以弗所书 4:9

Chinese NCV (Simplified)

（“他升上”這句話是甚麼意思呢？他不是也曾降到地上嗎？

Parallel Translations

Chinese Union (Simplified)
（ 既 说 升 上 ， 岂 不 是 先 降 在 地 下 麽 ？

Contextual Overview

² Always be humble, gentle, and patient, accepting each other in love. ³ You are joined together with peace through the Spirit, so make every effort to continue together in this way. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit, and God called you to have one hope. ⁵ There is one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. ⁶ There is one God and Father of everything. He rules everything and is everywhere and is in everything. ⁷ Christ gave each one of us the special gift of grace, showing how generous he is. ⁸ That is why it says in the Scriptures, "When he went up to the heights, he led a parade of captives, and he gave gifts to people." Psalm 68:18 ⁹ When it says, "He went up," what does it mean? It means that he first came down to the earth. ¹⁰ So Jesus came down, and he is the same One who went up above all the heaven. Christ did that to fill everything with his presence. ¹¹ And Christ gave gifts to people—he made some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to go and tell the Good News, and some to have the work of caring for and teaching God's people.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

he ascended: Proverbs 30:4, John 3:13, John 6:33, John 6:62, John 20:17, Acts 2:34-36

he also: Genesis 11:5, Exodus 19:20, John 6:33, John 6:38, John 6:41, John 6:51, John 6:58, John 8:14, John 16:27, John 16:28

the lower: Psalms 8:5, Psalms 63:9, Psalms 139:15, Matthew 12:40, Hebrews 2:7, Hebrews 2:9

Reciprocal: Psalms 71:20 - shalt bring 1 Corinthians 15:47 - the Lord Philippians 2:10 - under Philippians 2:29 - with

Cross-References

Genesis 4:4
Abel brought the best parts from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift,

Genesis 4:9
Later, the Lord said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" Cain answered, "I don't know. Is it my job to take care of my brother?"

Genesis 4:11
And now you will be cursed in your work with the ground, the same ground where your brother's blood fell and where your hands killed him.

Genesis 4:13
Then Cain said to the Lord , "This punishment is more than I can stand!

Genesis 4:14
Today you have forced me to stop working the ground, and now I must hide from you. I must wander around on the earth, and anyone who meets me can kill me."

Genesis 37:32
Then they brought the long-sleeved robe to their father and said, "We found this robe. Look it over carefully and see if it is your son's robe."

Psalms 9:12
He remembers who the murderers are; he will not forget the cries of those who suffer.

Proverbs 28:13
If you hide your sins, you will not succeed. If you confess and reject them, you will receive mercy.

John 8:44
You belong to your father the devil, and you want to do what he wants. He was a murderer from the beginning and was against the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he shows what he is really like, because he is a liar and the father of lies.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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, John 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, Luke 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, Ecclesiastes 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 Psalms 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.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Now that he ascended - That is, it is affirmed in the Psalm that he “ascended” - “Thou hast ascended on high.” This implies that there must have been a previous “descent;” or, as applicable to the Messiah, “it is a truth that he previously descended.” It is by no means certain that Paul meant to say that the “word” “ascended” demonstrated that there must have been a previous descent; but he probably means that in the case of Christ there was, “in fact,” a descent into the lower parts of the earth first. The language used here will appropriately express his descent to earth.

Into the lower parts of the earth - To the lowest state of humiliation. This seems to be the fair meaning of the words. Heaven stands opposed to earth. One is above; the other is beneath. From the one Christ descended to the other; and he came not only to the earth, but he stooped to the most humble condition of humanity here; see Philippians 2:6-8; compare notes on Isaiah 44:23. Some have understood this of the grave; others of the region of departed spirits; but these interpretations do not seem to be necessary. It is the “earth itself” that stands in contrast with the heavens; and the idea is, that the Redeemer descended from his lofty eminence in heaven, and became a man of humble rank and condition; compare Psalms 139:15.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 9. 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.