Ephesians 6:14

14. Stand--The repetition in Ep 6:11, 14, shows that standing, that is, maintaining our ground, not yielding or fleeing, is the grand aim of the Christian soldier. Translate as Greek, "Having girt about your loins with truth," that is, with truthfulness, sincerity, a good conscience (2Co 1:12; 1Ti 1:5, 18; 3:9). Truth is the band that girds up and keeps together the flowing robes, so as that the Christian soldier may be unencumbered for action. So the Passover was eaten with the loins girt, and the shoes on the feet (Ex 12:11; compare Is 5:27; Lu 12:35). Faithfulness (Septuagint, "truth") is the girdle of Messiah (Is 11:5): so truth of His followers. having on--Greek, "having put on." breastplate of righteousness--(Is 59:17), similarly of Messiah. "Righteousness" is here joined with "truth," as in Ep 5:9: righteousness in works, truth in words [Estius] (1Jo 3:7). Christ's righteousness inwrought in us by the Spirit. "Faith and love," that is, faith working righteousness by love, are "the breastplate" in 1Th 5:8.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Verse 14. Stand therefore. Resist every attack--as a soldier does in battle. In what way they were to do this, and how they were to be armed, the apostle proceeds to specify; and, in doing it, gives a description of the ancient armour of a soldier.

Having your loins girt about. The girdle, or sash, was always with the ancients an important part of their dress, in war as well as in peace. They wore loose, flowing robes; and it became necessary to gird them up when they travelled, or ran, or laboured. The girdle was often highly ornamented, and was the place where they carried their money, their sword, their pipe, their writing instruments, etc. Mt 5:38 and Mt 5:39-41. The" girdle" seems sometimes to have been a cincture of iron or steel, and designed to keep every part of the armour in its place, and to gird the soldier on every side.

With truth. It may not be easy to determine with entire accuracy the resemblance between the parts of the armour specified in this description, and the things with which they are compared; or to determine precisely why he compared truth to a girdle, and righteousness to a breast-plate, rather than why he should have chosen a different order, and compared righteousness to a girdle, etc. Perhaps in themselves there may have been no special reason for this arrangement, but the object may have been merely to specify the different parts of the armour of a soldier, and to compare them with the weapons which Christians were to use, though the comparison should be made somewhat at random. In some of the cases, however, we can see a particular significancy in the comparisons which are made; and it may not be improper to make suggestions of that kind as we go along. The idea here may be, that as the girdle was the bracer up, or support of the body, so truth is fitted to brace us up, and to gird us for constancy and firmness. The girdle kept all the parts of the armour in their proper place, and preserved firmness and consistency in the dress; and so truth might serve to give consistency and firmness to our conduct. "Great," says Grotius, "is the laxity of falsehood; truth binds the man." Truth preserves a man from those lax views of morals, of duty, and of religion, which leave him exposed to every assault. It makes the soul sincere, firm, constant, and always on its guard. A man who has no consistent views of truth, is just the man for the adversary successfully to assail.

And having on the breastplate. The word here rendered "breastplate" --θωραξ--denoted the cuirass, (Lat., lorica,) or coat of mail; i.e., the armour that covered the body from the neck to the thighs, and consisted of two parts, one covering the front and the other the back. It was made of rings, or in the form of scales, or of plates, so fastened together that they would be flexible, and yet guard the body from a sword, spear, or arrow. It is referred to in the Scriptures as a coat of mail, 1Sam 17:5; an habergeon, Neh 4:16, or as a breastplate. We are told that Goliath's coat of mail weighed five thousand shekels of brass, or nearly one hundred and sixty pounds. It was often formed of plates of brass, laid one upon another, like the scales of a fish. The cuts on the opposite page will give an idea of this ancient piece of armour.

Of righteousness. Integrity, holiness, purity of life, sincerity of piety. The breastplate defended the vital parts of the body; and the idea here may be, that integrity of life, and righteousness of character, is as necessary to defend us from the assaults of Satan, as the coat of mail was to preserve the heart from the arrows of an enemy. It was the incorruptible integrity of Job, and, in a higher sense, of the Redeemer himself, that saved them from the temptations of the devil. And it is as true now that no one can successfully meet the power of temptation unless he is righteous, as that a soldier could not defend himself against a foe without such a coat of mail. A want of integrity will leave a man exposed to the assaults of the enemy, just as a man would be whose coat of marl was defective, or some part of which was wanting. The king of Israel was smitten by an arrow sent from a bow, drawn at a venture, "between the joints of his harness," or the "breastplate," (margin,) 1Kgs 22:34; and many a man who thinks he has on the Christian armour is smitten in the same manner. There is some defect of character; some want of incorruptible integrity; some point that is unguarded--and that will be sure to be the point of attack by the foe. So David was tempted to commit the enormous crimes that stain his memory, and Peter to deny his Lord. So Judas was assailed, for the want of the armour of righteousness, through his avarice; and so, by some want of incorruptible integrity in a single point, many a minister of the gospel has been assailed and has fallen. It may be added here, that we need a righteousness which God alone can give--the righteousness of God our Saviour--to make us perfectly invulnerable to all the arrows of the foe.

(b) "girt" Isa 11:5

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Verse 14 Stand therefore - Prepare yourselves for combat, having your loins girt about with truth. He had told them before to take the whole armor of God, Eph 6:13, and to put on this whole armor. Having got all the pieces of it together, and the defensive parts put on, they were then to gird them close to their bodies with the ζωμα or girdle, and instead of a fine ornamented belt, such as the ancient warriors used, they were to have truth. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the truth of God; unless this be known and conscientiously believed no man can enter the spiritual warfare with any advantage or prospect of success. By this alone we discover who our enemies are, and how they come on to attack us; and by this we know where our strength lies; and, as the truth is great, and must prevail, we are to gird ourselves with this against all false religion, and the various winds of doctrine by which cunning men and insidious devils lie in wait to deceive. Truth may be taken here for sincerity; for if a man be not conscious to himself that his heart is right before God, and that he makes no false pretences to religion, in vain does he enter the spiritual lists. This alone can give him confidence: - - Hic murus aheneus esto, Nil conscire sibi, nulla pallescere culpa. Let this be my brazen wall; that no man can reproach me with a crime, and that I am conscious of my own integrity. The breast-plate of righteousness - What the θωραξ or breast-plate was, see before. The word righteousness, δικαισυνη, we have often had occasion to note, is a word of very extensive import: it signifies the principle of righteousness; it signifies the practice of righteousness, or living a holy life; it signifies God's method of justifying sinners; and it signifies justification itself. Here it may imply a consciousness of justification through the blood of the cross; the principle of righteousness or true holiness implanted in the heart; and a holy life, a life regulated according to the testimonies of God. As the breast-plate defends the heart and lungs, and all those vital functionaries that are contained in what is called the region of the thorax; so this righteousness, this life of God in the soul of man, defends every thing on which the man's spiritual existence depends. While he possesses this principle, and acts from it, his spiritual and eternal life is secure.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain