Shownotes
Welcome to Day 2521 of Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom – Theology Thursday – The New Testament Quotes The Old Testament – I Dare You Not To Bore Me With The Bible.
Wisdom-Trek Podcast Script - Day 2521 Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! I am Guthrie Chamberlain, and we are on Day 2521 of our Trek. The Purpose of Wisdom-Trek is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. Today is the thirty-fourth lesson in our segment, Theology Thursday. Utilizing excerpts from a book titled: I Dare You Not To Bore Me With The Bible written by Hebrew Bible scholar and professor the late Dr. Michael S Heiser, we will invest a couple of years going through the entire Bible, exploring short Biblical lessons that you may not have received in Bible classes or Church. The Bible is a wonderful book. Its pages reveal the epic story of God’s redemption of humankind and the long, bitter conflict against evil. Yet it’s also a book that seems strange to us. While God’s Word was written for us, it wasn’t written to us. Today’s lesson is: The New Testament Quotes the Old Testament. Sometimes when a New Testament writer quotes the Old Testament, the two passages do not match precisely. Is the New Testament writer misquoting the Old Testament? Or is there another explanation? Luke records that when Jesus began His ministry, He went to the synagogue in Nazareth on the Sabbath day. When He stood up to read the Scriptures, “The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him" (Luke 4:17). Jesus read the description of a climactic arrival of the anointed one from Isaiah 61:1- 2, excluding the last half of verse two. That omission is understandable, but if you look at Luke 4:18-19 and Isaiah 61:1-2 side by side, several dissimilarities in what Jesus read are readily apparent. In the original Old Testament passage, there is no reference to making the blind see. Conversely, Isaiah speaks of “binding up the brokenhearted," a phrase absent in Luke. Since Luke is clear that Jesus was reading from a scroll, the divergence is not due to Luke (or Jesus) quoting from memory and messing up the passage! What's going on here?| Luke 4:18-19 | Isaiah 61:1-2 |
| The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. | The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. |
- Live Abundantly (Fully)
- Love Unconditionally
- Listen Intentionally
- Learn Continuously
- Lend to others Generously
- Lead with Integrity
- Leave a Living Legacy Each Day
Transcripts
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom – Theology Thursday – The New Testament Quotes The Old Testament – I Dare You Not To Bore Me With The Bible.
dom-Trek Podcast Script - Day: hamberlain, and we are on Day:Today is the thirty-fourth lesson in our segment, Theology Thursday. Utilizing excerpts from a book titled: I Dare You Not To Bore Me With The Bible written by Hebrew Bible scholar and professor the late Dr. Michael S Heiser, we will invest a couple of years going through the entire Bible, exploring short Biblical lessons that you may not have received in Bible classes or Church.
The Bible is a wonderful book. Its pages reveal the epic story of God’s redemption of humankind and the long, bitter conflict against evil. Yet it’s also a book that seems strange to us. While God’s Word was written for us, it wasn’t written to us. Today’s lesson is: The New Testament Quotes the Old Testament.
Sometimes when a New Testament writer quotes the Old Testament, the two passages do not match precisely. Is the New Testament writer misquoting the Old Testament? Or is there another explanation?
Luke records that when Jesus began His ministry, He went to the synagogue in Nazareth on the Sabbath day. When He stood up to read the Scriptures, “The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him" (Luke 4:17). Jesus read the description of a climactic arrival of the anointed one from Isaiah 61:1- 2, excluding the last half of verse two. That omission is understandable, but if you look at Luke 4:18-19 and Isaiah 61:1-2 side by side, several dissimilarities in what Jesus read are readily apparent.
In the original Old Testament passage, there is no reference to making the blind see. Conversely, Isaiah speaks of “binding up the brokenhearted," a phrase absent in Luke. Since Luke is clear that Jesus was reading from a scroll, the divergence is not due to Luke (or Jesus) quoting from memory and messing up the passage! What's going on here?
Luke 4:18-19
Isaiah 61:1-2
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year
of the Lord's favor.
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
Most of the time when a divergence occurs between a New Testament quotation and the Old Testament, the answer is the Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. It often does not match the Hebrew text from which most Old Testaments were translated. Jesus apparently either read from a Hebrew text that reflected the Septuagint, or Luke fills in the quoted passage with the Septuagint. (And since Luke was not Jewish and spoke Greek, the Septuagint would have been his Bible.)
The Septuagint version of Isaiah 61:1-2 reads, “The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim the release of the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to summon the acceptable year of the Lord” (nets). Jesus (or Luke) gets the “recovery of sight to the blind” line from the Septuagint. The Septuagint also contains a line from the traditional Old Testament that isn't in Luke's record!
This example shows that it's worth our time to check cross references, especially in quotations. Do it yourself by comparing New Testament quotations both to translations of the traditional Hebrew text; like the nasb or Esv, and an up-to-date English translation of the Septuagint.-
We often don't realize that even biblical writers depended on translations that they considered the Word of God. In the same manner, we can consider our own translations the Word of God.
The lessons that make up Theology Thursday on the Wisdom-Trek Podcast for the next couple of years will satisfy the statement, “I Dare You Not to Bore Me with the Bible.” I trust you’ll enjoy them—and, of course, not be bored.
Reflect…
If you found this podcast insightful, subscribe and leave us a review, then encourage your friends and family to join us and come along tomorrow for another day of ‘Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.’.
Thank you so much for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and, most importantly, I am your friend as I serve you through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.
As we take this Trek together, let us always:
Live Abundantly (Fully)
Love Unconditionally
Listen Intentionally
Learn Continuously
Lend to others Generously
Lead with Integrity
Leave a Living Legacy Each Day
I am Guthrie Chamberlain….reminding you to’ Keep Moving Forward,’ ‘Enjoy your Journey,’ and ‘Create a Great Day…Everyday! See you next time for more daily wisdom!