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Ephesians 4:8

“Therefore it says: Having ascended on high, he led captive captivity; he gave gifts to men.”

Ephesians 4:8 · direct translation from the Greek
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With the Greek beneath

8

Quotation · Psalms 68:18

Go to Psalms 68:18

Where the Hebrew says “you took gifts among human beings,” Ephesians says “he gave gifts to men,” and puts the phrase in the third person.

Formula: διὸ λέγει “therefore it says” (Ephesians 4:8)

See the original texts

Greek of the New Testament: διὸ λέγει Ἀναβὰς εἰς ὕψος ᾐχμαλώτευσεν αἰχμαλωσίαν ἔδωκεν δόματα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις

Hebrew (Masoretic text): עָלִיתָ לַמָּרוֹם שָׁבִיתָ שֶּׁבִי לָקַחְתָּ מַתָּנוֹת בָּאָדָם וְאַף סוֹרְרִים לִשְׁכֹּן יָהּ אֱלֹהִים

Septuagint (Psalms 67:19 in the Septuagint numbering): ἀναβὰς εἰς ὕψος ᾐχμαλώτευσας αἰχμαλωσίαν, ἔλαβες δόματα ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ, καὶ γὰρ ἀπειθοῦντες τοῦ κατασκηνῶσαι.

In the Septuagint verse that most resembles it, at most 3 consecutive words match the Greek of the NT. The transcription has reading errors, so a match may not show.

Septuagint, Swete’s text, First1KGreek transcription (with reading errors), CC BY-SA 4.0

Ephesians 4:8, word by word

Thereforeδιὸdio

therefore

"Therefore", "for this reason".

Where else “dio” appears
it saysλέγειlegei

say

To express something in words to others.

Where else “legei” appears
Having ascendedἈναβὰςAnabas

go up

To go upward: up a mountain, to Jerusalem or to heaven.

Where else “Anabas” appears
highὕψοςhypsos

height

Height; "on high", heaven.

Where else “hypsos” appears
he led captiveᾐχμαλώτευσενēichmalōteusen

take captive

Take captive, make prisoners of war.

Where else “ēichmalōteusen” appears
captivityαἰχμαλωσίανaichmalōsian

captives

The band of prisoners.

Where else “aichmalōsian” appears
he gaveἔδωκενedōken

give

To hand something to another freely, as a gift.

Where else “edōken” appears
giftsδόματαdomata

gift

Gift.

Where else “domata” appears
to menἀνθρώποιςanthrōpois

person

A person, man or woman.

Where else “anthrōpois” appears

Translation note· on the manuscripts

Quoted from Psalm 68:18; the Hebrew text and the Greek of the Old Testament read “you received gifts.” Many manuscripts have “and gave.”

Parallel passages

Other books that tell the same thing or quote these words.

Quotation · Psalms 68:18

Where the Hebrew says “you took gifts among human beings,” Ephesians says “he gave gifts to men,” and puts the phrase in the third person.

See them side by side

Ephesians 4:8

8Therefore it says: Having ascended on high, he led captive captivity; he gave gifts to men.

Psalms 68:18

18You went up on high; you took captives; you took gifts among human beings, and even the rebellious, for Yah Elohim to dwell there.

The context

7But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of the gift of the Messiah.

8 · This verse (above)

9Now this “He ascended,” what is it but that he also descended into the lower parts of the earth?

Read all of Ephesians 4

To study Ephesians 4 in a group

  1. 1. What it says

    What does Paul urge them to do about unity, and how many times does he say "one" (v. 1-6)?

  2. 2. What it means

    Why do you think Paul contrasts the old way of life with the new, and what specific changes does he name (v. 22-32)?

  3. 3. How I live it

    Paul writes, "do not let the sun go down on your anger" (v. 26). With whom could you talk calmly today to make something right?

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