And take the helmet of salvation
Meaning either Christ himself, the Saviour; and so the Arabic
version renders it, "the helmet of the Saviour": or the salvation
itself, which he is the author of, and a well grounded hope of
it; see ( 1
Thessalonians 5:8 ) ; the allusion is to ( Isaiah 59:17
) ; and such an hope of salvation by Christ is a defence of the
head against false doctrines; for the helmet is a piece of armour
for the head; and it is an erecter of the head in times of
difficulty, affliction, and distress; and it covers the head in
the day of battle, when engaged with Satan, the enemy of souls:
and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of
God;
the word of God is compared to a "sword", for its two edges, the
law and Gospel; the one convicts of sin, and cuts to the heart
for it, and the other cuts down all the goodliness of man; and
the Scriptures in general are a sharp sword, in convincing of
sin, reproving for it, and threatening with wrath and ruin, in
refuting error and heresy, and repelling Satan's temptations, and
will be used in the destruction of antichrist: and this word may
be called "the sword of the Spirit", because it is not carnal,
but of a spiritual nature; and is used by the spiritual man; and
because the Holy Spirit, as the Ethiopic version here expresses
it, is the author of it; and which he furnishes the saints with,
and teaches them how to make use of, and makes it powerful and
effectual. So the Jews say F20, the words of the law are
like to a sword, and speak of (hrwt brx) "the sword of the law" F21