Greek PALE (pawlay)—primary meaning is “to wrestle” or “struggle”. The word “wrestle” is a very good translation, even in this context of a soldier’s armor.

Recommended Reading: Rick Renner’s teaching called Spiritual Warfare is Real.

Ephesians 6:12 wrestle = the most vicious, brutal of all the sports. Everyone in the first century knew about this sport. Wrestling was a PALE CULTURE, SUCH AS FOOTBALL IS A CURRENT “PALE” CULTURE.

There was a palace of combat sports. Only 3 kinds of sports: boxers, wrestlers, pankration. Not like what we have until today. You fought until one lived and one died. Boxers took hides 16’ long hides and wrapped it on themselves from elbow down and down their arms to their knuckles. Then attached/wrapped serrated nails, sharp like hunting knives to their knuckles. That is how they boxed.

Wrestling was in the nude and there were no rules. A tactic was to grab the opponent’s hand and break his fingers. Another tactic was to take the thumb and gouge the opponent’s eye out. So he could no longer see to wrestle. And to finish the opponent off was to get behind him, wrap his arms around his waist and throw him up on the air and throw him down to the ground and snap his back. Leaving the opponent paralyzed.

If you survived the boxing match and the wrestling match then you were invited into the Pankration. Pan means ALL and kration means POWER. It meant a Pankration had more power than anybody else. They were the men that had won the boxing and wrestling match. They had more power than anybody else. They entered the ring and fought each other as boxers, wrestlers, and with spiked clubs until one died and one lived. All of that is inside the one word “wrestle”.

Paul was describing a major warfare: no rules. Satan doesn’t play fair. And no one is exempt. Jesus has given us POWER OVER ALL THE POWER OF ENEMY. WE ALWAYS WIN!