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Journey of a Passage

Psalm 68:18

"Received gifts" or "gave gifts"

Hebrew: "You ascended on high, you led captives, you received gifts among men." Ephesians 4:8: "he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men." The library's Greek and Latin agree with the Hebrew "received." The Aramaic Targum and Syriac Peshitta are reported to read "gave."

Manuscript variant: witnesses differ in wording

The family tree

Each row is a language or text tradition. Witnesses in the same row may share ancestry, revise one another, or have an uncertain relationship; the line under each box says which. A solid arrow appears only where direct copying or a documented revised edition is established. Order by date never implies copying. Scroll sideways on a phone.

✓ contains it · ✕ does not · ❝ quotes part of it · ⓘ reports on manuscripts · ▢ pages lost · – no copy survives

  • Same line, through lost copies
  • Translation
  • Uncertain connection
Hebrew
  1. The psalm as first composedPsalms composed over centuries (c. 10th–4th century BC; debated)
  2. Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)AD 1008Descends, through lost copies, from The psalm as first composed
Greek
  1. Greek Psalter (library: Giguet's French)Old Greek c. 2nd century BC; French 1872Translated from the Old Greek Psalter
Latin
  1. Jerome's Gallican Psalter (Clementine Vulgate)c. AD 386–392, revised from the GreekTranslated from the Greek Psalter (Origen's Hexapla)
English
  1. King James Bible1611Translated from printed Masoretic Hebrew
New Testament quotation
  1. Greek New Testament (library: Statistical Restoration text)1st century AD; edition 2010sUncertain relationship to the psalm (which wording it followed is the question)

Every witness, in order

  1. Psalms composed over centuries (c. 10th–4th century BC; debated)

    The psalm as first composed

    – No copy survives

    No original survives. About forty Psalms manuscripts from Qumran, Masada and Nahal Hever (c. 2nd century BC – 1st century AD) are the oldest copies.

  2. 1st century AD; edition 2010s

    Greek New Testament (library: Statistical Restoration text)

    ✓ Contains this passageUncertain relationship to the psalm (which wording it followed is the question)

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: the Greek New Testament editions in the library (Textus Receptus, Byzantine Textform, Statistical Restoration).

    Διὸ λέγει, “Ἀναβὰς εἰς ὕψος, ᾐχμαλώτευσεν αἰχμαλωσίαν, ἔδωκεν δόματα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις.”

    Therefore it says, Having ascended on high, he led captivity captive; he gave gifts to men.

    Ephesians 4:8. The quotation differs from every library witness of the psalm in "he gave" (edōken) and in the third person. KJV: "Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men."

  3. c. AD 386–392, revised from the Greek

    Jerome's Gallican Psalter (Clementine Vulgate)

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from the Greek Psalter (Origen's Hexapla)

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Clementine Vulgate (1592 edition).

    Ascendisti in altum, cepisti captivitatem, accepisti dona in hominibus; etenim non credentes inhabitare Dominum Deum.

    Latin numbering: Psalm 67:19. Jerome revised this Latin Psalter from the Greek, so it is a witness to the Greek, not to the Hebrew.

  4. AD 1008

    Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)

    ✓ Contains this passageDescends, through lost copies, from The psalm as first composed

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.

    עָ֘לִ֤יתָ לַמָּר֨וֹם ׀ שָׁ֘בִ֤יתָ שֶּׁ֗בִי לָקַ֣חְתָּ מַ֭תָּנוֹת בָּאָדָ֑ם וְאַ֥ף ס֝וֹרְרִ֗ים לִשְׁכֹּ֤ן ׀ יָ֬הּ אֱלֹהִֽים׃

    You went up on high, you took captives captive, you received gifts among men, even the rebellious, that YAH God might dwell there

    Hebrew numbering: Psalm 68:19. Hebrew 68:19.

  5. 1611

    King James Bible

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).

    Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them.

  6. Old Greek c. 2nd century BC; French 1872

    Greek Psalter (library: Giguet's French)

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from the Old Greek Psalter

    How the site knows this: Known here only through a translation.

    Monté en haut, vous avez emmené des captifs; vous avez reçu des présents pour les hommes, même pour abriter des infidèles.

    Greek numbering: Psalm 67:19. Giguet's 1872 French of a printed Greek text; not checked against Rahlfs' critical edition.

What changed, and why

In the psalm the image is a victorious king ascending his mountain with captives and receiving tribute. Ephesians reads it of Christ's ascension and the gifts he distributes to the church (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers). The Targum applies the verse to Moses ascending Sinai and giving the Torah as a gift to the sons of men; its "gave" suggests the reading was known in Jewish interpretation, perhaps independently of Ephesians.

What each witness here actually contains: the Hebrew, Giguet's Greek and the Vulgate all have "received" and the second person ("you"); the Greek of Ephesians 4:8, shown here from the library's Greek New Testament, has "he gave" in the third person. The library holds no Targum of Psalms and its Peshitta covers only the New Testament, so the reported Targum and Peshitta readings ("gave") are not shown and remain an open research check, as does the Old Greek in Rahlfs' edition.

What the evidence shows

  • Independently documentedThe Hebrew has "received" (laqahta).
  • Independently documentedEphesians 4:8 has "gave."
  • Strongly supportedThe Targum and Peshitta read "gave." Reported; not checked by the site.

Sources

    Related lessons

    • Psalm 68: Let God Arise →"Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered." God, "a father of the fatherless," leads his people through the desert; Sinai quakes; rain falls on his inheritance; kings flee and women divide the spoil. Mount Bashan envies the mountain God chose. "The chariots of God are twenty thousand… Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men." A procession enters the sanctuary, "little Benjamin" first. "Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God."