P. Derek Overfield PhD Thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText

Whereas then the Moses motif may well
be present in the actual tradition which lies behind
the citation of Ps 67:19 in Eph 4:8 the author IS own
interpretative comment on the citation in vv. 9f
forbids us from accepting that the motif was in any
way in the authorls mind in a positive fashion.
4.2 The Ascension and Pentecost
The second hypothesis that we have noted
is that Eph 4:8-10 is to be interpreted with the
emphasis not on the ascension but on the I descent I
which is in fact the descent of the Christ at Pentecost
to bestow spiritual gifts on the Church. Thi~ theory
is associated with G.B. Caird, B. Lindars and J.C. Kirby.
Caird, as we noted, divided the evidence for this
hypothesis into three divisions: textual, grammatical
and liturgical.
In our approach to the text we shall
use these same divisions since they provide an apt
point of departure not only for an examination of the
views of these exegetes but also because they provide
a very suitable starting point for our own exegesis
of the text.
Essential to this hypothesis is the theory
that the I descent I post-dated the lascentl. Cairdls
argument for this is based upon an understanding that
~p~ov
found in B1K1P and in the majority of Latin
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