Ephesians 4:8

διὸ λέγει : wherefore He saith, when He ascended on high. The διό introduces the words which follow as a confirmation of what has just been said; and these words are not a parenthesis, but part of a direct and continuous statement; = “the fact that it is thus with Christ and His gift, and that the grace which we possess is bestowed by Him on each of us in varying measures as He distributes it, has the witness of God Himself in OT Scripture”. The quotation which follows is obviously taken from Psalms 68:18, and in the main in the form in which it is given in the LXX. There are difficulties in the rendering which Paul uses and in the application he makes of it. But they are not such as to justify the assertion that the passage is a quotation from some Christian hymn, and not from Scripture. There is nothing in the verse or in the context to suggest anything else than the Psalm. The question is raised whether the introductory λέγει is personal or impersonal; and whether, if personal, ὁ Θεός, or ἡ γραφή, or τὸ πνεῦμα is to be understood. OT quotations are usually introduced by the personal term in such forms as ὁ προφήτης λέγει (Acts 2:17), ἡ γραφὴ λέγει (Romans 10:17), Ἡσαΐας λέγει (Romans 10:16; Romans 10:20), Μωυσῆς λέγει (Romans 10:19), Δαβὶδ λέγει (Romans 4:6), ἡ δὲ ἐκ πίστεως δικαιοσύνη λέγει (Romans 10:6). Sometimes, again, passive forms are used, γέγραπται (Romans 10:15), μαρτυρεῖται (Hebrews 7:17), etc. In other cases the simple φησί (1 Corinthians 6:16; Hebrews 8:5), εἴρηκε (Hebrews 4:4), or λέγει (Gal 3:16; 2 Corinthians 6:2; Ephesians 4:8; Ephesians 5:14) is used; and in one case the λέγει is introduced as continuing γέγραπται (Romans 15:10). Some, therefore, hold that, in cases like the present, λέγει is impersonal, = “it is said,” as φησί is used impersonally in Attic (Abb.; cf. Light, on Galatians 3:16). As the NT, however, makes a very limited use of impersonal verbs of any kind, most take these undefined verbs by which quotations are introduced as personal, and so it is with λέγει here. The subject to be supplied must be the one most readily suggested by the context; and here, as in most cases, that will be neither ἡ γραφή nor τὸ Πνεῦμα, but ὁ Θεός. The full formula λέγει ὁ Θεός occurs in Acts 2:17, and is implied in the πάλιν τινὰ ὁρίζει ἡμέραν, “ Σήμερον,” ἐν Δαυεὶδ λέγων of Hebrews 4:7. It is also confirmed in some degree by the analogous mention of the Holy Ghost in Hebrews 10:15 (cf. Win.-Moult., p. 656; Blass, Gram. of N. T. Greek, p. 75). Ἀναβὰς εἰς ὕψος : when He ascended on high. In the Psalm the victorious Subject is addressed in the second person; here the “Thou” becomes “He”. In the Psalm the ascent expressed by עָלִיתָ לַמָּרו̇ם (= “Thou hast gone up to the height”) is the triumphant ascent of the God of Israel to Zion, the place of His earthly rest, or (better) to heaven His proper habitation, after the victory He achieved for His people. Here it is the ascension of Christ to the right hand of God (cf. Acts 2:33). The aor. part. has its most proper temporal force, denoting something that preceded the main event in view. It means here, therefore, that Christ's ascension had taken place before He distributed the gifts of grace. ᾐχμάλωτευσεν αἰχμαλωσίαν : He led captivity captive. In the original שָׁבִיתָ שֶׁבִי, the abstract αἰχμαλωσίαν (= “a body of captives”) chosen according to a familiar usage (cf. Numbers 31:12; 2 Chronicles 28:11; see Win.-Moult., p. 282), instead of the concrete αἰχμαλώτους (“captives”), adds to the force of the sentence. The verb αἰχμαλωτεύω belongs to late Greek; it is pretty freely used in the LXX and the Apocrypha. The phrase is a general one, meaning nothing more than that He made captives (cf. Judges 5:12), and suggesting nothing as to who these captives were. Neither in the Psalm nor in Paul's use of it here is there anything to warrant the idea that the captives are the redeemed (Theod.), or men in the bonds of sin on earth (Harl.), or souls detained in Hades (Est., König, Delit., etc.). The most that the words themselves, or passages more or less analogous (1 Corinthians 15:25-26) warrant us to say is that the captives are the enemies of Christ; just as in the Psalm they are the enemies of Israel and Israel's God. But these are left quite undefined, and the whole idea of the clause is subordinate to that next expressed, viz., the giving of the gifts. καὶ ἔδωκε δόματα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις : and gave gifts unto men. The καί of the TR is found in [377] [378] [379] 3 [380] 3 [381] [382], etc.; but is omitted in [383] [384] [385] [386] 2 [387] * [388], 17, etc. It is put in brackets by WH, and omitted by LT, but retained (on the whole rightly) by RV. Here the quotation diverges widely, both from the original Hebrew, which has בָּאָדָם לָקַחְתָּ מַתָּכוֹת (= “Thou hast received gifts among men”); and from the LXX which renders it ἔλαβες δόματα ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ (or ἀνθρώποις). The idea in the Psalm is that of Jehovah, the Conqueror, receiving gifts, that is to say, gifts of homage; or, possibly, receiving the captured men themselves regarded as gifts or offerings, the בָּאָדָם being capable of that sense (cf. Ewald, Aus. Lehrb. d. Hebr. Sprache, § 287 h). The idea expressed here is that of the ascended Christ giving gifts to men; ἔδωκε being substituted for ἔλαβες, and τοῖς ἀνθρώποις for the generic ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ (or ἐν ἀνθρώποις). Thus in order to suit the purpose of a testimony to the statement made regarding Christ and the gift of grace, the OT passage is materially changed. OT quotations introduced in the NT are given without much regard to the literal faithfulness with which quotations are expected to be made in modern times; and in other passages made use of by Paul (e.g., Romans 10:6-10) we discover a remarkable liberty both in reproduction and in application. But in none is the change so great as in the present case. There is first the departure from the historical meaning of the Psalm; in which, however, this passage stands by no means alone. The Psalm in which this magnificent description of the victorious march of Israel's God occurs, celebrates the establishment of Jehovah's kingdom in the past and proclaims the certainty of its triumph over all enemies and in all nations in the future. It does this in connection with some great event in the history of Israel. All possible opinions have been expressed as to the particular occasion of the Psalm. It has been identified with the removal of the Ark to Zion in David's time (2 Samuel 6:12, etc.; 1 Chronicles 15); with some unnamed victory of David or with David's victories generally; with the placing of the Ark in Solomon's Temple; with the victory of Jehoshaphat and Jehoram over Moab (2 Kings 3; Hitzig); with the check given to the Assyrians in Hezekiah's time; with the consecration of the Temple of the Restoration (Ewald); with the return from the captivity (Hupfeld); with the struggle between Egypt and Syria for the possession of the Holy Land towards the close of the third century B.C.; with the victories of Jonathan or Simon in the Maccabean wars (Olsh.); with the struggle between Ptolemy Philometor and Alexander Balas (1 Maccabees 14), etc. But all this uncertainty as to the particular date and occasion does not affect the fact that what is dealt with is some great passage in the history of the Jewish nation. The probabilities are that the Psalm belongs to the latter part of the Babylonian exile; but Paul passes by the actual historical intention of the words and puts on them a quite different sense. There is, secondly, the notable change from Jehovah receiving gifts to Christ giving gifts. Some have explained this by supposing that Paul followed a Hebrew text which read נתת, or some such form, instead of לקחת; but of this there is no evidence. It is possible, indeed, that the Apostle adopted a traditional version or interpretation of the passage which was familiar, and of which some indication is found in the Peshitta Syriac and the Chaldee Paraphrase (both having a rendering = “Thou didst give gifts to the children of men”). Something also may be said in support of the explanation that the לָקַח of the original, which is used elsewhere in the sense of fetching or taking in order to give (Genesis 18:5; Genesis 27:13; Genesis 42:16; Genesis 48:9, etc.), has that meaning here. But after all such explanations the fact remains that both the terms and the idea are changed. There is thirdly the Messianic interpretation. It is here that the justification of the change is found. The Psalm, there is good reason to believe, had been regarded as a Messianic Psalm; and the use made of it by Paul was in all probability in accordance with views of Messianic prophecy which had become current, and with a method of dealing with the OT which was generally understood. But in any case it is an application rather than an interpretation in the strict sense of the word that we have here. And the justification of such an application lies in the fact that the unknown event celebrated in the Psalm was a victory of the Theocratic King, and in that sense a part of that triumph of the Kingdom of God which was to be carried to its consummation by the Messiah.

