Psalms 68:18
OT Poetry
Psalms 68:1818You have ascended on high; You have led captives away. You have received gifts from men, even from the rebellious, that the LORD God may dwell there.
JW Usage
Protestant Usage
Psalm 68 celebrates God's victorious ascent: "Jehovah has come from Sinai into the holy place" (v. 17), and the one who ascends on high with captives is addressed as "O Jah God" (v. 18). Paul quotes the verse in and explains it in 4:9-10: "The very one who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens." The psalm's divine conqueror is identified with the ascended Christ. Paul's "gave gifts" (where the Hebrew has "took gifts") follows an older Jewish reading of the psalm and the picture of a victor sharing his spoils. It does not change who ascends.