SEV Biblia, Chapter 4:9
(Y que subi, ¿qu es, sino que tambin había descendido primero en las partes ms bajas de la tierra?
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Ephesians 4:9
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.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 9. Now that he ascended , &c.] 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 16:23,26) 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 ( <19D915> Psalm 139:15) where the lower parts of the earth, is interpreted by the Targum on the place of amad asyrk , 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.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 7-16 - Unto every believer is given some gift of grace, for their mutual help All is given as seems best to Christ to bestow upon every one. He received for them, that he might give to them, a large measure of gift and graces; particularly the gift of the Holy Ghost. Not a mere hea knowledge, or bare acknowledging Christ to be the Son of God, but suc as brings trust and obedience. There is a fulness in Christ, and measure of that fulness given in the counsel of God to every believer but we never come to the perfect measure till we come to heaven. God' children are growing, as long as they are in this world; and the Christian's growth tends to the glory of Christ. The more a man find himself drawn out to improve in his station, and according to his measure, all that he has received, to the spiritual good of others, he may the more certainly believe that he has the grace of sincere love and charity rooted in his heart. (Eph 4:17-24)
Greek Textus Receptus
το 3588 δε 1161 ανεβη 305 5627 τι 5101 εστιν 2076 5748 ει 1487 μη 3361 οτι 3754 και 2532 κατεβη 2597 5627 πρωτον 4412 εις 1519 τα 3588 κατωτερα 2737 μερη 3313 της 3588 γης 1093
Vincent's NT Word Studies
9. Now that He ascended. vers. 9 and 10 are parenthetical, showing what the ascension of Christ presupposes. By descending into the depths and ascending above all, He entered upon His function of filling the whole universe, in virtue of which function He distributes gifts to men. See ch. i. 23. Rev., properly, inserts this, thus giving the force of the article which calls attention to the fact of ascension alluded to in the quotation. "Now the or this 'He ascended."' What is it but. What does it imply?
Descended first (kai katebh). His ascent implies a previous descent. A.V. reads first, following the Tex. Rec. prwton. Rev., correctly, He also descended. Compare John iii. 13.
The lower parts of the earth (ta katwtera merh thv ghv). The under world. The reference is to Christ's descent into Hades. Some give the words a comparative force, deeper than the earth.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
4:9 {Now this } (to de). Paul picks out the verb anabas (second aorist active participle of anabainw, to go up), changes its form to anebe (second aorist indicative), and points the article (to) at it. qen he concludes that it implied a previous katabas (coming down). {Into the lower parts of the earth} (eis ta katwtera tes ges). If the anabas is the Ascension of Christ, qen the katabas would be the Descent (Incarnation) to earth and tes ges would be the genitive of apposition. What follows in verse #10 argues for this view. Otherwise one must think of the death of Christ (the descent into Hades of #Ac 2:31).
