We: so all modern editions of the Greek New Testament; some very good Greek manuscripts (including (P46) and Vaticanus) and some ancient versions (including Old Latin, Syriac) have “you.”
Fighting translates a Greek noun which occurs only here in the New Testament; it means properly “wrestling,” a hand-to-hand fight (see Barth). But in the context, with the picture of a soldier armed for combat, it is inappropriate to use the specific word for “wrestling,” and a more general term is called for: “to struggle, fight, battle against.”
Human beings translates the phrase “blood and flesh” (as in Heb 2.14); the usual order is “flesh and blood” (see 1 Cor 15.50; Gal 1.16). The phrase against human beings may be best rendered as “against other people.”
The rest of the verse in Greek is “but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the evil spiritual beings in the heavenly world” (see a comparable list in 2.2). Good News Translation has changed the order of the various titles so that their evil and otherworldly nature will be apparent at once.
The wicked spiritual forces: these, as the others, were thought of as angels or lesser gods, evil beings who are opposed to God and his will for mankind. In many languages “spirits that do evil things” will be the best way to represent the meaning.
For the heavenly world see 1.3, 20; 2.6; 3.10.
For rulers, authorities see the same two nouns in 3.10 (also Col 2.15).
In a number of languages the closest equivalent of wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world is “wicked demons in the sky.” Then the three classifications the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers may be rendered as “who rule and have authority and are strong.”
Cosmic powers translates a word used only here in the New Testament; Revised Standard Version, Translator’s New Testament “world rulers”; Barth “overlords.” A number of savior gods of other religions had the name “the world ruler”; in most instances this “world ruler” god was identified with the sun (see Beare; Barth, pages 802-803).
Translators should not use a word for cosmic powers which would indicate an earthly ruler. They might say “gods or spirits that rule in this world”; but if “gods” is a problem, they could say “spiritual forces that people worship” or “spiritual forces that rule over people.”
Of this dark age translates the Greek “of this darkness.” This may be rendered as “of this dark time in which we live” or “in these days in which we live, which are like night.”
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert C. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1982. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .