Ephesians 6: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

The letter ends with instructions for households: children and parents, then slaves and masters, each told how to treat the other. Paul then tells the readers to be strong in the Lord and to put on the full armor of God, piece by piece, because their struggle is against spiritual powers rather than human beings. He asks them to keep praying for all of God's people and for him, since he is in chains for the good news. He closes by saying Tychicus will bring them news of him, and he sends a final blessing of peace, love, and grace.

Claim by Claim

1. 6:1
   • Children are commanded to obey their parents in the Lord.
   • Obeying one's parents is right.
2. 6:2
   • A command is quoted: honor your father and mother.
   • That command is the first commandment that carries a promise.
3. 6:3
   • The promise attached to the command is that it may go well with the one who keeps it.
   • The promise attached to the command is that the one who keeps it will live a long time on the earth.
4. 6:4
   • Fathers are commanded not to provoke their children to anger.
   • Fathers are commanded to bring their children up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
5. 6:5
   • Slaves are commanded to obey their masters according to the flesh.
   • That obedience is to be with fear and trembling.
   • That obedience is to be with singleness of heart.
   • That obedience is to be rendered as to Christ.
6. 6:6
   • Slaves are not to serve with service performed only while being watched.
   • Slaves are not to serve as men-pleasers.
   • Slaves are to serve as slaves of Christ.
   • Slaves are to do the will of God from the soul.
7. 6:7
   • Slaves are to render service with good will.
   • That service is to be rendered as to the Lord.
   • That service is not rendered to men.
8. 6:8
   • Whatever good thing anyone does, he will receive that back from the Lord.
   • This holds whether the person is a slave or free.
9. 6:9
   • Masters are commanded to do the same things toward their slaves.
   • Masters are commanded to give up threatening.
   • The masters' own Master is in heaven.
   • There is no partiality with him.
10. 6:10
    • The readers are addressed as brothers.
    • They are commanded to be strong in the Lord.
    • They are commanded to be strong in the might of his strength.
11. 6:11
    • They are commanded to put on the full armor of God.
    • The purpose of putting on the armor is that they may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
12. 6:12
    • Our struggle is not against blood and flesh.
    • Our struggle is against the rulers.
    • Our struggle is against the authorities.
    • Our struggle is against the world-rulers of this darkness.
    • Our struggle is against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
13. 6:13
    • Because of this, they are commanded to take up the full armor of God.
    • The purpose is that they may be able to resist in the evil day.
    • The purpose is that, having accomplished everything, they may stand.
14. 6:14
    • They are commanded to stand.
    • They are to have their waist girded with truth.
    • They are to have put on the breastplate of righteousness.
15. 6:15
    • They are to have their feet shod with the readiness of the gospel of peace.
16. 6:16
    • In all circumstances they are to take up the shield of faith.
    • With the shield of faith they will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
17. 6:17
    • They are commanded to receive the helmet of salvation.
    • They are commanded to receive the sword of the Spirit.
    • The sword of the Spirit is the word of God.
18. 6:18
    • They are to pray at every time in the Spirit, with every prayer and petition.
    • They are to stay awake toward this with all perseverance.
    • They are to make petition for all the saints.
19. 6:19
    • They are to pray for Paul.
    • The request is that a word may be given to Paul when he opens his mouth.
    • The purpose is that he may make known the mystery of the gospel with boldness.
20. 6:20
    • Paul is an ambassador for the gospel.
    • Paul is an ambassador in a chain.
    • The request is that in the gospel Paul may speak boldly, as he ought to speak.
21. 6:21
    • Paul writes so that the readers may also know his circumstances and what he is doing.
    • Tychicus will make all things known to them.
    • Tychicus is a beloved brother.
    • Tychicus is a faithful servant in the Lord.
22. 6:22
    • Paul has sent Tychicus to them for this very purpose.
    • The purpose is that they may know the things concerning Paul and those with him.
    • The purpose is that Tychicus may comfort their hearts.
23. 6:23
    • Peace is invoked on the brothers.
    • Love with faith is invoked on them.
    • The peace and love come from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
24. 6:24
    • Grace is invoked on all who love our Lord Jesus Christ.
    • That love is qualified as being in incorruptibility.
    • It is ambiguous whether the incorruptibility describes the loving or the grace.
    • The letter closes with Amen.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

6:1

"In the Lord" can attach to the obeying (obey in a way that fits belonging to the Lord) or to the parents (obey your Christian parents). The Greek allows both, and the rendering keeps the looser sense.

