Ephesians 4:8

Paul’s paraphrase of Psalms 68:18 confirms his statement that God gives gifts to people. A military victor has the right to give gifts to those identified with him. Christ, the victor over sinful people, has the right to give those people to the church as gifts. [Note: Who the captives were seems to have been of less interest to Paul than the fact that Christ won a great victory (Morris, pp. 123-24).] In Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12 Paul spoke of gifts given to people (cf. Ephesians 4:7), but here he spoke of people given to the church as gifts.

"Some have alleged that Paul erred in his citation from Psalms 68:18 on at least two counts: (1) he altered the verb of the psalm from ’received’ to ’gave,’ thus reversing its meaning, and (2) he gave an interpretation to the Old Testament passage that is unwarranted. With regard to the first point, the origin of the reading ’gave’ is not to be found in Ephesians 4:8. Rather, this is a variant reading for Psalms 68:18 that has an ancient pedigree, as may be seen by its presence in both the Aramaic Targum and the Syriac Peshitta. However, Paul was not necessarily quoting with one of these sources in mind; the reading probably had a history not limited to its appearance in these particular sources. It was apparently a variant reading that was well known, especially within Jewish rabbinic circles. Furthermore, Paul must be permitted some latitude in his citation. His purpose was not to provide a formal and exact representation of the Old Testament phraseology, but rather to expound and apply the passage to the work of Christ as Lord of the church. That the apostle used a variant reading of the psalm should not in itself be overly surprising.

"Regarding the second point, it seems clear that Paul used an analogical patterning of Old Testament teaching within the New Testament context. This was common among New Testament writers. Such a practice does not obviate the Old Testament contextual setting, nor does it purport to provide the only fulfillment of the Old Testament passage. When Matthew, for example, related Hosea 11:1 (’Out of Egypt have I called My son’) to the flight of the holy family, he did not thereby deny that Hosea 11:1 refers to the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. He simply drew an analogy between the two events. Likewise in Ephesians 4:8 the application of Psalms 68:18 to Jesus as the bestower of gifts for ministry within the church does not eliminate or contradict the Old Testament application of the words to the victorious Israelite King. In keeping with common Midrash pesher techniques, but in a way that avoids the excesses to which the method was pushed by some nonbiblical writers, Paul made a valid application of Christological significance to the Old Testament passage. On the one hand, according to Psalms 68:18, God ascended Zion as a victorious king worthy of being the recipient of gifts of homage. On the other hand, according to Ephesians 4:8, Jesus also ascended to the heavenly Zion as the victorious Lord who lovingly bestowed on His church the gifts of ministry essential to her future well-being. The one passage provides the pattern for the other." [Note: Richard A. Taylor, "The Use of Psalms 68:18 in Ephesians 4:8 in Light of the Ancient Versions," Bibliotheca Sacra 148:591 (July-September 1991):335-36.]

A slightly different interpretation follows.

". . . Paul apparently followed the Jewish interpretation of the day (the Targum), which paraphrased this verse as follows: ’You did ascend to the firmament, O Prophet Moses! You led captivity captive; you taught the words of the Law; you gave [not ’received,’ as in the Heb.] gifts to the sons of men.’ (This interpretation saw Moses as God’s representative.) Paul followed this Jewish exegesis because it explained that the conqueror distributed the gifts to His loyal subjects. The apostle applied that idea to Christ’s victory over the forces of evil and His granting spiritual gifts (cf. Ephesians 4:11) to those on His side. By this analogy (based more on the Jewish interpretation of the psalm than on the exact Heb. wording) Paul emphasized the greatness of believers’ spiritual victory in Christ." [Note: Allen P. Ross, "Psalms," in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament, p. 843.]