EPH 4:8 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, orange:accusative/object, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT Therefore it says:
⇔  “Having ascended to the heights,
⇔  he led captives into captivity,
⇔  and he gave gifts to men.”

UST That is why the scripture says,
⇔ As he went up to the high place,
⇔ he brought with him many people whom he had captured,
⇔ and gave gifts to his people.

BLB Therefore it says: "Having ascended on high, He led captive captivity, and gave gifts to men."

AICNT Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, [[and]][fn] he gave gifts to men.”[fn]

4:8, and: Later manuscripts add. BYZ TR

4:8, Psalms 68:18

OEB That is why it is said –
⇔ “When he went up on high, he led his captives into captivity. And gave gifts to humanity.”

WEBBE Therefore he says,
⇔ “When he ascended on high,
⇔ he led captivity captive,
⇔ and gave gifts to people.”

WMBB (Same as above)

NET Therefore it says, “ When he ascended on high he captured captives; he gave gifts to men.”

LSV for this reason, it says, “Having gone up on high He led captive captivity, and gave gifts to men.”

FBV As Scripture says, “When he ascended to the heights he took captives with him, and gave gifts to humanity.”[fn]

4:8 Quoting Psalms 68:18.

TCNT Therefore it says,
⇔ “When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive
⇔ and gave gifts to men.”

T4T When Christ gave gifts to his people, it was similar to what the Psalmist said about God receiving tribute money from those whom he had conquered,
⇔ When he ascended to heaven, he gave as gifts to people the things that he had taken from the people whom he captured:

LEB Therefore it says,
• “Ascending on high he led captivity captive;
• he gave gifts to men.”[fn]

4:8 A quotation from Ps 68:18|link-href="None"

BBE For this reason he says, He went up on high, taking his prisoners with him, and gave freely to men.

Moff Thus it is said,
⇔ When he ascended on high he led a host captive
⇔ and granted gifts to men.

Wymth For this reason Scripture says: "He re-ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, and gave gifts to men."

ASV Wherefore he saith,
⇔ When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive,
⇔ And gave gifts unto men.

DRA Wherefore he saith: Ascending on high, he led captivity captive; he gave gifts to men.

YLT wherefore, he saith, 'Having gone up on high he led captive captivity, and gave gifts to men,' —

Drby Wherefore he says, Having ascended up on high, he has led captivity captive, and has given gifts to men.

RV Wherefore he saith, When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, And gave gifts unto men.
(Wherefore he saith/says, When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, And gave gifts unto men. )

SLT Wherefore he says, Having ascended into height, he made captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.

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

KJB-1769 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
(Wherefore he saith/says, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. )

KJB-1611 Wherefore he saith: When he ascended vp on high, he led [fn]captiuitie captiue, and gaue gifts vnto men.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation and footnotes)

4:8 Or, a multitude of captiues.

Bshps Wherfore he saith: When he went vp an hye, he ledde captiuitie captiue, and gaue gyftes vnto men.
(Wherefore he saith/says: When he went up an high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.)

Gnva Wherfore he saith, Whe he asceded vp on hie, he led captiuity captiue, and gaue gifts vnto men.
(Wherefore he saith/says, When he asceded up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. )

Cvdl Therfore sayeth he: He is gone vp an hye, and hath led awaye captiuyte captyue, and hath geue giftes vnto men.
(Therefore saith/says he: He is gone up an high, and hath/has led away captivity captive, and hath/has give gifts unto men.)

TNT Wherfore he sayth: He is gone vp an hye and hath ledde captivitie captive and hath geven gyftes vnto men.
(Wherefore he saith/says: He is gone up an high and hath/has led captivitie captive and hath/has given gifts unto men. )

Wycl for which thing he seith, He stiynge an hiy, ledde caitifte caitif, he yaf yiftis to men.
(for which thing he saith/says, He stiing an high, led captivity captive, he gave gifts to men.)

Luth Darum spricht er: Er ist aufgefahren in die Höhe und hat das Gefängnis gefangen geführet und hat den Menschen Gaben gegeben.
(Therefore speaks/says he: He is driven in the Höhe and has the prison/jail caught guided and has the people gifts given.)

ClVg Propter quod dicit: Ascendens in altum, captivam duxit captivitatem: dedit dona hominibus.[fn]
(Because that he_says: Ascending in/into/on high, captivam led captivity: he_gave gifts to_humans. )

4.8 Captivam duxit captivitatem. Id est eos quos diabolus captivaverat a paradiso, et proprios mundi et inferni fecerat, iterum captivos fecit Christus, dum ad cœlum reducuntur.

4.8 Captivam led captivity. That it_is them which the_devil captivaverat from paradise, and owns world and hell had_done, again captivos he_did Christ/Messiah, while to sky reducuntur.

UGNT διὸ λέγει, ἀναβὰς εἰς ὕψος, ᾐχμαλώτευσεν αἰχμαλωσίαν, ἔδωκεν δόματα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις.
(dio legei, anabas eis hupsos, aʸⱪmalōteusen aiⱪmalōsian, edōken domata tois anthrōpois.)

