3833. panoplia

Lexical Summary

panoplia: Full armor, complete armor

Original Word: πανοπλία
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: panoplia
Pronunciation: pah-nop-LEE-ah
Phonetic Spelling: (pan-op-lee'-ah)
KJV: all (whole) armour
NASB: full armor, all armor
Word Origin: [from a compound of G3956 (πᾶς - all) and G3696 (ὅπλον - weapons)]

1. full armor ("panoply")

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance

full armor.

From a compound of pas and hoplon; full armor ("panoply") -- all (whole) armour.

see GREEK pas

see GREEK hoplon

HELPS Word-studies

3833 panoplía (from 3956 /pás, "every" and 3696 /hóplon, "weapon") – properly, a complete set of defensive and offensive armor (weapons), i.e. everything needed to wage successful warfare; (figuratively) the full resources the Lord gives to the believer so they can successfully wage spiritual warfare. In this way they do not fight for victory – but from His victory!

NAS Exhaustive Concordance

Word Origin
from pas and hoplon
Definition
full armor
NASB Translation
all...armor (1), full armor (2).

Thayer's Greek Lexicon

STRONGS NT 3833: πανοπλία

πανοπλία, πανοπλίας, ἡ (from πάνοπλος wholly armed, in full armor; and this from πᾶς and ὅπλον), full armor, complete armor (i. e. a shield, sword, lance, helmet, greaves, and breastplate, (cf. Polybius 6, 28, 2ff)): Luke 11:22; Θεοῦ, which God supplies (Winer's Grammar, 189 (178)), Ephesians 6:11, 13, where the spiritual helps needed for overcoming the temptations of the devil are so called. (Herodotus, Plato, Isocrates, Polybius, Josephus, the Sept.; tropically, of the various appliances at God's command for punishing, Wis. 5:18.)

Topical Lexicon

Definition and Core Idea

The term denotes the complete equipment of a soldier prepared for combat. In Scripture it moves beyond literal military gear to represent the God-given resources that enable a believer to withstand and overcome spiritual opposition.

Occurrences and Immediate Contexts

• Luke 11:22 presents the image of a “stronger” man stripping an opponent of the armor in which he had put his confidence. The saying exposes the futility of self-reliance when confronted by One who is truly sovereign.
• Ephesians 6:11 and Ephesians 6:13 apply the image to Christian life: “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes… Therefore take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground”. Here the complete equipment is explicitly of divine origin and indispensable for resisting evil.

Background: The Ancient Panoply

In the first-century Mediterranean world a heavy infantryman’s gear typically included helmet, breastplate, belt, greaves, shield, sword and sometimes a lance. The presence of every piece was crucial; one missing element exposed the warrior to fatal vulnerability. Paul leverages this cultural familiarity to communicate that spiritual warfare cannot be met with partial measures.

Roman recruits received their equipment from the state. By analogy, the believer’s armor is issued by God at conversion, not fashioned by human effort. Maintenance, however, was the soldier’s responsibility—a point that underlies the repeated command to “put on” and “take up.”

Theological Themes

1. Divine Provision: The armor belongs to God; He supplies what He commands (Philippians 2:13).
2. Union with Christ: Each piece in Ephesians 6 embodies an aspect of Christ’s redemptive work—truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation and the word of God—echoing Isaiah 59:17 where the Lord clothes Himself for battle.
3. Spiritual Warfare: The enemy is personal (“the devil”), organized (“rulers… authorities… world powers of this darkness”) and strategic (“schemes”). Victory is accomplished not by aggression but by steadfast resistance—“to stand” is repeated four times in the passage.
4. Already–Not Yet Tension: Christ has triumphed (Colossians 2:15), yet believers still face “the day of evil.” The armor secures participation in Christ’s victory while awaiting the final consummation.

Practical Ministry Implications

• Discipleship: Teaching new believers to appropriate every facet of the armor safeguards them from fragmented spirituality (Acts 2:42).
• Counseling and Spiritual Care: Reminding struggling saints that faith is a shield “with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16) redirects focus from self-effort to God’s faithfulness.
• Corporate Worship: The verbs in Ephesians 6 are plural; the church dons the armor together. Public reading, prayer and mutual encouragement are strategic acts of outfitting the body for battle.
• Mission: Evangelism is pictured as footwear “fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace” (Ephesians 6:15). The armor simultaneously defends and advances the kingdom.

Intertextual Connections

• Isaiah 11:5; Isaiah 59:17 provide the Old Testament backdrop of messianic armor.
• Romans 13:12 urges believers to “put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.”
• 2 Corinthians 10:4 states, “The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the world; instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.”
• 1 Thessalonians 5:8 identifies “the breastplate of faith and love” and “the helmet of the hope of salvation,” reinforcing the triad of faith, hope and love.

Patristic and Historical Reception

Early theologians such as Clement of Alexandria and Chrysostom treated the armor as a catechetical framework, linking each piece to Christian virtues. The Reformers emphasized Scripture as the believer’s sword, while Puritan writers like William Gurnall produced extensive pastoral manuals on Ephesians 6, shaping Protestant spirituality for centuries.

Contemporary Relevance

In an age of psychological explanations for evil, the imagery of full armor reminds the church of the unseen conflict that underlies daily experience. The passage balances realism about demonic hostility with assurance of divine sufficiency. Consistent appropriation of the armor nurtures resilience, moral integrity and joyful confidence in the ultimate triumph of Christ.

Forms and Transliterations

πανοπλιαν πανοπλίαν πανουργεύσηται panoplian panoplían

Englishman's Concordance

Luke 11:22 N-AFS
GRK: αὐτόν τὴν πανοπλίαν αὐτοῦ αἴρει
NAS: him, he takes away from him all his armor on which
KJV: from him all his armour wherein
INT: him the complete armor of him he takes away

Ephesians 6:11 N-AFS
GRK: ἐνδύσασθε τὴν πανοπλίαν τοῦ θεοῦ
NAS: Put on the full armor of God, so
KJV: Put on the whole armour of God, that
INT: Put on the complete armor of God

Ephesians 6:13 N-AFS
GRK: ἀναλάβετε τὴν πανοπλίαν τοῦ θεοῦ
NAS: take up the full armor of God,
KJV: take unto you the whole armour of God,
INT: take up the complete armor of God

Strong's Greek 3833
3 Occurrences

πανοπλίαν — 3 Occ.