put on as a breast-plate. It is an infinitely perfect righteousness, consisting in the obedience and suffer- ings of the Son of God, which satisfies all the demands of the divine law and justice; and which is a sure defence against all assaults whether from within or from without. As in no case in this connection does the apostle refer to any merely moral virtue as consti- tuting the armour of the Christian, so neither does he here. This is the less probable, inasmuch as righteous- ness in the subjective sense, is included in the idea expressed by the word truth in the preceding clause. It is the spirit of the context which determines the meaning to be put on the terms here used. For al- though rzghteousness is used so frequently by the apos- tle for the righteousness of God by faith, yet in itself it may of course express personal rectitude or justice. In Is. 59, 17, Jehovah is described as putting “ on righteousness as a breast-plate, and a helmet of salva- tion on his head;” as in Is. 11, 5, it is said of the Messiah, ‘“ righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.”
V.15. In ancient warfare which was in a large measure carried on by hand-to-hand combats, swift- ness of foot was one of the most important qualifica- tions for a good soldier. To this the apostle refers when he exhorts his readers to have their feet shod, ἐν ἑτοιμασίᾳ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου τῆς εἰρήνης, with the pre- paration of the gospel of peace. According to one explanation εὐαγγελίου is the genitive of apposition, and the Gospel is the ἑτοιμασία with which the Chris-
_— ψααΝ ψαμρυυι υ τ ινιππι ιν. — οἱ
CHAP. vi. vs. 15. 16. 885
tian is to be snod. Then the idea is either that the Gospel is something firm on which we can rest with confidence ; or it is something that gives alacrity, adding as it were wings to the feet. Others take εὐαγγελίου as the genitive of the object, and ἑτοιμασία for readiness or alacrity. The sense would then be, ‘ Your feet shod with alacrity for the Gospel,’ i. 6. for its defence or propagation. The simplest interpretation and that best suited to the context, is that εὐαγγελίου is the genitive of the source, and the sense is, ‘ Your feet shod with the alacrity which the Gospel of peace gives.’ As the Gospel secures our peace with God, and gives the assurance of his favour, it produces that joyful alacrity of mind which is essential to success in the spiritual conflict. All doubt tends to weakness, and despair is death.
V.16. ᾿Επὶ πᾶσιν, im addition to all; not above all as of greatest importance. Besides the portions of armour already mentioned, they were to take τὸν Supeov τῆς πιστέως, the shield of faith. Ouvpeds, liter- ally, a door, and then a large oblong shield, like a door. Being four feet long by two and a half broad, it com- pletely covered the body, and was essential to the safety of the combatant. Hence the appropriateness of the apostle’s metaphor. Such a protection, and thus essential, is faith. The more various the uses of a shield, the more suitable is the illustration. The faith here intended is that by which we are justified, and recon- ciled to God through the blood of Christ. It is that faith of which Christ is the object; which receives him
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