SBL-GNT διὸ λέγει· Ἀναβὰς εἰς ὕψος ᾐχμαλώτευσεν αἰχμαλωσίαν, ⸀ἔδωκεν δόματα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις.
(dio legei; Anabas eis hupsos aʸⱪmalōteusen aiⱪmalōsian, ⸀edōken domata tois anthrōpois.)

RP-GNT Διὸ λέγει, Ἀναβὰς εἰς ὕψος ᾐχμαλώτευσεν αἰχμαλωσίαν, καὶ ἔδωκεν δόματα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις.
(Dio legei, Anabas eis hupsos aʸⱪmalōteusen aiⱪmalōsian, kai edōken domata tois anthrōpois.)

TC-GNT Διὸ λέγει,
⇔ Ἀναβὰς εἰς ὕψος ᾐχμαλώτευσεν αἰχμαλωσίαν,
⇔ [fn]καὶ ἔδωκε δόματα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις.
(Dio legei,
⇔ Anabas eis hupsos aʸⱪmalōteusen aiⱪmalōsian,
⇔ kai edōke domata tois anthrōpois. )

4:8 και ¦ — NA SBL TH

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 4:1–16: Believers are united in Christ

In the previous sections, Paul taught the important truths of the Christian faith. In this section, Paul showed how those truths should affect the way we live. He urged the Ephesian Christians to behave in the way that would keep their unity. He explained in detail the basis of this unity. He also explained that Christ gives believers power to do different tasks so that the church may become strong and mature. Mature believers should no longer be influenced by false teaching. Instead, they will proclaim the truth, and the church, with Christ as its head, will grow as it should and become strong.

Here are some other examples for a heading for this section:

Unity of the body of Christ

Christ’s gifts to the church

Live in unity, using God’s gifting to strengthen believers

Paul urges the Ephesians to live a life of unity in Christ

Believers in Christ should live in unity, strengthening each other

Paragraph 4:7–16

In 4:4–6 Paul talked about the things that unite Christians. These are things that we have in common. But in 4:7 he talked about special abilities that some Christians have and that others do not have. We all have the same Spirit, we all worship the same Lord, and so on. But to each of us, Christ has given different special abilities.

4:8

Paul used a quotation from Psalm 68:18 although the wording is a little different. He used this quotation to support what he had just said about Christ giving gifts. In this psalm, the writer described a Jewish king who had defeated his enemies and returned in victory. In a parade to celebrate his victory, he went up the hill to Mount Zion in Jerusalem. During the parade, he forced some of the enemy soldiers he had captured to follow along behind him and implied in this passage is that from the plunder he gave gifts to his followers/soldiers.

4:8a

This is why it says:

This is why the Scriptures say:
It is as they/someone wrote in the Book of God:

This is why: The Greek word that the BSB translated This is why indicates that Paul used the quote in 4:8b–c to support what he has just said in 4:7.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

This is supported by

Therefore (RSV)

As (CEV)

it says: The pronoun it here refers to the Scriptures. In some languages it is not natural to say that a book says. So you may want to translate this:

we read words in God’s Book like this

they/someone wrote in the Book of God”

4:8b

“When He ascended on high,

“When he went up to a high place,
“After he defeated his enemies, he went up to a high place,

When He ascended on high: Psalm 68 describes how the victorious king went up Mount Zion (a hill in Jerusalem) followed by the enemies he had captured. Paul saw this as a picture of Christ ascending to heaven. Just as the king won a victory and then went up to a high place, so also Christ won a victory (over sin and death) and then went up to a high place (God’s right side in heaven).

Since this is a quotation from the Psalms, you should translate on high in 4:8b in a general way. In the Psalm, on high refers to Mount Zion, so do not translate it “to heaven” here. Also, the pronoun He in this quotation should not be translated “Christ” because Psalm 68 does not mention the word “Christ.”

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

When He went up to a high place

If He ascended going to a high place (Uma back translation)

4:8c

He led captives away,

he took with him the enemies he had conquered,
and forced his enemies to walk behind him as captives,

He led captives away: The phrase He led captives away means that the king brought many prisoners along with him.

captives: The word captives refers to enemies the king had captured in a battle. These enemies then became prisoners of the king.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

he led a crowd of captives (NLT)

he led away many prisoners (CEV)

He brought along behind him many prisoners

4:8d

and gave gifts to men.”

and he gave/distributed various gifts to his people.”
then he presented to his people good things

and gave gifts to men: The verb gave here is different from the verb in the psalm which is “received gifts,” but the translator must of course translate what Paul wrote in this verse. The word gifts here refers to material gifts, so you should not translate it “special abilities,” but rather something general like:

good things

blessingsIn Psalm 68:18, the Hebrew says “you received gifts from men.” The victorious king received many material gifts and rewards, not to mention the valuable things he had taken from the enemy during the battle. He received all these things, and then he shared them with his soldiers and other people of his country. He received these gifts in order to share them with his people. Paul changes the words from “you received gifts from men” to “he gave gifts to men.” In this way, the words better describe what Paul says about Christ giving us gifts (special abilities)

to men: In the context of this quotation, to men refers to the king’s followers. It does not refer to his enemies in 4:8c. It should be clear in your translation that the reference is not to his enemies here. For example:

and gave gifts to his people (NLT)