1. Testimonies cited by the apostle out of the Old Testament. 2–12. Compared with the original and translations. 13–23. Whence the agreement of some of them with that of the LXX.
1. THERE is not any thing in this Epistle that is attended with more difficulty than the citation of the testimonies out of the Old Testament that are made use of in it. Hence some, from their unsuitableness, as they have supposed, unto the author's purpose, have made bold to call in question, if not to reject, the authority of the whole. But for what concerns the matter of them, and the wisdom of the apostle in their application, it must be treated of in the respective places where they occur; when we shall manifest how vain and causeless are the exceptions which have been laid against them, and how singularly they are suited to the proof of those doctrines and assertions in the confirmation whereof they are produced. But the words also wherein they are expressed, varying frequently from the original, yield some difficulty in their consideration. And this concernment of the apostle's citations, to prevent a further trouble in the exposition itself of the several places, may be previously considered. Not that we shall here explain and vindicate them from the exceptions mentioned, which must of necessity be done afterwards, as occasion offers itself; but we shall only discover in general what respect the apostle's expressions have unto the original and the old translations thereof, and remove some false inferences that have been made on the consideration of them. To this end I shall briefly pass through them all, and compare them with the places whence they are taken.
2. CHAP. 1. ver. 5. Υἱός μου εἶ σὺ, ἐγὼ σήμερον γεγέννηκά σε·—"Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee." From Ps. 2:7. The words exactly answer the original, with the supply of only the verb substantive, whereof in the Hebrew there is almost a perpetual ellipsis, אַתָּא בְּנִי. And the same are the words in the translation of the LXX. In the same verse, Ἐγὼ ἔσομαι αὐτῷ εἰς πατέρα, καὶ αὐτὸς ἔσται μοι εἰς υἱόν·—"I will be unto him a father, and he shall be unto me a son." From 1 Chron. 22:10. The LXX. otherwise, as to the order of the words, Οὗτος ἔσται μοι εἰς υἱόν, κᾀγὼ αὐτῷ εἰς πατέρα, which also is the order of the sentences in the original, the apostle using his own liberty, and varying from them both; so that this quotation is not directly from that translation.
Ver. 6. Καὶ προσκυνησάτωσαν αὐτῷ πάντες ἄγγελοι Θεοῦ·—"And let all the angels of God worship him." From Ps. 97:7, without change. Only אֱלֹהִים, "gods," is rendered by the apostle ἄγγελοι Θεοῦ, "the angels of God;" the reason whereof afterwards. The LXX., Προσκυνήσατε αὐτῷ πάντες ἄγγελοι αὐτοῦ,—"Worship him all ye his angels;" differing from the apostle both in form of speech and words. Hence some, not understanding whence this testimony was cited by the apostle, have inserted his words into the Greek Bible, Deut. 32:43, where there is no colour for their introduction, nor any thing in the original to answer unto them, whereas the psalmist expressly treateth of the same subject with the apostle; to the reason of which insertion into the Greek version we shall speak afterwards.
Ver. 7. Ὁ ποιῶν τοὺς ἀγγέλους αὐτοῦ πνεύματα, καὶ τοὺς λειτουργοὺς αὑτοῦ πυρὸς φλόγα·—"Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire." From Ps. 104:4. The LXX., πῦρ φλέγον, "a flaming fire;" Heb., לֹהֵט אֵשׁ, "fire of flame;" Aquila, πῦρ λάβρον, "a vehement fire;" Symmachus, πυρίνην φλόγα, "a fiery flame." Much variety, with little or no difference, as often falls out amongst good translators rendering peculiar Hebraisms, such as this is. The apostle's expression is his own, not borrowed from the LXX.
Ver. 8, 9. Ὁ θρόνος σου, ὁ Θεὸς, εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος (וָעֶד עוֹלָם) · ῥάβδος εὐθύτητος ἡ ῥάβδος τῆς βασιλείας σου· ἠγάπησας δικαιοσύνην, καὶ ἐμίσησας ἀνομίαν· διὰ τοῦτο ἔχρισέ σε, ὁ Θεός σου, ἔλαιον ἀγαλλιάσεως παρὰ τοὺς μετόχους σου·—"Thy throne, O God, for ever and ever." (The verb substantive is left out by the apostle, in answer unto the original, וָעֶד עוֹלָם אֱלֹהִים כִּסְאֲךָ, and אֱלֹהִים rendered ὁ Θεὸς, for Θεὲ, which the apostrophe requires.) "A sceptre of uprightness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and thou hast hated iniquity; wherefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." The words exactly answer the original, and they are the same in the translation of the LXX.; and whence that coincidence was we shall afterwards inquire. Aquila somewhat otherwise, Ὁ θρονος σου Θεὲ εἰς αἰῶνα κιὰ ἔτι. Symmachus, Αἰώνιος καὶ ἔτι. (עַד came to be translated ἔτι, from likeness of sound.) In Θεὲ, "O God," he expresseth the apostrophe, which is evident in the context. Σκῆπτρον εὐθύτητος, σκῆπτρον βασιλείας σου. שֵבֶט he renders by σκῆπτρον, "sceptrum," a sceptre, properly, as we shall see afterwards on Gen. 49:10. Ἐμίσησας ἀσέβημα, "Thou hast hated ungodliness," impiety, רֶשַׁע. Ἐλαίῳ χαρᾶς, "With the oil of joy," שָׂשׂוֹן שֶמֶן. Symmachus, Ἐλαίῳ ἀγλαϊσμοῦ, another word of the same signification with that used by the apostle. From Ps. 45:6, 7.
