Does Paul misquote Psalm 68:18?

Ephesians 4:18

“⁷ But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. ⁸ Therefore He says:
‘When He ascended on high,
He led captivity captive,
And gave gifts to men.'”

(Ephesians 4:8 goes on to talk about the appointing of the so-called fivefold ministry of apostles and others within the Church. These then seem to be regarded as Christ’s gifts to men. The source of the quotation is undoubtedly Psalm 68:18 (LXX 67:19; MT 68:19), which in the NKJV reads as follows:

¹⁸ You have ascended on high, You have led captivity captive; You have received gifts among men, Even from the rebellious, That the LORD God might dwell there. ¹⁹ Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, The God of our salvation!”

Jews who were attributing the Psalm passage to David’s ascent rather than a divine figure.

Paul finishes his citation with the captivity clause and that “he gave gifts to man” are Paul’s own words, not a quotation – and hence not inaccurate, and summary of the intent and typological fulfilment of the Psalm.

Similarly, the pre-Christian Syriac Peshitta has, “You ascended on high, led captivity captive and gave gifts to the sons of men”, though “the reading at this point in the Peshitta may be a corruption, which makes its value as evidence precarious (cf. Lindars, Apologetic, 52 n. 2)”F4.

“…it is better to think that Paul was not quoting one particular verse of the psalm but rather that he was summarizing all of Psalm 68, which has many words similar to those in Psalm 68:18.”

(Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-c1985). The Bible Knowledge Commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)

Eg. V.9 Rain in abundance, O God, you showered abroad;� you restored your heritage when it languished;

V.35 Awesome is God in his[i] sanctuary,� the God of Israel;� he gives power and strength to his people. Blessed be God!

The original Hebrew says לָקַחְתָּמַתָּנוּתבָּעָדָם lâqach’tâ mattânôwth bâ’âdhâm which literally means “you took/carried gifts in/by the-man/mankind”. The verb is very definitely לָקַח lâqach “took” (Strong’s #3947) although it has a secondary sense of “carry”, but it is not the Hebrew verb נָתַן nâthan to “give” (Strong’s #5414)…

The small Hebrew preposition בָּ bâ- is the same that begins the Bible “In [the] beginning…” and usually means “in, with” or “by”, but is definitely not the Hebrew preposition “from” nor “to”, for which separate words exist. A fair translation could equally be “among men” but this still does not lend itself towards a New Testament appropriation as “to men”.

In Conclusion, Paul is an inspired author, is quoting Scripture, but in the second verse he is drawing the meaning of the Psalm and in this manner writing new Scripture at the same time.

The Father of Joseph