6:2

Verses 2 and 3 quote the fifth of the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20:12 and Deuteronomy 5:16. Calling it "the first commandment with promise" has puzzled readers since antiquity, since it is the fifth in order. It is the first one that attaches a stated reward, and some understand "first" instead as first in the group of commands about how to treat other people, or first in importance for a child.

6:3

The original commandment promised long life "in the land," meaning the territory God gave Israel. The Greek word can mean either "land" or "earth," and here the wording is left broad rather than tied to one country.

6:4

"Fathers" translates a Greek word that normally means fathers specifically, though its plural could cover parents generally. In a Roman household the father held legal authority over children, which is why the instruction is aimed at him. "Nurture and admonition" are two ordinary words for raising a child: the whole process of training and discipline, and correction given in words.

6:5

"Servants" in 1611 English covered slaves, and that is the meaning here: people legally owned by another. Roman household slavery was widespread and included educated workers, managers and craftsmen, not only field laborers. "Masters according to the flesh" means masters in the ordinary human sphere, as opposed to the heavenly Master named in verse 9. "Fear and trembling" was a stock phrase for serious respect, not terror.

6:6

"Eyeservice" and "menpleasers" are compound words coined to translate the Greek. The first means work done only while the boss is looking; the second means someone whose aim is to impress people.

6:8

"Bond or free" is a legal distinction, not a moral one: enslaved person or free citizen. These were the two basic categories of status in the Roman world.

6:9

"Forbearing threatening" means giving up the use of threats, which was a normal master's tool. "Respect of persons" is an old idiom for favoritism, treating someone better because of rank or wealth. It renders a Greek term built from a Hebrew phrase about lifting up a face, that is, showing partiality.

6:10

"Brethren" is a plural address to a whole congregation, men and women together, as "brothers and sisters" would be today.

6:11

"Whole armour" translates one Greek word, panoplia, the complete kit of a heavily armed foot soldier: belt, body armor, boots, shield, helmet, sword. Verses 14 to 17 name the pieces one at a time. "Wiles" means cunning schemes or tactics, not childish tricks.

6:12

"We wrestle" uses the language of hand to hand wrestling. "Principalities" and "powers" are not places or abilities but ranks of beings, roughly rulers and authorities. "Spiritual wickedness in high places" does not mean corruption among important people: the phrase is "in the heavenly places," the same expression used earlier in this letter for the unseen realm above, so it means evil spiritual forces operating there.

6:13

"The evil day" is left undefined in the Greek. It can mean a particular coming time of crisis or simply whatever day the attack arrives.

6:14

"Loins girt about" refers to the belt. Men wore long loose robes, and before work or a fight they pulled the hem up and tied it at the waist so their legs were free; a soldier's belt also carried the sword and held the armor in place. "Righteousness" here means being in the right and living rightly, not a feeling.

6:15

"Shod with the preparation" means having footwear on, so as to be ready. Roman military boots were heavy soles studded with hobnails, which gave a soldier grip so he could not be pushed off his footing.

6:16

"Fiery darts" are arrows with burning pitch or tow tied behind the head, used to set fire to what they struck. A large Roman shield was wood faced with leather, and the leather was soaked with water before battle so that such arrows went out on impact. "The wicked" here is singular, the evil one, meaning the devil named in verse 11.

6:17

The sword named is the short stabbing sword of a foot soldier, a close combat weapon rather than a long cavalry blade. "The word of God" translates a Greek term for a spoken utterance, a thing said, rather than a written book.

6:18

"Supplication" simply means a request or petition. "Saints" in this letter does not mean an elite group of holy people; it is the ordinary term for everyone who belongs to God, the whole membership of the churches.

6:19

"Mystery" does not mean a puzzle or something kept obscure. It translates a word for a secret that was hidden and has now been disclosed, so it points to something announced openly rather than withheld.

6:20

An ambassador carried a ruler's message and was legally protected; being one "in bonds" is a deliberate contradiction. Paul is writing from custody, where a prisoner awaiting a hearing could be chained to a guard.

6:21

Tychicus is the man carrying the letter. Letters in this period had no postal service and traveled by a trusted courier, who would also deliver news by mouth and answer questions the letter did not cover.

6:22

"Comfort" in 1611 English was a stronger word than it is now. It meant to put strength into someone, closer to encourage or fortify than to soothe.

6:23

"Peace" here reflects the standard Jewish greeting, shalom, which means wholeness and safety and wellbeing, not simply the absence of conflict.

6:24

"In sincerity" translates a Greek word meaning incorruptibility, something that does not decay or die. The grammar leaves it open whether it describes the love the readers have or the grace being wished on them, and whether it attaches to the loving or to the Lord who is loved.