Ver. 10–12. Σὺ κατʼ ἀρχὰς, Κύριε, τὴν γῆν ἐθεμελίωσας, καὶ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν σου εἰσὶν οἱ οὐρανοί· αὐτοὶ ἀπολοῦνται, σὺ δὲ διαμένεις· καὶ πάντες ὡς ἱμάτιον παλαιωθησονται· καὶ ὡσεὶ περιβόλαιον ἑλίξεις αὐτοὺς, καὶ ἀλλαγήσονται· σὺ δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς εἶ, καὶ τὰ ἔτη σου οὐκ ἐκλείψουσι·—"And, Thou, O Lord, in the beginning hast founded the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: they shall perish; but thou remainest; and they shall wax old as doth a garment; and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail." From Ps. 102:25–27. And these words of the apostle are now exactly in the Greek Bible. Some little difference there is in them from the Hebrew, the reason whereof we shall afterwards give an account of. Symmachus for ἐλίξεις reads ἀλλάξεις, and so did the copies of the LXX. of old, the word being yet retained in some of them, and reckoned by all amongst the various readings of that translation. The word Κύριε, "O Lord," inserted by the apostle, is also undoubtedly taken from hence into the Greek Bible; for as the inserting of it was necessary unto the apostle to denote the person treated of, so it is not in the original, nor will the context of the psalm admit of it; so that it could no otherwise come into that place but from this of the apostle. Nor is it probable that the LXX. would translate תַּחֲלִיף, Ἐλίξεις, "Thou shalt roll up," and immediately render יַחֲלֹפוּ, Ἀλλαγήσονται, "They shall be changed." But here also the words have been borrowed from the apostle, whose design was not exactly to translate, but faithfully to apply the sense of the place unto his own purpose.
Ver. 13. Κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου, ἕως ἂν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν σου·—"Sit thou at my right hand, until I place thine enemies the footstool of thy feet." From Ps. 110:1. לִימִינִי, "At my right hand," ἐκ δεξιῶν, in the plural number; of the reason of which change and manner of expression we shall treat in its proper place. And here there remains nothing of difference in any old translation.
3. CHAP. 2. ver. 6–8. Τί ἐστιν ἄνθρωπος, ὅτι μιμνήσκῃ αὐτοῦ· ἢ υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου, ὅτι ἐπισκέπτῃ αὐτὸν; ἠλάττωσας αὐτὸν βραχύ τι παρʼ ἀγγέλους· δόξῃ καὶ τιμῇ ἐστεφάνωσας αὐτὸν, καὶ κατέστησας αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὰ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν σου· πάντα ὑπέταξας ὑποκάτω τῶν ποδῶν αὐτοῦ·. —"What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou hast made him less for a little while than the angels; thou hast crowned him with glory and honour, and hast set him over the works of thy hands: thou hast subjected all things under his feet." From Ps. 8:4–6. The words of the apostle are the same with those in the present copy of the LXX. Theodotion, Βραχύ τι παρὰ θεοῦ, מְעַט מֵאֱלֹהִים, from the ambiguous signification of the word אֱלֹהִים, about which great stirs have been raised; whereof in their proper place. Chrysostom on this text mentions some different translations of the words of the psalm. Ἄλλος, saith he, Τί ὁ κατʼ ἄνδρα ὅτι μνημονεύεις αὐτοῦ; —"Another book reads, 'What is he according to man, that thou rememberest him?' " מָה־אֱנוֹשׁ is not Τί ὁ κατʼ ἄνδρα, but Τί ἄνθρωπος θνήτος; "What is mortal man?" Again, Ἄλλος ἀντὶ τοῦ, Ἐπισκέπτῃ αὐτὸν, Ἐπισκέψῃ αὐτόν·—"Another, instead of, 'Thou visitest him,' 'That thou wilt visit him.' " Again, Ἠλάττωσας αὐτὸν βραχύ τι παρʼ ὠγγέλους· ἕτερος, Βραχύ τι παρὰ Θεόν· ἄλλος, Ὀλίγον πατὰ Θεόν,—"Instead of 'Less for a little while than angels;' another, 'A little less than God;' and another, 'Less than God.' " And, he adds, the Hebrew is, Οὐθασρηοοῦ μὰτ μὴ ἐλωείμ, מֵאֱלֹהִים מְעַט וַתְּחַסְּרֵהוּ. So different was their pronunciation of the Hebrew from that in use amongst us. Again, he adds, Ἕτερος, Δόξῃ καὶ τιμῇ στέψεις αὐτόν,—"Thou shalt crown him with glory and honour;" and yet, ἄλλος, Ἐξουσιάζειν ἐποίησας αὐτόν,—"Thou madest him to have power." From all which variety it is most evident that there were various readings of this context in the ancient copies of the LXX., for no footsteps of them appear in the remains of Aquila, Theodotion, or Symmachus; and that therefore the common reading which is now fixed in the Greek Bible was translated thither from this place of the apostle.
