Following are a number of back-translations of Ephesians 4:8:
Uma: “That’s why there is a word of the Holy Book that foretells Kristus it sounds like this: "After he defeated his enemies, he ascended up to the dwelling place that is in the high place, and he distributed blessings to his people."” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “The scripture says hep, ‘When he was lifted up to heaven he took many prisoners with him and he gave his people good (things).'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “For there is a written word of God which said, ‘When He was raised up to Heaven, He took many prisoners with Him. And there were also skills which He gave to His subjects.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “That just the same is what God caused-to-be-written concerning Cristo which says, ‘When he returned to heaven, he escorted many whom he had defeated, and at-the-same-time there were what-he-gave-as-gifts to his people.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “For like that which is contained in the writing which says, ‘When he returned-home to the very highest-place (implies heaven), he took along all his enemies whom he like openly-displayed, as proof that he had defeated them. And there is that which he graced to people as his gift.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “That is like what the Holy Book says when it says: ‘Christ went to heaven but first he conquered all his enemies. And very great favor he gave the people left on earth.'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
God transcends gender, but most languages are limited to grammatical gender expressed in pronouns. In the case of English, this is traditionally confined to “he” (or in the forms “his,” “him,” and “himself”), “she” (and “her,” “hers,” and “herself”), and “it” (and “its” and “itself”).
Modern Mandarin Chinese, however, offers another possibility. Here, the third-person singular pronoun is always pronounced the same (tā), but it is written differently according to its gender (他 is “he,” 她 is “she,” and 它/牠 is “it” and their respective derivative forms). In each of these characters, the first (or upper) part defines the gender (man, woman, or thing/animal), while the second element gives the clue to its pronunciation.
In 1930, after a full century with dozens of Chinese translations, Bible translator Wang Yuande (王元德) coined a new “godly” pronoun: 祂. Chinese readers immediately knew how to pronounce it: tā. But they also recognized that the first part of that character, signifying something spiritual, clarified that each person of the Trinity has no gender aside from being God.
While the most important Protestant and Catholic Chinese versions respectively have opted not to use 祂, some Bible translations do and it is widely used in hymnals and other Christian materials. Among the translations that use 祂 to refer to “God” were early versions of Lü Zhenzhong’s (呂振中) version (New Testament: 1946, complete Bible: 1970). R.P. Kramers (in The Bible Translator 1956, p. 152ff. ) explains why later versions of Lü’s translation did not continue with this practice: “This new way of writing ‘He,’ however, has created a minor problem of its own: must this polite form be used whenever Jesus is referred to? Lü follows the rule that, wherever Jesus is referred to as a human being, the normal tā (他) is written; where he is referred to as divine, especially after the ascension, the reverential tā (祂) is used.”
In that system, one kind of pronoun is used for humans (male and female alike) and others for natural elements, non-liquid masses, and some spiritual entities (one other is used for large animals and another one for miscellaneous items). While in these languages the pronoun for spiritual entities used to be employed when referring to God, this has changed into the use of the human pronoun.
Lynell Zogbo (in The Bible Translator 1989, p. 401ff. ) explains: “From informal discussions with young Christians especially, it would appear that, at least for some people, the experience and/or concepts of Christianity are affecting the choice of pronoun for God. Some people explain that God is no longer ‘far away,’ but is somehow tangible and personal. For these speakers God has shifted over into the human category.”
In Kouya, God (the Father) and Jesus are referred to with the human pronoun ɔ, whereas the Holy Spirit is referred to with a non-human pronoun. (Northern Grebo and Western Krahn make a similar distinction.)
Eddie Arthur, a former Kouya Bible translation consultant, says the following: “We tried to insist that this shouldn’t happen, but the Kouya team members were insistent that the human pronoun for the Spirit would not work.”
In Burmese, the pronoun ko taw (ကိုယ်တော်) is used either as 2nd person (you) or 3rd person (he, him, his) reference. “This term clearly has its root in the religious language in Burmese. No ordinary persons are addressed or known by this pronoun because it is reserved for Buddhist monks, famous religious teachers, and in the case of Christianity, the Trinity.” (Source: Gam Seng Shae in The Bible Translator 2002, p. 202ff. )
In Thai, the pronoun phra`ong (พระองค์) is used, a gender-neutral pronoun which must refer to a previously introduced royal or divine being. Similarly, in Northern Khmer, which is spoken in Thailand, “an honorific divine pronoun” is used for the pronoun referring to the persons of the Trinity (source: David Thomas in The Bible Translator 1993, p. 445 ). In Urak Lawoi’, another language spoken in Thailand, the translation often uses tuhat (ตูฮัด) — “God” — ”as a divine pronoun where Thai has phra’ong even though it’s actually a noun.” (Source for Thai and Urak Lawoi’: Stephen Pattemore)
The English “Contemporary Torah” addresses the question of God and gendered pronouns by mostly avoiding pronouns in the first five books of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (unless God is referred to as “lord,” “father,” “king,” or “warrior”). It does that by either using passive constructs (“He gave us” vs. “we were given”), by using the adjective “divine” or by using “God” rather than a pronoun.
