2 Korintus 10:3-5

10:3 For though we live ¹  as human beings, ²  we do not wage war according to human standards, ³  10:4 for the weapons of our warfare are not human weapons, ⁴  but are made powerful by God ⁵  for tearing down strongholds. ⁶  We tear down arguments ⁷  10:5 and every arrogant obstacle ⁸  that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to make it obey ⁹  Christ.

Efesus 6:11-12

6:11 Clothe yourselves with the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the schemes ¹⁰  of the devil. 6:12 For our struggle ¹¹  is not against flesh and blood, ¹²  but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, ¹³  against the spiritual forces ¹⁴  of evil in the heavens. ¹⁵ 

[10:3]  ¹ tn Grk “we walk.”

[10:3]  ² tn Grk “in the flesh.”

[10:3]  ³ tn Grk “according to the flesh.”

[10:4]  ⁴ tn Grk “are not fleshly [weapons].” The repetition of the word “warfare” does not occur in the Greek text, but is supplied for clarity.

[10:4]  ⁵ tn Or “but (are) divinely powerful,” “but they have divine power,” or “but are powerful for God’s [service]”; Grk “but are powerful to God.”

[10:4]  ⁶ sn Ultimately Paul is referring here to the false arguments of his opponents, calling them figuratively “strongholds.” This Greek word (ὀχύρωμα, ocurwma) is used only here in the NT.

[10:4]  ⁷ tn Or “speculations.”

[10:5]  ⁸ tn The phrase “every arrogant obstacle” could be translated simply “all arrogance” (so L&N 88.207).

[10:5]  ⁹ tn Grk “to the obedience of Christ”; but since Χριστοῦ (Cristou) is clearly an objective genitive here, it is better to translate “to make it obey Christ.”

[6:11]  ¹⁰ tn Or “craftiness.” See BDAG 625 s.v. μεθοδεία.

[6:12]  ¹¹ tn BDAG 752 s.v. πάλη says, “struggle against…the opponent is introduced by πρός w. the acc.”

[6:12]  ¹² tn Grk “blood and flesh.”

[6:12]  ¹³ tn BDAG 561 s.v. κοσμοκράτωρ suggests “the rulers of this sinful world” as a gloss.

[6:12]  sn The phrase world-rulers of this darkness does not refer to human rulers but the evil spirits that rule over the world. The phrase thus stands in apposition to what follows (the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens); see note on heavens at the end of this verse.

[6:12]  ¹⁴ tn BDAG 837 s.v. πνευματικός 3 suggests “the spirit-forces of evil” in Ephesians 6:12.

[6:12]  ¹⁵ sn The phrase spiritual forces of evil in the heavens serves to emphasize the nature of the forces which oppose believers as well as to indicate the locality from which they originate.