Ver. 12. Ἀπαγγελῶ τὸ ὄνομά σου τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς μου, ἐν μέσῳ ἐκκλησίας ὑμνήσω σε·—"I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the congregation I will sing praise unto thee." From Ps. 22:22. The LXX., Διαγήσομαι τὸ ὄνομα, אֲסַפְּרָה.
Ver. 13. Ἐγὼ ἔσομαι πεποιθὼς ἐπʼ αὐτῷ·—"I will put my trust in him." From Ps. 18:2. LXX., Ἐλπιῶ ἐπʼ αὐτόν·—"I will hope in him." But אֶחֱסֶה־בּוֹ is rightly rendered by the apostle, "I will trust in him." The LXX. have these words of the apostle in Isa. 8:17, where the words of the original are לוֹ וְקִוֵּיתִי,—"And I will wait for him:" so that their words seem to be taken from this place of the apostle, as apprehending his testimony to he cited from the prophet; which that it is not we shall prove evidently afterwards.
The same verse: Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ καὶ τὰ παιδία ἅ μοι ἔδωκεν ὁ Θεός·—"Behold I and the children which God hath given me." From Isa. 8:18.
4. CHAP. 3. ver. 7–11. Σήμερον ἐὰν τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ ἀκούσητε, μὴ σκληρύνητε τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν, ὡς ἐν τῷ παραπικρασμῷ, κατὰ τὴν ἡμέραν τοῦ πειρασμοῦ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ· οὗ ἐπείρασάν με οἱ πατέρες ὑμῶν, ἐδοκίμασάν με, καὶ εἶδον τὰ ἔργα μου τεσσαράκοντα ἔτη· διὸ προσώχθισα τῇ γενεᾷ ἐκείνῃ, καὶ εἶπον, Ἀεὶ πλανῶνται τῇ καρδίᾳ, αὐτοὶ δὲ οὐκ ἔγνωσαν τὰς ὁδούς μου· ὡς ὤμοσα ἐν τῇ ὀργῇ μου· εἰ εἰσελεύσονται εἰς τὴν κατάπαυσίν μου·—"To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the day of provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: when your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do always err in heart; and they have not known my ways. So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest." From Ps. 95:7–11. The translation of the LXX. agrees with the words of the apostle, both of them answering the original. Only, the apostle, clearly to express the reason of God's judgments on that people in the wilderness, distinguisheth the words somewhat otherwise than they are in the Hebrew text. For whereas that saith, "When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works: forty years long was I grieved with that generation;" the apostle adds that season of "forty years" to the mention of their sins, and interposing διό, "wherefore," refers his speech unto the words foregoing, as containing the cause of the ensuing wrath and judgment. And although our present copies of the Greek Bible distinguish the words according to the Hebrew text, yet Theodoret informs us that some copies made the distinction with the apostle, and added διό before προσώχθισα, which also is observed by Nobilius: and this could arise from no other cause but an attempt to insert the very words of the apostle in that text; as did the εἶπον also, reckoned amongst its various lections, though εἶπα remains in the vulgar editions.
5. CHAP. 4. ver. 4. Καὶ κατέπαυσεν ὁ Θεὸς ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν ἔργων αὑτοῦ·—"And God rested on the seventh day from all his works." From Gen. 2:2. The apostle adds ὁ Θεὸς to the text, to complete his assertion, and leaves out עָשָׂה אֲשֶׁר, ἃ ἐποίησε, "which he had made," as not to his purpose. The LXX., ὧν ἐποίησε, and otherwise also differing from the apostle.
6. CHAP. 5. ver. 6. Σὺ ἱερεὺς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισεδέκ· —"Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec." From Ps. 110:4. So also the LXX., עַל־דִּבְרָתִי, with jod superfluous, κατὰ λόγον; i.e., מִנְהַג, Mos. There is nothing of variety remaining in these words from any other translations.
7. CHAP. 6. ver. 14. Εὐλογῶν εὐλογήσω σε, καὶ πληθύνων πληθυνῶ σε· —"Blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee." From Gen. 22:17. The LXX., Πληθυνῶ τὸ σπέρμα σου,—"I will multiply thy seed."
