01.23. Quotations From The Old Testament In The New

Section First.

Quotations From The Old Testament In The New, Considered In Respect To The Manner Of Citation. THE capital figures employed after each quotation, it will be borne in mind, refer to the several classes indicated above. I. Those in which the Greek exactly corresponds with the Hebrew. II. Those in which it substantially agrees with the Hebrew, the differences being merely circumstantial, and indicating no diversity of sense. ΙΙΙ. Those in which the Septuagint is followed, though it diverges to some extent from the Hebrew. ΙV. Those in which neither the Hebrew nor the Septuagint is exactly adhered to. The numerals subjoined to these figures give the number of that class, reckoning from the commencement of the Gospels. In all cases the exact translation will be given, whether precisely agreeing with the authorized version or not.

ST. MATTHEW’S GOSPEL.

Matthew 1:22-23. In order that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Ἰδοὺ ἡ παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ ἕξει καὶ τέξεται υἱόν, καὶ καλέσουσιν τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἐμμανουήλ: Isaiah 7:14. Behold the virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel. II. 1. The deviation here from the exact rendering of the original is very slight and unimportant; it relates only to two expressions, putting “shall be with child” for “shall conceive,” הָרָה, and “they shall call” for “thou shalt call,” קָרָעת. In both cases the Septuagint is closer to the original; it has ἐν γαστρὶ λήψεται, and καλέσεις.

Matthew 2:5-6. For thus it is written by the prophet, Καὶ σὺ Βηθλέεμ, γῆ Ἰούδα, οὐδαμῶς ἐλαχίστη εἶ ἐν τοῖς ἡγεμόσιν Ἰούδα· ἐκ σοῦ γὰρ ἐξελεύσεται ἡγούμενος, ὅστις ποιμανεῖ τὸν λαόν μου τὸν Ἰσραήλ: Micah 5:2. And thou Bethlehem, Judah-land, art by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of thee shall come forth a Governor, who shall rule My people Israel. IV.1.

Here the differences are very considerable, both from the Hebrew and from the Septuagint. (1.) Instead of Ephratah, after Bethlehem, the Evangelist puts γῆ Ἰούδα—an elliptical expression for situated in the land of Judah, and, coupled with Bethlehem, making substantially the same meaning as is sometimes expressed in the Old Testament by the compound term, Bethlehem-Judah, (Judges 17:7; Ruth 1:1.) It merely distinguishes that Bethlehem from another in a different locality. So far, the addition of the Evangelist serves much the same purpose as the Ephratah of the prophet, which defined Bethlehem as the place that originally bore the name of Ephratah, (Genesis 35:19.) The Septuagint has οἶκον ʼΕφραθά, which gives no proper sense. (2.) Instead of “thou art by no means least among the rulers of Judah,” the Hebrew has “thou art little to be (too small to be reckoned) among the thousands of Judah,”—צָעִיר לִהְיוֹת בְּאַלְפֵי יְהוּדָה. The Septuagint gives this part of the passage with substantial correctness, ὀλιγοστὸς εἶ τοῦ εἶναι ἐν χιλιάσιν Ιουδα. The words of the Evangelist express a meaning formally different, yet materially the same. Looking at the substance of the original, it intimates, that Bethlehem, little in one respect, scarcely or not at all able to take its place among the ruling divisions of the land, was yet destined to be great in another—as the appointed birth-place of the future Governor of Israel. This two-fold idea is precisely that also which the words of the Evangelist convey—only they contemplate the preceding littleness as in a manner gone, on account of the now realized ultimate greatness: q.d. Thou wast, indeed, among the least, but thou art no longer so, for thou hast already attained to what in the Divine purpose was to make thee great. So that this change, as well as the preceding one, proceeds on the principle of explaining while it quotes—modifying the language, so as, without changing the import, to adapt it to the Evangelist’s times. (3.) The remaining clause is a quite correct, though somewhat free, translation of the original, which hardly admits of a very close rendering lit.—“Out of thee there shall come forth for Me to be Governor in Israel,” מִמְּךָ לִי יֵצֵא לִהְיוֹת מוֹשֵׁל בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל, that is, One shall be raised up there by My special providence, who shall possess the government in Israel; all one in substance with the Evangelist’s “out of thee shall come forth a Governor, who shall rule My people Israel.” (For some explanation of the circumstances connected with the fulfilment of the prophecy, and especially its relation to the governorship of Syria by Cyrenius, as stated in Luke 2:2, see Appendix.)

Matthew 2:15. In order that it might be fulfilled which Was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Ἐξ Αἰγύπτου ἐκάλεσα τὸν υἱόν μου: Hosea 11:1. Out of Egypt have I called My Son. I. 1. The passage of Hosea is here given with the greatest exactness. The Septuagint is more loose, ἐξ Αἰγ. μετεκάλεσα τὰ τέκνα αὐτοῦ, apparently taking the word for My Son, לִבְנִי as a plural, sons, or children.

Matthew 2:18. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken through, Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Φωνὴ ἐν Ῥαμὰ ἠκούσθη,ἠκούσθα, (The received text has θρῆνος before κλαυθμὸς, but it wants authority.)κλαυθμὸς καὶ ὀδυρμὸς πολύς·Ῥαχὴλ κλαίουσα τὰ τέκνα αὐτῆς, καὶ οὐκ ἤθελεν παρακληθῆναι, ὅτι οὐκ εἰσίν: Jeremiah 31:15. In Rama was there heard a voice, lamentation and great mourning, Rachel bewailing her children, and refused to be comforted, because they are not. II. 2. The departures from the Hebrew original are here quite trifling; they consist merely in substituting “great mourning for “bitter weeping,” or weeping of bitternesses, בְּכִי תַמְרוּרִים, a correct, though not the most literal translation; and omitting the second mention of her children, which is found in the prophet—“refused to be comforted for her children,” while the Evangelist simply has, “refused to be comforted,” namely, for the loss of her children. What is not expressed is clearly implied.

Matthew 2:23. And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, so that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophets, ὅτι Ναζωραῖος κληθήσεται, He shall be called a Nazarene. IV. 2. The words here given as a quotation from the prophets are not found in express terms in any one of them; and the mode of quotation, as from the prophets generally, seems to import, that the Evangelist had in view, not a single prediction, but a series of predictions, respecting Messiah, the substance of which might be compressed into the sentence, He shall be called a Nazarene; that is, He shall be a person of low and contemptible appearance, as the inhabitants of Nazareth were in a somewhat peculiar sense esteemed (John 1:46.) The reference appears to be to such passages as Isaiah 4:2; Isaiah 11:1; Jeremiah 23:1; Zechariah 3:8, Zechariah 6:12, in which the Messiah was spoken of as the offspring of David, that was to grow up as a nezer, or tender shoot; in plain terms, rise from a low condition, encompassed for a time with the emblems of poverty and meanness. Nazareth itself was probably derived from nezer; so that sound and sense here coincided.

Matthew 3:3. This is he that was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet, saying, Φωνὴ βοῶντος ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ· Ἑτοιμάσατε τὴν ὁδὸν κυρίου, εὐθείας ποιεῖτε τὰς τρίβους αὐτοῦ; Isaiah 40:3. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight. II. 3. The same passage is also quoted in Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4, and in precisely the same words. They are directly taken from the Septuagint, except the last expression, τρίβους αὐτοῦ, for which the Septuagint has τρίβους τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν. Both renderings, however, differ slightly from the expression of the prophet, which is “highway for our God,”—מְסִלָּה לֵאלֹהֵינוּ. The sense is entirely the same, only less fully and boldly exhibited by the Evangelists.

Matthew 4:4. It is written, Οὐκ ἐπʼ ἄρτῳ μόνῳ ζήσεται ὁ ἄνθρωπος, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ παντὶ ῥήματι ἐκπορευομένῳ διὰ στόματος θεοῦ: Deuteronomy 8:3. Not on bread alone shall man live, but by every word that cometh forth through God’s mouth. I. 2. The passage is most fitly assigned to the first class of quotations; for it is a close translation of the original, down to the last word, the name of God. This is Jehovah in the original, which is usually given in the Greek by Κύριος; but here the Septuagint has Θεοῦ, and it is followed by the Evangelist, as it is also throughout, except in the substitution of ἐν παντὶ instead of ἐπὶ παντὶ. The insertion of ῥήματι in the Septuagint and the Evangelist, without any thing corresponding in the original, is only done to render the sense plain, and cannot justly be regarded as a deviation from the original.

Matthew 4:6. For it is written, ὅτι Τοῖς ἀγγέλοις αὐτοῦ ἐντελεῖται περὶ σοῦκαὶ ἐπὶ χειρῶν ἀροῦσίν σε, μήποτε προσκόψῃς πρὸς λίθον τὸν πόδα σου: Psalms 91:11-12. He shall give His angels charge concerning thee, and upon their hands they shall bear thee up, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. I. 3. The meaning of the original is quite exactly given, and given in the words of the Septuagint only a clause is omitted in Psalms 91:11 of the Psalm, “to keep thee in all thy ways.” No change is thereby introduced into the passage, which, as far as it goes, is a faithful reproduction of that in the Psalm.

Matthew 4:7. It is again written, Οὐκ ἐκπειράσεις κύριον τὸν θεόν σου: Deuteronomy 6:16. Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. I. 4. This must also be regarded as an exact translation; for it merely adopts the singular for the plural—thou for ye; an interchange that is constantly made in the Pentateuch itself, according as Israel was contemplated as a plurality or a unity. The Septuagint here adopts the singular; so the words of the Evangelist exactly correspond with it.

Matthew 4:10. For it is written, Κύριον τὸν θεόν σου προσκυνήσεις καὶ αὐτῷ μόνῳ λατρεύσεις: Deuteronomy 6:13. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve. III. 1. The same words are given in Luke 4:8; they are those of the Septuagint; but they differ so slightly from the Hebrew, that the passage might almost with equal propriety be ranked under class I. The only divergence is in putting “thou shalt worship,” for “thou shalt fear,” תּירָא; The fear undoubtedly includes worship, as its chief outward expression.

Matthew 4:14-16. In order that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Γῆ Ζαβουλὼν καὶ γῆ Νεφθαλίμ, ὁδὸν θαλάσσης, πέραν τοῦ Ἰορδάνου, Γαλιλαία τῶν ἐθνῶν, ὁ λαὸς ὁ καθήμενος ἐν σκότει φῶς εἶδεν μέγα, καὶ τοῖς καθημένοις ἐν χώρᾳ καὶ σκιᾷ θανάτου φῶς ἀνέτειλεν αὐτοῖς: Isaiah 9:1-2. Land of Zabulon, and land of Nephthalim, way of the sea beyond the Jordan, the people that sat in darkness saw a great light, and for them that sat in the region and shadow of death, light sprung up to them. IV. 3.

It is but a part of Isaiah’s prophecy that is here cited; the Evangelist begins in the middle of a sentence, and does not give even the whole of what follows. The entire passage may be thus literally rendered: “As the former time degraded the land of Zabulon and the land of Nephthalim, so the latter makes glorious the way of the sea, the farther side (עַבֶר) of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people (viz. of this Galilee,) those walking in the dark, see a great light, the dwellers in the land of the shadow of death, light rises upon them.” It thus appears, that there are considerable differences between the Evangelist and the prophet, but chiefly in the way of abridgment, His purpose did not require him to produce the whole, and he gives only a part—very naturally, on this account, beginning with a nominative, γῆ Ζαβ., while a fuller quotation would have required the accusative. For the ὁδόν in the next clause, see at p. 42. It has very much the force of a preposition, and means alongside, or by the tract of, viz. the sea; the sea-board portions of the tribes of Zabulon and Naphthali. The only deviation worth naming, in the portion that is fully quoted, from the precise meaning of the original, is in substituting “the people that sat,” for “the people, those walking”—הָעָם הַהֹלְכִים; and “in the land and shadow of death,” for “in the land of the shadow of death”—בְּאֶרֶץ צַלְמָוֶת. The difference in both respects is quite immaterial, and seems to have been adopted for the sake of greater distinctness. The Septuagint differs so much, both from the original and from the Evangelist, that it has manifestly exercised no influence here.

Matthew 8:17. So that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Αὐτὸς τὰς ἀσθενείας ἡμῶν ἔλαβεν καὶ τὰς νόσους ἐβάστασεν: Isaiah 53:4. Himself took our sicknesses and bore our pains. I. 5. The Septuagint has here οὗτος τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν φέρει καὶ περὶ ἡμῶν ὀδυνᾶται, This one bears our sins, and on our account is put to grief. So that the rendering of the Evange list strikingly departs from it, and does so by adhering more closely to the original. There can be no doubt that this is the case respecting the first clause, “Himself took (i.e., took upon Him נָשָׂא) our sicknesses,” or diseases. But it holds equally of the second clause, which is וּמַכְאֹבֵינוּ סְבָלָם “and our pains He bore them.” The only peculiarity in the Evangelist is, that he employs νόσους in the sense of pains; which, however, is a very common meaning of the word, though not elsewhere found in the New Testament.

Matthew 9:13 (Matthew 12:7.) But go and learn what is Ἔλεος θέλω καὶ οὐ θυσίαν: Hosea 6:6. I desire mercy and not sacrifice. I. 6. The passage is again quoted on another occasion by our Lord, at Matthew 12:7, and in precisely the same words. They give the literal meaning of the original, and adhere more strictly to the form than the Septuagint, which has Ἔλεος θέλω ἤ θυσίαν. This gives undoubtedly the substantial meaning—I desire, or delight, in mercy rather than sacrificebut it is obtained by a sort of paraphrase.

Matthew 11:10. For this is he of whom it is written, Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἀποστέλλω τὸν ἄγγελόν μου πρὸ προσώπου σου, ὃς κατασκευάσει τὴν ὁδόν σου ἔμπροσθέν σου: Malachi 3:1. Behold I send My messenger before Thy face, and he shall prepare Thy way before Thee. II. 4. In the original it is simply, “Behold I send My messenger (or angel,) and he shall prepare the way before Me.” As given by our Lord, there is a change of person not found in the Hebrew—I send . . . before Thy face, prepare the way before Thee; and it is also a little more explicit—not simply send, but send before Thy face, and prepare, not the way merely, but expressly Thy way. The alterations are, like others of a like kind already noticed, plainly for the sake of explanation. It was in reality the same Divine Being who sent the messenger, and before whom the messenger was to go, preparing the way. But when that Divine Being had become man, and was Himself in the condition of one sent, it was fit that He should somehow indicate the diversity that thus appeared in connexion with the unity. And it was quite naturally done by the change of person introduced, by which the sender appeared in some sense different from the person before whom the messenger went; yet, as the messenger had just been declared to be greater than all the prophets (Matthew 11:9,) who could He be, whose way the messenger went before to prepare, but the Lord Himself, that sent him? This was evident to any thoughtful mind; and to show it was the same, and yet in one sense another, of whom in both parts the prophet spake, was our Lord’s object in slightly altering the original words. The real meaning was not thereby altered; it was only adapted to existing circumstances, and to a certain extent explicated. The Septuagint mistook the meaning of the second clause of the verse, apparently from not knowing that the verb פנָנָּה in the Piel signifies to clear or prepare; so, they rendered פִנָּה־דֶרֶךְ by ἐπιβλέψεται ὁδὸν, he shall survey the way.

