Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Corinthians 10:4

"(for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the casting down of strongholds)," — 2 Corinthians 10:4 (ASV)

For the weapons of our warfare . . .—We learn from the earlier words of 1 Thessalonians 5:8, yet more from the later ones of Ephesians 6:11-16, what these were—the energies of spiritual powers given by the Eternal Spirit.

To the pulling down of strong holds.—The phrase is essentially military, used in the Septuagint for the capture and destruction of fortresses (Lamentations 2:2; Proverbs 21:22); “casting down the strength” ; “pulled down the fortress” .

He speaks as if leading an attack on the strong defenses of the powers of evil, possibly thinking of the great system of idolatry and impurity enthroned at Corinth and throughout the Empire, or possibly of the pride and obstinate rebellion in the hearts of his individual opponents. The context favors the latter interpretation.

It has been suggested (Stanley, on this passage) that the Apostle’s language may have been colored by national memories of the wars against the Cilicians carried on by Pompeius, which ended in the reduction of one hundred and twenty fortresses and the capture of more than 10,000 prisoners.