8. CHAP. 8. ver. 8–12. Ἰδοὺ, ἡμέραι ἔρχονται, λέγει Κύριος (LXX., φησὶ Κύριος), καὶ συντελέσω ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον Ἰούδα διαθήκην καινήν (LXX., διαθήσομαι τῷ οἶκῳ Ἰσραὴλ διαθήκην καινήν). οὐ κατὰ τὴν διαθήκην ἣν ἐποίησα τοῖς πατράσιν αὐτῶν (LXX., ἣν διεθέμην), ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ἐπιλαβομένου μου τῆς χειρὸς αὐτῶν, ἐξαγαγεῖν αὐτοὺς ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου· ὅτι αὐτοὶ οὐκ ἐνέμειναν ἐν τῇ διαθήκῃ μου, κἀγὼ ἠμέλησα αὐτῶν, λέγει Κύριος· ὅτι αὕτη ἡ διαθήκη ἣν διαθήσομαι τῷ οἴκῳ Ἰσραὴλ μετὰ τὰς ἡμέρας ἐκείνας, λέγει Κύριος, διδοὺς νόμους μου (LXX., διδοὺς δώσω) εἰς τὴν διάνοιαν αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐπὶ καρδίας αὐτῶν ἐπιγράψω αὐτούς· καὶ ἔσομαι αὐτοῖς εἰς Θεὸν, καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔσονται μοι εἰς λαόν· καὶ οὐ μὴ διδάξωσιν ἕκαστος τὸν πλησίον αὑτοῦ, καὶ ἕκαστος τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὑτοῦ, λέγων, Γνῶθι τὸν Κύριον· ὅτι πάντες εἰδήσουσί με, ἀπὸ μικροῦ αὐτῶν ἕως μεγάλου αὐτῶν· ὅτι ἵλεως ἔσομαι ταῖς ἀδικίαις αὐτῶν, καὶ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν καὶ τῶν ἀνομιῶν αὐτῶν οὐ μὴ μνησθῶ ἔτι· —"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws in their minds, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: and they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." From Jer. 31:31–34. Instead of τὸν πλησίον, "his neighbour," ver. 11, the LXX. read τὸν πολίτην, "his fellow-citizen." But some copies of the LXX. read πλησίον, and some of this text πολίτην; which makes it evident that there hath been tampering, to bring them to uniformity. But the greatest difficulty of this quotation ariseth from the agreement of the apostle's words and the translation of the LXX., where both of them seem to depart from the original: for these words in the Hebrew text, ver. 32, בָם בָּעַלְתִּי וְאָנֹכִי אֶת־בְּרִיתִי הֵפֶרוּ אֲשֶר־הֵמָּה, "Which my covenant they made void, and I was an husband unto them," or "ruled over them," are rendered by them, Οὐκ ἐνέμειναν ἐν τῇ διαθήκῃ μου, καὶ ἐγὼ ἠμέλησα σὐτῶν, "And they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not." The reason of the apostle's translation of these words we shall manifest and vindicate in our exposition of the context. At present the coincidence of it with that of the LXX., and that in a passage wherein they both seem to differ from the original, and all translations besides the Syriac and the Arabic, which are made out of it (though the Syriac follows it not in the confused transpositions that are made of Jeremiah's prophecies, from chap. 25 to chap. 40, as the Arabic doth), is only to be considered; which shall be done so soon as we have recounted the remaining testimonies, whereof some are attended with the same difficulty.
9. CHAP. 9. ver. 20. Τοῦτο τὸ αἷμα τῆς διαθήκης, ἧς ἐνετείλατο πρὸς ὑμᾶς ὁ Θεός·—"This is the blood of the covenant which God hath enjoined unto you." From Exod. 24:8. The sense of the Hebrew text is alluded unto, not the words absolutely. The LXX., Ἰδοὺ τὸ αἷμα τῆς διαθήκης ἧς διέθετο Κύριος πρὸς ὑμᾶς, with much difference from the words of the apostle.
10. CHAP. 10. ver. 5. Θυσίαν καὶ προσφορὰν οὐκ ἠθέλησας, σῶμα δὲ κατηρτίσω μοι·—"Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not have, a body thou hast prepared me." From Ps. 40:6. So also the LXX., both with great difference from the original: for לִּי כָּרִיתָ אָזְנַ ם, "My ears hast thou digged," or "bored," is rendered, "A body thou hast prepared me." Of the reason of which difference and agreement we shall treat afterwards.
Ver. 6. Ὁλοκαυτώματα καὶ περὶ ἁμαρτίας οὐκ εὐδόκησας·—"In burntofferings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure." Heb., שָׁאָלְתָּ לֹא, "Thou hast not required." The apostle expresseth exactly the sense of the Holy Ghost, but observes not the first, exact signification of the word. The LXX., ᾔτησας, and in some copies ἐζήτησας, "soughtest not."
Ver. 7. Ἰδοὺ ἥκω (ἐν κεφαλίδι βιβλίου γέγραπται περὶ ἐμοῦ) τοῦ ποιῆσαι, ὁ Θεὸς, τὸ θέλημά σου·—"Behold, I come (in the head, or beginning, of the book it is written of me) to do thy will, O God:" that is, Gen. 3:15. Heb., בִּמְגִלַּת־סֵפֶר;—"In the roll of the book." Symmachus, Ἐν τῷ τεύχει τοῦ ὁρισμοῦ·—"In the volume of thy determination." Aquila, Ἐν τῷ εἰλήματι· —"In the roll." Ἐν τόμῳ·—"In the section." LXX., Τοῦ ποιῆσαι τὸ θέλημά σου ὁ Θεὸς μου ἠθουλήθην·—"I was willing to do thy will, O my God."
