Verse (Click for Chapter) New International Version This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.” New Living Translation That is why the Scriptures say, “When he ascended to the heights, he led a crowd of captives and gave gifts to his people.” English Standard Version Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” Berean Standard Bible This is why it says: “When He ascended on high, He led captives away, and gave gifts to men.” Berean Literal Bible Therefore it says: "Having ascended on high, He led captive captivity, and gave gifts to men." King James Bible Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. New King James Version Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.” New American Standard Bible Therefore it says, “WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE THE CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO PEOPLE.” NASB 1995 Therefore it says, “WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN.” NASB 1977 Therefore it says, “WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN.” Legacy Standard Bible Therefore it says, “WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, And HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN.” Amplified Bible Therefore it says, “WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVITY CAPTIVE, AND HE BESTOWED GIFTS ON MEN.” Christian Standard Bible For it says: When he ascended on high, he took the captives captive; he gave gifts to people. Holman Christian Standard Bible For it says: When He ascended on high, He took prisoners into captivity; He gave gifts to people. American Standard Version Wherefore he saith, When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, And gave gifts unto men. Aramaic Bible in Plain English Therefore it is said, “He ascended to the heights and took captivity prisoner and he has given gifts to the children of men.” Contemporary English Version As the Scriptures say, "When he went up to the highest place, he led away many prisoners and gave gifts to people." Douay-Rheims Bible Wherefore he saith: Ascending on high, he led captivity captive; he gave gifts to men. English Revised Version Wherefore he saith, When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, And gave gifts unto men. GOD'S WORD® Translation That's why the Scriptures say: "When he went to the highest place, he took captive those who had captured us and gave gifts to people." Good News Translation As the scripture says, "When he went up to the very heights, he took many captives with him; he gave gifts to people." International Standard Version That is why God says, "When he went up to the highest place, he led captives into captivity and gave gifts to people." Literal Standard Version for this reason, it says, “Having gone up on high He led captive captivity, and gave gifts to men.” Majority Standard Bible This is why it says: “When He ascended on high, He led captives away, and gave gifts to men.” New American Bible Therefore, it says: “He ascended on high and took prisoners captive; he gave gifts to men.” NET Bible Therefore it says, "When he ascended on high he captured captives; he gave gifts to men." New Revised Standard Version Therefore it is said, “When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people.” New Heart English Bible Therefore he says, "When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to people." Webster's Bible Translation Wherefore he saith, When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men. Weymouth New Testament For this reason Scripture says: "He re-ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, and gave gifts to men." World English Bible Therefore he says, “When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to people.” Young's Literal Translation wherefore, he saith, 'Having gone up on high he led captive captivity, and gave gifts to men,' -- Additional Translations ... Audio Bible Context Unity in the Body…7Now to each one of us grace has been given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. 8This is why it says: “When He ascended on high, He led captives away, and gave gifts to men.” 9What does “He ascended” mean, except that He also descended to the lower parts of the earth?… Cross References Judges 5:12 Awake, awake, O Deborah! Awake, awake, sing a song! Arise, O Barak, and take hold of your captives, O son of Abinoam!' Psalm 68:18 You have ascended on high; You have led captives away. You have received gifts from men, even from the rebellious, that the LORD God may dwell there. Proverbs 30:4 Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in His hands? Who has bound up the waters in His cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is the name of His Son--surely you know! Ephesians 4:11 And it was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, Colossians 2:15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Treasury of Scripture Why he said, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men. When. Psalm 68:18 Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell among them. he led. Judges 5:12 Awake, awake, Deborah: awake, awake, utter a song: arise, Barak, and lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam. Colossians 2:15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. captivity. 