Hello Readers and welcome-or welcome back-to Renaissance Woman where, this week, I continue my study of The Whole Armor of God as described by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 6:10-18a. 

In last week’s post, I looked at the Greek word translated “take up” in Ephesians 6:13.  The word is analambano (G353) and is defined in the Strong’s as “to take up-receive up, take (in, unto, up).” Analambano is a compound word formed of ana (G303) and lambano (G2983).  The Strong’s defines Ana as “properly up but (by extension) used (distributively) severally, or (locally) at:–and, apiece, by, each, every (man), in, through.  In compounds (as a prefix) it often means (by implication) repetition, intensity, reversal.”  Lambano is defined as “to get hold of, accept, be amazed, assay, attain, bring, when I call, catch, come on (unto), forget, have, hold, obtain, receive (after), take (away, up).” 

As I attempted to take all of the entirety of the definitions into consideration, I wondered if analambano couldn’t be defined as “to constantly take hold of that which we have received in our inner being.”  I see no problem with that definition based on what I found in the Strong’s.  However, my definition needed to be tested both by looking analambano up in other resources and by seeing how it is used in other passages of scripture.  According to The New Koine Greek Textbook, analambano appears 13 times in scripture.  I’ll include a list at the end of this post in case anyone is interested in looking up the occurrences.  The Strong’s said that ana, when used in compounds as a prefix, often meant repetition, intensity, or reversal.  I found no sense of repetition as I looked up the other occurrences of analambano: intensity and reversal where another matter.

Five of the passages containing analambano had to deal with Jesus being “received” or “taken up” into heaven or, as 1 Timothy 3:16 has it, “received up into glory”.  I can only imagine how intense of a time this was for the disciples.  So intense was it that two men clad in white had to come to them and ask why they were just standing staring up into heaven (see Acts 1).  There is also a sense of reversal here though I wonder if the Disciples were fully aware of it until the giving of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.

There were other passages where I could see the idea of reversal.  Analambano is used to describe the Apostle Paul traveling on foot but then being “taken up” into a ship.  Perhaps “reversal” is too strong of a word to describe the usage here but, at the very least, there was a change in how Paul was travelling.  Analambano also appears in the story of Peter’s vision before he goes to see the Centurion Cornelius (see Acts 10:16).  The vessel in his vision is “received up” into heaven.  This was definitely a reversal in how Peter was to think and act toward those who were previously excluded under the Law of Moses but were now included in the Life of Christ.    

I discovered something else I found interesting.  Analambano is the word used in Ephesians 6:16: “above all taking (or having taken up) the shield of faith”.  It is NOT the Greek word translated as “take” in verse 17: “and take the helmet of salvation…” That word is dechomai (G1209) and, in order to understand the subtle difference in definition, I looked up both words in the Greek-English Lexicon (BDAG).  Here, analambano is defined as, “to lift up, carry away, take up, to take up in order to carry, to make something someone’s own by taking, with a focus on moral or transcendent aspects, to take to one’s self, adopt, take someone along on a journey, to take something up for scrutiny, take in hand” (BDAG, Page 66).  Dechomai is defined as, “to receive something offered or transmitted by another, to take something in hand, to be receptive of someone, to overcome obstacles in being receptive, to indicate approval or conviction by accepting” (BDAG, Page 221,222). 

My attention was focused on “to make something someone’s own” as opposed to “to receive something offered or transmitted by another.”  I wrote last week on how I pay attention to the mental pictures that form during studies.  When it comes to the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, I picture a soldier standing clad in the full armor.  A fellow soldier stands alongside and hands the first soldier both the helmet and sword and then the first heads into battle.  I want to spend more time exploring this as I look at the pieces of armor.  For now, I hope I am making clear the difference in intensity.  Both words do mean “to take up” or “to receive” but there is a difference in taking in hand something another offers to you and making something your own by taking it to yourself.

This is a massive subject I will be meditating on in the upcoming days: perhaps for years.  I am still a bit gob smacked that the same word used to describe the receiving of Jesus into heaven is the same word used to describe our taking up the whole armor of God.  There are depths here I have only begun to plumb.  I am also meditating on the Strong’s definition of ana: specifically repetition and reversal.

I have already experienced a reversal in my understanding of the Whole Armor of God.  I have always thought it something I had to mentally arm myself with before I left my house in the morning.  It was Christ Himself, of course, but still something external from me I had to attain to.  And, perhaps saddest of all, there was always the fear of; could I really consider myself clad in the whole armor of God if I didn’t quote that passage every day?  This passage was invoked like a talisman against evil.  I don’t remember every being taught to rest in the covenant I participated in by sheer gift and trust that Jesus Christ who is my armor would be my protection no matter what I faced. 

I have experienced a reversal in the direction of Spiritual Warfare.  Instead of going out and engaging who or whatever I perceive my enemy to be in attempt to advance the Kingdom of God here on earth, I rest in the finished work of Christ, I live out of His victory, and trust I am made more than a conqueror through Him who loves me. 

Perhaps there is no sense of repetition in the way analambano is used in my study passage.  After all, Christ died once for all and all authority in heaven and earth is His so the armor that He is isn’t ever going to change in composition or intensity.  However, there is a repetition in that, as my understanding changes, so is there a return and a reclamation and a receiving of all that is mine.  I can only receive to the extent my eyes have been opened to understand who Jesus Christ is, who He is in me, and who I am in Him.  As that understanding deepens, so too do I once more take up the Whole Armor of God and make it even more my own.  In this sense, I do constantly take hold of that which I have received in my inner being.

There is a passage in Revelation I will close with.  It is Revelation 22:12: “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.”  The Greek words for “coming quickly” are erchomai tachy.  Erchomai is a verb and its tense in this passage is present indicative.  Present is self-explanatory: it means NOW!  Indicative means it is telling a fact.  Translating tachy as “quickly” is perfectly fine although it is important to know it means “speedily” and “without delay”.  I have heard it said this passage could be rendered as “And, Behold, I am ever coming to you…” which I find beautiful.

Constancy is a better word than repetition and so is faithfulness.  He is ever coming to us.  He dwells within us by His Spirit.  Repetition can be a limiting idea-generating the mental picture of some sort of spiritual hamster wheel-and there is no limit in Jesus Christ: the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end, they are new every morning.

Great is His faithfulness!

Unless noted otherwise, all Scriptures are quoted from The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1982

List of passages containing analambano: Mark 16:19, Acts 1:2, Acts 1:11, Acts 1:22, Acts 7:43, Acts 10:16, Acts 20:13, Acts 20:14, Acts 23:31, Ephesians 6:13, Ephesians 6:16, 1 Timothy 3:16, 2 Timothy 4:11

References

livelingua.com/blog/present-indicative-english/#:~:text=Indicative means to tell the,in all the basic tenses.

Danker, Frederick William, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third Edition (BDAG), The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 1957, 2000

Green, Jay P., The Interlinear Hebrew-Greek-English Bible, Volume 4, Authors for Christ, Inc. Lafayette, Indiana, 1796, 2000

Strong, James, LL.D., S.T.D., The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville Tennessee, 1990

Walker, Allen G., The New Koine Greek Textbook, Volumes II/III, 2014-2019