📖 Biblical Definition
The prince of the power of the air is Paul's title for Satan in Ephesians 2:2: wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. The title names his domain (the air, the present age's atmosphere) and his activity (active in disobedient hearts).
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
(Ephesians 2:2.) Paul's title for Satan; the chief of spiritual powers in the present world-age.
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Paul's phrasing combines several thoughts: a personal prince (not impersonal force), specific authority (over a power, not all power), in the air (the spiritual atmosphere of the present world), now working (present-tense, ongoing).
Christ's ascension into the heavens (Eph 4:8-10) and the saint's being seated in heavenly places (Eph 2:6) deliberately stake out higher territory than the prince of the air can reach.
📖 Key Scripture
Ephesians 2:2 — "Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience."
Ephesians 6:12 — "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."
John 12:31 — "Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out."
1 John 5:19 — "And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Modern Christianity often assumes a flat material universe; Paul names a layered cosmos with spiritual powers organized under a chief.
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Ephesians 2:2 and 6:12 between them sketch the New Testament cosmology: real spiritual powers, organized hierarchically, operating in the present age, opposing the saints. The prince is real; the structure is real; the saint is engaged whether he knows it or not.
And the saint's seated position (Eph 2:6, in heavenly places in Christ Jesus) is above the prince's domain. The wrestling is real; the higher ground is given. The household lives knowingly in this layered cosmos, not naively.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Greek archōn (ruler) plus exousia (authority) plus aēr (air).
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Greek archōn — ruler, prince; the chief.
Greek aēr — air; the lower atmosphere, the spiritual environment of the present age.
Usage
"Real prince, real domain, real activity."
"The saint is seated above the prince of the air, in Christ."
"The wrestling is real; the higher ground is given."