1 Samuel 30:26 And when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil unto the elders of Judah, even to his friends, saying, Behold a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of the LORD; Esther 2:18 Then the king made a great feast unto all his princes and his servants, even Esther's feast; and he made a release to the provinces, and gave gifts, according to the state of the king. Jump to Previous Ascended Captive Captives Captivity Freely Gifts High Host Led Prisoners Reason Scripture Train WhereforeJump to Next Ascended Captive Captives Captivity Freely Gifts High Host Led Prisoners Reason Scripture Train WhereforeEphesians 4 1. He exhorts to unity;7. and declares that God therefore gives various gifts unto men; 11. that his church might be edified, 16. and grow up in Christ. 18. He calls them from the impurity of the Gentiles; 24. to put on the new man; 25. to cast off lying; 29. and corrupt communication. (8) Wherefore he saith.--The reference is to Psalms 68--a psalm which (as the quotation from Numbers 10:35, in the first verse, shows) is a psalm celebrating some moving of the ark, traditionally (and most probably) connected with David's bringing up of the ark (2 Samuel 6) to Mount Zion. The very change from the second person to the third person shows it to be a free quotation; and this is made far more evident by the remarkable variation from the text of the original, which runs, Thou receivedst gifts in man--i.e., probably, "among men;" and adds, "even the rebellious, that the Lord God might dwell among them"--a clause which (from Ephesians 4:29-31) we may suppose to refer to the homage of the heathen to the Lord Jehovah. Now, it has been noted that the word "received" is used constantly for "receiving," or "fetching," for another (Genesis 15:9; Genesis 18:5; Genesis 27:13, et al.); and it appears that the Chaldee Targum actually has here, as a gloss: "Thou hast given gifts to the sons of men," interpreting the words, curiously enough, of Moses as a mediator between God and man. The psalm also was recognised as a Messianic psalm, foreshadowing the dwelling of "God with us" in the universal kingdom of the true Mediator. St. Paul accordingly uses it with a bold variation suiting his context. The key to this use is found in the truth enunciated of our Lord in Acts 2:33, that "being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He hath shed forth this." Our Lord, as the Head of humanity, receives only in order to give. From the means, therefore, the Apostle passes to the end. . . . Verse 8. - Wherefore he saith, When he ascended on high he led captivity captive, and received gifts for men. The speaker is God, the author of Scripture, and the place is the sixty-eighth psalm. That psalm is a psalm of triumph, where the placing of the ark on Zion is celebrated as if it had been a great victory. As this quotation shows, the psalm in its deepest sense is Messianic, celebrating the victory of Christ. The substance rather than the words of the passage are given, for the second person ("thou hast ascended," etc.) is changed into the third; and whereas in the psalm it is said, "gave gifts to men," as modified by the apostle it is said, "received gifts for men." As in a literal triumph, the chiefs of the enemy's army are led captive, so the powers of darkness were led captive by Christ (captivity, αἰχμαλωσία, denotes prisoners); and as on occasion of a triumph the spoils of the enemy are made over to the conqueror, who again gives them away among the soldiers and people, so gifts were given to Christ after his triumph to be given by him to his Church. We must not force the analogy too far: the point is simply this - as a conqueror at a triumph gets gifts to distribute, so Christ, on his resurrection and ascension, got the Holy Spirit to bestow on his Church (comp. Ephesians 1:22). Parallel Commentaries ... Greek This is whyδιὸ (dio) Conjunction Strong's 1352: Wherefore, on which account, therefore. From dia and hos; through which thing, i.e. Consequently. it says: λέγει (legei) Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Strong's 3004: (a) I say, speak; I mean, mention, tell, (b) I call, name, especially in the pass., (c) I tell, command. “When He ascended Ἀναβὰς (Anabas) Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular Strong's 305: To go up, mount, ascend; of things: I rise, spring up, come up. From ana and the base of basis; to go up. on εἰς (eis) Preposition Strong's 1519: A primary preposition; to or into, of place, time, or purpose; also in adverbial phrases. high, ὕψος (hypsos) Noun - Accusative Neuter Singular Strong's 5311: Height, heaven; dignity, eminence. From a derivative of huper; elevation, i.e. altitude, the sky, or dignity. He led ᾐχμαλώτευσεν (ēchmalōteusen) Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Strong's 162: To take captive, captivate. From aichmalotos; to capture. captives away, αἰχμαλωσίαν (aichmalōsian) Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular Strong's 161: Captivity; a captive multitude. From aichmalotos; captivity. and καὶ (kai) Conjunction Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely. gave ἔδωκεν (edōken) Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Strong's 1325: To offer, give; I put, place. A prolonged form of a primary verb; to give. gifts δόματα (domata) Noun - Accusative Neuter Plural Strong's 1390: A gift, present. From the base of didomi; a present. to men.” ἀνθρώποις (anthrōpois) Noun - Dative Masculine Plural Strong's 444: A man, one of the human race. From aner and ops; man-faced, i.e. A human being. Links Ephesians 4:8 NIVEphesians 4:8 NLT Ephesians 4:8 ESV Ephesians 4:8 NASB Ephesians 4:8 KJV Ephesians 4:8 BibleApps.com Ephesians 4:8 Biblia Paralela Ephesians 4:8 Chinese Bible Ephesians 4:8 French Bible Ephesians 4:8 Catholic Bible NT Letters: Ephesians 4:8 Therefore he says When he ascended (Ephes. Eph. Ep) |
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