Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
Wherefore - `for which reason,' namely, to intimate that Christ, the Head, is the author of these different gifts, as an act of His "grace" (Estius).
He saith - God, whose word the Scripture is (Psalms 68:18).
When he ascended - GOD represented by the ark, which was being brought up to Zion in triumph by David, after that "the Lord had given him rest round about from all his enemies" (2 Samuel 6:1-23; 2 Samuel 7:1; 1 Chronicles 15:25). Paul quotes it of CHRIST ascending to heaven, who is therefore GOD.
Captivity - i:e., a band of captives. In the psalm, the captive foes of David. Antitypically, the foes of Christ the Son of David-Satan, Death, the curse, and Sin (Colossians 2:15; 2 Peter 2:4), led in triumphal procession to their ultimate destruction (Revelation 20:10; Revelation 20:14).
Gave gifts unto men - in the psalm, 'thou hast received gifts [bª-] among men;' i:e., to distribute among men. As a triumphing conqueror distributes the spoils of foes as donatives among his people, so Christ, after his conquest of the powers of darkness. The impartation of the gifts of the Spirit depended on Christ's ascension (John 7:39; John 14:12). Previous gifts of the Spirit were but an earnest of Pentecost (Acts 2:33). Paul stops short in the middle of the verse, not quoting, 'That the Lord God might dwell among them.' This, though partly fulfilled in Christians being "an habitation of God through the Spirit" (Ephesians 2:22), ultimately refers (Psalms 68:16) to 'the Lord dwelling in Zion forever;' the ascension amidst attendant angels having as its counterpart the second advent amidst "thousands of angels" (Ephesians 4:17), accompanied by the restoration of Israel (Ephesians 4:22), the destruction of God's enemies, and the resurrection (Ephesians 4:20-21; Ephesians 4:23), the conversion of the kingdoms of the world to the Lord at Jerusalem (Ephesians 4:29-32).