<p>4:9 <i>Now this, He ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?</i>- The ascent to receive these gifts for us required the Lord's death and burial. The victory song of Psalm 68 could only be ultimately sung because of the Lord's death &quot;first&quot;. We find here yet another connection with the thought of Romans, this time to Rom. 10:7, where 'descending s.w. into the deep' is connected with the resurrection of the Lord from the dead. His three days in &quot;the lower parts of the earth&quot; was therefore whilst He was dead; and death, Biblically, is unconsciousness. This puts paid to all speculations about the Lord doing conscious battle in some underworld with the powers of evil. &quot;The lower parts of the earth&quot; is a phrase used in Ps. 63:9 and Ps. 139:15 LXX for the grave.</p><p>But many times the same Greek word for &quot;descended&quot; is used for the Lord's 'descent' from Heaven; He 'came down' from Heaven in the same way as the manna 'descended' from Heaven- it was sent from God, but created here on earth. In this case, we would read the height of His ascent, in spiritual terms, as a reflection of His total connection with the lowest things of earthly life. &quot;The lower parts of the earth&quot; would be a quotation from Is. 44:23 LXX, which uses the term to describe the lower ranks of people upon earth. This would then explain the possible connection with Jn. 3:13, &quot;no man has ascended up to heaven, but He that descended from Heaven&quot;.</p><p>It could be that both interpretations have validity; the Lord's descent from Heaven, His sending from God, involved His descending into the grave itself. His sinless association with humanity and finally His dying the death of all men was what qualified Him to be so highly exalted.</p>