Charles Ellicott Commentary Ephesians 6:16

"withal taking up the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil [one]." — Ephesians 6:16 (ASV)

Above all.—Properly, over all, or besides all else. The shield here is the large, heavy shield covering the whole body, in which the fiery darts—that is, the arrows, with points made red hot, or wrapped with burning tow (Psalms 120:4)—may become embedded and burn themselves out without harm.

St. Paul likens it to “faith.” This, however, is neither the faith in which we stand (2 Corinthians 1:24), nor the energetic faith of Hebrews 11. It is the faith of patience and endurance, the almost passive faith, trusting in God’s protection and submissive to His will, on which the darts of temptation, whether from fear, or from lust, or from doubt, fall harmless.

The best commentary on these words, after all, is found in Christian’s conflict with Apollyon in the Pilgrim’s Progress.