Matthew 12:17-21. In order that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Esaias the prophet, saying, Ἰδοὺ ὁ παῖς μου ὃν ᾑρέτισα, ὁ ἀγαπητός μου εἰς ὃν εὐδόκησεν ἡ ψυχή μου· θήσω τὸ πνεῦμά μου ἐπʼ αὐτόν, καὶ κρίσιν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ἀπαγγελεῖ. οὐκ ἐρίσει οὐδὲ κραυγάσει,οὐδὲ ἀκούσει τις ἐν ταῖς πλατείαις τὴν φωνὴν αὐτοῦ. κάλαμον συντετριμμένον οὐ κατεάξει καὶ λίνον τυφόμενον οὐ σβέσει, ἕως ἂν ἐκβάλῃ εἰς νῖκος τὴν κρίσιν. καὶ τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ ἔθνη ἐλπιοῦσιν: Isaiah 42:1-4. Behold my servant, whom I have chosen, My beloved, in whom My soul is well-pleased; I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He shall announce judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive, nor cry, nor shall any one hear His voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench, till He have brought forth judgment into victory. And in His name shall the Gentiles trust. IV. 4. By much the greater part of this passage might be assigned to the first class; for it gives a faithful representation of the original—in this differing favourably from the Septuagint, which presents a very loose and incorrect translation. It merely has, “whom I have chosen,” instead of “whom I up hold”אֶרְמָךְ־בּוֹ ; also, “He shall not strive, nor cry,” instead of “He shall not cry nor lift up,” לֹא יִצְעַק וְלֹא יִשָּׂא ; the former being only “more explicit, and affixing to the lifting up of the prophet the more definite sense of boisterous and wrangling procedure. But at the close of ver. 20, we have “till He have brought forth judgment into victory,” while in the original it is, “He shall bring forth judgment into truth”—לֶאֱמֶת יוֹצִיא מִשְׁפָּט—or rather, “for truth (in the interest of truth) He shall bring forth judgment;” that is to say, His administra tion shall be in accordance with the principles of truth; and that is not materially different from the sense of the Evangelist, who represents the Lord’s servant going on in His quiet, peaceful exercise of goodness, shunning everything that might lead to violent measures, or insurrectionary movements, till judgment—i.e., righteousness in act and power—shall have been rendered triumphant over all that was opposed to it. It is a free rendering of the words of the original, but one that gives with perfect fidelity their scope and import. And the same also may be said of the last clause, “in His name shall the Gentiles trust,” which is the Septuagint rendering for what is literally, “the isles shall wait for His law.” In prophecy “the isles” is often put for the Gentiles; and these being said to wait for His law, is as much as, they look to Him as their Lord, they trust in His name.

Matthew 13:14-15. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, Ἀκοῇ ἀκούσετε καὶ οὐ μὴ συνῆτε, καὶ βλέποντες βλέψετε καὶ οὐ μὴ ἴδητε. ἐπαχύνθη γὰρ ἡ καρδία τοῦ λαοῦ τούτου, καὶ τοῖς ὠσὶν βαρέως ἤκουσαν καὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτῶν ἐκάμμυσαν, μήποτε ἴδωσιν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς καὶ τοῖς ὠσὶν ἀκούσωσιν καὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ συνῶσιν καὶ ἐπιστρέψωσιν καὶ ἰάσομαι αὐτούς: Isaiah 6:9-10. Ye shall verily hear, and shall not understand, and shall verily see, and shall not perceive; for this people’s heart has waxed gross, and in their ears they are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and should hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should convert, and I shall heal them. III. 2. The quotation accords throughout with the Septuagint, differing only in the transposition of a single word, putting αὐτῶν after ὀφθαλμοὺς instead of after ὠσὶν. Nor does it any other wise differ from the Hebrew, than by using throughout the future instead of the imperative; what shall be done, accord ing to the Septuagint and the Evangelist, the prophet represents himself as commanded to do. But this was only a stronger form of the future; it ordered the melancholy results spoken of to be accomplished, because these were so clearly foreseen as going to take place, that the Lord might as well instruct His servants to bring them about. Winer, Gr. 44, § 3. So that the Greek version is but the plainer and milder form of the prophetic declaration. In Acts 27:20; Acts 27:27, it occurs again in the same form; and in John 12:40, it is given historically as a state of things actually brought about by the Lord, “He hath blinded their eyes,” etc.; because what, in such circumstances, was commanded to be done, might equally be represented as in the eye of God already in being. In all the places of New Testament Scripture, in which the original passage is cited, it is applied to the mass of the Jewish people of the apostolic age, as if directly spoken of them. But it is clear from the passage itself, that it was uttered respecting that people generally, and that the prophet spoke for a long time to come.

Matthew 13:35. So that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Ἀνοίξω ἐν παραβολαῖς τὸ στόμα μου,ἐρεύξομαι κεκρυμμένα ἀπὸ καταβολῆς: Psalms 78:2. I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things that have been hidden from the foundation [of the world.] II. 5. In the first member the citation literally agrees with the Septuagint, and only so far differs from the Hebrew, that it puts parables in the plural, instead of in the singular. In the second member, however, the Evangelist very markedly differs from the Septuagint, which has φθέγξομαι προβλήματα ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς, will utter problems—dark sentences, enigmas—from the beginning. This is a pretty close rendering of the original Hebrew, אַבִּיעָה חִידוֹת מִנִּי־קֶדֶם; excepting that “from of old,” “from ancient time,” would have been a little closer than “from the beginning;” but the meaning is the same. The version of the Evangelist, which expresses the same general sense, was obviously intended to present a simpler meaning, and to give a sort of explanation of the dark sentences spoken of, and of the ancient time. They were defined to be things that had been hid, not properly understood, and that from the beginning of the world. The ἐρεύξομαι of the Evangelist ex actly corresponds to the Hebrew, both signifying properly to sputter, or belch out, then to give forth, or utter.

Matthew 15:4. For God said, Τίμα τὸν πατέρα καὶ τὴν μητέρα, καί, Ὁ κακολογῶν πατέρα ἢ μητέρα θανάτῳ τελευτάτο: Exodus 20:12; Exodus 21:16. Honour father and mother; and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. I. 7. This may justly be assigned to the first class; for it gives the exact meaning of the original, only omitting the personal pronouns, thy and his, after father and mother, merely on account of the citations being turned from the form of a direct address into that of a general charge. The Septuagint no further differs, than in having the pronouns, σου in the first verse after father and mother, αὐτοῦ; in the second; and in having τελευτήσει instead of τελευτάτο. In Mark 7:10, the σου is retained in the first part of the citation, but not in the second. Otherwise, it agrees with Matthew.

Matthew 15:8-9. Esaias prophesied concerning you, saying, Ὁ λαὸς οὗτος τοῖς χείλεσίν με τιμᾷ, ἡ δὲ καρδία αὐτῶν πόρρω ἀπέχει ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ· μάτην δὲ σέβονταί μεδιδάσκοντες διδασκαλίας ἐντάλματα ἀνθρώπων: Isaiah 29:13. This people honoureth Me with the lips, but their heart keeps far from Me; but in vain do they worship Me, teaching doctrines, commandments of men. III. 3. The Evangelist here so nearly gives the words of the Septuagint, that the passage may be substantially regarded as an adoption of its words. The only difference is, that the Evangelist abbreviates the commencement a little, puts the verb after λαὸς in the singular, τιμᾷ instead of τιμῶσι, and, at the close, while using the same words, places them in another order; the Septuagint has, διδάσκοντες ἐντάλματα ἀνθρώπων καὶ διδασκαλίας. It is in the last part chiefly, that this version differs from an exact impression of the original. For the sentence, “But in vain do they worship Me, teaching doctrines, command ments of men,” the Heb. is וַתְּהִי יִרְאָתָם אֹתִי מִצְוַת אֲנָשִׁים מְלֻמָּדָה, “and their fear toward Me has become a precept of men, taught” (viz. by men, as contradistinguished from God.) An abrupt and somewhat obscure sentence, of which the Septuagint version is a kind of paraphrase, giving what is substantially the same meaning in a fuller and plainer form. They seem to have taken וַתְּהִי for וְתֹהוּ and יִרְאָתָם the second person plural Kal of the verb, thus obtaining the sense, “in vain do they worship Me.” This is not distinctly stated in the original, but it is implied; for their fear toward God being characterized as a fruit of man’s teaching, necessarily bespoke its vanity.

Matthew 19:4-5. Have ye not read, that He who made them at the beginning, made them male and female, and said, Ἕνεκα τούτου καταλείψει ἄνθρωπος τὸν πατέρα καὶ τὴν μητέρα καὶ κολληθήσεται τῇ γυναικὶ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἔσονται οἱ δύο εἰς σάρκα μίαν: Genesis 2:24. Therefore shall a man leave father and mother, and shall be joined to his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. II. 6. The Septuagint is here all but adopted, and, for any prac tical purpose, it is of no moment whether we should say, the Hebrew is rendered with substantial correctness, or the Septuagint is in the main followed. The Septuagint differs only in having αὐτοῦ after πατέρα, which the Evangelist omits, and in putting προσκολληθήσεται πρὸς τὴν γυναῖκα instead of κολληθήσεται τῇ γυναικὶ—variations of no moment. Nor is the difference much greater from the Hebrew: this has his father, and his mother; and instead of they two shall be one flesh, it has simply they shall be one flesh; by the tliey, however, plainly meaning the two in the preceding context. The sense, therefore, is the same.

Matthew 19:18-19. Οὐ φονεύσεις, Οὐ μοιχεύσεις,  etc. Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, etc., precisely as in Exodus 20:12, sq., and Leviticus 19:18. I. 8.

Matthew 21:4-5. In order that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, Εἴπατε τῇ θυγατρὶ Σιών, Ἰδοὺ ὁ βασιλεύς σου ἔρχεταί σοι πραῢς καὶ ἐπιβεβηκὼς ἐπὶ ὄνον καὶ ἐπὶ πῶλον υἱὸν ὑποζυγίου: Zechariah 9:9. Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy King cometh to thee, meek and mounted on an ass, and on a colt the foal of a beast of burden. II. 7.

There is a peculiarity in the commencement of this citation, the “Say ye to the daughter of Zion” being found, not in Zechariah 9:9, from which what follows is taken, but in Isaiah 62:11; so that there is properly the joining together of two Old Testament passages. They both relate to the same thing—the one more generally, the other more particularly. Isaiah says, “Behold thy Salvation cometh; behold His reward is with Him, and His work before Him.” Zechariah proclaims, not the salvation merely, but the Saviour Himself, and His appearance and character. It is, no doubt, on this account that the two passages are thrown together, and considered as one; although, as it is merely the preamble of Isaiah’s that is taken, the prophecy quoted as now fulfilled is strictly that of Zechariah. As given by the Evangelist, it does not differ much from the Septuagint, but it comes somewhat nearer to the original—omitting, however, one clause, “He is just and having salvation.” The last expression in the original, בֶּן־אֲתֹנוֹת, more exactly means son, or foal of she-asses; according to a common Hebraism, by which the young of a creature is denominated the offspring of that kind of creatures generally; for example, בֶנ כָקָר, son of the herd, offspring of cattle. The Evangelist gives the import more generally, foal of a beast of burden including asses of course, but not specifically designating them. The Septuagint had also given the meaning in a general way—ἐπιβεβηκὼς ἐπὶ ὑποζύγιον καὶ πῶλον νέον; and this, no doubt, was partly the reason of the rendering adopted by the Evangelist.

Matthew 21:13. And He said unto them, It is written, Ὁ οἶκός μου οἶκος προσευχῆς κληθήσεται, ὑμεῖς δὲ αὐτὸν ποιεῖτε σπήλαιον λῃστῶν: Isaiah 56:7; Jeremiah 7:11. My house shall be called a house of prayer, but ye make it a den of thieves (or robbers.) I. 9.

It is only the first part of this passage that is properly a citation; and it is a literal version of a part of Isaiah 56:7. It stands there, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.” Matthew omits the “for all nations,” as Luke also does, but it is given in Mark 11:17. The other part of the passage is the word of Christ Himself, charging the persons before Him with an entire depravation of the character of the temple and a frustration of its design; but He does so in language borrowed from Jeremiah 7:11, where the prophet indignantly asks of the priests and elders of his day, “Is this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your eyes?” Our Lord purposely threw His accusation into this form, to impress on the men of His generation, that the iniquities of Jeremiah’s age had again returned, and that consequently like judgments also might be expected. It is an allusion, however, to the prophet’s words, rather than a formal citation of them.

Matthew 21:16. Have ye never read, ὅτι Ἐκ στόματος νηπίων καὶ θηλαζόντων κατηρτίσω αἶνον: Psalms 8:2. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise. III. 4. A transcript from the Septuagint. The Hebrew has יִסַּדְתָּ עֹז, Thou hast founded, or, more generally, prepared strength. Earlier commentators gave the sense of praise here, and in some other places, to the noun; and it is still one of the mean ings ascribed to it by Gesenius. Such also must have been the view of the Septuagint translators. In the passages, however, where it is conceived to bear this meaning, it rather in dicates the strength, by which God gets praise to Himself over His enemies, than the praise itself. In Psalms 8:1-9 particularly, the idea of such strength is appropriate; for children are plainly brought in there to show how God, even by such weak and foolish instruments, can put to shame His powerful adversaries; the strength of babes is sufficient for His purpose. So that we must regard our Lord here as adopting the current version of the Septuagint, giving the general sense, though not the precise shade of meaning in the original. It merely differs in directing attention, more to the re sult aimed at, less to the means of accomplishing it.

Matthew 21:42. Have ye never read, Λίθον ὃν ἀπεδοκίμασαν οἱ οἰκοδομοῦντες, οὗτος ἐγενήθη εἰς κεφαλὴν γωνίας· παρὰ κυρίου ἐγένετο αὕτη καὶ ἔστιν θαυμαστὴ ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς ἡμῶν: Psalms 118:22-23. The stone which the builders rejected, the same has become the head of the corner; it was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes. I. 10. The Septuagint is followed verbatim, as it is also in Mark 12:10-11; Luke 20:17; and as far as the quotation goes, in Acts 4:11; 1 Peter 2:7. But the Septuagint here gives a close translation of the original.

Matthew 22:24. Moses said, If any one die, etc. The reference is to Deuteronomy 25:5; but the passage cannot justly be regarded as a quotation; it merely professes to give the substance of a provision in the Mosaic law.

Matthew 22:31-32. Have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ θεὸς Ἀβραὰμ, καὶ ὁ θεὸς Ἰσαὰκ καὶ ὁ θεὸς Ἰακώβ: Exodus 3:6. I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. I. 11. At once coincides with the Septuagint, and closely adheres to the Hebrew, but omits what is in both, after I am, “of thy father,” as not bearing on the point in hand.

Matthew 22:37. Jesus said to him, Ἀγαπήσεις κύριον τὸν θεόν σου ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ καρδίᾳ σου καὶ ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ ψυχῇ σου: Deuteronomy 6:5. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with (or in) all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. I. 12. The passage keeps closer to the Hebrew than to the Sep tuagint, which uses the preposition ἐξ instead of ἐν. The only apparent deviation from the exact import of the original, is at the close, in rendering בְכָל־מְאֹדֶךָ with all thy mind, as strength is the more proper meaning of the noun; but it is mental strength that is meant; and consequently mind is really the same, denoting the full bent and purpose of soul.

Matthew 22:39. Ἀγαπήσεις τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς σεαυτόν: Leviticus 19:18. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. I. 13. An exact translation, found previously in the Septuagint.