Ver 38. Ὁ δὲ δίκαιος ἐκ πίστεως (LXX., μου) ζήσεται· καὶ ἐὰν ὑποστείληται, οὐκ εὐδοκεῖ ἡ ψυχή μου ἐν αὐτῷ·—"But if any draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him." From Hab. 2:4. The words of the prophet are transposed, and the beginning of the last clause much altered. בּוֹ נַפְשׁוֹ לֹא־יָשְׂרָה עֻפְּלָה הִנֵּה;—"Behold, it is lifted up, his soul is not right in him." But the sense and intendment of the Holy Ghost is preserved, as shall be manifested.
11. CHAP. 12. ver. 5, 6. Υἱέ μου (μου is not in the LXX.; Heb., בְּנִי, "my son,") μὴ ὀλιγώρει παιδείας Κυρίου, μηδὲ ἐκλύου, ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ ἐλεγχόμενος· ὅν γὰρ ἀγαπᾷ Κύριος, παιδεύει· (LXX., ἐλέγχει, and in some copies παιδεύει, from this place of the apostle,) μαστιγοῖ δὲ πάντα υἱὸν ὃν παραδέχεται·—"My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." From Prov. 3:11, 12. רֶצֶה אֶת־בֵּן וּכְאָב;—"And as a father the son whom he delighteth in." The sense is retained, but the words not exactly repeated. Aquila, אַל־תִּמְאָם, Μὴ ἀποδοκίμασον, "Reject not," וְאַל־תָּקֹץ, Theodotion, Μηδὲ ἐγκακήσῃς, "Neither vex thyself."
12. CHAP. 13. ver. 5. Οὐ μή σε ἀνῶ, οὐδʼ οὐ μή σε ἐγκαταλίπω·—"I will not leave thee, neither will I forsake thee." From Josh. 1:5. The LXX., in different words, Οὐκ ἐγκαταλείψω σε, οὐδʼ ὑπερόψομαι σε·—"I will not leave thee, neither will I despise thee." The apostle's words exactly express the original.
Ver. 6 is from Ps. 118:6, without any difficulty attending it.
13. And these are all the places that are cited, κατὰ ῥητόν, by the apostle in this Epistle out of the Old Testament. Very many others there are, which he either alludes unto or expounds, that are not of our present consideration. Neither are these here proposed to be unfolded as to the sense of them, or as to the removal of the difficulties that the application of them by him is attended withal. This is the proper work of the Exposition of the Epistle intended. All at present aimed at is, to present them in one view, with their agreement and differences from the original and translations, that we may the better judge of his manner of proceeding in the citing of them, and what rule he observed therein. And what in general may be concluded from that prospect we have taken of them, I shall offer in the ensuing observations:—
14. First, it is evident that they are exceedingly mistaken who affirm that the apostle cites all his testimonies out of the translation of the LXX., as we intimated is by some pleaded, in the close of the preceding discourse. The words he useth, in very few of them agree exactly with that Greek version of the Old Testament which is now extant,—though apparently, since the writing of this Epistle, it hath grown in its verbal conformity unto the allegations as reported in the New; and in most of them he varieth from it, either in the use of his own liberty, or in a more exact rendering of the original text. This the first prospect of the places and words compared will evince. Should he have had any respect unto that translation, it were impossible to give any tolerable account whence he should so much differ from it almost in every quotation, as is plain that he doth.
15. It is also undeniably manifest, from this view of his words, that the apostle did not scrupulously confine himself unto the precise words either of the original or any translation whatever,—if any other translation, or targum, were then extant besides that of the LXX. Observing and expressing the sense of the testimonies which he thought meet to produce and make use of, he used great liberty, as did other holy writers of the New Testament, according to the guidance of the Holy Ghost, by whose inspiration he wrote, in expressing them by words of his own. And who shall blame him for so doing? Who should bind him to the rules of quotations, which sometimes necessity, sometimes curiosity, sometimes the cavils of other men, impose upon us in our writings? Herein the apostle used that liberty which the Holy Ghost gave unto him, without the least prejudice unto truth or the faith of the church.
16. Whereas any one of these testimonies, or any part of any one of them, may appear at first view to be applied by him unsuitably unto their original importance and intention, we shall manifest not only the contrary to be true against those who have made such exceptions, but also that he makes use of those which were most proper, and cogent, with respect unto them with whom he had to do. For the apostle in this Epistle, as shall be fully evidenced, disputes upon the acknowledged principles and concessions of the Hebrews. It was then incumbent on him, to make use of such testimonies as were granted, in their church, to belong unto the ends and purposes for which by him they were produced. And that these are such, shall be evinced from their own ancient writings and traditions.
