Teks -- Ephesians 4:9 (NET)

4:9 Now what is the meaning of “he ascended,” except that he also descended to the lower regions, namely, the earth?

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per frasa)

Robertson: Eph 4:9 - Now this

Now this ( to de ).

Paul picks out the verb anabas (second aorist active participle of anabainō , to go up), changes its form to anebē (second aorist indicative), and points the article (to ) at it. Then he concludes that it implied a previous katabas (coming down).

Robertson: Eph 4:9 - Into the lower parts of the earth

Into the lower parts of the earth ( eis ta katōtera tēs gēs ).

If the anabas is the Ascension of Christ, then the katabas would be the Descent (Incarnation) to earth and tēs gēs would be the genitive of apposition. What follows in Eph 4:10 argues for this view. Otherwise one must think of the death of Christ (the descent into Hades of Act 2:31).

Vincent: Eph 4:9 - Now that He ascended

Now that He ascended

Eph 4:9 and Eph 4:10 are parenthetical, showing what the ascension of Christ presupposes. By descending into the depths and ascending above all, He entered upon His function of filling the whole universe, in virtue of which function He distributes gifts to men. See Eph 1:23. Rev., properly, inserts this , thus giving the force of the article which calls attention to the fact of ascension alluded to in the quotation. " Now the or this 'He ascended." '

Vincent: Eph 4:9 - What is it but

What is it but

What does it imply?

Vincent: Eph 4:9 - Descended first

Descended first ( καὶ κατέβη )

His ascent implies a previous descent. A.V. reads first , following the Tex. Rec. πρῶτον . Rev., correctly, He also descended . Compare Joh 3:13.

Vincent: Eph 4:9 - The lower parts of the earth

The lower parts of the earth ( τὰ κατώτερα μέρη τῆς γῆς )

The under world. The reference is to Christ's descent into Hades. Some give the words a comparative force, deeper than the earth .

Wesley: Eph 4:9 - Now this expression, He ascended, what is it, but that he descended

That is, does it not imply, that he descended first? Certainly it does, on the supposition of his being God. Otherwise it would not: since all the saints will ascend to heaven, though none of them descended thence.

Wesley: Eph 4:9 - Into the lower parts of the earth

So the womb is called, Psa 139:15; the grave, Psa 63:9.

JFB: Eph 4:9

Paul reasons that (assuming Him to be God) His ascent implies a previous descent; and that the language of the Psalm can only refer to Christ, who first descended, then ascended. For God the Father does not ascend or descend. Yet the Psalm plainly refers to God (Eph 4:8, Eph 4:17-18). It must therefore be GOD THE SON (Joh 6:33, Joh 6:62). As He declares (Joh 3:13), "No man hath ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven." Others, though they did not previously descend, have ascended; but none save Christ can be referred to in the Psalm as having done so; for it is of God it speaks.

JFB: Eph 4:9 - lower parts of the earth

The antithesis or contrast to "far above all heavens," is the argument of ALFORD and others, to show that this phrase means more than simply the earth, namely, the regions beneath it, even as He ascended not merely to the visible heavens, but "far above" them. Moreover, His design "that He might fill all things" (Eph 4:10, Greek, "the whole universe of things") may imply the same. But see on Eph 4:10 on those words. Also the leading "captive" of the "captive hand" ("captivity") of satanic powers, may imply that the warfare reached to their habitation itself (Psa 63:9). Christ, as Lord of all, took possession first of the earth the unseen world beneath it (some conjecture that the region of the lost is in the central parts of our globe), then of heaven (Act 2:27-28). However, all we surely know is, that His soul at death descended to Hades, that is, underwent the ordinary condition of departed spirits of men. The leading captive of satanic powers here, is not said to be at His descent, but at His ascension; so that no argument can be drawn from it for a descent to the abodes of Satan. Act 2:27-28, and Rom 10:7, favor the view of the reference being simply to His descent to Hades. So PEARSON in Exposition of the Creed (Phi 2:10).

Clarke: Eph 4:9 - But that he also descended

But that he also descended - The meaning of the apostle appears to be this: The person who ascended is the Messiah, and his ascension plainly intimates his descension; that is, his incarnation, humiliation, death, and resurrection.

Calvin: Eph 4:9 - Now that he ascended // Into the lower parts of the earth

9.Now that he ascended Here again the slanderers exclaim, that Paul’s reasoning is trifling and childish. “Why does he attempt to make those words apply to a real ascension of Christ, which were figuratively spoken about a manifestation of the Divine glory? Who does not know that the word ascend is metaphorical? The conclusion, that he also descended first, has therefore no weight.”

I answer, Paul does not here reason in the manner of a logician, as to what necessarily follows, or may be inferred, from the words of the prophet. He knew that what David spake about God’s ascension was metaphorical. But neither can it be denied, that the expression bears a reference to some kind of humiliation on the part of God which had previously existed. It is this humiliation which Paul justly infers from the declaration that God had ascended. And at what time did God descend lower than when Christ emptied himself? (᾿Αλλ ᾿ ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσε, Phi 2:7.) If ever there was a time when, after appearing to lay aside the brightness of his power, God ascended gloriously, it was when Christ was raised from our lowest condition on earth, and received into heavenly glory.

Besides, it is not necessary to inquire very carefully into the literal exposition of the Psalm, since Paul merely alludes to the prophet’s words, in the same manner as, on another occasion, he accommodates to his own subject a passage taken from the writings of Moses. “The righteousness which is of faith speaketh in this manner, Say not in thine heart, who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above;) or, who shall descend into the deep (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.”) (Rom 10:6 Deu 30:12.) But the appropriateness of the application which Paul makes of the passage to the person of Christ is not the only ground on which it must be defended. Sufficient evidence is afforded by the Psalm itself, that this ascription of praise relates to Christ’s kingdom. Not to mention other reasons which might be urged, it contains a distinct prophecy of the calling of the Gentiles.

