Now this is changing the meaning of the verse, for it signifies in Ephesians 6:11; Ephesians 6:14 to stand, not when the combat is over, but to stand with the front to the foe, in the very attitude of resistance and self-defence, or in expectation of immediate assault. 3. The clause appears to be explained by the succeeding verses; “Stand therefore” (Ephesians 6:14) with girdle, cuirass, sandals, shield, helmet, and sword, ever praying. The rendering of the Vulgate-in omnibus perfecti-is a deviation, probably borrowed from such a reading as Codex A presents- κατειργασμένοι. Jerome has omnia operati.

Verse 14

(Ephesians 6:14.) This warlike picture of the apostle is to be taken in its general aspect. It is useless, on the one hand, to seek out the minutiae of far-fetched resemblances, as is done by some foreign divines, and by Gurnall (Christian in Complete Armour, fol., Glasgow, 1763) and Arrowsmith (Tactica Sacra, 4to, 1657), and more elaborately learned than either, Lydius in his Syntagma sacrum de re militari, ed. Van. Til, 1698, Dordraci. All that we can affirm is, that certain spiritual acquisitions or gifts endow us with peculiar powers of self-protection, and that these graces, in their mode and province of operation, bear some similitude to certain pieces of ancient armour. So that it is an error, on the other hand, to imagine that the apostle selects at random some graces, and compares them to portions of military harness. It is probably to the armour of a Roman soldier that the apostle refers, the fullest account of which may be found in Lipsius (De Milit. Roman., ed. Plant. 1614) and Vegetius (Epitome Institutorum Rei Militaris, ed. Schwebel, Bipont. 1806), or in Polybius, lib. 6.20; Martial, 9.57. See Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, sub voce “Arms.” The apostle's account, as has been remarked, coincides with the figures sculptured on the Arch of Severus. First, there are three pieces of iron armour-armour fitted on to the body-girdle, breastplate, and shoes; thus-

στῆτε οὖν περιζωσάμενοι τὴν ὀσφὺν ὑμῶν ἐν ἀληθείᾳ—“stand therefore, having girt about your loins with truth.” Isaiah 11:5; Daniel 10:5. The aorist participles precede in point of time the verb. ᾿εν is instrumental. The allusion is to the ancient military belt or girdle, which was often highly ornamented with laminae and clasps of gold and silver, and used occasionally, when thrown over the shoulder, to support the sword or quiver. This zone is formed of truth, not objective truth, as Harless believes, for that is declared to be the sword; but, as the article is wanting, of subjective truth-truthfulness. It is not simply integrity or sincerity, but the assured conviction that you believe, and that it is God's truth you believe. Such a sincere persuasion binds tightly the other pieces of armour; and “trussing up his loins” gives the combatant alertness and buoyancy in the battle, enabling him to “endure hardness as a good soldier of Christ.” He feels supported and braced by his conscious knowledge and reception of the truth. Harless errs in supposing the baldric to be a mere ornament, for the ungirded soldier had not done all to qualify him for the fight-is not fully prepared for it. Grotius says-veritas adstringit hominem, mendaciorum magna est laxitas. 1 Samuel 25:13; Psalms 18:32; Psalms 45:4.

καὶ ἐνδυσάμενοι τὸν θώρακα τῆς δικαιοσύνης—“and having put on the breastplate of righteousness.” The genitive is that of apposition, and the article before it may be that of correlation, though we incline to give it a more distinctive meaning. Isaiah 11:5; Isaiah 59:17. The breastplate, as its name implies, covered and protected the chest. It was sometimes formed of linen or plates of horn, but usually of metallic scales or feathers. Pliny, Hist. Natur. 33.54. Roman soldiers wore chain mail, that is, hauberks or habergeons-

“Loricam consertam hamis, auroque trilicem.”

But sometimes the breastplate was made of two pieces of leather or bronze, which fitted to the person, and were united by hinges or fastened by buckles. Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, p. 576. The righteousness which forms this καρδιοφύλαξ is, according to Meyer, Fergusson, Olshausen, Holzhausen, and Meier, moral rectitude, or, as Ellicott says, “the righteousness which is the result of the renovation of the heart by the Holy Spirit;” and, according to Baumgarten-Crusius, the conscious possession of it. The article before δικαιοσύνη has a special prominence, and we are inclined, with Harless, de Wette, Matthies, and Winzer (Pfinstprogramm, über Ephesians 6:10; Ephesians 6:17, Leipz. 1840), to understand it as the righteousness of God, or of faith, or as “justification by the blood of the cross,” three scriptural phrases meaning in general one and the same thing. What Christian can boast of entire rectitude, or use as his defence what Turner unhappily calls “his own righteousness”-nil conscire sibi, nulla pallescere culpa? But when the justifying righteousness of Christ is assumed as a breastplate by sinners, they can defy the assaults of the tempter. To every insinuation that they are so vile, guilty, worthless, and perverse-so beset with sin and under such wrath that God will repulse them-they oppose the free and perfect righteousness of their Redeemer, which is “upon them.” Romans 3:22. So that the dart thrown at them only rings against such a cuirass, and falls blunted to the earth.

