As for the Septuagint comparison, this analysis relies
on the Table of Quotations in New Testament Order. That table contains
a column entitled "Meaning" with annotations: "J," "H"
or "D." A "J" indicates that the quotation agrees with the Septuagint
agains the sense of the Masoretic text, an "H" that the quotation supports
the Hebrew sense against the Septuagint. The quotation is marked
by a "D" when the quotation disagrees in meaning with both the Septuagint
and the Hebrew. The following table summarizes the disagreement of
the New Testament with the Hebrew Old Testament as a source. For
each New Testament book, the number of quotations from each Old Testament
book is shown, but the number of times the New Testament reading differs
in meaning from the Hebrew Old Testament text - both "J" and "D" readings
- is also indicated. Thus, Matthew differs in sense from the Masoretic
text 16 times out of 54 quotations. Nine of these disagreements occur
when Matthew quotes from Isaiah. Looking along the rows, note that
Deuteronomy is quoted against the sense of the Masoretic text 13 times,
2 of these quotations occurring in the book of Romans.
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quot. |
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Total |
101.5/320
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Genesis |
4/31
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Exodus |
2/31.33
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Leviticus |
0/15.83
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Numbers |
1/2
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Deut. |
13/43.33
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1 Samuel |
0/1
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2 Samuel |
0/2.5
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1 Kings |
0/2
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Job |
0/2
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Psalms |
20/76.5
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Proverbs |
5/6
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Isaiah |
43.5/65.5
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quot. |
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Jeremiah |
2/5
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Ezekiel |
0/1
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Daniel |
0/5
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Hosea |
4/7
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Joel |
1/2
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Amos |
2/2
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Jonah |
0/1
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Micah |
1/2
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Habakkuk |
2/4
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Haggai |
0/1
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Zechariah |
1/7
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Malachi |
0/4
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Instances where the New Testament Differs in Meaning from the Masoretic Text
The following two tables summarize these results, providing
percentage agreement for each Old Testament and New Testament book.
For instance, Zechariah is quoted 7 times, 6 of which are in agreement
with the meaning of the Masoretic text. Thus, the New Testament follows
the Hebrew version of Zechariah 85.7% of the time. Similarly, Luke
follows the Masoretic reading in 21 of 26 passages, for a percentage agreement
= 80.1%.
Percentage Agree-
|
Although the agreement between the New Testament
and the Septuagint was seen to be lowest in the gospels, the Masoretic
text fared even more poorly here. Proceeding as before, we find the
following for natural New Testament groupings:
Synoptic gospels - 76.6
Luke's quotations agree in meaning with the Masoretic text 77.3% of the time. It appears, then, that agreement with the Masoretic text is best in the gospels, and considerably worse in Paul's writings and the other epistles. The most remarkable number in the table at the left is the agreement percentage for the book of Isaiah, only 33.6%. Other important books - Psalms and Deuteronomy - also show strong divergence from the Masoretic text. But the New Testament's tendency to disagree with Isaiah is striking. |
Percentage Agreement
by New Testament Book |