Old Testament quotations in the New Testament frustrated me terribly as I began to study the Bible.  When I turned back to the passages listed in the footnotes and read the actual text, it was often significantly different.  How could Paul and even Jesus quote the Old Testament so poorly and inaccurately?  It was difficult for me to see how they arrived at the understanding they presented.  And it was even more difficult for me to believe that they were correct.

A table follows with quotations from Paul’s sermon at Pisidian Antioch, the NET translation of the Old Testament passage he quoted, and the New American Bible translation of the same passage.  (I was told that the New American Bible was better regarding this issue.)

Items #1-3 are not too bad in either translation.  I’d give the advantage to the New American Bible for Item #2, a man after his own heart.  The trouble begins in Items #4 and #5.  Again I’d give the advantage to the New American Bible on Item #4.  In the NET translation I’m not sure whether God will give the Messiah the same promises made to David or others like them.  And in Item #5 all hell breaks loose, literally.  Paul spoke about the Lord’s Holy One not experiencing decay or corruption, but both Bible translations are about Sheol and the Pit.

Here is the context for Paul’s usage of these Old Testament texts (Acts 13:32-39 NET).

And we proclaim to you the good news about the promise to our ancestors, that this promise God has fulfilled to us, their children, by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second psalm, ‘You are my Son; today I have fathered you.’  But regarding the fact that he has raised Jesus from the dead, never again to be in a state of decay (διαφθοράν, a form of διαφθορά), God has spoken in this way: ‘I will give you the holy and trustworthy promises made to David (Table).’  Therefore he also says in another psalm, ‘You will not permit your Holy One to experience decay (διαφθοράν) [Table].’  For David, after he had served God’s purpose in his own generation, died, was buried with his ancestors, and experienced decay (διαφθοράν) [Table], but the one whom God raised up did not experience decay (διαφθοράν).  Therefore let it be known to you, brothers, that through this one forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by this one everyone who believes is justified from everything from which the law of Moses could not justify you (Table).

This was a rather important doctrine to be based on such inaccurate quotation of Old Testament Scripture.  I was surprised that no one stood up in the synagogue in Pisidian Antioch to correct Paul’s misquotes.  While Item #6 is not too awful, apparently the words you scoffers and any mention of perishing or disappearing wasn’t in the original text.  So I was left with the impression that Paul added the pejorative and threatening language.

Later, I learned that Paul had quoted from the Septuagint (LXX), a Greek translation of the Hebrew Scripture completed in Alexandria about 200 years before the birth of Jesus.  Below is a table with Paul’s quotation from the NET and New American Bibles, the Old Testament text in Greek from the Septuagint, and the parallel Greek text used by the translators of the NET.  Both the Septuagint and the parallel Greek text used by the NET translators are available online.

Except for accent marks Item #1 is identical in both the Septuagint and the parallel Greek text.  In Item #2 the phrase began with ἄνθρωπος in the Septuagint and ἀνδρα (a form of ἀνήρ) in the parallel Greek text.  Both may be translated man.  The phrase in the Septuagint ended with a form of αὐτός (self) and with μοῦ (I, me, my, mine) in the parallel Greek text.  The rest, except for accent marks, are identical, and a form of καρδία (heart) is clearly in both.  And finally, except for accent marks Item #3 is identical in Psalm 2:7 in the Septuagint and Acts 13:33 in the parallel Greek text.

In Hebrews 8:10 NET διαθηκη ην διαθησομαι is translated is the covenant that I will establish; διαθηκη = is the covenant; διαθησομαι = I will establish.  So I am guessing that the beginning of Item #4, διαθήσομαι ὑμῖν διαθήκην αἰώνιον from Isaiah 55:3 in the Septuagint means something like I will establish with you this covenant eternal as opposed to simply δωσω υμιν (I give you) in the parallel Greek text of Acts 13:34.  After that except for accent marks both are identical.

Item #5 begins with two different forms of negation, but after that except for accent marks both are identical.  The final word in both the Septuagint and the parallel Greek text is διαφθορά (decay, corruption) not βόθυνος (cistern, ditch, pit), nor ἄβυσσος (depthless, abyss, deep, bottomless, pit), nor φρέαρ (cistern, well, abyss, prison, pit), nor ταρταρόω (abyss, incarcerate, hell) [Addendum: 8/8/2022 τάρταρος], nor τάφος (grave, sepulchre, tomb), nor ληνός (trough, vat, winepress), nor χάσμα (chasm, gulf), nor γέεννα (valley of the son of Hinnom, hell).