Verse 15

(Ephesians 6:15.) καὶ ὑποδησάμενοι τοὺς πόδας ἐν ἑτοιμασίᾳ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου τῆς εἰρήνης—“And having shod your feet with the preparedness of the gospel of peace.” Isaiah 3:7. The usage of such an accusative following the verb may be seen in Buttmann (§ 135, 3), though oftener the sandal itself is put in the accusative. The last genitive is that of contents (Bernhardy, p. 16), and the one before it that of source, that is, the preparedness is from the gospel, and that gospel has peace for its substance. The reference is not to greaves, which were a kind of military leggings, but to the- προκνημῖδες-caligae or sandals, which were worn by the ancient warriors, and the soles of which were thickly studded with hobnails. Bynaeus, de Calcibus, Dordraci, 1715. The military sandal of this spiritual host “is the preparation of the gospel of peace;” Wyckliffe—“in makynge redi.” The preposition ἐν is instrumental or quasi-local, and ἑτοιμασία is represented as forming the sandals. So that there is error on the part of Erasmus, who renders - parati ad evangelium. The noun ἑτοιμασία has in the Septuagint an active meaning, as- εἰς ἑτοιμασίαν τροφῆς-Wisdom of Solomon 13:12; also an intransitive meaning-readiness or preparedness- ἵππους εἰς ἑτοιμασίαν ὑμῖν παρέχειν-Josephus, Antiq. 10.1, 2; and still in a more spiritual sense, Psalms 10:17 - τὴν ἑτοιμασίαν τῆς καρδίας. The term is sometimes employed in the Septuagint as the representative of the Hebrew כוֹן ¢ מְ, as in Psalms 89:15, where it is said to mean foundation, and therefore Beza, Wolf, Bengel, Koppe, and Flatt take the word in such a sense here-the firm basis of the gospel of peace. Ezra 2:68; Daniel 11:7. The figure is not appropriate; it might apply, indeed, to the road on whi ch they were to march, but not to their boots. The feet were to be shod “with preparedness.” The feet in fighting are so protected or cased. The feet, too, are the instruments, and therefore the appropriate symbols of motion. The Christian warrior must move as the battle shifts; his career is indeed but a battle and a march, and march and a battle. And whence is this promptitude to be derived? From “the gospel of peace”-or peace the substance of the gospel, the same gospel which was called Ephesians 1:13 -the gospel τῆς σωτηρίας. For the possession of peace with God creates blessed serenity of heart, and confers upon the mind peculiar and continuous preparedness of action and movement. There is nothing to disconcert or perplex it, or divide and retard its energies. Consequently it is an error on the part of many expositors, from Chrysostom down to Conybeare, to represent the meaning thus—“preparation to preach or publish the gospel of peace,” for it is of defensive armour alone the apostle is now speaking.

Verse 16

(Ephesians 6:16.) ᾿επὶ πᾶσιν ἀναλαβόντες τὸν θυρεὸν τῆς πίστεως—“In addition to all, taking up the shield of faith”-the genitive being that of apposition. Lachmann, almost on the single authority of B, reads ἐν πᾶσιν, which might justify Jerome's rendering-in omni opere. Some, such as Luther, Beza, and Bengel, give the words the sense “above all,” or “especially,” “above all things,” as if the most important piece of armour were now to be specified. The Gothic has “ufar all.” But the meaning is simply “in addition to all.” Luke 3:20; Winer, § 48, c. And the construction is changed. The pieces of armour already mentioned being fitted on to the body and fastened to it, each by appropriate mechanism, have each its characteristic verb- περιζωσάμενοι, ἐνδυσάμενοι, ὑποδησάμενοι; but shield, helmet, and sword need no such special fastening, for they are simply taken up or assumed, and therefore they are joined to the one general participle, ἀναλαβόντες, and the verb δέξασθε. θυρεόν-scutum-a word of the later Greek, denotes, as the name implies, a large door-like shield, differing in form and especially in size from the ἀσπίς-clypeus-and was, according to Polybius, two feet and a half broad and four feet long- τὸ πλάτος . . . πένθ᾿ ἡμιποδίων, τὸ δὲ μῆκος, ποδῶν τεττάρων. Polybius, lib. vi. cap. 20, 23. The shield preserved the soldier from being struck, and his armour, too, from being hacked or notched. Such a large and powerful shield is faith-that unwavering confidence in God and His grace which guards the mind from aberration and despondency, and easily wards off such assaults as are made upon it. John 5:4-5. The special value and purpose of the shield are then described-