Publication Date
April 2008
School
School of Communication
Major
TESL
Primary Subject Area
Religion, Biblical Studies
Keywords
descend into hell, descent into hell, Ephesians 4, Ephesians 4:8-9, lower parts of the earth, Psalm 68:18
Recommended Citation
Hamilton, Jay R., "A Linguistic and Exegetical Analysis of Ephesians 4.8-9 from a Grammatical, Syntactical, Contextual, and Historical Perspective" (2008). Senior Honors Theses. 66.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/honors/66
Abstract
Ephesians 4.8-9 presents a challenging passage exegetically. The reference to Psalm 68.18 is ambiguous; it may picture Moses receiving the Torah or a king conquering an enemy army. Furthermore, Ephesians 4.9 is so closely linked to Ephesians 4.8 that one cannot validly interpret “the lower parts of the earth” (τα κατωτερα μερη της γης) from verse 9 without determining the meaning of the preceding verse. Therefore, Ephesians 4.8-9 is analyzed grammatically, contextually, and historically, in order to find the most likely interpretation for this particular passage. The study concludes that Paul in Ephesians 4.8 pictures a Davidic king conquering an enemy and applies this concept metaphorically to Christ as descending to earth, conquering sin, and ascending back to heaven.
