Psalms 68 Footnotes

68:18 The psalm celebrates how Yahweh ascended on high and received gifts from men, just as a victorious sovereign in the ancient Near East would receive gifts in tribute. The line is appropriate as a description of the Lord’s conquest of the land and the ascension of his presence to Zion, represented by the ark. In the NT, Paul used this psalm with reference to Jesus’s triumphant ascension to heaven, in which he gave spiritual gifts to his people (Eph 4:8; see 2Co 2:14). When the conquering king received the spoils of war, he distributed them in turn to his loyal subjects. Paul, following the Greek OT reading “gave” (Hb, “took”), omitted the thought of receiving the tribute, and went right to the point of the distribution of gifts.