Sam Shamoun

Question:

The author of Hebrews cites an OT text and applies it to Christ. The text in question is taken from Psalm 40:6 and says that Jesus spoke prophetically there regarding the body that God prepared for him in order to come as the final sacrifice (cf. Hebrews 10:5-10). The problem with the quote is that the Psalm says nothing about a body being prepared, but speaks of the Psalmist’s ears being opened for service. How can the NT books be inspired if they so blatantly distort the words of the OT scriptures?

Answer:

Here is what the author of Hebrews wrote:

"Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, ‘Sacrifices and offerings thou hast not desired, but a body hast thou prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings thou hast taken no pleasure. Then I said, "Lo, I have come to do thy will, O God," as it is written of me in the roll of the book.’ When he said above, ‘Thou hast neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings’ (these are offered according to the law), then he added, ‘Lo, I have come to do thy will.’ He abolishes the first in order to establish the second." Hebrews 10:5-10

When we read the particular Psalm that the author quoted we do find that there is indeed a variant reading:

"Sacrifice and offering thou dost not desire; but thou hast given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering thou hast not required. Then I said, ‘Lo, I come; in the roll of the book it is written of me; I delight to do thy will, O my God; thy law is within my heart.’" Psalm 40:6-8

On this basis it is assumed that the author deliberately tampered with the text to suit his theological agenda.

What this question fails to consider is that the NT authors often quoted a couple of OT text types that are at variance with the standard Hebrew Masoretic text. In fact, the NT authors at times quote a more ancient form of the text than the later Masoretic version as can be seen from a comparison with the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Septuagint (LXX), the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. These two texts often agree with each other in certain readings over against those found in the later Hebrew version.

One must therefore exercise caution before assuming that the NT is corrupting or quoting from an inaccurate version of the Hebrew text solely because their citations differ from those found in the Masoretic version.

In this case, it seems that the author of Hebrews cited an older form of the text, one found in the Septuagint version of the OT Scriptures:

Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not; but a body hast thou prepared me: whole-burnt-offering and sacrifice for sin thou didst not require.

Thus, the Septuagint serves as a witness to an older reading of the Psalms which contained the word body as opposed to that found in certain Hebrew versions.

Yet the fact of the matter is that the great majority of these variants are inconsequential, of no real significance, and can be easily reconciled. None of these variants affect any essential doctrine of the Christian faith.

These references actually help illustrate this point clearly. A careful reading of these two specific variants help clarify one another, and in no way contradict the point being made by the inspired author of Hebrews.

For instance, the Hebrew word for open in Psalm 40:6 comes from karah, a word that has the following meanings:

It is used in Psalm 22:16 in reference to the Messiah’s hands and feet being pierced through:

"Yea, dogs are round about me; a company of evildoers encircle me; they have pierced my hands and feet –"