Some Protestant and Orthodox English Bibles use a referential capitalized spelling when referring to the persons of the Trinity with “He,” “His,” “Him,” or “Himself.” This includes for instance the New American Standard Bible or The Orthodox New Testament, but most translations do not. Two other languages where this is also done (in most Bible translations) are Twents as well as Indonesian and Malay. In the latter two languages this follows the language usage according to the Qur’an, which in turn predicts that usage (see Soesilo in The Bible Translator 1991, p. 442ff. and The Bible Translator 1997, p. 433ff. ).
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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, atae-rare-ru (与えられる) or “give” is used.
Illustration by Horst Lemke (1922-1985) for the GermanGute Nachricht für Sie – NT68, one of the first editions of the Good News Bible in German of 1968. Lemke was a well-known illustrator who illustrated books by Erich Kästner , Astrid Lindgren and many others.
The quotation of Psalm 68.18 is prefaced by a verbal phrase which may be taken to mean “And so he (that is, God) says,” or “And so it (that is, the scripture) says.”
In many languages it is impossible to speak of the Scriptures “saying” something. Scriptures can be “read” but they do not “speak.” Therefore, as the scripture says must often be translated as “as anyone can read in the Holy Writings” or “… in a part of the Holy Writings.”
Psalm 68.18 reads in the Hebrew text: “You went up on the heights, you captured captives, you received gifts among men,” which is a description of the procession of the victorious king up Mount Zion, where he is paid tribute by his defeated enemies. Good News Bible translates Psalm 68.18: He goes up to the heights, taking many captives with him; he receives gifts from rebellious men. The Septuagint follows the Hebrew text closely and does not change the meaning of the text.
The clause when he went up to the very heights may be rendered as “when he went up to the very high place.”
The quotation here changes the second person of the Hebrew (and of the Septuagint) to the third person. But the greatest change is from the verb “to receive” of the Hebrew and Septuagint to “to give,” which is the very opposite of the meaning of the Old Testament text.
It is very important that translators remember to translate this quotation the way it appears here, and not try to harmonize it with Psalm 68.18. Some translators have translated heights as “heaven.” This is primarily because of the discussion about the meaning of this in verses 9 and 10. However, that discussion would be meaningless if the translation specified “heaven” in verse 8, and it is therefore important that something such as “heights” or “high space” or “highest place” be said here in verse 8.
He took many captives: this is the meaning of the idiomatic Greek phrase “he captured captivity,” which slavishly represents the Hebrew idiom. There is no way of determining who the New Testament writer considered these captives to be, whether human or angelic opponents (as in Col 2.15). The text is quoted for the purpose of using he gave gifts to mankind as the scriptural proof of Christ’s bestowing gifts on his people. It is quite certain that the “captives” are not the same as the following “men” to whom gifts are given.
In translating he took many captives with him, it is important to use terms which would suggest that he was a conquering hero leading captives. And it should be clear in translation that he took the captives with him to the heights, not that he captured them there. For captives one can use a phrase “those whom he had captured.”
He gave gifts to mankind can be translated as “he gave gifts to people.”
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert C. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1982. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
Paul used a quotation from Psalm 68:18 although the wording is a little different. He used this quotation to support what he had just said about Christ giving gifts. In this psalm, the writer described a Jewish king who had defeated his enemies and returned in victory. In a parade to celebrate his victory, he went up the hill to Mount Zion in Jerusalem. During the parade, he forced some of the enemy soldiers he had captured to follow along behind him and implied in this passage is that from the plunder he gave gifts to his followers/soldiers.
4:8a
This is why: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translated This is why indicates that Paul used the quote in 4:8b–c to support what he has just said in 4:7.
Here are some other ways to translate this word:
This is supported by
-or-
Therefore (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
As (Contemporary English Version)
it says: The pronoun it here refers to the Scriptures. In some languages it is not natural to say that a book says. So you may want to translate this:
we read words in God’s Book like this
-or-
they/someone wrote in the Book of God”
4:8b
When He ascended on high: Psalm 68 describes how the victorious king went up Mount Zion (a hill in Jerusalem) followed by the enemies he had captured. Paul saw this as a picture of Christ ascending to heaven. Just as the king won a victory and then went up to a high place, so also Christ won a victory (over sin and death) and then went up to a high place (God’s right side in heaven).
Since this is a quotation from the Psalms, you should translate on high in 4:8b in a general way. In the Psalm, on high refers to Mount Zion, so do not translate it “to heaven” here. Also, the pronoun He in this quotation should not be translated “Christ” because Psalm 68 does not mention the word “Christ.”
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
When He went up to a high place
-or-
If He ascended going to a high place (Uma back translation)
4:8c
He led captives away: The phrase He led captives away means that the king brought many prisoners along with him.
captives: The word captives refers to enemies the king had captured in a battle. These enemies then became prisoners of the king.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
he led a crowd of captives (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
he led away many prisoners (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
He brought along behind him many prisoners
4:8d
and gave gifts to men: The verb gave here is different from the verb in the psalm which is “received gifts,” but the translator must of course translate what Paul wrote in this verse. The word gifts here refers to material gifts, so you should not translate it “special abilities,” but rather something general like:
good things
-or-
blessings
to men: In the context of this quotation, to men refers to the king’s followers. It does not refer to his enemies in 4:8c. It should be clear in your translation that the reference is not to his enemies here. For example:
and gave gifts to his people (New Living Translation (2004))
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
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