17. The principal difficulty about these citations, lies in those wherein the words of the apostle are the same with those now extant in the Greek Bible, both evidently departing from the original. Three places of this kind are principally vexed by expositors and critics; the first is that of Ps. 40:7, where the words of the psalmist, in the Hebrew, כָּרִיתָ אָזְנַ ם לִּי, "My ears hast thou bored" or "digged," are rendered by the apostle, according to the translation of the LXX., Σῶμα δὲ κατηρτίσω μοι, "But a body hast thou prepared me." That the apostle doth rightly interpret the meaning of the Holy Ghost in the psalm, and in his paraphrase apply the words unto that very end for which they were intended, shall be cleared afterwards. The present difficulty concerns the coincidence of his words with those of the LXX., where apparently they answer not the original. The next is that of the prophet Jeremiah, chap. 31:32, בָם בָּעַלְתִּי וְאָנֹכִי, "And I was an husband unto them," or "I was a lord unto them," or "ruled over them," as the Vulgar Latin renders the words; the apostle, with the LXX., Καὶ ἐγὼ ἠμέλησα αὐτῶν, "And I regarded them not," or "despised them." The third is that from Hab. 2:4, בּוֹ נַפְשׁוֹ לֹא־יָשְׁרָה עֻפְּלָה הִנֵּה, "Behold, it is lifted up, his soul is not right in him;" which words the apostle, with the LXX., render, Καὶ ἐὰν ὑποστείληται, οὐκ εὐδοκεῖ ἡ ψυχή μου ἐν αὐτῷ·—"But if any draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him."
18. Concerning these and some other places, many confidently affirm that the apostle waived the original, and reported the words from the translation of the LXX. Cappellus with some others proceed further, and assign the rise of this difference unto some other copies of the Hebrew text, used by the LXX., varying from those which now remain. Thus, in particular, in that place of Jeremiah before mentioned, he conjectures that for בָּעַלְתִי they read גָּעַלְתִי, "I despised them;" as another doth that they read בָּחַלְתִי to the same purpose: for of such conjectures there is no end. But as בָּעַלְתִי may well signify as the apostle expounds it, and in other places doth so, as we shall see afterwards, so this boldness in correcting the text, and fancying, without proof, testimony, or probability, of other ancient copies of the scripture of the Old Testament, differing in many things from them which alone remain, and which indeed were ever in the world, may quickly prove pernicious to the church of God. We must therefore look after another expedient for the removal of this difficulty.
19. I say, then, it is highly probable that the apostle, according to his wonted manner, which appears in almost all the citations used by him in this Epistle, reporting the sense and importance of the places in words of his own, the Christian transcribers of the Greek Bible inserted his expressions into the text; either as judging them a more proper version of the original, whereof they were ignorant, than that of the LXX., or out of a preposterous zeal to take away the appearance of a diversity between the text and the apostle's citation of it. And thus, in those testimonies where there is a real variation from the Hebrew original, the apostle took not his words from the translation of the LXX., but his words were afterwards inserted into that translation. And this, as we have partly made to appear already in sundry instances, so it shall now briefly be further confirmed; for,—
20. First, Whereas the reasons of the apostle for his application of the testimonies used by him in his words and expressions are evident, as shall in particular be made to appear; so no reason can be assigned why the LXX. (if any such LXX. there were) who translated the Old Testament, or any other translators of it, should so render the words of the Hebrew text. Neither various lections, nor ambiguity of signification in the words of the original, can in most of them be pleaded. For instance, the apostle, in applying those words of the psalmist, Ps. 40:7, כָּרִיתָ אָזְנַ ם לִּי, unto the human nature and body of Christ, wherein he did the will of God, did certainly express the design and intention of the Holy Ghost in them; but who can imagine what should move the LXX. to render אֹזֶן, a word of a known signification and univocal, by σῶμα, when they had translated it a hundred and fifty times, that is constantly elsewhere, by οὖς and ὠτίον, an "ear," which alone it signifies? or what should move them to render כָּרַה by καταρτίζω, to "prepare," when the word signifies to "dig" or to "bore," and is always so rendered elsewhere by themselves? Neither did any such thing come into their minds in the translation of those places whence this expression seems to be borrowed, Exod. 21:6, Deut. 15:17. When any man, then, can give a tolerable conjecture why the LXX. should be inclined thus to translate these words, I shall consider it. In the meantime, I judge there is much more ground to suppose that the apostle's expressions, which he had weighty cause to use, were by some person inserted into the Greek text of the Old Testament, than that a translation which those that made it had no cause so to do, evidently forsaking the proper meaning of very obvious words, and their sense, known to themselves, should be taken up and used by the apostle unto his purpose.
21. Secondly, It is certain that some words, used by the apostle, have been inserted into some copies of the Greek Bible, which, being single words, and of little importance, prevailed not in them all; as may be seen in sundry of the foregoing instances. And why may we not think that some whole sentences might, on the same account, be inserted in some of them, which, being of more importance, found a more general acceptance? And how by other means also that translation was variously changed and corrupted of old, and that before the days of Jerome, learned men do know and confess.
