Some Ta’anak (Old Testament) quotations in the Ta’anak (Old Testament) follow the Yuuniy (Greek) translation process known as the Septuagint (LXX). That is not true of every one. Some match the Abariy (Hebrew) text more closely, some match neither exactly, and some seem to be adapted by the writer for a specific audience. If you want to understand what Yahusha and the emissaries (apostles) actually said and why the wording sometimes differs from your Ta’anak (Old Testament), you need to look at the passages one by one.
This guide explains what the Septuagint is, which quotations matter most, what scholars say about the pattern, and how to study these verses without running ahead of the evidence.
TL;DR
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Most direct citations in the Bariyt Hadash (New Testament) are in Yuuniy (Greek), and almost all come from books later canonized in the Hebrew Bible, so the Yuuniy (Greek) wording is the one readers meet first.
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“Follows the Septuagint” is a spectrum. Some quotations agree closely, others differ, and the writers worked in a fluid textual world with several traditions in circulation.
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Abariym (Hebrews) 10:5 and Ma’ashiym (Acts) 15:16-18 are the clearest cases where the Yuuniy (Greek) wording carries part of the argument.
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Study each quotation in three steps: the Abariy (Hebrew) context, the Yuuniy (Greek) translation, then the Bariyt Hadash (New Testament) use.
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Knowing the source text does not replace the original message. It helps you read it with more care.
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Promote The Truth™ have worked to recover and translate texts based on the oldest available sources in Abariy (Hebrew) and Aramiyt (Aramaic), with the goal of offering a reading that is closer to the original writings.
Table of Contents
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How Often Does the Bariyt Hadash (New Testament) Follow the Septuagint?
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Why the Pattern Is Not Simply “Yahusha (Jesus) Quoted the Septuagint”
What the Septuagint Is and Why It Matters Here
The Septuagint is the ancient Yuuniy (Greek) translation of the Abariy (Hebrew) Scriptures, produced by Jewish communities well before the first century. If you want the background on why Scripture was put into Yuuniy (Greek) at all, we cover it in our scholar’s guide to why Scripture was translated into Yuuniy (Greek).
Two facts frame everything below.
First, Some says the Bariyt Hadash was composed in Yuuniy (Greek). Scholars describe scriptural (biblical) Yuuniy (Greek) as a mixed language in which many words, though scriptural (biblical) in form, express Abariy (Hebrew) meanings. So a scriptural (biblical) quotation of a Abariy (Hebrew) passage is not automatically a distortion. The vocabulary itself was shaped by Abariy (Hebrew) thought.
Second, Yahusha and his first followers were Yahudiym (Jews). Researchers on early quotations note that they would have had access to the scrolls of the books that later became the Septuagint or the Abariy (Hebrew) Scriptures. They were not outsiders quoting a foreign book. They were reading their own Scriptures in the languages their communities used.
How Often Does the Bariyt Hadash (New Testament) Follow the Septuagint?
The popular claim is that the great majority of quotations come from the Septuagint. Several top-ranking pages say so. The careful answer is more modest.
Scholars of the Yuuniy (Greek) mindset point out that the quotations in the Bariyt Hadash are mostly given in Yuuniy (Greek), apart from a few words. That much is simple. But “in Yuuniy (Greek)” does not mean “word for word from a Septuagint manuscript we still have.” Three realities complicate the tally:
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The Septuagint was not one fixed book. Different Yuuniy (Greek) forms circulated, including the original translation and later revisions toward the Abariy (Hebrew).
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The writers adapted. They shortened, combined and reworded to fit an argument.
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Abariy (Hebrew) traditions were also alive. Some citations agree with Abariy (Hebrew) readings that differ from the later standard text.
Some scholar caution against leaning too hard on a single source theory. First-century was fluid, and authors drew on several traditions, textual variations and scrolls. A tidy percentage can hide that.
There is also an interesting twist. The quotations themselves are evidence. Researchers note that New Testament citations are among the oldest witnesses to the Septuagint, sometimes older than the surviving manuscript copies, so they help trace how the Yuuniy (Greek) text developed from its earliest form to later revised forms. In other words, the relationship runs both ways.
