Texts in Conversation
Ephesians reads Psalm 68 similarly to the Aramaic translation in the Targum by changing God receiving gifts into God giving them. In the Targum, Moses ascends and gives gifts through teaching the Torah. Ephesians may follow a similar Aramaic tradition.
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Targum Psalm 68:19
Targum
18 The chariots of God are two myriads of burning fire, two thousand angels guiding them; the presence of the Lord rests on them, on the mountain of Sinai, in holiness. 19 You ascended to the firmament, O prophet Moses; you captured captives, you taught the words of Torah, you gave gifts to the sons of men, and even the stubborn who are converted turn in repentance, [and] the glorious presence of the Lord God abides upon them. 20 Blessed be the Lord, every day he weighs us down, adding commandments to commandments; the mighty one, who is our redemption and our helper forever. 21 God is for us might and redemption; and from God the Lord death and loss of breath are inflicted on the wicked through suffocation.
Date: 200-600 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Ephesians 4:8
New Testament
4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you too were called to the one hope of your calling, 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he captured captives; he gave gifts to men.” 9 Now what is the meaning of “he ascended,” except that he also descended to the lower regions, namely, the earth?
Date: 60-70 C.E. (If authentic), 90-100 C.E. (If anonymous) (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The first thing I want to take note of is that in the New Testament quote, the verb used to translate “He led captive” is the 3rd person ... whereas in the LXX it is the 2nd person ... which corresponds exactly with the Hebrew, “You have led captive”. The natural question is, why is there a difference in the persons, from “You have led” in both the Hebrew and LXX, to “He led captive” in the Greek New Testament? ... While seeming to avoid literal quotation from the Targum, Paul couldn’t hide his use of a Targumic method of exegesis as well as targumic concepts in dealing with Old Testament text making them serve his own theology ..."
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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Today in my daily reading Psalm 68 came up again, and it stirred up the same frustration I’ve always had. I’ve always wondered, what in the world is Paul getting at in Eph 4:8, and how is he using Psalm 68:18? When you look at the Hebrew and the LXX it reads “received gifts,” not “gave.” ...