Matthew 22:43-44. How then doth David in Spirit call Him Lord, saying, Εἶπεν Κύριος τῷ κυρίῳ μου, Κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου, ἕως ἂν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου ὑποκάτω τῶν ποδῶν σου: Psalms 110:1. The Lord said to my Lord, Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool. I. 14.

Also an exact translation, and differing from the Septua gint only in having ὑποκάτω instead of ὑποπόδιον. The sense is the same in both. The passage is cited in the same terms in Mark 12:36; Luke 20:42; Acts 2:35; Hebrews 1:13; but in the last three with ὑποπόδιον.

Matthew 26:31. For it is written, Πατάξω τὸν ποιμένα,καὶ διασκορπισθήσονται τὰ πρόβατα τῆς ποίμνης: Zechariah 13:7. I will smite the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. II. 8. The rendering hero is nearer to the Hebrew than the Septuagint, but it differs in putting the first verb in the first per son future instead of in the imperative, as in the Hebrew, and also in adding τῆς ποίμνης for which there is nothing to correspond, either in the Hebrew or in the Septuagint. This addition is omitted in Mark 14:27. The passage, as given in Matthew, is merely the simpler and more explicit form of that in Zechariah; by using the first person future of the verb πατάσσω, the action is more distinctly referred to God, and by calling the sheep the sheep of the flock, they are more pointedly described as the Lord’s select people. Both, however, were implied in the original passage.

Matthew 27:9-10. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, Καὶ ἔλαβον τὰ τριάκοντα ἀργύρια, τὴν τιμὴν τοῦ τετιμημένου ὃν ἐτιμήσαντο ἀπὸ υἱῶν Ἰσραήλ, 10 καὶ ἔδωκαν αὐτὰ εἰς τὸν ἀγρὸν τοῦ κεραμέως, καθὰ συνέταξέν μοι Κύριος: Zechariah 11:13. And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of Him that was valued, whom they valued from (i.e., on the part of) the children of Israel, and gave them for the potter’s field, according as the Lord appointed me. IV. 5. The most striking peculiarity in connexion with this citation, is the circumstance of its being ascribed to Jeremiah, while in reality it is found in the writings of Zechariah. This point will be considered in Section Second, as it bears upon the mode of application. Viewing the words as those of the prophet Zechariah, there certainly are considerable differences between the original Hebrew and the Evangelist’s version, though they affect the form only, and not the substance. The Septuagint differs again so materially from both, that it can have exercised no influence. The passage in Zechariah runs literally thus, “And the Lord said to me, Cast it (viz., the price, mentioned immediately before) to the potter, a glorious price which I was prized at of them (מֵעֲלֵיהֶם, from off them, on their part;) and I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them into the house of the Lord for the potter (i.e. that they might be given to the potter.”) Here, the whole assumes the form of a transaction between the Lord and the prophet, who personates the Divine Shepherd, thus meanly rated by the people; in the Evangelist, the people themselves are represented as doing all—as might, indeed, have been understood, would be the case, when the prophecy passed into the reality. The change in this respect, therefore, is entirely of the same kind with that which was made at Matthew 11:10 and Matthew 13:14; a change from the first person to the third, to adapt the words more palpably to the historical fulfilment, and render them more transparent in meaning. The same object led to the other alterations. In the original, the passage is very strongly enigmatical; and so, instead of Jiterally quoting it, the Evangelist presents a sort of paraphrase of the words. But there are in both the same leading ideas,—viz. that the Lord’s representative, the Shepherd of Israel, had a price set upon Him—that this price was the miserable sum of thirty pieces of silver—that the transaction was gone into on the part of the people, and consequently by those who had to do with the house of the Lord—that, in token of the baseness of the transaction, the money was to be somehow consigned to the potter—and that the hand of the Lord was to be remarkably seen in the ordering of what took place. The words at the close, “according as the Lord commanded me,” answer to the pre amble in the prophet, “And the Lord said to me,” coupled with the imperative form of what follows. The disposal of the price of blood was described as of the Lord’s appointment; and, in like manner, in the history, while Jewish rulers alone are mentioned as doing all, it is plainly implied, that the hand of God directed the course of events into the particular channel they took.

Matthew 27:46. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, ̓Ηλὶ ̓ηλὶ λαμὰ σαβαχθανί; τοῦτʼ ἔστιν, Θεέ μου θεέ μου, ἱνα τί με ἐγκατέλιπες; Psalms 22:1. My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? I. 15. The Hebrew is exactly given, but given in the words of the Septuagint. Mark only so far differs, that instead of θεέ he has ὁ Θεός, and instead of ἱνα τί he has εἰς τί. The sense is quite the same.

ST. MARK’S GOSPEL.

Mark 1:2-3. As it is written in Esaias the prophet, Ἰδοὺ ἀποστέλλω τὸν ἄγγελόν μου πρὸ προσώπου σου, ὃς κατασκευάσει τὴν ὁδόν σου· φωνὴ βοῶντος ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, Ἑτοιμάσατε τὴν ὁδὸν κυρίου, εὐθείας ποιεῖτε τὰς τρίβους αὐτοῦ: Malachi 3:1; Isaiah 40:3. Behold I send my Messenger before Thy face, who shall prepare thy way. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight. II. 9. The Old Testament passages have been already noticed—the latter at Matthew 3:3, where it appears in precisely the same form; the former at Matthew 11:10, from which the words here no further differ, than in substituting ὃς for καὶ before κατασκευάσει, merely turning the second member of the verse from an independent into a relative clause; and by leaving out at the close ἔμπροσθέν σου. This abbreviates the passage, and so far departs from the original, but the meaning is not altered. For the principle of coupling two prophets together, and under the name only of one introducing quotations from both, see the remarks in Section Second, No. VIII., near the close.

Mark 4:12. In order that βλέποντες βλέπωσιν καὶ μὴ ἴδωσιν, καὶ ἀκούοντες ἀκούωσιν καὶ μὴ συνιῶσιν, μήποτε ἐπιστρέψωσιν καὶ ἀφεθῇ αὐτοῖς: Isaiah 6:9-10. Seeing they might see, yet perceive not, and hearing might hear, yet understand not, lest at any time they should convert, and it be forgiven to them. IV. 6. The Evangelist does not expressly cite these words; and we only know, from their substantial agreement with the passage referred to in Isaiah, that they are a virtual quotation from the prophet. From the manner in which the passage is given, however, it is evident that the Evangelist only meant to give the substance of what was written. And accordingly, the words actually produced are a sort of compound of the first and second part of the original passage; and, intent on the spiritual import of the prophecy, the closing member, “and it be healed to them,” is here turned into “and it be forgiven to them.” This, doubtless, was what was really meant; but in so changing the passage here, and in the other parts, it is plain that the Evangelist thought it enough to give the substance.

Mark 7:6-7. See at Matthew 15:8-9.

Mark 7:10. See at Matthew 15:4.

Mark 10:7. See at Matthew 19:5.

Mark 11:17. See at Matthew 21:13.

Mark 12:11. See at Matthew 21:42.

Mark 12:26. See at Matthew 22:32.

Mark 12:29-30. The first commandment of all is Ἄκουε, Ἰσραήλ, κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν κύριος εἷς ἐστιν, καὶ ἀγαπήσεις κύριον τὸν θεόν σου ἐξ ὅλης τῆς καρδίας σου καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς ψυχῆς σου καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς διανοίας σου καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς ἰσχύος σου: Deuteronomy 6:4-5. Hear, Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord; and thou shalt love the Lord thy God out of all thy heart, and out of all thy soul, and out of all thy mind, and out of all thy strength. IV. 7.

It is necessary to assign this quotation to the last class; since, while very nearly coinciding with the Septuagint, it still slightly differs, without following the Hebrew. The difference is increased by the clause, ἐξ ὅλης τῆς διανοίας σου, for which there is nothing corresponding either in the Septuagint or in the Hebrew; but it seems doubtful, if the clause should form part of the text. Tischendorf omits it. Besides this, however, there is the substitution of ἰσχύος for the δυνάμεώς of the Septuagint. The change renders it fully more close to the Hebrew; and, (supposing the clause above noticed being unauthorized,) the only departure from the exact translation of the Hebrew is in the preposition ἐξ, instead of ἐν—pointing more distinctly to the action of Divine love, as being from within outwards, and not simply to its having its seat within.

Mark 12:31. See at Matthew 22:39.

Mark 12:36. See at Matthew 22:43-44.

Mark 14:27. See at Matthew 26:31.

Mark 15:28. And the Scripture was fulfilled, which said; Καὶ μετὰ ἀνόμων ἐλογίσθη, and He was numbered with the transgressors. The passage is a literal translation of Isaiah 53:12; but the whole verse is wanting in the best MSS., A B C D X, and it is consequently omit ted in the later editions of the text.

Mark 15:31. See at Matthew 27:46.

ST. LUKE’S GOSPEL.

Luke 1:17, comp. with Malachi 4:5-6; Luke 1:37, comp. Genesis 18:14; Luke 1:46, comp. with 1 Samuel 2:2, sq.: Luke 1:76, comp. with Malachi 3:1; Luke 1:78, comp. with Malachi 4:2;—in these and various other parts of the first chapter of this Gospel, there are references to passages in Old Testament Scripture; but they are concealed references, the meaning of the original Scriptures being adopted, and their language, with more or less exactness, also employed, but without any formal citation of them. The object of the references, indeed, is as much for the purpose of elucidating the Old, as confirming the New; and hence there is a considerable freedom in the mode of using the original.

Luke 2:4. According to that which is said in the law of the Lord, ζεῦγος τρυγόνων ἢ δύο νοσσοὺς περιστερῶν: Leviticus 12:8. A pair of turtle-doves, or two young pigeons. I. 16. The translation is as literal as it could well be; for the expression in the original, “two sons of a pigeon,” is but a Hebraism for “two young pigeons.” The rendering of the Evangelist very nearly accords also with the Septuagint.

Luke 3:4-6. As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, Φωνὴ βοῶντος ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, ἑτοιμάσατε τὴν ὁδὸν Κυρίου, εὐθείας ποιεῖτε τὰς τρίβους αὐτοῦ· πᾶσα φάραγξ πληρωθήσεται καὶ πᾶν ὄρος καὶ βουνὸς ταπεινωθήσεται, καὶ ἔσται τὰ σκολιὰ εἰς εὐθείαν καὶ αἱ τραχεῖαι εἰς ὁδοὺς λείας· καὶ ὄψεται πᾶσα σὰρξ τὸ σωτήριον τοῦ θεοῦ: Isaiah 40:3-5. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight. Every valley shall be filled up, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and things crooked shall be [made] into straight [paths,] and rough ways into those of smoothness; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God. III. 5. The citation so nearly agrees with the Septuagint, that the Evangelist may justly be held to have followed it. The first part of the passage occurred also in Matthew and Mark; and here too, as with them, the departure from the Septuagint and the Hebrew merely consists in substituting αὐτοῦ for τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν. This Evangelist alone gives the latter and longer part of the passage; and the language, throughout, with only very slight and superficial differences, is that of the Septuagint. The Septuagint has πάντα before τὰ σκολιὰ; it has τραχεῖα instead of τπαχεῖαι, and πεδία instead of ὀδοὺς λείας; no difference in meaning, grammatical diversities chiefly. The last clause, which, according to the Hebrew, is, “And all flesh shall see it together,” is in the Septuagint and Evangelist, “And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” The object to be seen—the salvation of God—appears to have been introduced for the sake of explanation. The manifestation of God spoken of was plainly that of God as the Saviour of His people; and the Septuagint translator merely expressed what was implied in the preceding context.

Luke 4:4. See at Matthew 4:4.

Luke 4:8. See at Matthew 4:8.

Luke 4:10-11. See at Matthew 4:6.

Luke 4:12. See at Matthew 4:7.

Luke 4:17-19. Opening the book, He found the place where it was written, Πνεῦμα Κυρίου ἐπʼ ἐμὲ οὗ εἵνεκεν ἔχρισέν με εὐαγγελίσασθαι πτωχοῖς, ἀπέσταλκέν με, [ἰάσασθαι τοὺς συντετριμμένους τὴν καρδίαν—of somewhat doubtful authority,] κηρύξαι αἰχμαλώτοις ἄφεσιν καὶ τυφλοῖς ἀνάβλεψιν, ἀποστεῖλαι τεθραυσμένους ἐν ἀφέσει, κηρύξαι ἐνιαυτὸν Κυρίου δεκτόν: Isaiah 61:1-2. The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me; because that He anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor, sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. IV. 8.

Supposing the clause within brackets to be a part of the text, the Evangelist has followed the Septuagint precisely as far as ἀνάβλεψιν; but after that he inserts the clause, ἀποστεῖλαι τεθ. ἐν ἀφέσει, not found in the Septuagint, and in the last clause, which is in the Septuagint, substitutes κηρύξαι for καλέσαι. It is obvious, that the Septuagint has been mainly followed, even though its rendering is not very literal. Thus, instead of poor, as the persons preached to, the Hebrew ex presses rather humble or meekעֲנָוִים  and for healing the broken hearted, it has bind up. But in such a connexion binding up and healing convey much the same meaning, and the poor must plainly be understood, partly at least, in a moral sense. The clause, “recovering of sight to the blind,” corresponds to what in the authorized version of that part of Isaiah, runs “the opening of the prison to them that are bound.” But the original, לַאֲסוּרִים פְּקַח־קוֹחַ, literally is, “and to the bound open-opening,” or complete release from the evil under which they laboured. The evil itself is not distinctly expressed; and it is only by a sort of conjecture that prison has been inserted. The verb is almost always used of opening blind eyes (for example, in Isaiah 42:7, Isaiah 50:10,) which accounts for the rendering of the Septuagint. The translator merely sought to bring out the meaning more definitely; and even now—after all the helps of modern learning have been called into requisition—this substantially is the sense that approves itself to some as the best. Dr. Alexander holds, that “the only natural sense which can be put upon the words, is that of spiritual blindness and illumination.” The clause, ἀποστεῖλαι τεθ. ἐν ἀφέσει, appears to have been imported from another part of Isaiah, ch. 58:6. But how it should have come to be introduced here, is incapable of any proper explanation.

Luke 7:27. See at Matthew 11:10.

Luke 10:27. See at Matthew 22:37, and Mark 12:29.

Luke 19:46, Luke 20:17, Luke 20:42-43. See at Matthew 21:13, Matthew 21:42, Matthew 22:43-44.

Luke 22:37. For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in Me, ὅτι καὶ μετὰ ἀνόμων ἐλογίσθη: Isaiah 53:12. And He was numbered with the transgressors. I. 17. An exact rendering of the Hebrew, and but slightly differing from the Septuagint, which has ἐν τοῖς ἀνομοις.

Luke 23:46. El εἰς χεῖράς σου παρατίθεμαι τὸ πνεῦμά μου.: Psalms 31:6. Into Thy hands I commit My spirit. I. 18. The words exactly accord with the original, and only so far differ from the Septuagint, that the latter has παραθήσομαι, the future, instead of the present. The received text has also the future; but there can be no doubt that the other is the correct form, which is that exhibited in the older MSS.

ST. JOHN’S GOSPEL.

John 1:23. See at Matthew 3:3. There is here the substitution of εὐθύνατε for ἑτοιμάσατε.

John 2:17. His disciples remembered, that it was written, Ὁ ζῆλος τοῦ οἴκου σου καταφάγεταί με: Psalms 69:9. The zeal of thine house consumes me. I. 19.

It only differs from the Septuagint by using the present instead of the past tense of the verb. The Septuagint has κατέφαγε. The original is closely adhered to.

