5Ws on the Use of Psalm 68:18 in Ephesians 4:7-10

Texts in View

I. Ephesians 4:7-10

7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it says: “When He ascended on high, He led captives in His train and gave gifts to men.” 9 (What does “He ascended” mean accept He also descended to the lower earthly regions? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens in order to fill the whole universe.) [NIV 1984, because that's the version in which I have this memorized]

II. Psalm 68:18

You ascended on high, leading a host of captives in your train and receiving gifts among men, even among the rebellious, that the LORD God may dwell there. [ESV]

5Ws

How is Psalm 68:18 about Christ?

Psalm 68 recounts God's triumphs on behalf of His people. John Calvin notes: “The noblest triumph which God ever gained was when Christ, after subduing sin, conquering death, and putting Satan to flight, rose majestically to Heaven, that He might exercise His glorious reign over the Church…."

Why does Paul change “received” in Psalm 68:18 to “gave” in Ephesians 4:8?

1. Calvin notes one understanding of this change, which I think is correct: “Since therefore the intention of receiving was to give gifts, Paul can hardly be said to have departed from the substance, whatever alteration there may be in the words.”
2. In the Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, Frank Thielman notes: “Although Paul’s changes to the Greek text of Scripture are dramatic, they are consistent with the overall theological direction of the psalm from which the citation comes…. The Christ who in His descent to Earth and ascent to Heaven triumphed over all His cosmic enemies is the same Christ who, from His position at God’s right hand, distributes diverse gifts to His people in order to foster their unity.”
3. There was a history of Jewish interpretation for Psalm 68:18 in which the “you” was understood as Moses ascending to receive the Law in order to give it to Israel; it seems likely that Paul was (in part) adapting this interpretation. John Stott explains that just as Moses was thought to have ascended to receive the Law in order to give it to Israel, Paul (and other New Testament writers) present Jesus as ascending into Heaven to receive the Holy Spirit [who, according to the New Covenant, will write God's Law on the hearts of His people] in order to give Him to the Church.

Who are the “captives” indicated in these passages?

1. Note that Psalm 68:18 is also alluded to in Colossians 2:8-15, which concludes with the idea of God, through Christ on the Cross, disarming the rulers and authorities, putting them to open shame, triumphing over them.
2. Of the “captives”, John Calvin notes: “God reduced His enemies to subjection, which was more fully accomplished in Christ than in any other way. He has not only gained a complete victory over the Devil, and sin, and death, and all the power of Hell, but out of rebels He forms every day ‘a willing people’ (Psalm 110:3) when He subdues by His Word the obstinacy of our flesh. On the other hand, His enemies—to which class all wicked men belong—are held bound by chains of iron, and are restrained by His power from exerting their fury beyond the limits which He shall assign….”

What are the “gifts” indicated in these passages?

1. Primarily, the “gifts” are Christ’s authority exercised through the power of the Holy Spirit, as John Calvin notes: “By His ascension into Heaven, Christ entered into possession of the authority given to Him by the Father, that He might rule and govern all things [and] Paul reminds us that, while He is removed from us in bodily presence, He fills all things by the power of His Spirit…. But did He not fill them before? In His divine nature, I own that He did, bu the power of His Spirit was not so exerted, nor His presence so manifested as after He had entered into the possession of His kingdom” (see: John 7:39 and John 16:7).
2. Of the gifts from the Holy Spirit for the edification of the Church, developed in subsequent verses in Ephesians, Curtis Vaughan notes: “God has provided for the growth of His Church through the bestowal of manifold gifts on His believing people. These gifts are not to be identified completely with natural endowments; they are to be understood mainly as special capacities for service granted to those who are in Christ… each [believer] has a capacity for service somewhere within the body of Christ.”
3. The gifts in this passage and the following verses seem to be primarily referring to gifted individuals for the foundational instruction of the Church. In Romans 12:3, Paul admonishes his audience based on the grace given to him, clearly referring to his position as an apostle as a grace that was divinely given. (See also: Romans 12:6.)

When and where did Christ descend?

1. John Calvin notes: “At what time did God descend lower than when Christ emptied Himself? If there was a time when, after appearing to lay aside the brightness of His power, God ascended gloriously, it was when Christ was raised from our lowest condition on Earth and received into heavenly glory.”
2. We should also note John 3:13.
3. John Stott points out: “What is in Paul’s mind… is not so much descent and ascent in spatial terms, but rather humiliation and exaltation, the latter bringing Christ universal authority and power, as a result of which He bestowed on the Church He rules both the Spirit Himself to indwell it and the gifts of the Spirit to edify it or bring it to maturity.
4. This is consistent with the Lord’s humiliation and exaltation that the Apostle Paul describes in Philippians 2:5-11.