Item #6 displays some significant differences between the Septuagint and the parallel Greek text.  The phrase καὶ ἐπιβλέψατε in Habakkuk 1:5 was not repeated in Acts 13:41.  The word καὶ is a conjunction, probably and in this case.  The closest I could find to ἐπιβλέψατε was επιβλεψητε in James 2:3 (NET), which was translated do you pay attention.  So I assume the text of Habakkuk contained not only the word look (ἴδετε) but followed with and pay attention (καὶ ἐπιβλέψατε).  [Addendum 08/30/2019: ἐπιβλέψατε is the Aorist Active Imperative 2nd Person Plural form of ἐπιβλέπω]  Next, where the parallel Greek text reads και θαυμασατε the Septuagint had καὶ θαυμάσατε θαυμάσια.  I found θαυμασια in Matthew 21:15 (NET) translated the wonderful.  So my assumption is that θαυμασια modifies θαυμάσατε.  Paul said and be amazed (και θαυμασατε) where the Septuagint said something like and be wonderfully amazed (καὶ θαυμάσατε θαυμάσια) or perhaps, and be amazed by miracles.

The second clause was joined by διότι (on the very account that, or inasmuch as) in the Septuagint and οτι (because, translated for) in the parallel Greek text.  (I suspect it has something to do with language construction since εργον (a work) was repeated at the beginning of the next clause in the parallel Greek text and not in the Septuagint.)  In the Septuagint ἔργον ἐγὼ ἐργάζομαι (a work I am doing) follows the conjunction διότι.  In the parallel Greek text εργον εργαζομαι εγω (a work am doing I) follows the conjunction οτι.  The latter is clumsy in English but I don’t think word order has the same significance in Greek.  Finally the parallel Greek text ended with a more definitive εκδιηγηται υμιν (tells you) while the Septuagint ended ἐκδιηγῆται (probably something like, tells of it).

Compared to the other quotations I’ve looked at these differences are significant (and I can’t explain them) but not substantial.  What is important to me is that οἱ καταφρονηταί (you scoffers) and καὶ ἀφανίσθητε (and perish or and disappear) occur in both.  Paul was not as bad at quoting Old Testament scripture as I at first thought.  In fact, this whole exercise leads me to believe that the Septuagint is like a snapshot of at least Diaspora Jewish thinking on the Bible when their Messianic hopes were still vital.

I suspect that no one interrupted or corrected Paul in the synagogue in Pisidian Antioch because they all used the Septuagint, or had not yet gotten word from the religious authorities that the Hebrew language no longer meant what it meant when the Septuagint was translated.  Bible scholars and translators today (and apparently since Jerome in the fifth century) prefer the Hebrew text.  I doubt a tradition with that longevity is going to change any time soon.  But as I said before all of these resources are online.  I don’t know Greek either, but with a concordance and a little comparison and contrast among texts one can begin to see through the fog.

Addendum (6/19/2015): Jim Searcy has published that the Septuagint is a hoax written by Origen and Eusebius 200 hundred years or so after Christ.  “In fact, the Septuagint ‘quotes’ from the New Testament and not vice versa…”  His contention is that the “King James Version is the infallible Word of God.”  So, I’ll re-examine the quotations above with the KJV.

Items #1 – #5 correspond excellently between Old Testament and Paul’s quotations in his sermon at Antioch.  Item #6 indicates that Paul (inspired by the Holy Spirit) altered a text addressed to the heathen, applied it to the Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, called them despisers, and threatened them (perish).  Later Origen copied this text into his false Greek text which became the Septuagint, if Mr. Searcy is correct.

The alternative here would be that the despisers could no longer bear to hear this word in the Hebrew text and assumed it was meant for the heathen, after the Greek text of the original Hebrew was firmly established.  Paul did seem to indicate that his words were what was spoken of in the prophets (τὸ εἰρημένον ἐν τοῖς προφήταις).

Addendum: August 30, 2019
Tables comparing Psalm 89:20; 1 Samuel 13:14; Psalm 2:7 and Habakkuk 1:5 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and tables comparing in the Tanakh and NET, and tables comparing Psalm 89:20 (89:21); 1 Samuel (Kings, Reigns) 13:14; Psalm 2:7 and Habakkuk 1:5 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor) follow.