Ver. 13. διὰ τοῦτο ἀναλάβετε τὴν πανοπλίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ: wherefore take up the whole armour of God. διὰ τοῦτο, i.e., because your enemies are such as these. ἀναλαβεῖν is the accepted term for taking up arms, as κατατίθεσθαι is for laying them down (Deut. i.- 41; Jer. xxvi. 3).—tva δυνηθῆτε ἀντιστῆναι ἐν τῇ PG τῇ πονηρᾷ: that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day. The object of the ἀντιστῆναι, viz., the powers of evil, is ο to be understood. bee ἡ πο is inadequately interpre be we ia death (E. Schmid); the day of judgment (Jer.); the present life (Chrys., Oec., etc.) —which would rather have been αἰὼν πονηρός; or the whole period of con- flict prepared for us by Satan (Riick., Harl., De Wette, Bleek, εἰς). Regard
13-14.
385
ἵνα δυνηθῆτε " ἀντιστῆναι ἐν τῇ “ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ “ πονηρᾷ καὶ ἅπαντα p Matt. v.
1 2
* κατεργασάμενοι q Ch. v. 16 reff.
στῆναι.
. 39 al. ; 14. στῆτε οὖν "περιζωσάμενοι τὴν abs., here
only.
r=Rom. vii. 15, 17, etc., xv. 18 al.17; Paul only, exc. 1 Pet. iv. 3; James i. 3, 20.
8 Luke xii. 35 al.; Paul, here only; Dan. x. 5; Ps. Ixiv. 6.
1 κατεργασμενοι A.
ὥστηναι, στητε ουν Orig., Euseb., Dam., Jer., etc.; στητε DFG, d, ε, Cypr.;
stare without στητε ουν Victorin.
must be had to the definiteness given to the ἡμέρα by the article, which marks it out as in some sense or other a single day, a critical day, a time of peculiar peril and trial. Hence the choice must be between the time immediately pre- ceding the Parousia, the searching day of the future in which the powers of evil will make their last and greatest effort (Meyer, etc.), and the day of violent temptation and assault, whenever that may come to us during the present time (Ell., etc.), ‘any day of which it may be said, ‘this is your hour, and the power of darkness’” (Barry; so also Abb.). The latter view is on the whole to be preferred.—kal ἅπαντα κατεργασάμενοι στῆναι: and having done all, {ο stand. In A we have the variant κατεργασμένοι, a misspelling for κατεργασάμενοι or for κατειργασμένοι. The Vulg. renders in omnibus perfecti (following perhaps the reading κατειργασμένοι). Some make it = “having prepared all things for the con- flict” (Erasm., Beza, etc.) ; but that would be expressed by some such form as παρασκευασάμενοι (I Cor. xiv. 8). Others give it the sense of overpowering (Oec., Chrys., Harl., etc.; cf. ‘‘overcome” in AV margin)—a sense which it has, but not in the NT, as far as appears, and which will not suit the neut. (ἅπαντα) here. There is no reason to depart from the ordinary sense of the verb, viz., that of perficere (cf. Plato, Laws, iii., p. 686 Ε; Herod., v., 24, etc.), doing thoroughly, working out, especially (the κατά being intensive) accomplishing a difficult task. Applied to things evil or dishonourable this becomes perpetrare. These are the senses which it has in the NT generally and in the Pauline writings in particular (Rom. vii. 15, 17; 2 Cor. xii. 12; Phil. ii. 12, etc.; and in the sense of perpetra- ting, Rom. i, 27, il. 9; 1 Cor. v. 3; 1 Pet. iv. 3). The ἅπαντα refers obvi- ously to the conflict in view, and means ‘all things pertaining to your struggle”. The στῆναι, in contrast with the ἀντι- στῆναι or withstanding, denotes the final result; the ability to withstand when the