22. It is further evident that one place, at least, in this Epistle, which, it may be, some could not conjecture from whence it should be taken, yet finding it urged by the apostle as a testimony out of the Old Testament, is inserted in another place of the text than that from which the apostle took it, and that where there is not the least colour for its insertion. This is the testimony out of Ps. 97:7, which the apostle cites, chap. 1:6, in words much differing from those wherewith the original is rendered by the LXX. This some of the transcribers of the Bible, not knowing well where to find, have inserted, in the very syllables of the apostle's expression, into Deut. 32:43; where it yet abides, though originally it had no place there, as we shall, in the exposition of the words, sufficiently manifest. The same and no other is the cause why מְטָּה is rendered ῥάζδος, Gen. 47:31. And may we not as well think, nay, is it not more likely, that they would insert his words into the places from whence they knew his testimonies were taken, with a very little alteration of the ancient reading, than that they would wholly intrude them into the places from whence they were not taken by him, which yet undeniably hath been done, and that with success? Nay, we find that many things out of the New Testament are translated into the apocryphal books themselves; as, for instance, Ecclus. 24:3, we have these words in the Latin copies, "Ex ore Altissimi prodii primogenita ante omnem creaturam;" which are cited by Bellarmine and others in the confirmation of the deity of Christ, whereas they are taken from Col. 1:15, and are in no Greek copies of that book, [Ecclesiasticus.]
23. Upon these reasons, then,—which may yet be rendered more cogent by many other instances, but that we confine ourselves to this Epistle,—I suppose I may conclude that it is more probable, at least, that the apostle's interpretations of the testimonies used by him, all agreeably unto the mind of the Holy Ghost, were by some of old inserted into the vulgar copies of the Greek translation of the Old Testament, and therein prevailed unto common acceptation, than that he himself followed, in the citation of them, a translation departing without reason from the original text, and diverting unto such senses as its authors knew not to be contained in them, which must needs give offence unto them with whom he had to do. It appears, then, that from hence no light can be given unto our inquiry after the language wherein this Epistle was originally written, though it be clear enough upon other considerations.
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DR OWEN is anxious to make it appear that "very few" of the quotations from the Old Testament in this Epistle agree with the Septuagint, and that in those instances where an agreement obtains between them, the Greek renderings of Paul in the Epistle may have been subsequently inserted in copies of that version. In neither of these conclusions is he sustained by the voice of modern criticism. As the subject is of some importance, we submit the views of three modern writers, who have devoted special attention to it.
Stuart classifies the quotations of the Epistle under the following divisions:—
"1. There are many exact coincidences between the Septuagint and Hebrew and the quotations in our Epistle, in almost every minute word." Of this class he gives fourteen instances:—Heb. 1:5; 1:10, seq.; 1:12; 2:6, seq.; 2:12; 2:13; 3:7, seq.; 3:15; 4:3; 4:7; 5:5; 5:6; 7:17, 21; 13:6.
"2. In a considerable number of cases there is nearly an exact coincidence with the Septuagint and Hebrew, yet with some slight verbal differences." Of this class he gives seven instances:—Heb. 1:6; 4:4; 8:5; 8:8; 9:20; 10:16, 17; 10:37, 38.
"3. There is a number of cases in which there is a little discrepancy in diction from the Septuagint, where it agrees with the Hebrew." Of this class he gives six instances:—Heb. 1:7; 1:8, 9; 12:26; 6:14; 12:20; 12:21.
"4. There is an accordance in several cases with the Septuagint, where it differs from the Hebrew,"—e.g., Heb. 10:5, seq.; 11:21; 12:6; 13:5.
Tholuck remarks of this Epistle, that "its citations are unequally close, and in the longer passages agree quite verbally with the Septuagint. The citation in chap. 10:30 is the only one that forms an exception. Our Epistle, also, in two important passages, ch. 10:5 and ch. 2:7, has followed the Greek version closely, although, according to our existing text, it is essentially defective; as similar errors of translation may be also adduced, ch. 11:21, ἐπὶ τὸ ἄκρον τῆς ῥάβδου, and ch. 13:15, καρπὸν χειλέων." We cannot admit, what Tholuck asserts, that the author of our Epistle has been led either to an erroneous translation, or to an application not corresponding to the Old Testament text. Tholuck himself acknowledges the substantial accuracy of the readings in ch. 10:5 and ch. 13:15. It is questionable if the last instance is a quotation at all. It is held by some to be taken from Hosea 14:3, by reading פְּרִי instead of פָרִים, "fruit" instead of "calves." But if it be derived from any source, it is as probable that Prov. 18:20, פִי פְּרִי, supplied the matrix of the expression. In regard to ch. 2:7, the clause in which it follows the Septuagint, in opposition to the Hebrew, is now omitted, on such critical authority as Griesbach, Scholz, Knapp, Lachmann, and Tischendorf. Nor is Tholuck warranted to speak of the phrase in ch. 11:21 as a mistranslation borrowed from the Septuagint. The question depends upon the vowel-pointing of the Hebrew in Gen. 47:31, whether it should be הַמַּטֶּה, "staff," or הַמִּטָּה, "bed." Stuart has no hesitation in preferring the former, in which case there would be no mistranslation; and it is more reasonable to suppose an error in punctuation, which might be a mistake of the transcriber, than an error of translation in an inspired epistle.
Davidson thus expresses himself on the subject of these citations:—"In the Epistle to the Hebrews the Septuagint is everywhere quoted, irrespective of the fact whether the version gives the sense or not. Departures from the Greek are trifling.… In short, the writer never consulted the Hebrew. There is but one exception to this, namely, ch. 10:30.… It must be maintained that in ch. 10:30 the writer of the present Epistle goes to the Hebrew, departing from the Septuagint."