[377] Codex Vaticanus (sæc. iv.), published in photographic facsimile in 1889 under the care of the Abbate Cozza-Luzi.

[378] Codex Ephraemi (sæc. v.), the Paris palimpsest, edited by Tischendorf in 1843.

[379] Codex Sinaiticus (sæc. iv.), now at St. Petersburg, published in facsimile type by its discoverer, Tischendorf, in 1862.

[380] Codex Claromontanus (sæc. vi.), a Græco-Latin MS. at Paris, edited by Tischendorf in 1852.

[381] Codex Mosquensis (sæc. ix.), edited by Matthæi in 1782.

[382] Codex Angelicus (sæc. ix.), at Rome, collated by Tischendorf and others.

[383] Autograph of the original scribe of א.

[384] Autograph of the original scribe of א.

[385] Codex Alexandrinus (sæc. v.), at the British Museum, published in photographic facsimile by Sir E. M. Thompson (1879).

[386] Codex Ephraemi (sæc. v.), the Paris palimpsest, edited by Tischendorf in 1843.

[387] Codex Claromontanus (sæc. vi.), a Græco-Latin MS. at Paris, edited by Tischendorf in 1852.

[388] Codex Boernerianus (sæc. ix.), a Græco-Latin MS., at Dresden, edited by Matthæi in 1791. Written by an Irish scribe, it once formed part of the same volume as Codex Sangallensis (δ) of the Gospels. The Latin text, g, is based on the O.L. translation.