1. Good article. :-)
2. Your post lead me to look at Psalm 68 just out of normal curiosity.
Paul quoted Psalm 68:18 in Ephesians 4:7-8. In the NKJV, it seems like there is somehow a misquote in how the verse is worded in the OT vs Paul's quote of it in the NT.
I thought this was a bit curious and started to dig deeper.
NKJV
Ephesians 4:8 "“When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive,
And gave gifts to men.”"
Psalms 68:18 "You have ascended on high, You have led captivity captive;
You have received gifts among men,.”
That's a bit curious... why the difference?
Paul's quote generally says He gave gifts to men
Psalms generally says He received gifts from men
polar opposites?
Let's look at the KJV:
KJV
Ephesians 4:8 "“When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive,
and gave gifts unto men.”"
Psalms 68:18 "Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive:
thou hast received gifts for men;”
Something is going on here.... KJV is reading about the same as NKJV.
Why is Paul's quote seemingly different (and completely reverse) from the actual written Psalm?
Ok, let's go look at the Interlinear:
biblehub.com/interlinear/psalms/68.htmWhat is the word used for "
gave" vs "
received" from the original Hebrew:
לָקַ֣חְתָּ ?biblehub.com/hebrew/3947.htmFirst off... wow!
Psalms 68:18 seems to be reading like a "
snatching" (maybe Rapture like event) occurred just by looking at these other cases of that Hebrew word found in other places in the Bible.
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
: accept, bring, buy, carry away, drawn, fetch, get, infold, seize, send for, take (away, -ing, up)
e. especially take in marriage: (I) for another, especially a son,
f. receive, accept, especially a bribe, gift, ransom, etc.,
6 = fetch
8 take = capture, seize:
9 take = carry off: a. as booty
1 be taken from, out of
4 be taken away, removed
If we look at the NT version of the same word ἔδωκεν
biblehub.com/interlinear/ephesians/4.htm1325. didómi It's definitely a "
give" word.
Just for fun, playing with injecting some definitions of the Hebrew version: Christ ascended and "snatched away"... "in marriage" ... "especially for a son"... the captive... as a gift or "ransom".. "bought".. from among men :-D
I'm not exactly sure what to make of this strange quote from Paul, but it does seem that "spiritual applications" (and even physical applications) daniel is writing about are seemingly found in the OT that apply to the Church today.
I prefer the approach "Right Division" uses to categorize the Bible so things like James 2 vs Romans 3-4 are not contradictory when you understand the books had audiences (Jews vs Gentiles).
I think daniel is also likely correct too. Keep a balance. Don't overly divide.
"Right Division" is just a tool. Don't break the tool or the part from over-usage.
Thanks daniel.
