8. ἡμεῖςδέκτλ.] ‘ But let us, since we are of the day, be sober’— the part. having a slightly causal force almost = ὅτιἡμέραςἐσμέν. On the other hand the aor. part. ἐδυσάμενοι is to be closely connected with the principal verb .as indicating the manner in which the νήφειν is accomplished, ‘ having put on’ once for all, whether as an antecedent or a necessary accompaniment: cf. 1 Peter 1:13 ἀναζωσάμενοι ... νήφοντεςτελείως, ἐλπίσατεἐπὶτ. φερομένηνὑμῖνχάρινἐνἀποκαλύψειἸησοῦΧριστοῦ. θώρακαπίστεωςκτλ.] The first occurrence of the favourite Pauline figure of armour: cf. Romans 13:12 f. (where there is the same connexion of thought), 2 Corinthians 6:7; 2 Corinthians 10:4, and for a more detailed account Ephesians 6:13 ff., where however the particulars of the figure are applied somewhat differently, showing that the imagery must not be pressed too closely. For the origin of the simile in each case see the description of Jehovah in Isaiah 59:17 καὶἐνεδύσατοδικαιοσύνηνὡςθώρακα, καὶπεριέθετοπερικεφαλαίανσωτηρίουἐπὶτῆςκεφαλῆς (cf. Isaiah 11:4 f., Sap. 5:17 ff.), though in his use of it St Paul may also have been influenced by the Jewish conception of the last great fight against the armies of Antichrist (Daniel 11., Orac. Sib. 3:663 f., 4 Ezra 13:33, Enoch 15:16) as suggested by SH. p. 378. It should be noted however that in the present instance the weapons spoken of are only those of defence in view of the trials which beset believers. Thus we have in the first place θώρ. πίστεωςκτλ. ‘ a breastplate of (or, consisting in) faith and love’ (gen. of apposition, Blass p. 98)— a significant complement to the θώρ. τ. δικαιοσύνης of Ephesians 6:14 : ‘ by faith we are able to realise the Divine will and the Divine power and by love to embody faith in our dealings with men: this is righteousness’ (Westcott ad loc.). This is accompanied by περικεφ. ἐλκπίδασωτηρίας. ‘ an helmet the hope of salvation,’ where from its eschatological reference σωτηρίας can only be gen. obj. ‘ hope directed towards salvation,’ the mention of ‘ hope’ which does not occur in the Isaian and Ephesian passages being in accord with the dominant teaching of the whole Epistle. The Hellenistic περικεφαλαία is found eleven times in the LXX, elsewhere in the N.T. only in Ephesians 6:17. For the growth in the Bibl. conception σωτηρία, which in the Κοινή is frequently = ‘ health’ e.g. B.G.U. 380, 19 ff. (a mother’ s letter, 3./a.d.) μὴοὖνἀμελήσῃς, τέχνον, γράψεμοιπερὶτῆςσωτηρίας [ς]ου, see SH. p. 23 f. The title σωτήρ is discussed by Wendland Z.N.T.W. 5. (1904) p. 335 ff., and σώζειν and its derivatives by Wagner Z.N.T.W. 6. (1905) p. 205 ff., where it is shown that in the N.T. the positive conception of deliverance to new and eternal life is predominant.