He saith] There is no pronoun in the Greek, and the nominative may be 'it,' 'the Scripture,' viz. Psalms 68:18. The important parts of the quotation are 'He ascended' and 'gave gifts.' Led captivity captive] i.e. led many captives in His train. These He used as ministers.

9, 10. The meaning of this obscure passage seems to be this. 'Christ ascended, not to leave His Church an orphan (John 14:18), but in order to return to it with the rich gifts of His spiritual presence. The ascent without this subsequent descent would be incomprehensible.' The descent is placed after the ascent, and can hardly refer to either the burial or the descent into Hades. RV omits first.

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