1 I, therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live worthily of the calling with which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, putting up with one another in love, 3 making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 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? 10 He, the very one who descended, is also the one who ascended above all the heavens, in order to fill all things. 11 And he himself gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, that is, to build up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God—a mature person, attaining to the measure of Christ’s full stature. 14 So we are no longer to be children, tossed back and forth by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching by the trickery of people who craftily carry out their deceitful schemes. 15 But practicing the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ, who is the head. 16 From him the whole body grows, fitted and held together through every supporting ligament. As each one does its part, the body builds itself up in love. 17 So I say this, and insist in the Lord, that you no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts. 19 Because they are callous, they have given themselves over to indecency for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. 20 But you did not learn about Christ like this, 21 if indeed you heard about him and were taught in him, just as the truth is in Jesus. 22 You were taught with reference to your former way of life to lay aside the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires, 23 to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and to put on the new man who has been created in God’s image—in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth. 25 Therefore, having laid aside falsehood, each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor because we are members of one another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on the cause of your anger. 27 Do not give the devil an opportunity. 28 The one who steals must steal no longer; instead he must labor, doing good with his own hands, so that he will have something to share with the one who has need. 29 You must let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but only what is beneficial for the building up of the one in need, that it would give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 You must put away all bitterness, anger, wrath, quarreling, and slanderous talk—indeed all malice. 32 Instead, be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you.
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Compare Ephesians 4:8 and Targum Psalm 68:19
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Ephesians 4:8
New TestamentTargum Psalm 68:19
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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.” That always ...
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.” That always confused me.But then in my reading I checked the Aramaic Targum to Psalms 68:19 and, to my shock, it says “gave” instead of “received,” just like Paul in Ephesians:
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.
https://intertextual.bible/text/targum-psalm-68.18-ephesians-4.8
https://www.sefaria.org/Psalms.68.19?lang=bi&with=Aramaic%20Targum%20to%20Psalms
When I saw how the Targum (the ancient Aramaic paraphrase) was framing the psalm and how that might work with Paul, I was shocked. The way the Targum interprets it is that Moses ascended Sinai, received Torah, and then gave it, even for the rebellious. Paul may be drawing on that same tradition but applies it to Jesus. Just as Moses gave Torah, Christ ascended and gave the Spirit and ministries.
The pattern is:
• Moses ascended Sinai and gave Torah to Israel, even the rebellious, so that they could repent and learn.
• Christ ascended and gave the Spirit and ministries to the original apostolic community, anchoring the authority of their teaching.
• Through that apostolic teaching about the Messiah, the other messianic communities are discipled and united to Him through the Spirit, no longer tossed around by other teaching and philosophies.
Paul unpacks this later in the chapter: “So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart” (Eph 4:17–18).
So just as the Targum shows Moses giving Torah even to the rebellious so they might repent and learn, Paul shows Christ giving gifts to bring the Gentiles, who walk in futility, ignorance, and hardness of heart, into the life of God through the apostolic teaching about the Messiah and by being united to Him through the Spirit.
Bryan Butler, September 10, 2025