Anakalypsis / Unveiling the Word

Ephesians 4:9

(Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?

KJV

τὸ δὲ ἀνέβη τί ἐστιν εἰ μὴ ὅτι καὶ κατέβη εἰς τὰ κατώτερα μέρη τῆς γῆς;

Greek NT

Quod autem ascendit, quid est, nisi quia et descendit primum in inferiores partes terræ ?

Vulgate

(Now this, He ascended, what is it but that he also descended into the lower parts of the earth?

ASV

Now that he ascended, what is it, but because he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?

Douay-Rheims

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In the original Greek

14 distinct Greek words appear in this verse.

γῆ
ge
noun · 251×
δέ
de
conjunction · 2781×
εἰ
ei
conditional · 491×
εἰμί
eimi
verb · 2461×
εἰς
eis
preposition · 1769×
καί
kai
conjunction · 8973×
καταβαίνω
katabaino
verb · 78×
κατώτερος
katoteros
adjective · 1×
μέρος
meros
noun · 42×
μή
me
particle · 1033×
τίς
tis
interrogative_pronoun · 533×
ἀναβαίνω
anabaino
verb · 81×
ὁ
o
article · 19778×
ὅτι
oti
conjunction · 1299×

Textual variants

1 variant unit attested by manuscript witnesses and modern critical editions.

notable
SBLGNT: κατέβη | WH/Treg/NIV: κατέβη | RP: + πρῶτον
  • κατέβη — SBLGNT
  • κατέβη — Westcott-Hort, Tregelles, Reader's GNT (NA27)
  • + πρῶτον — Robinson-Pierpont
source: sblgnt-apparatus

Historic Christian voices

14 passages from patristic writers, Reformers, and church catechisms citing this verse.

§631Jesus "descended into the lower parts of the earth. He who descended is he who also ascended far above all the heavens."475 The Apostles' Creed confesses in the same article Christ's descent into hell and his Resurrection from the dead on the third day, because in his Passover it was precisely out of the depths of death that he made life spring forth: Christ, that Morning Star,…
§633Scripture calls the abode of the dead, to which the dead Christ went down, "hell" - Sheol in Hebrew or Hades in Greek - because those who are there are deprived of the vision of God.479 Such is the case for all the dead, whether evil or righteous, while they await the Redeemer: which does not mean that their lot is identical, as Jesus shows through the parable of the poor man L…
§635Christ went down into the depths of death so that "the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live."484 Jesus, "the Author of life", by dying destroyed "him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and [delivered] all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage."485 Henceforth the risen Christ holds "the keys of Death and…
…and 2 more from this source.
Christ did not come for the sake of the men of one age only, but for all who, living righteously and piously, had believed upon Him; and for those, too, who shall believe. 1. Now in the last days, when the fullness of the time of liberty had arrived, the Word Himself did by Himself wash away the filth of the daughters of Zion, Isaiah 4:4 when He washed the disciples' feet with …
The preservation of our bodies is confirmed by the resurrection and ascension of Christ: the souls of the saints during the intermediate period are in a state of expectation of that time when they shall receive their perfect and consummated glory. 1. Since, again, some who are reckoned among the orthodox go beyond the pre-arranged plan for the exaltation of the just, and are ig…
Chapter 4.—About the Prefigured Change of the Israelitic Kingdom and Priesthood, and About the Things Hannah the Mother of Samuel Prophesied, Personating the Church. Therefore the advance of the city of God, where it reached the times of the kings, yielded a figure, when, on the rejection of Saul, David first obtained the kingdom on such a footing that thenceforth his descendan…
Summa Theologica · 2 passages
Were we freed from sin by Christ's Passion? Were we thereby delivered from the power of the devil? Were we freed thereby from our debt of punishment? Were we thereby reconciled with God? Was heaven's gate opened to us thereby? Did Christ derive exaltation from it? Article 1. Whether we were delivered from sin through Christ's Passion? Objection 1. It would seem that we were not…
Did it belong for Christ to ascend into heaven? According to which nature did it become Him to ascend? Did He ascend by His own power? Did He ascend above all the corporeal heavens? Did He ascend above all spiritual creatures? The effect of the ascension Article 1. Whether it was fitting for Christ to ascend into heaven? Objection 1. It would seem that it was not fitting for Ch…
He descended into hell.

Cross-references

  • Exod 19:20 — And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.
  • Gen 11:5 — And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
  • Heb 2:9 — But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
  • Isa 44:23 — Sing, O ye heavens; for the LORD hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and glori
  • John 3:13 — And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
  • John 3:13 — And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
  • John 6:33 — For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
  • John 6:38 — For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
  • John 6:38 — For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
  • John 6:41 — The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven.
  • John 6:51 — I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
  • John 6:58 — This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
  • John 6:62 — What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?
  • John 16:27 — For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.
  • John 20:17 — Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
  • Matt 12:40 — For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
  • Prov 30:4 — Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and w
  • Ps 8:5 — For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
  • Ps 63:9 — But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth.
  • Ps 139:15 — My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.