John 6:31. According as it is written, Ἄρτον ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς φαγεῖν:Psalms 78:24. He gave them bread out of heaven to eat. II. 10. The more precise rendering of the Hebrew is, “Corn of heaven” (דְגַן־שָׁמַיִם) He gave them.” The Septuagint corresponds with the Evangelist, excepting that it was simply οὐρανοῦ, without the preposition and the article.

John 6:45. It is written in the prophets, Καὶ ἔσονται πάντες διδακτοὶ θεοῦ: Isaiah 54:13. And they shall be all taught of God. II. 11. The form of citation is very general: “in the prophets,” as if our Lord had various passages in view, the substance of which alone He meant to give. The words, however, so nearly coincide with the passage in Isaiah referred to, that this is justly regarded as the original. The sense only is given; the more exact rendering is, “All thy children shall be taught of the Lord;” with which also the Septuagint agrees.

John 10:34. Is it not written in your law, ὅτι Ἐγὼ εἶπον, Θεοί ἐστε: Psalms 82:6. I said, Ye are gods. I. 20. In accordance both with the Hebrew and the Septuagint.

John 12:14-15. According as it is written, Μὴ φοβοῦ, θυγάτηρ Σιών· ἰδοὺ ὁ βασιλεύς σου ἔρχεται, καθήμενος ἐπὶ πῶλον ὄνου: Zechariah 9:9. Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold thy King corneth to thee upon an ass’s colt. IV. 9.

Comp. at Matthew 21:5. The passage is here given in a somewhat abbreviated form, and so as merely to convey the general sense. It hence does not literally accord with the Hebrew, yet differs but slightly from it, as far as the quotation goes: there is “fear not” instead of “rejoice,” and “sitting” instead of “riding”—differences of no moment.

John 12:38. That the saying of the prophet Esaias might be fulfilled, which he spake, Κύριε, τίς ἐπίστευσεν τῇ ἀκοῇ ἡμῶν; καὶ ὁ βραχίων κυρίου τίνι ἀπεκαλύφθη; Isaiah 53:1. Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? I. 21. The Septuagint is here followed in the closest manner; but the Hebrew, at the same time, is literally rendered. Only the passage begins with a Κύριε, which is in the Septuagint, but has nothing corresponding in the Hebrew.

John 12:43. See at Matthew 13:15.

John 13:18. In order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, Ὁ τρώγων μου τὸν ἄρτον ἐπῆρεν ἐπʼ ἐμὲ τὴν πτέρναν αὐτοῦ: Psalms 41:9. He that eateth bread with Me, lifted up his heel against Me. II. 12. The words are fully nearer to the Hebrew than the Septuagint, and differ from it so little, that the sense is no way interfered with. The precise import of the Hebrew is, “He that ate My bread, magnified against Me the heel.” To magnify the heel is a peculiar expression, and undoubtedly means the same as the simpler phrase, “Lift up the heel;” namely, for the purpose of kicking, or overthrowing his benefactor.

John 15:25. In order that the word might be fulfilled, which is written in their law, ὅτι ἐμίσησάν με δωρεάν: Psalms 109:3. They hated me without a cause. II. 13. The original is יִּלָּחֲמוּנִי חִנָּם, they fought against Me gratuitously, or without a cause; which the Septuagint also expresses by ἐπολέμησαν. The fighting, of course, implied the hatred, and was but the expression of it; so that the sense is substantially the same. And possibly this mode of rendering was adopted to indicate more distinctly the moral nature of the conflict, and divert the minds of the disciples from external weapons of violence.

John 19:24. In order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, Διεμερίσαντο τὰ ἱμάτιά μου ἑαυτοῖς καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν ἱματισμόν μου ἔβαλον κλῆρον: Psalms 22:18. They parted My garments among themselves, and upon My vesture they cast lot. I. 22. The words are taken verbatim from the Septuagint, which here exactly render the Hebrew.

John 19:36. In order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, Ὀστοῦν οὐ συντριβήσεται αὐτοῦ: Exodus 12:46. A bone of Him shall not be broken. I. 23. The words again correspond with the Septuagint, and give a literal rendering of the Hebrew, with the trifling exception of a change of person and voice in the verb, to agree better with the application made of the prescription: instead of “Ye shall not break a bone,” “A bone shall not be broken.”

John 19:37. Another Scripture saith, Ὄψονται εἰς ὃν ἐξεκέντησαν: Zechariah 12:10. They shall look unto Him whom they pierced. I. 24. An exact rendering of the original, with simply a change of person, to adapt to the occasion, as a word spoken of the Messiah, not by Him, as in the prophet: hence, look unto Him, not, unto Me. The Septuagint expresses it quite differently, ἐπιβλέψονται πρός με ἀνθ̓ ὧν κατωρχήσαντο.

ACTS OF THE APOSTLES.

Acts 1:20. For it is written in the book of Psalms, Γενηθήτω ἡ ἔπαυλις αὐτοῦ ἔρημος καὶ μὴ ἔστω ὁ κατοικῶν ἐν αὐτῇ: Psalms 69:25. Let his habitation be desolate, and let there be none dwelling in it. II. 14. The sense is entirely that of the original; only what is there in the plural is here applied to an individual, and in the last clause, “in their tents” is omitted, and a reference made by the pronoun to the habitation in the preceding clause. The Septuagint does not differ materially.

Acts 1:20. And Τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν αὐτοῦ λαβέτω ἕτερος: Psalms 109:8. Let another take his office. I. 25. An exact version of the original, and a transcript of the Septuagint, except in having λαβέτω for λάβοι.

Acts 2:16-21. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet [Joel,] Καὶ ἔσται ἐν ταῖς ἐσχάταις ἡμέραις, etc. The whole of this long passage is, with a few exceptions, a transcript of the Septuagint, and, as the Septuagint is here very faithful to the Hebrew, it is at the same time a close version. The Καὶ ἔσται ἐν ταῖς ἐσχ. ἡμέραις of the Evangelist is substituted for μετὰ ταῦτα of the Septuagint, and אַחֲרֵ־כֵן  of the Hebrew; and there is a change of order in the two clauses of the second division of Acts 2:17; at the close of Acts 2:18 the Evangelist adds, καὶ προφητεύσουσιν apparently for the purpose of rendering more explicit the intended result of the Spirit’s effusion, resuming what had been in that respect indicated before; and, lastly, in Acts 2:19, there is for ἐν οὐρανῷ of the Septuagint, ἐν τῷ οὐρ. ἄνω; also for καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, there is καὶ σημεῖα ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς κάτω. The slight additions are all of an explanatory kind; they seem to have been designed to render the meaning at certain places somewhat more pointed and explicit. Though the passage approaches very nearly to the first class, it should perhaps strictly be ranked with the second. II. 15.

Acts 2:25-28. For David saith respecting Him, Προορώμην τὸν Κύριον ἐνώπιόν μου διὰ παντός, etc.: Psalms 16:8, sq. The passage throughout is taken verbatim from the Septuagint. But the translation gives the original very faithfully—the only, and that a very slight deviation, being in Psalms 16:8, second member, where the original expresses, “Because He is at my right hand, I shall not he moved;” while the other has, “Because He is at my right hand, in order that I may not be moved.” In rendering, however, so as to give the meaning at once of the Hebrew and of the Greek, the first clause should run, not as in the English version, “I foresaw the Lord,” but “I proposed,” or set, “the Lord;” and again, at Acts 2:27, instead of, “Thou wilt not leave My soul in hell,” the exact import is, “Thou wilt not leave (give up, abandon) My soul to Hades,” ὐκ ἐγκαταλείψεις τὴν ψυχήν μου εἰς ᾅδην. I. 26.

Acts 2:34-35. See at Matthew 22:44.

Acts 3:22-23. Moses said, “ὅτι Προφήτην ὑμῖν ἀναστήσει Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ὑμῶν ἐκ τῶν ἀδελφῶν ὑμῶν ὡς ἐμέ· αὐτοῦ ἀκούσεσθε κατὰ πάντα ὅσα ἂν λαλήσῃ πρὸς ὑμᾶς. Εσται δὲ πᾶσα ψυχὴ ἥτις ἐὰν μὴ ἀκούσῃ τοῦ προφήτου ἐκείνου ἐξολεθρευθήσεται ἐκ τοῦ λαοῦ.: Deuteronomy 18:15, Deuteronomy 18:18-19. The Lord your God shall raise up to you of your brethren a Prophet, like me; Him shall ye hear, in all things whatsoever He may speak to you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul which will not hear that Prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people. IV. 10. This citation differs as remarkably from the Septuagint as that of Acts 3:25-26 coincides with it; there is some resemblance between them in the first part of the passage, but in the latter part, not an expression is the same. Acts 3:22 is an exact rendering of the Hebrew, as far as “Him shall ye hear,” with which Deuteronomy 18:15 terminates. But instead of proceeding right onwards, or passing over to Acts 3:19, in what follows the substance is given of the latter part of Acts 3:18, together with Acts 3:19. “He shall speak unto them,” it was said, in Acts 3:18, “all that I shall command Him.” This substantially is added after the quotation from Acts 3:15, “Him shall ye hear, in all things whatsoever He may speak to you” the things, namely, that the Lord should command Him to speak. And then the general import of Acts 3:19 is given. According to the original it is, “And it shall come to pass, that whosoeverwill not hearken to My words, which He shall speak in My name, I will require it of him.” St. Peter makes it somewhat more specific, putting “every soul,” instead of “whosoever,” and “he shall be destroyed from among the people,” instead of “I will require it of him.” Not different in reality.

Acts 3:25. Saying to Abraham, Καὶ ἐν τῷ σπέρματί σου [ἐν]ευλογηθήσονται πᾶσαι αἱ πατριαὶ τῆς γῆς: Genesis 22:18. And in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. II. 16.

It follows the Septuagint, with the exception of πατριαὶ, which it substitutes for ἔθνη. The Hebrew has גּוֹיֵי, and consequently agrees with the Septuagint. In the original call, however, as given at Genesis 12:3, the term for families is used, although the Septuagint there uses φυλαί.

Acts 4:11. See at Matthew 21:42.

Acts 4:25-26. Who didst speak through the mouth of thy servant David, Ἱνατί ἐφρύαξαν ἔθνη καὶ λαοὶ ἐμελέτησαν κενά;παρέστησαν οἱ βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες συνήχθησαν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ κατὰ τοῦ κυρίου καὶ κατὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ: Psalms 2:1-2. Why did heathen rage, and peoples imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood forth, (or up,) and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against His Christ. I. 27. A literal transcript of the Septuagint, and also a fair version of the Hebrew.

Acts 7:3, Acts 7:6-7, Acts 7:26-28, Acts 7:32-35, Acts 7:37, Acts 7:40, Acts 7:42-43, Acts 7:49-50 :—In all these verses the words of Old Testament Scripture are referred to, and cited in the course of Stephen’s speech. With only one or two slight verbal exceptions, the Septuagint is followed, in which the plain sense of the Hebrew for the most part is given. But as the passages are recited in a merely historical way, and no specific application made of them, further than what is implied in their having a place in such a speech, it is unnecessary to exhibit them here in detail. No principle of interpretation is involved in the use made of them by Stephen.

Acts 8:32-33. Here again there is a simple production of an Old Testament passage, as found in the extant Greek translation, and. perused by the eunuch in his carriage. The version accords generally, though not exactly, with the Hebrew.

Acts 13:32-33. And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, having raised up Jesus, as also in the second Psalm it is written, Υἱός μου εἶ σύ, ἐγὼ σήμερον γεγέννηκά σε: Psalms 2:7. Thou art My Son, today have I begotten Thee. I. 28. The words are precisely those of the Septuagint, which closely render the Hebrew. As to the form of quotation, some MSS. have ἐν τῷ πρώτῷ ψαλμῷ, which is preferred by Lachmann and Tischendorf. If this be the correct reading, the apparent incorrectness is easily accounted for by the known practice of the Jews, to regard the first psalm as a sort of general introduction to the whole collection. In that case, what is now reckoned the second psalm would naturally be viewed as the first.

Acts 13:34. But that He raised Him from the dead, no longer going to return to corruption, He spake after this manner, ὅτι δώσω ὑμῖν τὰ ὅσια Δαυὶδ τὰ πιστά: Isaiah 4:3. I will give you the sure mercies of David. I. 29. The words again are those of the Septuagint, which correspond with the Hebrew; only δώσω is introduced at the beginning, as necessary to give a complete sense.

Acts 13:35. See at Acts 2:27.

Acts 13:40-41. Beware, therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets, Ἴδετε, οἱ καταφρονηταί, καὶ θαυμάσατε καὶ ἀφανίσθητε, ὅτι ἔργον ἐργάζομαι ἐγὼ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ὑμῶν, ἔργον ὃ οὐ μὴ πιστεύσητε ἐάν τις ἐκδιηγῆται ὑμῖν: Habakkuk 1:5. Behold, ye despisers, and wonder and vanish; for I will work a work in your days, a work which ye will in no wise believe, if one should declare it to you. III. 6. The Septuagint is followed with such slight variations as are scarcely worth noticing. It omits the καὶ ἐπιβλέψατε of the Septuagint, which form its second clause, and also θαυμάσια, which it has after θαυμάσατε. It also inserts a second ἔργον—ἔργον ὁ ού μὴ—which is wanting in the Septuagint. The Hebrew expresses substantially the same meaning, but instead of “ye despisers,” has “ye among the heathen,”—which undoubtedly points to the moral condition of the persons addressed, their heathenish, ungodly state of mind, rather than to their local position; and it also has nothing precisely corresponding to the ἀφανίσθητε of the Greek. The idea conveyed by this is implied rather than expressed in the original. That the passage is quoted so generally as “from the prophets,” is to be explained, partly, from the circumstance to be noticed in the elucidation of Matthew 21:5,—that the minor prophets are scarcely ever individually mentioned; and partly because there is probably a reference to the very similar prophecy of Isaiah 28:14, which may be regarded as the foundation of that in Habakkuk.

Acts 13:47. For so hath the Lord commanded us, Τέθεικά σε εἰς φῶς ἐθνῶν τοῦ εἶναί σε εἰς σωτηρίαν ἕως ἐσχάτου τῆς γῆς: Isaiah 49:6. I have appointed Thee for a light of the Gentiles, that Thou shouldst be for salvation to the ends of the earth. I. 30. The Septuagint is again followed, excepting that the Hebrew is more closely rendered at the beginning, by the Τέθεικά σε, for which the Septuagint has δέδωκά σε διαθήκην γένους. The passage before us differs from the Hebrew only in the latter expressing My salvation, instead of simply, salvation.

