Ephesians 4:9

Ephesians 4:9

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Spiritual Gifts

7 But ^ato each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

8 Therefore He says:
^a“When He ascended on high,
He led captivity captive,
And gave gifts to men.”

9 ^a(Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also¹ first descended into the lower parts of the earth?

10 He who descended is also the One ^awho ascended far above all the heavens, ^bthat He might fill all things.)

11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,

12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, ^afor the edifying of ^bthe body of Christ,

13 till we all come to the unity of the faith ^aand of the knowledge of the Son of God, to ^ba perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;

14 that we should no longer be ^achildren, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of ^bdeceitful plotting,

Commentaries:

Robertson's Word Pictures (NT)

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Ephesians 4:10 >>

Now this (to de). Paul picks out the verb anabav (second aorist active participle of anabainw, to go up), changes its form to anebh (second aorist indicative), and points the article (to) at it. Then he concludes that it implied a previous katabav (coming down).

Into the lower parts of the earth (eiv ta katwtera thv ghv). If the anabav is the Ascension of Christ, then the katabav would be the Descent (Incarnation) to earth and thv ghv would be the genitive of apposition. What follows in verse Ephesians 4:10 argues for this view. Otherwise one must think of the death of Christ (the descent into Hades of Acts 2:31).

**Other Robertson's Word Pictures (NT) entries containing Ephesians 4:9:**

1 Peter 3:19

<< Ephesians 4:8

Ephesians 4:10 >>

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