Principles of Biblical Quotations
“Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21).
From time to time we note what appear to be inaccuracies when New Testament writers quote from the Old Testament. Sometimes words are left out, added, or changed. Many times what we have learned in the Harvest Message applies to the second advent, is applied to the first advent. Other times a quote seems unrelated to the original scripture. In this study we consider some of the principles at work in these cases, to determine the reason for what at first seems to be an inconsistency.
The Bible is the Word of God. We should not think of the writers as being merely human agents like ourselves, who frequently make mistakes in quoting or injecting our own ideas. “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets” (Hebrews 1:1, NIV). “No prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the holy Spirit spoke from God” (2 Peter 1:20, 21, NAS).
This does not mean that there are no errors in our common version. It is estimated that there are literally thousands in it. However, most of these are due to errors of translation from the original Hebrew and Greek into English.1 Thus it is important to check various translations. I usually at least check Rotherham, the most accurate translation overall, and the Hebrew and Greek lexicons in Strong’s Concordance to see the true meanings of the original words.
THREE TYPES OF QUOTATIONS
There are three types of quotations in the scriptures:
(1) Old Testament passages quoted by later Old Testament writers, (2) secular poets quoted by Paul, (3) Old Testament passages quoted in the New Testament.
(1) Old Testament Citations in the Old Testament. There are many examples. We will cite just one example, comparing Isaiah 2:4 with Micah 4:3. “And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”
We find that Micah 4:3 quotes this almost word for word. Most of these Old Testament parallel quotations follow the sense very closely, even if the words are not always identical. We do find some transcription errors when two accounts describe the same historical event. However, these are very few and most are clarified by other scriptures. In fact it is amazing to think of thousands of copies of the scriptures, transcribed by hand over thousands of years, with so very few scribal errors – part of God’s overruling providence.
(2) Secular Poets cited by Paul. This category is small with only four instances that are not of much significance. An example is when Paul at Athens on Mars Hill spoke to the Greeks about the Unknown God, as he quoted from two Greek Poets in Acts 17:28. “For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said.”
(3) Quotations in the New Testament from the Old Testament. This is the most fertile ground for examination, and here we spend the chief part of our investigation. New Testament quotations from the Old testament often differ considerably. The most important reason for this is that almost all of these quotes are drawn from the Septuagint. This was a Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures for the benefit of Greek-speaking Jews dispersed in Egypt and various other countries, who were no longer fluent in Hebrew.2
Since the apostles were told by our Lord to “make disciples of people of all nations,” it is easy to understand why they wrote the New Testament in Greek, the common unifying language of the day in the near east. Naturally, they would quote the Greek translation of the scriptures when citing the Old Testament.
Thus the main reason for the differences in the wording of the New Testament quotes of the Old Testament, as we will see, is that the Greek Septuagint was not a very accurate translation. However, it is beautiful to note that God’s holy Spirit overruled the matter. Sometimes the thought being conveyed was the same. At other times, when the Septuagint expressed an incorrect thought, the matter was overruled so that the New Testament writer translated the Hebrew, rather than using the Septuagint.
THE THOUGHT IS THE SAME
Following are two examples of the first case, where the thought is the same in both the Septuagint and Hebrew versions, even if different words are used.
- Hebrew, Isaiah 45:23, “I have sworn by myself … That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.” This is cited from the Septuagint in Romans 14:11, “For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” The words may vary, but the thought is basically the same.
- Hebrew, Isaiah 28:16, “Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation.” This is cited from the Septuagint in 1 Peter 2:6, “It is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious.” The basic thought is the same, even though the Septuagint is not an exact translation.
THE SENSE IS DIFFERENT
However, there are other times that the Septuagint definitely gives the wrong thought as compared to the original Hebrew. When this occurred, notice how wondrously the Lord overruled in the following examples.
- Hebrew, Zechariah 12:10 (KJV), “They shall look upon me whom they have pierced.” Notice how different the Septuagint translation of this verse. “Then will they look to me whom they jeered.” But when John quoted Zechariah 12:10, under God’s direction he drew from the Hebrew text: “They shall look on him whom they pierced” (John 19:37, KJV).3
- Hebrew, Isaiah 25:8, “He will swallow up death in victory.” Notice how different the Septuagint translation, “Mighty death had swallowed [all] up.” But again in this case, the error was corrected by Paul being directed to quote from the original Hebrew. “Death is swallowed up in victory” (1 Corinthians 15:54).
Reverent study of the Word of God is highly commendable.
- Hebrew, Zechariah 9:9, “Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee.” The Septuagint translated it, “Make proclamation, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold thy king is coming for thee.” But again, this error was corrected by Matthew. “Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee” (Matthew 21:5).
