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"Misquotes" in the New Testament

April 10, 2006

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Dear Friends

There are several incidents in the New Testament where the writer “misquotes” a passage from the Old Testament. The “higher critics” jump all over these apparent mistakes as evidence that the Bible is simply the concoction of man – full of mistakes and errors. To those who believe the Bible is the word of God, however, these passages prove yet again the amazing beauty of the truths contained in it. We hope to demonstrate this with a few examples.

Before we do that, we need to make sure everyone understands what a type and antitype are as they factor into this discussion (often referred to as types and shadows). A “type” is something in the Bible that represents something else. For example, the lamb that was offered in sacrifice in the Temple was a type or representation of the Lord Jesus Christ and his dying on the cross. Jesus is the “antitype” or the reality behind the type. He is referred to in several instances as the Lamb.

What we really want to bring out here is that types are both a comparison and a contrast. Jesus was similar to a lamb in that he was a sacrifice for sin. However, Jesus’ death actually took away sin while, in contrast, the lamb did not. This is very important as we look at these apparent misquotes because in most cases, the Divine author is trying to make both a comparison to the verse in the Old Testament, but also provide a contrast in the same way that types and antitypes do.

We have discussed this “misquote” before, but in Hebrews 10, the writer quotes from Psalm 40. Hebrews says “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me.” King David in Psalm 40 actually wrote “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced.” (Ps. 40:6) The writer to the Hebrews exchanges “a body you prepared for me” for the original phrase “but my ears you have pierced.”

Before we understand why the writer changes it, we have to understand what David was speaking of in Psalm 40. The allusion is to Exodus 21 where the law is given concerning Hebrew slaves. According to the Law, a Hebrew slave must go free after six years of service. However, if the servant willingly wants to stay, he “shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free: then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever.” (Ex. 21:5,6) We now understand what David is saying. King David is saying, in effect, “God, sacrifices aren’t what you really want. You want me to willingly and lovingly become your servant doing your will as a slave would for his master.”

Now that we have an understanding of Psalm 40, we can understand why the writer to the Hebrews changed ear-piercing to an entire body. The writer gives us both a comparison and contrast. A slave could willingly continue to serve his master by piercing his ear. Jesus, in order to serve his Father, instead of just having his ear pierced through, his entire body was pierced through including his head with the crown of thorns, his back with the Roman scourge, his side with the soldier’s spear, and his hands and feet with the nails. Similar to the Hebrew slave, Jesus was pierced. In contrast, though, his entire body was pierced.

The passage is even a little deeper than that. The writer to the Hebrews then uses another type to bring the real point home. “You took no pleasure in burnt offering or sacrifice for sin; then I said, ‘Here I am, I am coming, in the scroll of the book it is written of me, to do your will, God.’ (v. 6,7 NJB). The body of Jesus represented the will of Jesus. Jesus sacrificed his will to his Father his whole life and especially in the Garden of Gethsemane. “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” (Luke 22:42) The physical body of Jesus was not the real sacrifice offered for sin. It was Jesus’ sacrificed will that was the true sacrifice which his pierced body represented. Jesus didn’t just quote the idea of David in Psalm 40, he lived is perfectly. He was the true antitype that the willing Hebrew slave represented in body and in action.

As we can see, this “misquote” is not a misquote at all, but a breathtaking insight into the sacrifice of Christ. It also provides the basis for the lesson to us all. “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” (Mark 8:34) Each day we should sacrifice our will by denying our flesh in service to our heavenly Father just as Jesus did.

Next week, Lord willing, we will look at a few more apparent misquotes.

Have a great week!

P.S. Many requests have been made to print the TFTW in book form. Since this has been a community effort, I would like to make this book a community effort as well. If there is any particular TFTW that has touched you or that you would like to write a preface for, please contact Kyle Tucker. We will include some of these comments in the book, Lord willing.

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