Psalms 68:17

GOD LEADING A MIGHTY HOST TO VICTORY

"The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands upon thousands;

The Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the sanctuary.

Thou has ascended on high, thou hast led away captives;

Thou hast received gifts among men,

Yea, among the rebellious also, that Jehovah God might dwell with them."

"The chariots of God are twenty thousand, and thousand of thousands" (Psalms 68:17). Taylor's comment here is that, "After the manner of a victorious earthly king, the Lord enters his capital at the head of his troops with the captives and the spoils of battle in his train."[14]

This comment fully agrees with our understanding that here the psalm conceives of God Himself, whose presence is manifested in the ark of the covenant, marching triumphantly into Jerusalem his capital and dwelling place.

That such an understanding indeed seems to be correct is further supported by the apostle Paul's use of some of the terminology here in one of his favorite comparisons, that of the conquering Christ leading the type of triumphal procession affected by Roman emperors following some great victory (Ephesians 4:8).

Paul wrote, "Wherefore he saith, When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men." We disagree with the so-called scholars who write that Paul here "garbled, altered, or misquoted" this psalm. He did no such thing but merely used this terminology to write new Scripture, not quote old Scripture. This is proved by the New Testament terminology, which does not say that it (the Scripture) saith, but that He (the Lord) saith. (See the full comments on this in Vol. 8 of my New Testament Series, pp. 186,187.)

"Thou hast led away captives" (Psalms 68:18). In our view, this rendition is far inferior to the magnificent words of the KJV which translates this, "He led captivity captive." That the inspired Paul quoted the words as they are in the KJV confirms the supremacy of the King James Version in this verse. The Septuagint (LXX) also agrees with the KJV here;[15] and we believe it is obvious that the translators of the American Standard Version and later versions have weakened the passage by changing it.