Passage

Ephesians 4.9-10

Book: Ephesians · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

7. But unto each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. 8. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, And gave gifts unto men.

9. (Now this, He ascended, what is it but that he also descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10. He that descended is the same also that ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)

And he gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12. for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ: (Ephesians 4:7-12, ASV)

WEB

7. But to each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. 8. Therefore he says, “When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.”

9. Now this, “He ascended”, what is it but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10. He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.

He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, shepherds and teachers; 12. for the perfecting of the saints, to the work of serving, to the building up of the body of Christ; (Ephesians 4:7-12, WEB)

KJV

7. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. 8. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. ^{captivity: or, a multitude of captives}

9. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? 10. He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) ^{fill: or, fulfil}

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12. For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: (Ephesians 4:7-12, KJV)

YLT

7. and to each one of you was given the grace, according to the measure of the gift of Christ, 8. wherefore, he saith, 'Having gone up on high he led captive captivity, and gave gifts to men,'

9. and that, he went up, what is it except that he also went down first to the lower parts of the earth? 10. he who went down is the same also who went up far above all the heavens, that He may fill all things

and He gave some [as] apostles, and some [as] prophets, and some [as] proclaimers of good news, and some [as] shepherds and teachers, 12. unto the perfecting of the saints, for a work of ministration, for a building up of the body of the Christ, (Ephesians 4:7-12, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Paul the Apostle.
Audience: Believers at Ephesus. Several of the earliest witnesses, including P46 and the original hands of Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus, lack the words "in Ephesus" at 1:1, which has long suggested the letter circulated among the churches of the Roman province of Asia rather than addressing one congregation alone.
Location: Written from imprisonment. Paul calls himself "the prisoner of Christ Jesus" (Eph 3:1, 4:1) and "an ambassador in chains" (Eph 6:20); the traditional identification is the Roman custody of Acts 28.
Time period: c. AD 60-62 on the traditional Roman-imprisonment dating.

Theological reading

To de anebē ti estin ei mē hoti kai katebē eis ta katōtera merē tēs gēs? Ho katabas autos estin kai ho anabas hyperanō pantōn tōn ouranōn, hina plērōsē ta panta.

The argument. Paul has quoted Psalm 68:18 at verse 8 and now reasons from the psalm's "ascended" that a descent is implied. The logic is that an ascent presupposes a prior descent by the same person, and the conclusion he draws is that the one who descended and the one who ascended are identical.

Three readings of the descent. The disputed phrase is ta katōtera merē tēs gēs, "the lower parts of the earth," and the genitive can be read three ways.

Descent to the underworld. Taking the genitive as partitive, the lower parts belonging to the earth, that is, the realm of the dead. This reading connects to 1 Peter 3:19 and lies behind the credal clause "he descended into hell," which in the Apostles' Creed renders descendit ad inferos.
Descent to the earth, that is, the incarnation. Taking the genitive as appositional, the lower parts which are the earth. The contrast then runs between heaven and earth rather than between earth and the underworld, and it fits the immediate contrast with "far above all the heavens" in verse 10.
Descent of the Spirit at Pentecost. A minority reading in which the descent follows the ascent, taken up by some who read the gift-giving of verse 8 as Pentecostal.

The appositional reading is the most widely held in modern commentary and requires the fewest additional assumptions, but the underworld reading has a long tradition and the phrase is genuinely ambiguous. Stating the ambiguity honestly is better than asserting a single sense.

The Psalm 68 problem. The psalm reads "you received gifts among men," while Paul writes "he gave gifts to men." The Targum on Psalm 68 has a giving rather than a receiving, and Paul may be following a known interpretive tradition, or reading the receiving as receiving-in-order-to-distribute, as a conqueror distributes spoil. This is a real textual question and should be acknowledged rather than passed over, since it is a standard objection to Paul's handling of the Old Testament.

The purpose clause. Hina plērōsē ta panta, "that He might fill all things," ties the passage to 1:23. The descent and ascent are not a round trip but the means by which the ascended Christ fills everything, which is what makes the gifts of verse 11 possible.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD

Quoted in

Concepts:

Apostles' Creed, via Ephesians 4.8-10
Christs Deity, via Ephesians 4.10

Lexicon:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.