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Ephesians 6:16

above all, taking up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Parallel Translations

  • WEB World English Bible

    above all, taking up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one.

  • TYNDALE Tyndale New Testament (1534)

    Above all take to you the shelde of fayth wherwith ye maye quenche all the fyrie dartes of the wicked.

  • GNV Geneva Bible (1599)

    Aboue all, take the shielde of faith, wherewith ye may quench all the fierie dartes of the wicked,

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Cross-references (12)

Passages linked to Ephesians 6:16 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.

  • 1 Peter 5:8-9 Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Withstand him steadfast in your faith, knowing that your brothers who are in the world are undergoing the same sufferings.
  • 1 John 5:4-5 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world: your faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
  • Proverbs 18:10 Yahweh’s name is a strong tower: the righteous run to him, and are safe.
  • Psalms 56:3-4 When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. In God, I praise his word. In God, I put my trust. I will not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?
  • Genesis 15:1 After these things Yahweh’s word came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Don’t be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”
  • Psalms 56:10-11 In God, I will praise his word. In Yahweh, I will praise his word. I have put my trust in God. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
  • 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 Therefore we don’t faint, but though our outward man is decaying, yet our inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is for the moment, works for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory, while we don’t look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
  • Hebrews 11:24-34 By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to share ill treatment with God’s people than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a time, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he looked to the reward. By faith, he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. By faith, he kept the Passover, and the sprinkling of the blood, that the destroyer of the firstborn should not touch them. By faith, they passed through the Red Sea as on dry land. When the Egyptians tried to do so, they were swallowed up. By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down, after they had been encircled for seven days. By faith, Rahab the prostitute didn’t perish with those who were disobedient, having received the spies in peace. What more shall I say? For the time would fail me if I told of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked out righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, grew mighty in war, and caused foreign armies to flee.
  • 2 Corinthians 1:24 We don’t control your faith, but are fellow workers with you for your joy. For you stand firm in faith.
  • Hebrews 6:17-18 In this way God, being determined to show more abundantly to the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel, interposed with an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have a strong encouragement, who have fled for refuge to take hold of the hope set before us.
  • 1 Thessalonians 5:19 Don’t quench the Spirit.
  • Psalms 120:4 Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.

Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)

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Explain this verse (18 sources)

Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.

John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 16. Taking the shield of faith. Though faith and…

16. Taking the shield of faith. Though faith and the word of God are one, yet Paul assigns to them two distinct offices. I call them one, because the word is the object of faith, and cannot be applied to our use but by faith; as faith again is nothing, and can do nothing, without the word. But Paul, neglecting so subtle a distinction, allowed himself to expatiate at large on the military armor. In the first Epistle to the Thessalonians he gives both to faith and to love the name of a breastplate, — “putting on the breastplate of faith and love,” (1 Thessalonians 5:8.) All that was intended, therefore, was obviously this, — “He who possesses the excellencies of character which are here described is protected on every hand.”

And yet it is not without reason that the most necessary instruments of warfare — a sword and a shield — are compared to faith, and to the word of God. In the spiritual combat, these two hold the highest rank. By faith we repel all the attacks of the devil, and by the word of God the enemy himself is slain. If the word of God shall have its efficacy upon us through faith, we shall be more than sufficiently armed both for opposing the enemy and for putting him to flight. And what shall we say of those who take from a Christian people the word of God? Do they not rob them of the necessary armor, and leave them to perish without a struggle? There is no man of any rank who is not bound to be a soldier of Christ. But if we enter the field unarmed, if we want our sword, how shall we sustain that character?

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Wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the darts. But quench appears not to be the proper word. Why did he not use, instead of it, ward off or shake off, or some such word? Quench is far more expressive; for it is adapted to the epithet applied to darts The darts of Satan are not only sharp and penetrating, but — what makes them more destructive — they are fiery Faith will be found capable, not only of blunting their edge, but of quenching their heat.

“This,” says John, “is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” (1 John 5:4.)

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith…
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Above all; chiefly, Col 3:14; this he sets, as…
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Above all, taking the shield of faith,.... Which may…
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Above or over all - As a sort of…
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 16. Above all, (επι πασιν, over all the…
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Eph 6:16. Above all — Επι πασιν, upon, or…
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Above all - Ἐν πᾶσιν En pasin. Not “above…
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain The shield of faith. A lively faith working by…
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Above all--rather, "Over all"; so as to cover all…
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 16. Above all—Rather, over all, as protector.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 16. above all] The Gr. admits the renderings, “over…
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (16) Above all.—Properly, over all, or besides all else.…
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Withal taking up the shield of faith. The quxeov…
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Above all, taking the shield of faith with which…
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 16. Above all, taking the shield of faith. The…
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 6:16 Faith is trust in Christ as Savior or…

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