Into the lower parts of the earth ¹⁴⁰ These words mean nothing more than the condition of the present life. To torture them so as to make them mean purgatory or hell, is exceedingly foolish. The argument taken from the comparative degree, “the lower parts,” is quite untenable. A comparison is drawn, not between one part of the earth and another, but between the whole earth and heaven; as if he had said, that from that lofty habitation Christ descended into our deep gulf.

Defender: Eph 4:9 - lower parts

The ascending Lord was not merely ascending back from the earth, but from "the lower parts of the earth." This somewhat enigmatic geographical reference could, by itself, perhaps refer to the deep ocean bottom, but this would not yield captives. More likely it refers to the great pit at the center of the earth, indicated in the Bible as the prison confining the souls of the dead, the place called Sheol in the Old Testament Hebrew and Hades in the Greek New Testament, but often translated "hell" in the King James Version.

One of Christ's purposes when He came to earth was "to preach deliverance to the captives, and ... to set at liberty them that are bruised" (Luk 4:18). This statement of Jesus is taken from Isa 61:1, where it reads "... to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound." When Christ died on the cross, He in the Spirit "went and preached unto the spirits in prison" (1Pe 3:19). The word "preached" can be better translated "proclaimed" - that is, proclaimed His victory over Satan. Christ had said prophetically (Psa 16:10), "thou wilt not leave [abandon] my soul in hell" (Act 2:27). He returned from Hades with "the keys of hell and of death" (Rev 1:18), bringing "captivity captive" with Him as He returned. His spirit returned to His body resting in Joseph's tomb, and He arose from the dead, alive forever more. The souls of those who had died in faith came with Him from their resting place in Hades in "Abraham's bosom" (Luk 16:22), and then, in a mighty miracle, "the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose" (Mat 27:52). With the thief on the cross who had also believed, the Lord then presumably took them all with Him into "paradise, the third heaven" (Luk 23:43; 2Co 12:2, 2Co 12:4), where they will remain with the Lord until He comes to earth again with them and with the souls of all who have died as Christian believers since that time (1Th 3:13; 1Th 4:14)."

TSK: Eph 4:9 - he ascended // he also // the lower

he ascended : Pro 30:4; Joh 3:13, Joh 6:33, Joh 6:62, Joh 20:17; Act 2:34-36

he also : Gen 11:5; Exo 19:20; Joh 6:33, Joh 6:38, Joh 6:41, Joh 6:51, Joh 6:58, Joh 8:14, Joh 16:27, Joh 16:28

the lower : Psa 8:5, Psa 63:9, Psa 139:15; Mat 12:40; Heb 2:7, Heb 2:9

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per Ayat)

Poole: Eph 4:9 - Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first? // Into the lower parts of the earth

Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first? The apostle interprets the psalmist, and concludes that David, when he foretold Christ’ s glorification, or ascending up to heaven, did likewise foresee his humiliation and descent to the earth: q.d. When David speaks of God in the flesh ascending up on high, he doth thereby imply, that he should first descend to the earth.

Into the lower parts of the earth either simply the earth, as the lowest part of the visible world, and so opposed to heaven, from whence he came down, Joh 3:13 6:33,38,41,42,50,51 ; or the grave and state of the dead; or both rather, implying the whole of his humiliation, in opposition to his ascending, taken for the whole of his exaltation.

Haydock: Eph 4:9 - Into the lower parts of the earth

Into the lower parts of the earth. This cannot signify into the grave only, especially since in that which we look upon as the apostles' creed, we first profess to believe that he was buried, and afterwards that he descended into hell. (Witham)

Gill: Eph 4:9 - Now that he ascended // what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth

Now that he ascended,.... These words are a conclusion of Christ's descent from heaven, from his ascension thither; for had he not first descended from thence, it could not have been said of him that he ascended; for no man hath ascended to heaven but he that came down from heaven, Joh 3:13 and they are also an explanation of the sense of the psalmist in the above citation, which takes in his humiliation as well as his exaltation; which humiliation is signified by his descent into the earth:

what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? this the Papists understand of his decent into a place they call Limbus Patrum, which they make to be contiguous to hell; and where they say the patriarchs were detained till Christ's coming; and that he went thither to deliver them out of it; and that these are the captivity he led captive; all which is fictitious and fabulous: for certain it is, that the place where Abraham was with Lazarus in his bosom was not near to hell, but afar off, and that there was a great gulf between them, Luk 16:23 and the spirits or souls of the patriarchs returned to God that gave them, when separated from their bodies, as the souls of men do now, Ecc 12:7 nor did Christ enter any such feigned place at his death, but went to paradise, where the penitent thief was that day with him; nor were the patriarchs, but the principalities and powers Christ spoiled, the captivity he led captive and triumphed over: some interpret this of Christ's descent into hell, which must be understood not locally, but of his enduring the wrath of God for sin, which was equivalent to the torments of hell, and of his being in the state of the dead; but it may rather design the whole of his humiliation, as his descent from heaven and incarnation in the virgin's womb, where his human nature was curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth; and his humbling himself and becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, when he was made sin and a curse for his people, and bore all the punishment due to their transgressions; and his being in Hades, in the state of the dead, in the grave, in the heart of the earth, as Jonah in the whale's belly: reference seems to be had to Psa 139:15 where "the lower parts of the earth", is interpreted by the Targum on the place of כריסא דאמא, "his mother's womb"; and so it is by Jarchi, Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Ben Melec. The Alexandrian copy and the Ethiopic version leave out the word "first" in this clause.