At other times, when the difference involved in the Septuagint translation was slight, and it did not interfere with the purpose which the New Testament writer had in view, the Septuagint version was allowed to remain.
THE BOOK OF HEBREWS
In the entire book of Hebrews all quotations but one are from the Septuagint and were not changed. Here are two examples.
- Psalms 40:6, “Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened.” The Greek Septuagint, “Sacrifice and offerings Thou didst not desire, but prepared for me a body.” Now notice that the New Testament quotation kept this Septuagint rendering. “Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me” (Hebrews 10:5).
The Hebrew Old Testament phrase, “mine ears thou hast opened,” is a metaphor. For a person’s ears to be opened implies they obeyed God’s word. The New Testament Septuagint rendering, “a body hast thou prepared me,” was allowed to remain because it actually gave a deeper understanding to the Hebrew. For it tells us how Jesus’ ears were opened allowing him to obey. It was because God did prepare a perfect body for Jesus that allowed him to obey the law perfectly. So we should not think of Hebrews 10:5 as a mistake, in that it did not quote the original exactly. God’s overruling providence caused it to be written in this way for a purpose.
- Jeremiah 31:32; “which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD.” The Greek Septuagint reads, “Because they did not abide by this covenant of Mine, therefore I took no care of them.” The rendering in Hebrews 8:9, “Because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.” Because the Septuagint rendering was not an incorrect thought, God allowed the thought to remain with a slight change in wording.
ANOTHER REASON FOR DIFFERENCE
The main reason the wording of New Testament quotes from the Old Testament sometimes differs, is that almost all are taken from the Greek Septuagint Translation. But there is another reason. Namely, common people had often quoted them from memory. The Scriptures were intertwined with every aspect of life and would be partially quoted in everyday conversation as we often do. Here is an example:
- Jeremiah 9:24, “But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD.” The text from 1 Corinthians 1:31, “That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”
OMITTED WORDS
Sometimes words are left out because they are not pertinent to the immediate subject, or it is not yet the due time for the fulfillment of that portion. For example:
- Isaiah 61:1, 2, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God.”
Now notice how the New Testament quote based on the Septuagint adds some words and changes others. Here it is, from Luke 4:18, 19. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Notice, in addition to the minor changes, that it completely leaves out the last phrase, “and the day of vengeance of our God.” This is left out in Luke because it was not yet time for our Lord to proclaim the “Day of Vengeance.”
COMBINED QUOTATIONS
Note that the text in Luke, cited above, includes this phrase (KJV): “To set at liberty them that are bruised.” This is not in the passage in Isaiah 61. Our Lord here combined another text from Isaiah 58:6, which in the Septuagint, reads “But loose every bond of iniquity; dissolve the obligations of onerous contracts; set at liberty them who are oppressed.” There are many quotations which combine two or more Old Testament scriptures.
INTRODUCTION TO A QUOTATION
The next point we call attention to is the words used to introduce a quotation. For example, a prophecy regarding our Lord from Psalms 22:18 is quoted in John 19:24. “They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots.” The phrase “that the scripture might be fulfilled” means the text refers to a fulfillment of some specific prophecy in the Old Testament. In this case the reference is to Psalms 22:18, “They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.”
Ancient Bible Scrolls
By comparison, when a text is prefaced by the words “The Scripture saith” -or “as it is written” – this is not necessarily a fulfillment of some specific prophecy, it refers to a general fact or principle mentioned in the Old Testament. For example, 1 Corinthians 2:9. “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” This refers to Isaiah 64:4, “For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.”
UNSPECIFIED QUOTATIONS
There are many quotations from the Old Testament where there is no indication in the context that something is being quoted. For example, Romans 2:6, “Who will render to every man according to his deeds.” The casual reader might suppose this is simply a statement by the Apostle Paul. Actually it is taken from Psalms 62:12, “For thou renderest to every man according to his work.” The Companion Bible is helpful in such cases, for whenever a text draws from the Old Testament, the type is in bold with a text cited. In addition, it has excellent notes calling attention to the basic Hebrew and Greek meanings of key words, and calling attention to parallel scriptures.
– George Tabac
(1) Editor’s note: In many cases, the translation of the Greek is accurate, but the scholarship to establish the readings of the original Greek manuscript readings did not become well refined until after the 18th century, when the oldest Greek manuscripts were investigated, studied, and the original text, rather than the corrupted “received text,” or Textus Receptus, was restored. This is an ongoing area of research as new texts come to light and are translated.
(2) Editor’s note: Ptolemy II funded the Pentateuch translation.
(3) Editor’s note: There is also another word of interest in this text. The RVIC reads, “They shall look unto me whom they have pierced” (rather than “upon” me as in the KJV). When John cites this in John 19:37, he uses eis – this preposition could be “into” or “to.”