Acts 15:16-17. As it is written, Μετὰ ταῦτα ἀναστρέψω καὶ ἀνοικοδομήσω τὴν σκηνὴν Δαυὶδ τὴν πεπτωκυῖαν καὶ τὰ κατεσκαμμένα αὐτῆς ἀνοικοδομήσω καὶ ἀνορθώσω αὐτήν, ὅπως ἂν ἐκζητήσωσιν οἱ κατάλοιποι τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὸν Κύριον καὶ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἐφʼ οὓς ἐπικέκληται τὸ ὄνομά μου ἐπʼ αὐτούς, λέγει Κύριος ποιῶν ταῦτα: Amos 9:11-12. After these things I will return, and will build up the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up; so that the residue of men may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles upon whom My name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. III. 7. The citation is made almost verbatim from the Septuagint; but instead of μετὰ ταῦτα ἀναστρέψω, the commencement, the Septuagint has ἐν τῆ ἡμέρα ἐκείνῃ. The latter is what the original expresses; and the explanation of the diversity here in the address of James is, no doubt, to be found in the desire to indicate briefly the period to which the prophecy referred, as implied in the context: it was to be after the times of judgment and humiliation there threatened had run their course. The Septuagint also, at least in most MSS., wants the τὸν Κύριον in the second verse, though this seems requisite to complete the meaning; and it has after the ἀνορθώσω αὐτήν, what is omitted here, καθὼς αἱ ἡμέραι τοῦ αἰωιος, as in the days of eternity, or of old. Down to this point, or throughout the first of the two verses quoted, the Septuagint renders the original closely; but after that it deviates very considerably from the Hebrew, though it still expresses the general sense. The meaning of the original, however, is so plain, that it is difficult to understand how it should have been so rendered. “So that they may possess (or inherit, the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen”—this is what in the Septuagint is turned into, “So that the residue of men may seek [the Lord], and all the Gentiles.” It has been supposed they might have had a text, of which that was the literal rendering; but this is doubtful, as all the MSS. give the reading of the received text. The reasons for the deviation can be only conjectural. But as it is clear, that Edom was particularized by the prophet, only on “account of the enmity which animated the heathen toward Israel having assumed in them its keenest form,—so that “Edom and all the heathen” was as much as “all the heathen, not excepting even Edom,”—consequently, the rendering of the Septuagint, adopted by Luke, “the residue of men and all the heathen,” comes, though in a general way, to much the same thing; it denotes all sorts of heathen, wherever a residue of the old tribes might be found. And that instead of Israel possessing them, they should be represented as themselves making inquiry after God, the “great fact is still indicated, that there was to be an entire change of relationship between the covenant people and the heathen; instead of hating and fighting against them, the heathen were to make suit to them, arid press forward to obtain a share in their peculiar privileges. But this, in substance, is all one with Israel possessing them, in the sense meant by the prophet; he meant, that Israel was to become, in what was really important, the head of all the nations, and all were to come to them for blessing. So that, while the import is very much generalized in the rendering adopted, the leading ideas of the prophet are still conveyed. And they are quite apposite to the point at issue; for they imply, that there were to be tribes of men seeking after God, yea, over whom His name was called as peculiarly His own, who yet were formally different from the family of Israel.

Acts 28:26-27. See at Matthew 13:14.

ROMANS.

Romans 1:17. As it is written, “Ὁ δὲ δίκαιος ἐκ πίστεως ζήσεται: Habakkuk 2:4. But (or, now) the just shall live of faith. II. 17.

According to the original it is, And the just shall live by his faith; or, as it may be rendered, And the righteous through his faith shall he live. The apostle, undoubtedly, gives the virtual import; for, as the suffix in the original, אֱמוּנָתֹו, undoubtedly refers to the righteous person, the apostle could, without the least injury to the sense, leave out the his. The saying is again quoted in Galatians 3:11, and Hebrews 10:38. The Septuagint only differs from the apostle’s citation by inserting μου after πιστεώς.

Romans 2:24 and Romans 3:4 adopt the words of Isaiah 3:5, and Psalms 51:4, as given by the Septuagint, and correctly ex pressing the original; but the words are simply appropriated as suitable to the subject of the apostle’s remarks, and are not introduced as having any special or prophetical reference to it.

Acts 3:10-18 is a series of quotations, in like manner, from Psalms 14:5-7, Psalms 140:3, Psalms 10:7; Isaiah 59:7-8; Psalms 36:1, cited merely as proof texts on the subject of human depravity and corruption, and without any peculiar Christian application. They are all taken from the Septuagint, with occasional slight alterations, which indicate no material difference of meaning, and call for no explanatory remark.

Romans 4:3. For what saith the Scripture, Ἐπίστευσεν δὲ Ἀβραὰμ τῷ θεῷ καὶ ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην: Genesis 15:6. And Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. I. 31. The rendering is that of the Septuagint, and it gives the original with sufficient exactness. What in the one is “He counted it,” is merely put passively in the other, “it was counted to him.”

Romans 4:6-7. According as also David saith, Μακάριοι ὧν ἀφέθησαν αἱ ἀνομίαι καὶ ὧν ἐπεκαλύφθησαν αἱ ἁμαρτίαι·μακάριος ἀνὴρ οὗ οὐ μὴ λογίσηται κύριος ἁμαρτίαν: Psalms 32:1-2. Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, and whose sins are pardoned: blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute sin. I. 32. The plural is here adopted in the first of the two verses,—“blessed they—sins transgressions; “while the original has the singular. But the words are there evidently used in a collective sense; so that there is no real difference. The apostle follows the Septuagint exactly.

Romans 4:17. As it is written, ὅτι Πατέρα πολλῶν ἐθνῶν τέθεικά σε: Genesis 17:5. A father of many nations have I made thee. I. 33. From the Septuagint, and a literal rendering of the Hebrew.

Romans 4:18. As it is written, Οὕτως ἔσται τὸ σπέρμα σου: Genesis 15:5. So shall thy seed be. I. 34. The same as the preceding example.

Romans 8:36. As it is written, ὅτι Ἕνεκεν σοῦ θανατούμεθα ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν, ἐλογίσθημεν ὡς πρόβατα σφαγῆς: Psalms 44:23. For Thy sake we are killed all the day long, we are counted as sheep for slaughter. I. 35.

Again quite literal.

Romans 9:7, Romans 9:9, Romans 9:12-13, Romans 9:15, contain passages from Genesis 21:12; Genesis 18:10; Genesis 25:23; Malachi 1:2-3; Exodus 33:19, which are merely historically referred to, and are cited almost uniformly in the words of the Septuagint.

Romans 9:17. For the Scripture saith to Pharaoh, ὅτι εἰς αὐτὸ τοῦτο ἐξήγειρά σε ὅπως ἐνδείξωμαι ἐν σοὶ τὴν δύναμίν μου καὶ ὅπως διαγγελῇ τὸ ὄνομά μου ἐν πάσῃ τῇ γῇ: Exodus 9:16. For this same thing did I raise thee up, that I might show forth in thee My power, and that My name might be declared throughout all the earth. I. 36.

Here the Septuagint is not precisely followed in the first part, and the rendering is more close to the Hebrew. The Septuagint has ἔνεκεν τούτου διετηρήθης, ἵνα.

Romans 9:25. As He saith also in Osee, Καλέσω τὸν οὐ λαόν μου λαόν μου καὶ τὴν οὐκ ἠγαπημένην ἠγαπημένην: Hosea 2:23. I will call the not-My-people, My people; and the not-beloved, beloved. Hosea 4:11. Here again the Septuagint is departed from, notwithstanding that it gives a pretty literal version. The exact rendering of the Hebrew is, “I will have pity on the not-pitied (lo-ruha-mah,) and will say to the not-My-people (lo-ammi,) My people art thou.” The Septuagint in the first, expresses, I will love the not loved, ἀγαπήσω τὴν ὀ̓κ ἠγαπημέην; otherwise, it is quite exact. The apostle gives substantially the same meaning, but he expresses the sense somewhat paraphrastically.

Romans 9:26. Καὶ ἔσται ἐν τῷ τόπῳ οὗ ἐρρέθη αὐτοῖς, Οὐ λαός μου ὑμεῖς, ἐκεῖ κληθήσονται υἱοὶ θεοῦ ζῶντος: Hosea 1:10. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said to them, Ye are not My people, there shall they be called sons of the living God. I. 37. The Septuagint is here followed, excepting that instead of ἐκεῖ κληθ.it has κλη. καὶ αὐτοί. But the Hebrew is faithfully rendered.

Romans 9:27-28. But Esaias crieth for Israel, Ἐὰν ᾖ ὁ ἀριθμὸς τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ ὡς ἡ ἄμμος τῆς θαλάσσης, τὸ ὑπόλειμμα σωθήσεται· λόγον γὰρ συντελῶν καὶ συντέμνων ποιήσει Κύριος ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς:Isaiah 10:22-23. If the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, the remnant shall return; for He is finishing His word and cutting it short in righteousness; because a word cut short will the Lord accomplish in the earth. IV. 12. The citation approaches pretty nearly to the Septuagint, yet does not exactly accord with it; nor does it, in the latter part, give more than the general sense of the Hebrew. The first part is a close rendering: If the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, (referring to the promise to Abraham,) the remnant (viz. that mentioned in the verse immediately preceding, “the remnant shall return unto the mighty God,”—this, but only this, not the countless, sand- like multitude) shall return. Then the reason follows; which in the original runs, For the Lord God of hosts is making a consumption, and (or, even) determined, in the midst of all the earth. The sentence is obscure; and a paraphrastic rendering is given of it by the apostle. It evidently points to a work of judgment, which the Lord was going to execute generally in the earth, and from which the covenant-people were by no means to escape: Even in respect to them, He was not going always to forbear; and, while He saved a remnant, He would, at the same time, accomplish a work of judgment upon the many. This also is what is expressed by the apostle, and more distinctly. The Lord was going, according to it, to bring His word to an issue—an abrupt and determinate issue—that would signally display His righteousness; implying, of course, from the connexion, that Israel was to share in the severity of its inflictions. So that this does not differ, in sense, from the consumption determined, which the literal rendering yields.

Romans 9:29. And as Esaias said before, Εἰ μὴ κύριος Σαβαὼθ ἐγκατέλιπεν ἡμῖν σπέρμα, ὡς Σόδομα ἂν ἐγενήθημεν καὶ ὡς Γόμορρα ἂν ὡμοιώθημεν: Isaiah 1:9. If the Lord of hosts had not left us a seed, we should have become like Sodom, and should have been made like to Gomorrha. III. 8. The Septuagint is here followed verbatim: it differs from the Hebrew only in one word, in rendering a seed, σπέρμα, what in the original is remnant, שָׂרִיד. It means, of course, barely a seed a remnant so small, that it should merely suffice for preserving a seed. So that the difference is only in form.

Romans 9:33. As it is written, Ἰδοὺ τίθημι ἐν Σιὼν λίθον προσκόμματος καὶ πέτραν σκανδάλου, καὶ ὁ πιστεύων ἐπʼ αὐτῷ οὐ καταισχυνθήσεται: Isaiah 28:16, combined with Isaiah 8:14. Behold I lay in Sion a stone of stumbling and rock of offence, and he that believeth on Him shall not be put to shame. IV. 13.

There are here brought together two related passages of the prophet Isaiah; the principal one referred to is Isaiah 28:16, but certain epithets, descriptive of the stone in respect to those who refused to use it aright, are borrowed from an earlier passage, in Isaiah 8:14. There alone is the stone designated “a stone of stumbling and rock of offence.” The apostle, combining thus two passages together, uses some freedom, as might be expected, in the manner of quotation. He does not adhere closely either to the Septuagint or to the Hebrew. The Hebrew, indeed, is so nearly followed, that it may be said to be all but literally rendered. The only deviation worth noticing is in the last expression: the Hebrew is לֹא יָחִישׁ, not shall make haste; while the apostle, after the Septuagint, gives it, “shall not be put to shame.” Not different in meaning, however; for the making haste of the prophet undoubtedly points to that hasty flight which they should betake to who made, not this foundation-stone, but lies, their refuge: these should very soon be found in a state of trepidation and flight; while the others, resting calmly on God’s foundation, should stand fast, as having no occasion for rash and precipitate measures. The last clause is again cited at Romans 10:11.

Romans 10:5. For Moses saith, ὅτι ὁ ποιήσας αὐτὰ ἄνθρωπος ζήσεται ἐν αὐτοῖς: Leviticus 18:5. The man that doeth these things shall live therein. I. 38. The precise words of the Septuagint, but also corresponding with the Hebrew.

Romans 10:6-8. But the righteousness of faith speaketh on this wise, Μὴ εἴπῃς ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ σου, Τίς ἀναβήσεται εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν; τοῦτʼ ἔστιν Χριστὸν καταγαγεῖν· ἤ, Τίς καταβήσεται εἰς τὴν ἄβυσσον; τοῦτʼ ἔστιν Χριστὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναγαγεῖν.—Ἐγγύς σου τὸ ῥῆμά ἐστιν ἐν τῷ στόματί σου καὶ ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ σου: Deuteronomy 30:12, sq. Do not say in thy heart, who shall ascend into heaven? That is, to bring Christ down again. Or, who shall descend into the abyss? That is, to bring Christ again from the dead. (But what saith it?) The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart. This is not a quotation in the strict sense, but merely the free use of certain words in Deuteronomy, which conveyed a meaning adapted to the apostle’s purpose, and is intermingled with comments or explanatory remarks of his own. The parts employed are given pretty nearly in the version of the Septuagint.

Romans 10:11. See at Romans 9:33.

Romans 10:15. As it is written, Ὡς ὡραῖοι οἱ πόδες τῶν εὐαγγελιζομένων [τὰ] ἀγαθά: Isaiah 52:7. How beautiful are the feet of those that publish good things. I. 39. The original is here exactly rendered, only the apostle omits “upon the mountains,” as not required for his purpose. The Septuagint differs considerably, and mistakes the meaning of the first part, rendering ὡς ὥρα ἐπὶ τῶν ὀρέων.

Romans 10:16. For Esaias saith, Κύριε, τίς ἐπίστευσεν τῇ ἀκοῇ ἡμῶν; Isaiah 53:1. Lord, who hath believed our report? I. 40. A transcript of the Septuagint, and a close rendering of the Hebrew.

Romans 10:18. Εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν, κ.τ.λ. An exact citation of the words in Psalms 19:5, as found in the Septuagint, and also correctly representing the Hebrew; but the words are only appropriated, not formally quoted.

Romans 10:19. First Moses saith, Ἐγὼ παραζηλώσω ὑμᾶς ἐπʼ οὐκ ἔθνει, ἐπʼ ἔθνει ἀσυνέτῳ παροργιῶ ὑμᾶς: Deuteronomy 32:21. I will move you to jealousy by [what is] no-people; by a foolish people I will provoke you to anger. I. 41. A close translation, but taken from the Septuagint.

Romans 10:20-21. But Esaias is very bold, and saith, Εὑρέθην [ἐν] τοῖς ἐμὲ μὴ ζητοῦσιν, ἐμφανὴς ἐγενόμην τοῖς ἐμὲ μὴ ἐπερωτῶσιν: Isaiah 65:1-2. I was found of them that sought Me not, I became manifest to them that asked not after Me. All day long I stretched forth My hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people. III. 9. The Septuagint is followed in both verses, only the order is somewhat varied; what forms the first clause here being the second in the Septuagint, and the ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν in the second verse being thrown farther back. But the import of the Hebrew is not exactly given. According to it the first verse is, “I was sought of those that asked not, I was found of those that sought Me not.” And, in the closing part of the second verse, there is but one epithet applied to the people—not “disobedient and gainsaying,” but simply “rebellious.” There is no real difference of meaning; but the sense is somewhat more paraphrastically expressed in the Greek.

Romans 11:3-4. Two passages from Elijah’s history are here quoted, but merely in a historical respect, as indicative of the state of things existing at the time. In both the Hebrew is pretty closely adhered to, more so than in the Septuagint.