The citation in ch. 10:30 really suggests the most decisive results. The passage is in harmony with the Hebrew; it varies completely from the Septuagint. Moreover, on comparison with Rom. 12:19, where the same quotation from Deut. 32:35, 36, occurs, the same translation which is given in ch. 10:30 is found, with the important addition in both instances of λέγει Κύριος. The epistles in which a translation so curiously identical occurs must have emanated from the same author. Moreover, he must have availed himself of the Greek version already in existence as freely as he could, since the Hebrew original was comparatively of limited circulation in his day, and only departed from it under the pressure of an absolute necessity. The inspiration that guided him to this course ratified the propriety of translating the Scriptures into all the vernacular tongues of the world.
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ON THE QUESTION TO WHOM THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS WAS WRITTEN
No better place than the present occurs for reference to this point, on which there has been considerable discussion since the days of Owen. The various opinions respecting it may be reduced to four:—1. That it was written to Gentile Christians; 2. To Jewish believers out of Palestine; 3. To Jewish believers in Palestine; and, 4. To Jewish believers in Palestine, but more especially in Jerusalem or Caesarea.
1. Roeth believes it to have been sent to the church at Ephesus; Baumgarten Crusius, to the joint church of the Ephesians and Colossians.
2. Under the second class, Jewish believers generally, or in Asia Minor, or Spain, or Rome, or Alexandria, or elsewhere, have been named as the parties to whom it was addressed.
3. The authorities in favour of the third view are numerous, consisting of the great majority both of the ancient fathers and modern critics. The reasons for this opinion are,—(1.) The weight of ancient authority; for it is supported by the testimony of Jerome, Chrysostom, Theodoret, Theophylact, and the great body of the fathers. (2.) The inscription which the Epistle bears,—Πρὸς Ἑβραίους. Credner and Bleek regard this title or inscription as proceeding from the author of the Epistle; and though this view should be rejected, the antiquity of the inscription is beyond doubt, as it was known to the fathers of the second century, and appears in such ancient versions as the Vetus Itala, and the Peshito. The word Ἑβραίους is, however, of uncertain application, denoting, according to New Testament usage, either Hebrews by religion and nation, as in Phil. 3:5, 2 Cor. 11:22, or the Jews of Palestine who used the Aramaean language, in opposition to the Hellenists,—Jews born out of Palestine, and using chiefly the Greek language, as in Acts 6:1, The analogy of the title of an early Gospel, whether a separate Gospel or an Aramaean original of Matthew's Gospel, Εὐαγγέλιον καθʼ Ἑβραίους, is conceived to fix the meaning of the term in the latter sense, as it is used in the inscription to the Epistle. (3.) The general tenor of the Epistle, as it contains no allusions to any previous heathenism on the part of those to whom it was addressed, and no discussion of the points on which controversy at one time prevailed between the Gentile and Jewish Christians; it presupposes familiar knowledge of the rites and services of the temple on the part of its readers, and warns them against the temptation to which they were specially exposed,—apostasy to Judaism, in consequence of the powerful hold which the Levitical worship, in daily observance before them, had upon their earliest associations. (4.) Particular references which occur in the Epistle. In ch. 13:12, "Without the gate" is a phrase which a Jew resident in Palestine could alone fully understand; in ch. 10:32–34, the persecution alluded to accords with what we know of the sufferings of the primitive Christians in Jerusalem; in ch. 9:5, "It is not necessary," seems to imply a local and personal acquaintance which the readers were presumed to possess of the objects to which reference is made.
The main objection to this view rests on an alleged discrepancy between ch. 12:4, and Acts 8:1–3, and 12:1. It is said that those to whom the Epistle was sent had "not yet resisted unto blood," while both Stephen and James had suffered martyrdom. The persecution in which these saints fell happened in A.D. 38, and A.D. 44. Before the Epistle was written, there was time for another generation to arise, to whom the language might apply with sufficient accuracy, "Ye have not yet resisted unto blood."
4. Moses Stuart assigns reasons for supposing Caesarea to have been the place where the church of Jewish converts existed to whom the Epistle was sent. Paul was not its first teacher, and no such claim is urged in the Epistle. He had many opportunities for becoming acquainted with the Christians there, Acts 9:30, 18:22, 21:8–13, 24:23, 27. The city was inhabited by rich Jews, who, if converted, might have become liable to spoliation, Heb. 10:34. Grecian games were celebrated in this city, and hence such allusions as occur in ch. 10:32, 12:1. Timothy is mentioned in the Epistle, and Timothy was with Paul at Caesarea. Caesarea was but two days' journey from Jerusalem, and the Jews residing in it could understand the temple-service as clearly as the inhabitants of Jerusalem themselves.
Dr Davidson argues that the church in Caesarea would in all probability have a large proportion of Gentile converts, and it is certain that the first convert in Caesarea was Cornelius, a Gentile proselyte, Acts 10. He inclines to the opinion that Jerusalem was the church which first received the Epistle.
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