EPH 4:9 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.)

OET (OET-RV) Of course, he couldn’t ascend if he hadn’t first descended down to earth.

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor.
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 And this “He ascended,” what is it except that he also descended into the lower regions of the earth?

UST The words “he went up” certainly make us know that the Messiah had also previously gone down to the lower parts of the earth.

BSB What [does] “He ascended” [mean], except that He also descended[fn] to the lower parts of the earth?

4:9 BYZ and TR except that He also descended first

MSB What [does] “He ascended” [mean], except that He also descended first[fn] to the lower parts of the earth?

BLB Now what is "He ascended," except that He also descended into the lower regions of the earth?

AICNT But what does “he ascended” mean, if not that he also [[first]][fn] descended into the lower [parts][fn] of the earth?

4:9, first: Later manuscripts add. BYZ TR

4:9, parts: Absent from some manuscripts. P45 D(05)

OEB Now surely this “going up” must imply that he had already gone down into the world beneath.

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

WMBB (Same as above)

NET Now what is the meaning of “ he ascended,” except that he also descended to the lower regions, namely, the earth?

LSV And that, He went up, what is it except that He also went down first into the lower parts of the earth?

FBV (Regarding this: it says he ascended, but that means he also had previously descended to our lowly world.

TCNT § (Now what does “he ascended” mean except that he [fn]first also descended into the lower parts of the earth?

4:9 first also 83.6% ¦ first MSS 6.7% ¦ also CT 2.8%

T4T The words ‘he ascended’ certainly imply/indicate [RHQ] that Christ had also previously descended to the earth.

LEB Now “he ascended,” what is it, except that he also descended[fn] to the lower regions of the earth?

4:9 Some secondary manuscripts add “first”

BBE (Now this, He went up, what is it but that he first went down into the lower parts of the earth?

Moff What does he ascended mean, except that he first descended to the nether regions of the earth?

Wymth (Now this "re-ascended" —what does it mean but that He had first descended into the lower regions of the earth?

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

DRA Now that he ascended, what is it, but because he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?

YLT and that, he went up, what is it except that he also went down first to the lower parts of the earth?

Drby But that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended into the lower parts of the earth?

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

SLT (And so having ascended, what is it except that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?

Wbstr Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?

KJB-1769 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?

KJB-1611 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that hee also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above)

Bshps (But that he ascended, what is it? but that he also descended first into the lower partes of the earth?
((But that he ascended, what is it? but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?)

Gnva (Nowe, in that hee ascended, what is it but that he had also descended first into the lowest partes of the earth?
((Nowe, in that he ascended, what is it but that he had also descended first into the lowest parts of the earth? )

Cvdl That he wente, vp what is it, but that he first came downe in to ye lowest partes of ye earth?
(That he went, up what is it, but that he first came down in to ye/you_all lowest parts of ye/you_all earth?)

TNT That he ascended: what meaneth it but that he also descended fyrst into the lowest parties of the erth?
(That he ascended: what meaneth it but that he also descended first into the lowest parts of the earth? )

Wycl But what is it, that he stiede vp, no but that also he cam doun first in to the lowere partis of the erthe?
(But what is it, that he stayed up, no but that also he came down first in to the lower parts of the earth?)

Luth Daß er aber aufgefahren ist, was ist‘s, denn daß er zuvor ist hinuntergefahren in die untersten Örter der Erde?
(That he but driven is, what/which it_is, because/than that he before is driven_down in the untersten places the/of_the earth/land/ground?)

ClVg Quod autem ascendit, quid est, nisi quia et descendit primum in inferiores partes terræ?
(That however went_up, what it_is, except because and came_down first in/into/on inferiores parts of_the_earth/land? )

UGNT τὸ δὲ, ἀνέβη, τί ἐστιν, εἰ μὴ ὅτι καὶ κατέβη εἰς τὰ κατώτερα μέρη τῆς γῆς?
(to de, anebaʸ, ti estin, ei maʸ hoti kai katebaʸ eis ta katōtera meraʸ taʸs gaʸs?)

SBL-GNT τὸ δὲ Ἀνέβη τί ἐστιν εἰ μὴ ὅτι καὶ ⸀κατέβη εἰς τὰ κατώτερα μέρη τῆς γῆς;
(to de Anebaʸ ti estin ei maʸ hoti kai ⸀katebaʸ eis ta katōtera meraʸ taʸs gaʸs;)

RP-GNT Τὸ δέ, Ἀνέβη, τί ἐστιν εἰ μὴ ὅτι καὶ κατέβη πρῶτον εἰς τὰ κατώτερα μέρη τῆς γῆς;
(To de, Anebaʸ, ti estin ei maʸ hoti kai katebaʸ prōton eis ta katōtera meraʸ taʸs gaʸs;)

TC-GNT § Τὸ δέ, Ἀνέβη, τί ἐστιν εἰ μὴ ὅτι [fn]καὶ κατέβη πρῶτον εἰς τὰ κατώτερα μέρη τῆς γῆς;
( § To de, Anebaʸ, ti estin ei maʸ hoti kai katebaʸ prōton eis ta katōtera meraʸ taʸs gaʸs; )

4:9 και κατεβη πρωτον 83.6% ¦ κατεβη πρωτον MSS 6.7% ¦ και κατεβη CT 2.8%

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.

4:9–10

Paul proved that this quotation from the Psalms applies to Christ, since Christ is the only one who descended from heaven before he ascended.

General Comment on 4:9–10

Some English versions put these verses in (parentheses) to show that this is background information given by Paul. If you are able to do this in your language and it would be natural to do so, you will want to consider following the example of those versions. If not, following the example of the BSB, which does not use parentheses.

4:9a

What does “He ascended” mean,

(When the Book says: “He went up to a high place,” what does this mean?
(When it says that “he ascended,” this means that

What does “He ascended” mean: This is a rhetorical question. So Paul is not asking the question so he can get an answer. He asked this question in order to introduce a new aspect of his teaching to his readers. He then explained how Psalm 68:18 applied to Christ.

ascended: The word ascended means “went up.”

There are two ways to translate this question:

As a rhetorical question. For example:
Now, what does “he went up” mean? (GNT)
As a statement. For example:
Notice that it says “he ascended (NLT)
The words “he ascended” mean…
Translate this in a way that is most natural in your language.

4:9b

except that He also descended to the lower parts of the earth?

These words mean that Christ had already come down to this earth below.
previously he had come down to a low place; that is, to this earth.

except that He also descended: Here, the words except that have the meaning of “it could only mean that.” The RSV and ESV translate except that as:

but that

He also descended: Beginning here, Paul talked about Christ and how the words of the quotation in 4:8 are like Christ. So the pronoun He refers to Christ, and you can translate it that way if necessary. To make it clear that Christ descended before he ascended, the GNT says:

first came down (GNT)

Here are some other ways to translate the word descended:

came down (NCV)

had gone down (GW)

to the lower parts of the earth: The Greek phrase that the BSB literally translates as to the lower parts of the earth may refer to:

the earth below in contrast to the highest heaven. This refers to where Christ was when he became a human. For example:
This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world (NLT) (BSB, NIV, REB, JBP, NLT, ESV, NET, NCV)
Hades. This refers to where Christ was after he died. According to some interpretations of 1 Peter 3:18 and 1 Peter 4:6, Christ descended into Hades after his death. For example:
…it means that Christ had been deep in the earth. (CEV) (GNT, RSV, NASB, NJB, KJV, CEV, GW)