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Ephesians 4:8

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4:8Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he captured6 captives; he gave gifts to men.”7

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Footnotes

  1. 6 Grk “he led captive captivity.”
  2. 7 A quotation which is perhaps ultimately derived from Ps 68:18. However, the wording here differs from that of Ps 68 in both the Hebrew text and the in a few places, the most significant of which is reading “gave gifts to” in place of “received gifts from” as in and . It has sometimes been suggested that the author of Ephesians modified the text he was citing in order to better support what he wanted to say here. Such modifications are sometimes found in rabbinic exegesis from this and later periods, but it is also possible that the author was simply citing a variant of Ps 68 known to him but which has not survived outside its quotation here (W. H. Harris, The Descent of Christ [ 32], 104). Another possibility is that the words here, which strongly resemble Ps 68:19 and (68:18 ), are actually part of an early Christian hymn quoted by the author.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

Therefore it says,

“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,

and he gave gifts to men.”

NIVNew International Version (2011)

This is why it says:

“When he ascended on high,

he took many captives

and gave gifts to his people.”

CSBChristian Standard Bible

For it says:

When he ascended on high,

he took the captives captive;

he gave gifts to people.

NLTNew 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.”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Therefore it says,

“Ascending on high he led captivity captive;

he gave gifts to men.”

KJV 1900King James Version

Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.