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The use of Psalm 68:18 in Ephesians 4:8

 For Paul in Ephesians 4:8, clearly there are some changes from the text that Paul is supposedly citing which is Psalm 68:18. Comparing Psalm 68:18 and Ephesians 4:8, it is obvious there are differences.


I believe Paul was actually using the LXX but has changed its words for the occasion in Ephesians 4. The LXX version of Psalm 68:18 and Ephesians 4:8 differs by a few words:

Psalm 68:18 (it is actually Psalm 67:19 in the LXX):
ἀναβὰς εἰς ὕψος ᾐχμαλώτευσας αἰχμαλωσίαν,
ἔλαβες δόματα ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ,

Ephesians 4:8
ἀναβὰς εἰς ὕψος ᾐχμαλώτευσεν αἰχμαλωσίαν,*
⸆ ἔδωκεν δόματα ⸀τοῖς ἀνθρώποις.

Structurally you can see the LXX and Eph 4 is similar but for a few words changes.
 
The first change is from 2nd person (LXX) to 3rd person (Eph 4) with regards to who is doing the ascending in the first line. 
So the English Bible rightly translates the phrase to "When he ascended on high" versus Psalm 68, "you ascended"
 
The second change is perhaps the most radical, where Psalm 68 receives gifts, Eph 4:8 gave gifts
The last change is "from man" (singular) to giving it "to men (plural)".

I personally think, Paul is simply appropriating Psalm 68 for a different occasion. Psalm 68:15-18 speaks of the temple in Jerusalem. In this case, the gifts are being brought into the temple. See also Psalm 68:29 - "Because of your temple at Jerusalem kings shall bear gifts to you." 

But interestingly, in Ephesians, the temple is understood differently. Now it is us who are the temple. As Ephesians 2:19-20 says:
"So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord."
 
But how is gifts going to feature in the new temple? This time, the temple is not going to be receiving gifts from men to be used in the temple. Rather God is the one giving out gifts in this new temple to the people to serve one another. Hence Paul changes Psalm 68 to provide this new understanding. 

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