Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageWhat does "He ascended" mean except that He also descended to the lower, earthly regions?
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.G(Now, "He ascended" — what does this mean but that He also descended into the lower regions of the earth?
KJV
King James Version(Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
BSB
Berean Standard BibleWhat does “He ascended” mean, except that He also descended to the lower parts of the earth?
Footnotes
τὰ κατώτερα μέρη τῆς γῆς — "the lower parts of the earth" — is genuinely contested. The genitive "of the earth" may be (1) partitive: regions of the earth that are lower (i.e., Sheol/Hades beneath the earth — a descent into the underworld, cf. Num 16:30–33; Ps 63:9; 1 Pet 3:19), or (2) epexegetical/appositive: "the lower regions, namely, the earth itself" (i.e., the incarnation — descent to the earthly realm as something lower than the heavenly). The F.O.G renders the full cosmological weight of "lower regions of the earth" (Sheol reading); the F.O.G Message renders "lower, earthly regions" to allow the incarnation reading while preserving the full descent motif.