Bible Dictionary
ASCEND
To ascend means to go up from a lower place to a higher one. Scripture uses it for rising smoke or vapor, travel, movement from the earth toward heaven, and the ascent of Christ.
Definition
To ascend is to move from a lower place to a higher one. Scripture uses the word for rising vapor, flame, or smoke; travel from one place to another; emergence from the underworld; and movement from earth toward the skies or heaven.
Biblical Usage
Biblical usage includes the ascent of vapor, smoke, and flame; the movement of travelers and boundaries; the rising of persons or angels; and the ascent of the Lord from earth to heaven.
Historical Background
The English word implies motion from a lower place to a higher one. The Revised Version often substitutes forms of “go up” for travel, underworld, and some New Testament occurrences.
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>a-send': By derivation the English word implies motion from a lower place to (not merely toward) a higher one; and usage tends to restrict it to cases where the beholder is in the lower, not the higher, position. the King James Version uses it 39 times in all:</p><p>(1) of the going up of vapor (Ps 135:7), flame (Jud 20:40), or smoke (Re 8:4);</p><p>(2) of travel from one place to another (Ac 25:1) or of the course of a boundary (Jos 15:3);</p><p>(3) of coming up from the underworld (1Sa 28:13; Re 11:7; 17:8); and</p><p>(4) of the going up (of men, angels, our Lord) from earth to the skies or to heaven (Ge 28:12; Joh 3:13). the Revised Version (British and American) uses the appropriate form of "to go up" in all cases falling under (2) and (3); in those under (4) it retains "ascend" with an occasional change in tense; under (1) it retains "ascend" everywhere in Old Testament (Ex 19:18; Jos 8:20,21; Ps 135:7 parallel Jer 10:13 parallel Jer 51:16) except Jud 20:40, but substitutes "went up," "goeth up," in New Testament (Re 8:4; 14:11).</p><p>The like change in the Old Testament passages would make the usage of the Revised Version (British and American) uniform.</p><p>F. K. Farr</p>