Note 12 at Eph. 4:8: This phrase, "led captivity captive" is referring to Jesus liberating the Old Testament saints. Old Testament saints who died went to a place in the center of the earth which was called "sheol" in the Hebrew language (see note 3 at Mt. 12:40, p. 188; see note 3 at Lk. 16:22, p. 362). It was this Hebrew word "sheol" that was translated "hell" in Psalm 16:10, which prophesied of Jesus saying, "For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption" (compare with Acts 2:27-30).

The ungodly dead also went to "sheol" but the teaching of Jesus in Luke 16:19-31 showed that there was a great gulf fixed between the two, and those in torment (hell) envied those who were enjoying the blessings of the Lord in the part of "sheol" which was called Abraham's bosom or Paradise (see note 4 at Lk. 23:43, p. 536).

Even though these Old Testament saints were blessed, they were not able to enter into the presence of the Lord Himself because the atonement of Christ had not been completed. So, in that sense, they were captives. At the death of Jesus, He descended into "sheol" and took these captives captive. He then took them to heaven, into the very presence of God and vacated that part of "sheol." Now, all that's left in "sheol" is hell. In the New Testament, the Greek word that is used to refer to this area is "hades" and it is only applied to a place of torment.

Note 13 at Eph. 4:8: The gifts that this Old Testament quote is referring to are mentioned in verse 11. Verses 9 and 10 are a parenthetical phrase expounding on Jesus descending "into the lower parts of the earth" (see note 14 at v. 9, below).