Romans 11:8. As it is written, Ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς ὁ θεὸς πνεῦμα κατανύξεως, ὀφθαλμοὺς τοῦ μὴ βλέπειν καὶ ὦτα τοῦ μὴ ἀκούειν: Isaiah 29:10, combined with Deuteronomy 29:4. God gave to them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear. IV. 14. The apostle seems here to have combined two passages, as at Romans 9:33. The spirit of slumber is spoken of in Isaiah 29:10, as judicially inflicted on the people; and an explanation is given of what is meant by this in words derived from Deuteronomy 29:4. What might be expected in such a case, was that the general sense should be expressed, rather than a very exact translation; and so in reality it is.

Romans 11:9-10. David saith, Γενηθήτω ἡ τράπεζα αὐτῶν εἰς παγίδα καὶ εἰς θήραν καὶ εἰς σκάνδαλον καὶ εἰς ἀνταπόδομα αὐτοῖς, σκοτισθήτωσαν οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐτῶν τοῦ μὴ βλέπειν καὶ τὸν νῶτον αὐτῶν διὰ παντὸς σύγκαμψον: Psalms 69:22-23. Let their table become a snare, and a net, and a stumbling-block, and a recompense to them; let their eyes be darkened that they may not see, and bow down their back alway. III.10. The Septuagint is here followed by some very slight variations; chiefly the leaving out of ἐνώπιον αὐτῶν before εἰς παγίδα, and inserting εἰς θήραν, which does not exist in the Septuagint. Substantially, however, the apostle follows the Septuagint, though this departs considerably from the Hebrew. The precise meaning of the latter is. “Let their table before them become a snare, and for peace (lit. peaces, salâms, salutations of peace) for a gin (i.e. what seemed to be for peace, let it become for a gin.) Let their eyes become dark, so that they shall not see, and their bones continually shake.” The rendering of the Septuagint, adopted by the apostle, however it may have been brought about, gives the general sense, though somewhat paraphrastically: the snare of the one, and its substitution of a gin for indications of peace, is amplified into “a snare, and a net, and a stumbling-block, and a recompense,” that is, into things entirely the reverse, but such as they had deserved by their own treachery. The other verse varies less from the original; it merely substitutes, “bow down their back alway,” for “let their bones continually shake:”—only a different mode of expressing a state of oppressive and enfeebling bondage.

Romans 11:26-27. As it is written, Ἥξει ἐκ Σιὼν ὁ ῥυόμενος, ἀποστρέψει ἀσεβείας ἀπὸ Ἰακώβ. καὶ αὕτη αὐτοῖς ἡ παρʼ ἐμοῦ διαθήκη, ὅταν ἀφέλωμαι τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν: Isaiah 59:20-21. The Redeemer shall come out of Zion, He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob; and this is the covenant from Me to them, when I have taken away their sins. IV. 15. This citation differs less from the Septuagint than from the Hebrew, but it does not exactly accord with either. “The Redeemer shall come to Zion,” is the first clause in the original, or “for Zion,” לְצִיּוֹן; the Septuagint has ἕνεκεν Σιὼν; but the apostle says “out of Zion.” And in the following clause, what is in the original, “unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob,” becomes with the apostle, who here follows the Septuagint, “He shall turn ungodliness from Jacob.” Peculiar as these changes are, they proceed upon the same principle as that which we have so often had occasion to notice in previous examples; without in reality altering the meaning, the apostle throws the passage into a form, which virtually explains while it quotes; as our Lord, for instance, slightly altered the words of Malachi, to render them of easier understanding to those who lived when they were passing into fulfilment, (See at Matthew 11:10.) In like manner here, we have such an alteration put upon the original passage, as might render the only fulfilment it could henceforth receive more easy of apprehension. Christ, it intimates, will again come to Zion, as He has already done, and come to such as turn from transgression in Jacob—namely, for the purpose of blessing them and doing them good. But having already come and finished transgression, Christ has put an end to the old state and constitution of things, so that the Zion that then was is now abolished: Zion, in the proper sense, is above, the residence of the Divine King; and when He comes to visit His people for the full execution of His covenant, He must come out of Zion, even while, in a sense, He may be said to come to it. And, as regards the Jewish people, now rooted in apostacy, He must also, in connexion with that coming, turn them from ungodliness; for only thus could the ends of the covenant in their behalf be accomplished, and the Lord’s coming be attended by the benefits pointed at by the prophets. It is, therefore, the same prophecy still—only, by the verbal alterations he puts on it, the apostle adapts it to the time when he wrote, and renders it more distinctly indicative of the manner in which it was to find what still remained of its accomplishment. The last clause, “when I have taken away their sins,” is a brief and compendious expression for the state of blessing and acceptance, in which the people are contemplated by the prophet, and which with him is more especially connected with the indwelling agency of the Spirit. The Lord’s coming finally to redeem and bless, will take place, only when the barrier raised by their guilt and alienation shall have been removed, and their personal state shall correspond with their privileges and prospects.

Romans 12:19. For it is written, Ἐμοὶ ἐκδίκησις, ἐγὼ ἀνταποδώσω, λέγει Κύριος: Deuteronomy 32:35. Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. II. 18. The passage is not far from a literal rendering of the Hebrew, which is, “Vengeance is Mine, and recompense.” The λέγει Κύριος is introduced for the purpose of indicating more expressly, that it is the Lord Himself who there speaks.

Romans 12:20. Contains a reiteration, and in the words of the Septuagint, of the exhortations originally given in Proverbs 25:21-22. But they are not formally cited.

Romans 13:9. Contains citations of the commandments of the second table of the law, where there was no room for variation.

Romans 14:11. For it is written, Ζῶ ἐγώ, λέγει κύριος, ὅτι ἐμοὶ κάμψει πᾶν γόνυ καὶ πᾶσα γλῶσσα ἐξομολογήσεται τῷ θεῷ: Isaiah 45:23. As I live, saith the Lord, to Me shall every knee bow, and every tongue confess to God. II. 19. The original passage is abbreviated; but it is so near to the Hebrew, that the deviations make no difference in the sense. Instead of “I live, saith the Lord,” the prophet has, “I have sworn by Myself, the word is gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return”—a fuller declaration, but not different in sense. “Every tongue shall confess” is also substantially the same with “every tongue shall swear,” which is the expression in the prophet. For in the Old Testament usage swearing to, or in the name of the Lord, is simply to own and confess Him as the one living God.

Romans 15:13. As it is written, Οἱ ὀνειδισμοὶ τῶν ὀνειδιζόντων σε ἐπέπεσαν ἐπʼ ἐμέ: Psalms 69:9. The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell upon Me. I. 42. From the Septuagint, but exactly rendering the Hebrew.

Romans 15:9. As it is written, Διὰ τοῦτο ἐξομολογήσομαί σοι ἐν ἔθνεσιν καὶ τῷ ὀνοματί σου ψαλῶ: Psalms 18:49. For this cause will I confess (or, give thanks) to Thee among the Gentiles, and sing praise to Thy name, I. 43.

Again from the Septuagint, and a literal translation of the Hebrew.

Romans 15:10. Again he saith, Εὐφράνθητε, ἔθνη, μετὰ τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτοῦ: Deuteronomy 32:43. Exult, ye Gentiles, with His people. I. 44.

Here the Septuagint is quite different; it has εὐφ. οὐρανοὶ ἃμα αὐτῷ. The apostle follows the Hebrew, only inserting the preposition between Gentiles and people, for the sake of distinctness. “Exult ye Gentiles, His people,” is the precise rendering of the original; addressing the Gentiles as now among God’s people, having one place and character with them.

Romans 15:11. And again he saith, Αἰνεῖτε, πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, τὸν κύριον καὶ ἐπαινεσάτωσαν αὐτὸν πάντες οἱ λαοί: Psalms 117:1. Praise the Lord all ye nations, and laud Him all ye peoples. I. 45. From the Septuagint, which literally renders the Hebrew.

Romans 15:12. And again Esaias saith, Ἔσται ἡ ῥίζα τοῦ Ἰεσσαὶ καὶ ὁ ἀνιστάμενος ἄρχειν ἐθνῶν, ἐπʼ αὐτῷ ἔθνη ἐλπιοῦσιν: Isaiah 11:10. There shall be a root of Jesse, and He that ariseth to govern the Gentiles, in Him shall the Gentiles trust. III. 11.

Follows the Septuagint. The Hebrew is, “In that day there shall be a root of Jesse, that shall stand as a banner of the Gentiles; to it (or him) shall the Gentiles seek.” The Greek is a free translation, but gives the sense in a simpler form. To be a banner to the Gentiles, is, in plain language, to take the leadership or government of them; and to seek to Him, in such a connexion, must be all one with repairing to Him in confidence and hope.

Romans 15:21. As it is written, Οἷς οὐκ ἀνηγγέλη περὶ αὐτοῦ ὄψονται, καὶ οἳ οὐκ ἀκηκόασιν συνήσουσιν: Isaiah 52:10.  To whom He was not announced, they shall see, and they that had not heard, shall understand. III. 12.

Again following the Septuagint, which differs from the original only in some points that merely affect the form. It has “what was not announced or told them,” and, at the close, “they shall consider,” implying, doubtless, that they should so do it, as to understand.

I. CORINTHIANS.

1 Corinthians 1:19. For it is written, Ἀπολῶ τὴν σοφίαν τῶν σοφῶν καὶ τὴν σύνεσιν τῶν συνετῶν ἀθετήσω: Isaiah 29:14. I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the under standing of the prudent I will set aside. II. 20. The citation agrees with the Septuagint, except in the last word, which is κρύψω in the Septuagint, I will hide. The translation, however, though not the most literal that could be made, undoubtedly gives the plain meaning of the original. The chief difference is, that the thing is spoken of in the original merely as done, while here God is directly represented as doing it; this was certainly what the prophet also meant. To make men’s understanding to become hidden, and to set it aside, are obviously but different modes of expressing the same thing.

1 Corinthians 1:31. An abbreviated form of the sentiment contained in Jeremiah 9:24, and not strictly a quotation.

1 Corinthians 2:9. As it is written, Ἃ ὀφθαλμὸς οὐκ εἶδεν καὶ οὖς οὐκ ἤκουσεν καὶ ἐπὶ καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἀνέβη, ἃ ἡτοίμασεν ὁ θεὸς τοῖς ἀγαπῶσιν αὐτόν: Isaiah 64:4. Things which eye saw not, and ear heard not, and upon the heart of man came not up, the things which God has prepared for them that love Him. IV. 16. This citation agrees neither with the Hebrew nor with the Greek of any particular passage of the Old Testament. It comes nearest, however, to Isaiah 64:4, where the exact rendering of the original is, “And from the beginning of the world they heard not, they perceived not by the ear, the eye saw not, God, beside Thee (or, a God beside Thee,) who will do for him that trusteth on Him.” It is an obscure passage, and is rather paraphrased than translated by the apostle. The “neither hearing nor perceiving by the ear,” is a kind of reiteration for the purpose of strongly asserting, that the matters referred to lay entirely remote from any cognizance of men’s faculties; but the apostle, instead of giving this duplicate reference to ear knowledge, carries it into the region of the heart, and uses words substantially taken from the cognate passage of ch. 65:17, “it came not up upon the heart.” The Septuagint has in the latter place, οὐ μὴ ἐπέλθῃ αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τὴν καρδίαν, so similar to the phrase here employed by the apostle, that one can scarcely doubt he had it in view. The citation, therefore, proceeds on the principle of bringing distinctly out, by a sort of paraphrastic interpretation, the import of the passage, and, while doing so, availing himself in part of language furnished by another passage in Isaiah’s writings.

1 Corinthians 3:19. For it is written, Ὁ δρασσόμενος τοὺς σοφοὺς ἐν τῇ πανουργίᾳ αὐτῶν: Job 5:13. He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. I. 46. The original is closely rendered, but not in the words of the Septuagint.

1 Corinthians 3:20. And again, Κύριος γινώσκει τοὺς διαλογισμοὺς τῶν σοφῶν ὅτι εἰσὶν μάταιοι: Psalms 94:11. The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. II. 22.

It differs from the Septuagint, and also from the Hebrew, only by putting “the wise,” instead of “man.” But as man is used emphatically by the Psalmist, as much as the most skilful, the most aspiring of men, it comes to the same thing as the apostle’s wise.

1 Corinthians 9:9. For in the law of Moses it is written, Οὐ κημώσεις βοῦν ἀλοῶντα: Deuteronomy 25:4. Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth. I. 47. A literal translation, and in the words of the Septuagint.

1 Corinthians 10:7. As it is written, Ἐκάθισεν ὁ λαὸς φαγεῖν καὶ πεῖν, καὶ ἀνέστησαν παίζειν: Exodus 32:6. The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. I. 48.

Another literal translation, and in the words of the Septuagint.

1 Corinthians 14:21. In the law it is written, Ἐν ἑτερογλώσσοις καὶ ἐν χείλεσιν ἑτέρων λαλήσω τῷ λαῷ τούτῳ καὶ οὐδʼ οὕτως εἰσακούσονταί μου, λέγει Κύριος: Isaiah 28:11-12. For in other tongues, and in lips of other per sons (strangers,) will I speak to this people; and not thus [even] will they listen to Me, saith the Lord. II. 22.

Here the Septuagint is quite forsaken, being palpably in correct. The meaning of the Hebrew is given, though not by a close translation: what is there “stammering lips and another tongue,” is here put in an explicated form by “other tongues and lips of strangers;” i.e. unaccustomed modes of speech and address. The same thing seems to be meant by both forms of expression.

1 Corinthians 15:25, 1 Corinthians 15:27, 1 Corinthians 15:32, 1 Corinthians 15:45. The language is adopted of the following passages: Psalms 110:1; Psalms 8:7; Isaiah 22:13; Genesis 2:7.

1 Corinthians 15:54. Then shall be fulfilled the word that is written, Κατεπόθη ὁ θάνατος εἰς νῖκος: Isaiah 25:8. Death is swallowed up into victory. I. 49. A literal translation; for לָנֶצַח means to perfection, or to glory, as well as to perpetuity; but quite different from the Septuagint, which has κατάπειν ὁ θάνατος ἰσχύσας.

II. CORINTHIANS.

2 Corinthians 6:2. For He saith, Καιρῷ δεκτῷ ἐπήκουσά σου καὶ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ σωτηρίας ἐβοήθησά σοι: Isaiah 49:8. In an acceptable time I heard thee, and in a day of salvation I succoured thee. I. 50. A close translation, taken verbatim from the Septuagint.

2 Corinthians 6:16. As God said, ὅτι Ἐνοικήσω ἐν αὐτοῖς καὶ ἐμπεριπατήσω καὶ ἔσομαι αὐτῶν θεὸς καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔσονταί μου λαός: Leviticus 26:11-12. I will dwell among them, and I will walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. II. 23. The meaning entirely accords with the Hebrew; only, instead of “I will set My tabernacle,” it has “I will dwell;” and it uses throughout the oblique instead of the direct form of address, as in the original and the Septuagint.

