6:16a

In addition to all this: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as In addition to all this is literally “with all (these things).” There is an interpretation issue here. Scholars interpret this phrase in two ways:

(1) It means As well as putting on the things I have already mentioned. Paul had already told the Ephesians to put on a belt, breastplate and shoes. Next he told them some other pieces of armor to take. For example:

In addition to all these (God’s Word)

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, Revised Standard Version, New American Standard Bible, Revised English Bible, God’s Word, New Living Translation (2004))

(2) It means At all times or always. For example:

At all times (Good News Translation)

(Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, English Standard Version, New Living Translation (1996))

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) and the greater number of versions. It also seems to fit the context better.

6:16b

the shield of faith: A shield is a large piece of armor that protected the soldier’s whole body. A soldier held it in one hand out in front of himself to protect himself from his enemies’ weapons.

A shield was made of wooden boards fastened together, covered with cloth and then leather. Before a battle, a soldier would soak his shield in water so that it would not burn when enemies shot flaming arrows at him. See the shield of a soldier in the picture at Section 6:10–20.

This is also a metaphor. Paul compared faith to a shield.

One way to fully explain this metaphor is like this: “Just as a shield protects a soldier in a battle, so if you trust in God, he will protect you when Satan attacks you.”

faith: Here faith means to trust or believe in God. See how you translated faith in 1:15b and 3:12a. See faith, Meaning 1, in the Glossary for more information.

Here are some ways to translate 6:16b:

• Keep the metaphor. For example:

Take hold of the shield. The shield is faith ⌊in God⌋.

• Make the metaphor a simile. For example:

Have faith ⌊in God⌋. This will be like your shield.
-or-
Let your faith be like a shield (Contemporary English Version)

• Give the full meaning of the metaphor. For example:

⌊As a soldier⌋ takes hold of a shield ⌊to protect himself in battle⌋, if you believe/trust in God ⌊it will protect you when Satan attacks⌋.

6:16c

with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows: As was mentioned in 6:16b, before a battle, soldiers soaked their shields in water. When the enemy shot burning arrows at them, the wet shields put out the flames and the shields did not burn.

If people do not use bows and arrows in your part of the world, this figure of speech may be difficult to explain. If this is the case, you may want to translate this without the metaphor of arrows. One example is:

Your faith will be like a shield that protects you from all the dangerous weapons/things that the evil one throws at you.

all the flaming arrows: In Paul’s time, soldiers dipped the tips of arrows in something like tar. During a battle, they would set the arrows on fire before shooting them.

the evil one: The phrase the evil one refers to Satan, the devil, the ruler of demons. See note on 6:11b.

Here are some other ways to translate 6:16c:

to stop the fiery arrows of the devil (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
for with it you will be able to put out all the burning arrows shot by the Evil One (Good News Translation)

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