Ephesians 4:8

Ephesians 4:8. wherefore he saith. The citation (Psalms 68:19) is to prove that Christ gives (‘wherefore'). ‘He,' which refers to God, is properly supplied, rather than ‘it' = the Scripture. When Paul uses the latter, there is generally a reason for it.

When he ascended up on high, etc. The original, fairly rendered in the LXX., is: ‘ascending to the height, thou didst lead captive (a) captivity, and received gifts in man' (Hebrew: ‘in the man'). The change to the third person is natural; the main difficulty is found in the last clause (which see). That the Psalm was prophetic is quite obvious. It was probably composed after a victory, and probably first used in bringing the ark to Mount Zion after such a victory. This gives it at once a theocratic and Messianic character. ‘On high' points in the Psalm to the holy hill, in the Apostle's application to Christ's exaltation to heaven.

Led a captivity captive. ‘A captivity' suggests the concrete sense which we must accept, the reference being originally to the crowd of captives led in triumph by the returning victor. The application here undoubtedly is to the enemies of Christ who have been overcome, either (1) men who have become His servants (comp. the correct sense of 2 Corinthians 2:14), previously prisoners of Satan; or (2) Satan, sin, and death, whom He had conquered through His death and resurrection. The latter view is favored by Colossians 2:15, gives a forcible meaning, and accords with the metaphor. The former lessens the difficulty in the last clause, making these captives the gifts, who are both received and given. But this lays it open to suspicion. Other views have been suggested, but none of them seem tenable.

And gave gifts to men. The Psalm reads: ‘received gifts in the man,' which means either ‘among men,' or ‘consisting in men.' The E. V. renders ‘for men,' which lessens the difficulty, since receiving gifts for men, and giving them to men, are substantially the same. But the original will scarcely bear this sense. We are therefore shut up to two views. (1.) The gifts consist in men, His captives,' to whom He has given gifts of grace, that they themselves may and can become gifts to men in wider circles' (Braune). This view, by uniting, receiving, and giving in the persons of the captives, seeks to make them synonymous terms. But it seems forced, and compels us to give ‘captivity' its less obvious reference. (2.) The Hebrew is to be translated: ‘hath taken gifts among men,' since the collective sense of ‘the man' is well established. The ideas of the original and Paul's application are thus to be regarded, not as identical, but as correlative. He, as an inspired man, recasts this clause, to bring out, by means of this application, the farther, fuller, and deeper meaning of the Psalm. This view assumes (a) that the Apostle could make an authoritative exposition; (b) that this exposition is not contrary to, but involved in, the original and historical reference. To these points may be added (c) that our tropological expositions are not authoritative; we can use this method only to elucidate doctrine fully established by other passages, or to enforce precept plainly enjoined.