2 Corinthians 6:17-18. Διὸ ἐξέλθατε ἐκ μέσου αὐτῶν καὶ ἀφορίσθητε, λέγει κύριος, καὶ ἀκαθάρτου μὴ ἅπτεσθε· κἀγὼ εἰσδέξομαι ὑμᾶς καὶ ἔσομαι ὑμῖν εἰς πατέρα καὶ ὑμεῖς ἔσεσθέ μοι εἰς υἱοὺς καὶ θυγατέρας—saith the Lord Almighty: Isaiah 52:11-12; Jeremiah 31:9; Jeremiah 31:33. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate saith the Lord and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and you shall be to Me sons and daughters saith the Lord Almighty. IV. 17. The first of these two verses is a free translation of Isaiah 52:11, and a portion of Isaiah 53:12, which contains an address to the Lord’s people, as redeemed, to go forth from their state of bondage and depression, and to separate themselves from all the defilements amid which they were placed; with the assurance, that if they did so, the Lord Himself would go with them and defend them. Undoubtedly, the substance of the prophet’s declaration is given by the apostle. The remaining part of the passage seems to be a compressed exhibition of the purport of several verses—in particular, the two referred to in Jeremiah. Jeremiah 3:19 might also be included, and 2 Samuel 7:14 has sometimes been thought to be referred to. In all these passages the same sentiment is undoubtedly expressed, viz., the acknowledgment of a filial relationship on the part of God toward those who should forsake their sins, and give themselves to His service. But as to the formal character of both these verses, it may be questioned whether they should be regarded strictly as a quotation—or, rather, as an utterance of the Lord’s mind by the apostle himself; though couched in the style of ancient prophecy, and with reference to certain passages contained in it. So that we might say, substantially, the Lord spake thus in former times; formally, and explicitly, He speaks thus now

2 Corinthians 8:15. As it is written, Ὁ τὸ πολὺ οὐκ ἐπλεόνασεν, καὶ ὁ τὸ ὀλίγον οὐκ ἠλαττόνησεν: Exodus 16:18. He that [got] the much had no surplus, and he that [got] the little had no lack. I. 51. A close translation, and very nearly the same as the Septuagint.

2 Corinthians 9:9. As it is written, Ἐσκόρπισεν, ἔδωκεν τοῖς πένησιν, ἡ δικαιοσύνη αὐτοῦ μένει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα: Psalms 112:9. He dispersed, He gave to the poor, His righteousness endureth for ever. I. 52. The same precisely as in the last example.

GALATIANS.

Galatians 3:8. The Scripture preached before the Gospel to Abraham: ὅτι Ἐνευλογηθήσονται ἐν σοὶ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη: Genesis 12:3. In thee shall all nations be blessed. I. 53. The original, in Genesis 12:3, has families instead of I; the Septuagint φυλαὶ; but this is all one with nations; and the word for the latter is frequently used in the repetition of the promise: Genesis 18:18; Genesis 22:18.

Galatians 3:10. For it is written, ὅτι Ἐπικατάρατος πᾶς ὃς οὐκ ἐμμένει πᾶσιν τοῖς γεγραμμένοις ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ τοῦ νόμου τοῦ ποιῆσαι αὐτά: Deuteronomy 27:20. Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law, to do them. II. 24. The citation differs only in a few unimportant particulars from the Septuagint, and from the Hebrew only in being a little more full and explicit. The latter has, “Whosoever does not confirm,” or ratify, “the words of this law to do them.” Evidently the kind of ratification meant is that of a steady adherence to them.

Galatians 3:11-12. See at Romans 1:17; Romans 10:5.

Galatians 3:13. For it is written, Ἐπικατάρατος πᾶς ὁ κρεμάμενος ἐπὶ ξύλου: Deuteronomy 21:23. Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree. II. 25. The Hebrew has merely hanged in the verse actually quoted, but the preceding verse uses the fuller expression, hanged on a tree; so that there is no real difference between the citation arid the original. The apostle, however, abbreviates the other part of the verse; he says simply, “cursed,” while the original has “cursed of God.”

Galatians 3:16. He says not to seeds, as of many, but as of one, Καὶ τῷ σπέρματί σου: Genesis 22:18. And to thy seed (which is Christ.) The passage was already cited at Acts 3:25. But here it is coupled with a peculiar interpretation, for which see No. XV.

Galatians 4:27. For it is written, Εὐφράνθητι, στεῖρα ἡ οὐ τίκτουσα, ῥῆξον καὶ βόησον, ἡ οὐκ ὠδίνουσα· ὅτι πολλὰ τὰ τέκνα τῆς ἐρήμου μᾶλλον ἢ τῆς ἐχούσης τὸν ἄνδρα: Isaiah 54:1. Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail; for more are the children of the desolate than of her that hath a husband. I. 54. The Septuagint is followed throughout; but it gives the original with fidelity.

Galatians 4:30. What saith the Scripture? Ἔκβαλε τὴν παιδίσκην καὶ τὸν υἱὸν αὐτῆς· οὐ γὰρ μὴ κληρονομήσει ὁ υἱὸς τῆς παιδίσκης μετὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ τῆς ἐλευθέρας: Genesis 21:10. Cast out the bond-woman and her son; for the son of the bond-woman shall not be heir with the son of the free-woman. I. 55. This is also a literal translation; only, it generalizes the closing words, by putting “with the son of the free-woman,” instead of with “my son, with Isaac.” Naturally; for the words were originally Sarah’s; but as the Lord sanctioned the principle announced in them, the apostle fitly quotes them as spoken by the Lord of Sarah’s offspring.

EPHESIANS.

Ephesians 4:8. Wherefore He saith, Ἀναβὰς εἰς ὕψος ᾐχμαλώτευσεν αἰχμαλωσίαν, ἔδωκεν δόματα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις: Psalms 68:18. Having ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, He gave gifts to men. II. 26. The rendering here adopted, which in the latter part only differs from the Septuagint, is a faithful representation of the original, so far as the substantial import is concerned. The only deviation from the literal meaning is in using the oblique, for the direct form of statement, and substituting gave, for received, in respect to the gifts of grace. The two words exhibit but different aspects of the same thing.

Ephesians 5:14. Wherefore He saith, Ἔγειρε, ὁ καθεύδων, καὶ ἀνάστα ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν, καὶ ἐπιφαύσει σοι ὁ Χριστός: Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. The passage is introduced with a very general reference to Divine authority, specifying no particular Scripture where the saying was to be found; and as the words do not occur in any book of the Old Testament, some have even doubted if there is a reference to any passage in it. The mention of Christ at the close plainly shows, that an exact or literal quotation was not meant; but rather a free use of one or more passages read in the light of the Gospel. Such passages exist in Isaiah 9:1-2, comp. with Isaiah 26:19.

Ephesians 5:31. See at Matthew 19:4-5.

I. TIMOTHY.

1 Timothy 5:18. See at 1 Corinthians 9:9.

II. TIMOTHY.

2 Timothy 2:19. And, Ἔγνω κύριος τοὺς ὄντας αὐτοῦ: Numbers 16:5. The Lord knoweth them that are His. II. 27. The words of the Septuagint are taken, except that Κύριος is put for Θεός. In the original it is rather, the Lord will make known who are His not only knows them, but will make His knowledge to appear. This is all the difference; the one indicating simply the fact, the other the visible manifestation, of the Divine knowledge.

HEBREWS.

Hebrews 1:5. (on first quotation, see at Acts 13:32-33, and No. XII. of the Second Part.) And again, Ἐγὼ ἔσομαι αὐτῷ εἰς πατέρα, καὶ αὐτὸς ἔσται μοι εἰς υἱόν: 2 Samuel 7:14. I will be to him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son. I. 56. In the words of the Septuagint, which correctly render the Hebrew.

Hebrews 1:6. And when again He brings His first-begotten into the world, He saith, Καὶ προσκυνησάτωσαν αὐτῷ πάντες ἄγγελοι θεοῦ: Psalms 97:7. And let all the angels of God worship Him. III. 13.

Coincides with the Septuagint, except in using the oblique instead of the direct form of speech. The original has Elohim instead of angels; and there is the same difference at Hebrews 2:7, where see what is said in explanation.

Hebrews 1:7. And as to the angels, He saith, Ὁ ποιῶν τοὺς ἀγγέλους αὐτοῦ πνεύματα καὶ τοὺς λειτουργοὺς αὐτοῦ πυρὸς φλόγα: Psalms 104:4. Who maketh His angels (messengers) winds, and flame of fire His ministers. I. 57. The Hebrew is exactly rendered, and in the words of the Septuagint, excepting in the last expression, which is there πῦρ φλέγον.

Hebrews 1:8-9. And to the Son, Ὁ θρόνος σου ὁ θεὸς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος κ.τ.λ.: Psalms 45:6-7. Thy throne, God, is for ever and ever, etc. I. 58.

Throughout from the Septuagint, with no variations worth naming, and giving a close translation of the Hebrew.

Hebrews 1:10-12. And, Σὺ κατʼ ἀρχάς, κύριε, τὴν γῆν ἐθεμελίωσας κ.τ.λ.: Psalms 102:25-26. Thou, Lord, in the beginning didst lay the foundation of the earth, etc. I. 59.

Precisely as in the last example.

Hebrews 1:13. See at Matthew 22:44.

Hebrews 2:6-8. But one testified in a certain place, saying, Τίς ἐστιν ἄνθρωπος ὅτι μιμνῄσκῃ αὐτοῦ κ.τ.λ.: Psalms 8:4-6. What is man that thou art mindful of him? etc. III. 14. The citation is made entirely from the Septuagint, and differs from the Hebrew only in one clause: What is here ἠλάττωσας αὐτὸν βραχύ τι παρʼ ἀγγέλους, Thou hast made Him somewhat less than the angels, is in the Hebrewתְּחַסְּרֵהוּ מְּעַט מֵאֱלֹהִים Thou hast made him want little of Elohim (God.) There is, however, an ambiguity in the Greek; for the βραχύ τι may refer either to space or to time lessened him either for a short period, or by a little degree, though the latter is the more natural. The Hebrew is more definite, and indicates little in respect to degree or space. The application made of the passage consists with the one aspect as well as the other; as will be shown in the remarks at No. XVIII. of Second Section. And in regard to the Elohim, it is plain, that when man is spoken of as wanting but a little of this, that is, of Deity, the term cannot be taken in its strictest sense; it cannot mean the Supreme Jehovah, in His personal properties and perfections; for the highest of creatures stand at an infinite distance from Him. It must be understood, therefore, in the looser sense, of something Divine-like in condition and dignity. It is so used in Psalms 82:6; Exodus 22:9, comp. with John 10:34. In the same sense it must also be understood in Psalms 97:7, cited in Psalms 96:6 of the preceding chapter, where the Elohim are called to do worship to one higher than themselves. Divine-like honour and dignity, therefore, are all that, in such cases, can be fairly understood by the term. And as the angels stand highest in this respect among created intelligences known to men, they are not unnaturally regarded as the beings that most fully answer to the description. Substantially, therefore, the Greek version here gives the sense of the original; and some of the best commentators still concur in it as the most appropriate rendering that can be given. “The angels,” says Delitzsch on the passage, “are called Elohim, as pure spiritual natures that have been produced from God, and are the purest reflections of the Divine essence.”

Hebrews 2:12. Saying, Ἀπαγγελῶ τὸ ὄνομά σου τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς μου, ἐν μέσῳ ἐκκλησίας ὑμνήσω σε: Psalms 22:22. I will declare Thy name to My brethren, in the midst of the Church (or congregation) will I sing praise to Thee. I. 60. The Septuagint is followed, except in the first word, for which it has διηγήσουμαι and the Hebrew is strictly adhered to.

Hebrews 2:13. And again, Ἐγὼ ἔσομαι πεποιθὼς ἐπʼ αὐτῷ, I will put My trust in Him. And again, Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ καὶ τὰ παιδία ἅ μοι ἔδωκεν ὁ θεός, Behold I and the children which God hath given Me: Isaiah 8:17-18. I. 61. The Septuagint is literally followed in both parts of the citation; and without any material difference it exhibits the meaning of the original.

Hebrews 3:7-11. As the Holy Ghost saith, Σήμερον ἐὰν τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ ἀκούσητε κ.τ.λ.: Psalms 95:7. sq. To-day, if ye will hear His voice, etc. I. 62. The words are again those of the Septuagint, but the division made of them is not precisely the same; for here we have “saw My works for forty years,” while in the Septuagint, and also in the original, there is a pause after “saw My works,” and the following sentence begins: “Forty years was I grieved.” The sense is still the same, and by coupling the forty years with the seeing of God’s works additional emphasis is given to the guilt of the people.

Hebrews 4:4. For He spake in a certain place, Καὶ κατέπαυσεν ὁ θεὸς ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν ἔργων αὐτοῦ: Genesis 2:3. And God rested in the seventh day from all His works. I. 63. The passage is somewhat abbreviated, but it is exactly rendered, and in the words of the Septuagint.

Hebrews 5:6. As He saith in another place: Σὺ ἱερεὺς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισέδεκ: Psal. Psalms 110:4. Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedek. I. 64. The Hebrew again rendered in the words of the Septuagint.

Hebrews 6:14. God sware by Himself, saying, Εἰ μὴν εὐλογῶν εὐλογήσω σε καὶ πληθύνων πληθυνῶ σε: Genesis 22:17. Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. I. 65.

There is no deviation from the Hebrew and the Septuagint, except in putting σε at the close instead of σπέρμα σου. It makes no difference as to the sense.

Hebrews 8:5. As Moses was divinely instructed, Ὅρα γάρ φησίν, ποιήσεις πάντα κατὰ τὸν τύπον τὸν δειχθέντα σοι ἐν τῷ ὄρει: Exodus 25:40. For see, says He, thou shalt make all according to the pattern that was shown thee in the mount. I. 66. The words are again to a nearness those of the Septuagint, the only difference being the use of the aorist participle instead of the perfect δεδειγμένεν. The original is correctly exhibited.

Hebrews 8:8-12. For finding fault He saith to them, Ἰδοὺ ἡμέραι ἔρχονται, λέγει κύριος, καὶ συντελέσω ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον Ἰσραὴλ κ.τ.λ.: Jeremiah 31:31-34. Behold the days come, saith the Lord, and I will establish with the house of Israel, etc. I. 67.

There is no difference worth naming between this citation and the corresponding passage in the Septuagint; it is substantially a quotation from the Septuagint only in one or two instances it substitutes a phrase of like import for another such as συντελέσω ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον for διαθήσομαι τῷ οἴκῳ, and διαθήκην ἐποίησα for διεθέμην. Throughout also the meaning of the Hebrew is closely rendered; nor does any exception need to be made for the clause at the close of Hebrews 8:9, where the writer of the epistle, following the Septuagint, κἀγὼ ἠμέλησα αὐτῶν, and I regarded them not. In the original it is וְאָנֹכִי בָּעַלְתִּי בָם, which in the English Version, and many others, has the sense put on it, “though I was married to them.” The same expression occurs at Jeremiah 3:14, and has received the same rendering. But the propriety of that rendering is justly called in question, arid the translation of the Septuagint is rather to be maintained. The primary meaning of the verb is to possess, or have dominion over; then to possess a wife, to marry; but finally, according to Gesenius, to loathe, to reject, in which sense he takes it in the two passages referred to. “The common meaning,” he says, “may do in Jeremiah 31:1-40, if it be rendered, “Although I was their Lord;” but it gives a harsh sense; and what weighs with me more, the signification of loathing is not foreign to the primary power of the verb. For there are also other verbs, in which the sense of subduing, being high over, ruling, is applied to the signification of looking down upon, despising, contemning.”

Hebrews 9:20. Saying, Τοῦτο τὸ αἷμα τῆς διαθήκης ἧς ἐνετείλατο πρὸς ὑμᾶς ὁ θεός: Exodus 24:6. This is the blood of the covenant which God hath enjoined unto you. II. 28. The sense of the original is substantially given, though differing slightly in form, and also departing somewhat from the Septuagint. The more exact rendering is, “Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you.”

