Therefore he says, “When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.”
Wherefore he saith,.... God in the Scripture, Psa 68:18 when he ascended up on high; which is not to be understood of Moses's ascending up to the firmament at the giving of the law, as some Jewish writers (q) interpret it; for though Moses ascended to the top of Mount Sinai, yet it is never said that he went up to the firmament of heaven...
Wherefore--"For which reason," namely, in order to intimate that Christ, the Head of the Church, is the author of all these different gifts, and that giving of them is an act of His "grace" [ESTIUS]. he saith--God, whose word the Scripture is (Psa 68:18).
Verse 8. Wherefore he saith. The word "he" is not in the original; and it may mean "the Scripture saith," or "God saith." The point of the argument here is, that Christ, when he ascended to heaven, obtained certain gifts for men, and that those gifts are bestowed upon his people in accordance with this. To prove that, he adduces this passage from .