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NASB | Ephesians 4:8 Therefore it says, "WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Ephesians 4:8 Therefore it says, "WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVITY CAPTIVE, AND HE BESTOWED GIFTS ON MEN." [Ps 68:18] |
Subject: What does men in Eph. 4:8 mean? |
Bible Note: Dear John, you have once more made the excellent point that it is faulty interpretation to drawn too much inference from too narrow a band of Scripture. Context, Context! CONTEXT! ought ever be the guiding light, the major key, to unlocking the true meaning of Scripture. Some of the discussions on this thread, by the way, in addressing which sex, male or female, or perhaps both, is meant by the use of the pronoun 'he' serves to remind me of the enormous importance of the gender-neutral issue that is so much in the vanguard these days as it applies to Bible versions. On this forum we are frequently exposed to differences of opinion, i.e., does 'he' in this context or that one mean strictly male or does it mean both male and female? In some passages the meaning is obvious; in others, perhaps not so obvious, and we must therefore seek other passages of Scripture to find the correct (contextual) meaning, Ephesians 4:8 being a case in point...... It seems clear, therefore, that an efficacious claim can be made for the translations that show the most transparency to the biblical manuscripts, that translate 'he' as 'he' and 'she' as 'she' instead of superimposing the translator's interpretation and bias into the receptor language. Translators have feet of clay also and are subject to error and differences of opinion, and they are no less exempt from them than users of this forum are. It is the proper duty of the translator to translate, not to interpret. It is the translator's burden to translate the WORD of God and not what he thinks God may have meant by what He said; it is our burden rightly to handle the word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15). Well, so I will descend from my pulpit and close by extending my hand and raising my voice in agreement with your post, John. --Hank |