Hebrews 10:5-7. Wherefore when He cometh into the world He saith, Θυσίαν καὶ προσφορὰν οὐκ ἠθέλησας, σῶμα δὲ κατηρτίσω μοι· ὁλοκαυτώματα καὶ περὶ ἁμαρτίας οὐκ εὐδόκησας. τότε εἶπον, Ἰδοὺ ἥκω,—ἐν κεφαλίδι βιβλίου γέγραπται περὶ ἐμοῦ,—τοῦ ποιῆσαι ὁ θεὸς τὸ θέλημά σου: Psalms 40:6-8. Sacrifice and offering I did not desire, but a body hast Thou prepared for Me; burnt-offerings and offerings for sin Thou hadst no pleasure in. Then I said, Lo I come in the volume of the book it is written of Me to do Thy will, God. III. 15. This citation follows the Septuagint so closely, that the variations from it are quite inconsiderable. Instead of οὐκ ἠθέλησας it has οὐκ ἤτησας, which is the more exact rendering of the original; but the idea is the same; and it is substantially all one, whether the offerings in question are represented as not sought, or not delighted in, on the part of God. The one implies the other. There is, however, a very peculiar rendering given of a clause in 5:5. In the Hebrew it is אָזְנַיִם כָּרִיתָ לִּי, ears hast Thou dug through (laid thoroughly open) for Me; the meaning is, Thou hast formed in me a willing and obedient spirit, so that I preserve an open and listening ear to all Thy commands. It is difficult to understand, how this should have come to be put into the form given it by the Septuagint, “a body hast Thou prepared for Me.” But the sentiment conveyed by it is substantially the same; for by the preparing of a body, in such a connexion, is evidently meant, a body formed and qualified for the service of God—ready in all its powers to yield the obedience required. The contrast here is, between the sacrifices of slain victims, and the free will sacrifice of a living body, or a listening and obedient spirit.

Hebrews 10:16-17. See at Hebrews 8:8-11.

Hebrews 10:30. For we know Him that hath said, Ἐμοὶ ἐκδίκησις, ἐγὼ ἀνταποδώσω, λέγει Κύριος. And again, κρινεῖ κύριος τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ.: Deuteronomy 32:35-36. Vengeance is Mine, I will recompense, saith the Lord. The Lord will judge His people. II. 29. The only difference is in the form of the first declaration; as put in the original it is, Mine is vengeance and recompense. Here the latter word is turned into an independent sentence, to give additional emphasis to the meaning.

Hebrews 10:37-38. There is here a substantial appropriation of the language of Habakkuk 2:3-4; but there is no express citation, and the original is used with some freedom.

Hebrews 11:21. Καὶ προσεκύνησεν ἐπὶ τὸ ἄκρον τῆς ῥάβδου αὐτοῦ: Genesis 47:31. And worshipped upon the top of his staff. I. 68. This is not given as a quotation, but it is actually one, being the precise words of the Septuagint. According as the words in the original are pointed, they admit of a different rendering; either that just produced, or the one given in the English version, according to the Mas. punctuation, “He bowed himself (or, worshipped) upon the bed’s head.” The other is the more probable meaning.

Hebrews 12:5-6. And ye have forgotten the exhortation, which speaketh unto you as unto children, Υἱέ μου, μὴ ὀλιγώρει παιδείας Κυρίου μηδὲ ἐκλύου ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ ἐλεγχόμενος· ὃν γὰρ ἀγαπᾷ Κύριος παιδεύει, μαστιγοῖ δὲ πάντα υἱὸν ὃν παραδέχεται: Proverbs 3:11-12. My son, despise not the Lord’s chastening, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him; for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. III. 16. The Septuagint is followed verbatim, which only in the last clause departs from the Hebrew; but here it does so rather singularly. The Hebrew is וּכְאָב אֶת־בֵּן יִרְצֶה and (or, as) a father the son he delighteth in. The Septuagint apparently read the first word as if it were יַכְאָב, and so turned it into a verb, having God for its nominative, and making it mean, “and chastise the son whom He receiveth,” or delighteth in. As this introduced no change into the sentiment conveyed in the passage, but only omitted the allusion to the earthly father, which, however, the apostle shortly afterwards takes occasion to bring out in words of his own (Hebrews 12:9,) he simply adopted the rendering of the Septuagint.

Hebrews 12:20-21. In these two verses the general import merely is given of passages in the Old Testament. Exodus 19:12-13, Exodus 19:16; Deuteronomy 9:19.

Hebrews 12:26. Now hath He promised, saying, Ἔτι ἅπαξ ἐγὼ σείσω οὐ μόνον τὴν γῆν ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν οὐρανόν: Haggai 2:6. Yet once, I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven. II. 30. The citation differs from the Septuagint and from the Hebrew only in form: for the purpose of bringing out more prominently the heaven as included in the shaking, what according to the original is, “the heaven and the earth,” is here made, “not only the earth, but the heaven.”

Hebrews 13:5. For He Himself hath said, Οὐ μή σε ἀνῶ οὐδʼ οὐ μή σε ἐγκαταλίπω: Joshua 1:5. I will not leave thee, nor will I forsake thee. I. 69.

Follows the Hebrew closely, but differs in form from the Septuagint. The same sentiment occurs in Deuteronomy 31:8.

Hebrews 13:6. So that we may boldly say, Κύριος ἐμοὶ βοηθός, καὶ οὐ φοβηθήσομαι, τί ποιήσει μοι ἄνθρωπος: Psalms 118:6. The Lord is my helper, and I shall not be afraid; what shall man do to me? I. 70. The Septuagint is cited, but it gives the original quite correctly; for, “the Lord is my helper,” is substantially one with “the Lord is for me,” which is the literal rendering of the Hebrew.

JAMES.

James 2:8, James 2:23. See at Matthew 22:39, and Romans 4:3.

James 4:5. Do ye think that the Scripture saith in vain, πρὸς φθόνον ἐπιποθεῖ τὸ πνεῦμα ὃ κατῴκισεν ἐν ἡμῖν; the spirit that dwelt in us lusts to envy? The reference seems to be to the passages which condemn an envious or covetous spirit, as naturally working in men’s hearts such as the tenth commandment of the law, Ecclesiastes 4:4, etc. But it is only a reference to the general import of such passages, not an explicit quotation.

James 4:6. Wherefore He saith, Ὁ θεὸς ὑπερηφάνοις ἀντιτάσσεται, ταπεινοῖς δὲ δίδωσιν χάριν: Proverbs 3:34. God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the lowly. III. 17. The Septuagint has precisely these words in the passage referred to. The Hebrew so far differs, that in the first member it expresses, “Surely He scorneth the scorners.” It is undoubtedly the scorn of a proud and elated spirit that is meant; so that the meaning is virtually the same. A very similar antithesis also is found in Proverbs 29:23.

I. PETER.

1 Peter 1:16. Because it is written, Ἅγιοι ἔσεσθε, ὅτι ἐγὼ ἅγιός: Leviticus 11:44. Be ye holy, for I am holy. I. 71. An abridged quotation, but quite literal.

1 Peter 1:24-25. For, πᾶσα σὰρξ ὡς χόρτος καὶ πᾶσα δόξα αὐτῆς ὡς ἄνθος χόρτου·ἐξηράνθη ὁ χόρτος καὶ τὸ ἄνθος ἐξέπεσεν·τὸ δὲ ῥῆμα Κυρίου μένει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα: Isaiah 40:6-7. All flesh is grass, and all the glory of it as the flower of grass; the grass withereth, and the flower fadeth; but the word of the Lord abideth for ever. I. 72. The Septuagint is followed, which adheres closely to the Hebrew.

1 Peter 2:6. See at Romans 9:33. The apostle here merely adds a few epithets from Isaiah 28:16, which were omitted by St. Paul.

1 Peter 2:7. See at Matthew 21:42, and Acts 4:11.

1 Peter 2:9, 1 Peter 2:22, 1 Peter 2:24. In each of these verses there is a silent appropriation of Old Testament passages—Exodus 19:6; Isaiah 53:9, Isaiah 53:5,—in perfect accordance with the Hebrew, and in the words of the Septuagint. But there is no formal citation.

1 Peter 3:10-12. Another silent appropriation of an Old Testament passage—Psalms 34:12-16—almost entirely in the language of the Septuagint, and quite faithful to the original.

1 Peter 3:14-15. A similar adoption of the language of Isaiah, in Isaiah 8:12-13.

1 Peter 4:8. A substantial, though not quite literal appropriation of the words of Proverbs 10:12.

II. PETER.

2 Peter 2:22. It has happened unto them according to the true proverb, Κύων ἐπιστρέψας ἐπὶ τὸ ἴδιον ἐξέραμα, καί,Ὗς λουσαμένη εἰς κυλισμὸν βορβόρου: The dog is turned to his own vomit again, and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. This is not properly a scriptural quotation, but the application merely of a common proverb to a spiritual case. The first part of it occurs substantially in Proverbs 26:11, yet not precisely as presented here.

REVELATION.

Throughout the book of Revelation there is a constant appropriation of the language of Old Testament Scripture; sometimes—as at Revelation 2:27, Revelation 5:10—sentences are adopted entire; but of proper and formal citation there is no example, as, indeed, the nature of the book did not admit of it.

GENERAL RESULT.

It thus appears, that of the four classes of citations mentioned at the outset, there are not reckoning repeated citations of the same passages in the same or other books—72 belonging to the first, 80 to the second, 17 to the third, and 17 to the fourth. In other words, considerably more than the half of the whole, in which the passages from the old Testament are closely rendered—very commonly in the words of the Septuagint, but also occasionally by an independent translation. In 30 more the difference between the original and the citation is merely of a formal kind, some slight alteration being adopted in the phraseology, usually for the purpose of adapting it better to its place as a citation, but without making any assignable difference in the meaning of the passage. Indeed, so narrow often is the boundary between this class of quotations and the first, that it is of no moment, practically, whether they should be assigned to the first class, or should form one by themselves. The third class presents 17, in which the Septuagint is followed, in preference to the Hebrew; but here again the variations are commonly of a formal kind; and even when they exhibit a substantial difference, it is only by a sort of paraphrastic explanation being given of the original, or by a distinct expression being imparted to a particular aspect of the truth, such as specifying a result or a cause, which the original did nothing more than indicate. In none of the cases are we presented with a different sense, but simply with a modified representation of the same sense. And in the remaining 17, in which neither is the Hebrew nor the Septuagint strictly followed, there is a common principle pervading them; that, namely, of rendering something peculiar or obscure in the original more clearly intelligible to those who were immediately in the eye of the New Testament writer, or to readers generally in gospel times. In the whole of this class of cases, as well as of the immediately preceding one, the general meaning of the ancient Scripture is still preserved, and nothing in doctrine or precept is built upon the superficial differences existing between the citation and the original.

It is, therefore, a groundless and unwarranted application to make of these occasional departures from the exact import of the original, when they are employed as an argument against the plenary inspiration of Scripture. So, for example, Dr. Davidson, in his Hermeneutics, (page 513,) holds, that the freedom with which the New Testament writers cite the Scriptures of the Old Testament, is a conclusive proof against such inspiration. For, he argues, “the terms and phrases of the Old Testament, if literally inspired, were the best that could have been adopted. Why, then, did not the writers of the New Testament give, as nearly as possible, these best terms and phrases? They should have adhered to the ipsissima verba of the Holy Spirit, (seeing they were the best,) as closely as the genius of the Hebrew and Greek languages allowed. But, instead of this, they have widely departed from them.” We are afraid this argument, if valid, would go much further than establish a conclusion against what is termed verbal inspiration. The question cannot be one merely of words; for if not the main import, yet the precise shade of meaning, is necessarily affected by the deviations; so that, on the principle in question, the New Testament writers are liable to the charge of having chosen an inferior thing to what lay actually before them; they altered, to some extent, the statements of Scripture, and altered them to the worse. But the argument rests upon a fallacy—the fallacy of supposing, that what is the best in certain circumstances, what may have been best when the ancient prophets wrote, must also be the best when apostles and evangelists brought into notice the fulfilment of their words. By that time circumstances were materially changed; and it may have been expedient, it may even have been required by the highest spiritual wisdom, to adopt some slight modification of the original passage, or to give an explanatory rendering of its terms, so as to adapt it the better to the purpose of its application. Even in those cases, in which, for any thing we can see, a closer translation would have served equally well the purpose of the writer, it may have been worthy of the inspiring Spirit, and perfectly consistent with the fullest inspiration of the original Scriptures, that the sense should have been given in a free current translation; for the principle was thereby sanctioned of a rational freedom in the handling of Scripture, as opposed to the rigid formalism and superstitious regard to the letter, which prevailed among the Rabbinical Jews. The Church of the New Testament, we are thereby taught, is not bound by the pedantic trammels which Jewish authorities imposed, and which, by spending its solicitude upon the shell, comparatively neglected the kernel. The stress occasionally laid in the New Testament upon particular words in passages of the Old, and even on the number and tenses of words—as at Matthew 22:32; Matthew 22:45; Galatians 3:16; Hebrews 1:5, Hebrews 5:10—sufficiently proves what a value attaches to the very form of the Divine communications, and how necessary it is to connect the element of inspiration with the written record as it stands. It shows that God’s words are pure words, and that, if fairly interpreted, they cannot be too closely pressed. But in other cases, when nothing depended upon a rigid adherence to the letter, the practice of the sacred writers, not scrupulously to stickle about this, but to give prominence simply to the substance of the revelation, is fraught also with an important lesson; since it teaches us, that the letter is valuable only for the truth couched in it, and that the one is no further to be prized and contended for, than may be required for the exhibition of the other. The practice in this respect of the sacred writers is followed every day still, and followed by persons who hold the strictest views of inspiration. They never imagine, while they quote passages from a current translation, though it may not give the meaning to the nicest shade, or themselves slightly modify the form of words to suit the particular application made of them, that they are thereby compromising the plenary inspiration of Scripture. They do not the less hold every jot and tittle of it to be sacred, that they at times find it unnecessary to press what is comparatively but a jot or tittle. Indeed, the matter in this aspect of it has been quite properly put by the writer just quoted, and in a manner, that seems to accord ill with what fell from him on verbal inspiration. “It is unreasonable to expect,” he says, “that the apostles should scrupulously abide by the precise words of the passages they quote. By a slight deviation from the Greek, they sometimes rendered the sense clearer and more explicit; at other times they paraphrased, rather than translated, the original Hebrew. In every instance we suppose them to have been directed by the superintending Spirit, who infallibly kept them from error, and guided them in selecting the most appropriate terms, where their own judgments would have failed.” (P. 470.)

There is, however, a point connected with the citations from the Old Testament, which seems somewhat strange, and admits of no proper explanation—although it can scarcely be said to touch upon the doctrine of inspiration, or to involve any question of principle. It is in respect to the apparent capriciousness of the treatment given to the Septuagint translation. Sometimes it is followed with great regularity for a series of passages, and then, it is suddenly abandoned at places where its rendering is not less, or even more exact. Thus at Matthew 27:9-10, a rendering is preferred markedly differing from the Septuagint, itself too one of the most peculiar, while in several preceding quotations the words of the Septuagint were almost literally adopted. So again, at John 15:25, the Septuagint is departed from, where it literally renders the original, but in the two following citations it is implicitly followed. There are similar irregularities elsewhere, particularly in the Epistle to the Hebrews, where, usually, the Septuagint is closely followed, while yet at certain passages a somewhat different rendering is preferred (see Hebrews 9:20, Hebrews 10:30, Hebrews 12:26.) This alternating use and disuse of the Septuagint as a translation of Old Testament Scripture finds no explanation in any existing relations, or spiritual principle, with which we are acquainted.