Key Passages Where the Yuuniy (Greek) Wording Matters
A quick reference table of well-known cases, followed by two closer looks.
| New Testament passage | Old Testament source | What to notice |
|---|---|---|
| Matatiyahu (Matthew) 1:23 | Yisha’aiyahu (Isaiah) 7:14 | The Yuuniy (Greek) word for the young woman is the point of long debate |
| Matatiyahu (Matthew) 4:4 | Dabariym (Deuteronomy) 8:3 | Short, stable quotation; the sense is the same in Abariy (Hebrew) and Yuuniy (Greek) |
| Maraqu (Mark) 7:6-8 | Yisha’aiyahu (Isaiah) 29:13 | The Yuuniy (Greek) wording of the final clause differs from the Abariy (Hebrew) phrasing |
| Ma’ashiym (Acts) 15:16-18 | Amuts (Amos) 9:11-12 | The Yuuniy (Greek) reading changes who seeks Yahuah |
| Abariym (Hebrews) 10:5-7 | Tahliy (Psalm) 40:6-8 | A body prepared versus ears opened or dug |
Treat the last column as a prompt to check the verses yourself. Some of these differences are small and some are large, and you should read the passages in full before drawing conclusions.
Abariym (Hebrews) 10:5 and Tahliy (Psalm) 40
Abariym (Hebrews) puts the words of Tahliy (Psalm) 40 on the lips of the Mashiyha (Messiah): sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for Me. One study of this passage notes that the author draws on the Yuuniy (Greek) wording “you have prepared”, whereas the Abariy (Hebrew) has an expression usually rendered as “dug out” for me. The Abariy (Hebrew) idea appears to be a worshiper fitted to serve YAHUAH from the heart.
The two readings are not the same, yet both speak of a person equipped for obedience. Abariym (Hebrews) draws on the Yuuniy (Greek) form to press the point that the Mashiyha (Messiah) had a body prepared to do the Father’s will.
Ma’ashiym (Acts) 15:16-18 and Amuts (Amos) 9
At the Yirushalam (Jerusalem) council, Ya’aqab (James) supports the welcome of the nations by citing Amuts (Amos). A journal study of the passage observes that James quotes from the Septuagint rather than the Abariy (Hebrew) text, and that this is exactly where the difficulty arises, because the two versions read differently.
Another study of the use of the Ta’anak (Old Testament) in the New notes that in Ma’ashiym (Acts) 15:17 the Yuuniy (Greek) supplies an object, “the Lord,” where the other reading simply leaves the clause incomplete, and the two readings produce very different meanings. A reader who only checks a Abariy (Hebrew)-based Ta’anak may think Ya’aqab (James) misquoted. A reader who only knows the Yuuniy (Greek) may never see that the Abariy (Hebrew) says something else. You need both in front of you.
Why the Pattern Is Not Simply “Yahusha (Jesus) Quoted the Septuagint”
Search results often headline that Yahusha quoted the Septuagint. A few cautions help.
We do not have the spoken words. The Bashurah (Gospels) record teaching that was likely given in Abariy (Hebrew) or Aramiyt (Aramaic) and then written in Yuuniy (Greek). A Yuuniy (Greek) quotation in a Bashurah (Gospels) is the Yuuniy (Greek) rendering of what was said, and it may be his choice of how to put a Scripture into Yuuniy (Greek).
Introductory formulas are not simple. The writers use phrases such as “it is written” or “Aluah said.” Research on these formulas shows they do not always mark a move from written to oral tradition. They often bring the preserved Word vividly into the present, which shows deliberate and conscious engagement with Scripture.
The texts traveled separately. The same research summary reports that the Bariyt Hadash (New Testament) and the Septuagint were transmitted independently until at least the fifth and sixth centuries. Codices Sinaiticus, Vaticanus and Alexandrinus show that scriptoria often held both but did not harmonize them. That matters because it argues against the idea that later scribes simply edited one to match the other.
A Three-Step Method for Studying Any Quotation
Some scholars recommends distinguishing three hermeneutical realms: the meaning of the Abariy (Hebrew) text in its own context, the meaning of the Septuagint text, and the way the Bariyt Hadash (New Testament) writer applies that Yuuniy (Greek) text for his audience. Here is a practical way to follow that.
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Read the original passage in context. Go back to the chapter in the Ta’anak, not only the verse. Our guide to understanding Ta’anak historical context shows how.
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Compare the wording. Set the Abariy (Hebrew)-based reading beside the Yuuniy (Greek) reading and the Bariyt Hadash (New Testament) citation. Mark each difference: a word, a clause, a sequence.
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Ask what the writer does with it. Is the difference doing argumentative work, as in Abariym (Hebrews) 10, or is it a natural variation in translation?
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Check the manuscript witnesses. Variants exist on all sides. Our pieces on Dead Sea Scrolls variants and textual criticism of Scripture explain how to weigh them.
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Hold your conclusion with humility. If the evidence is mixed, say so.
For wider habits of reading, see how to read Scripture in historical context and our overview of common challenges in exegesis.
The Abariy (Hebrew) Text Question
Many modern readers assume that the Abariy (Hebrew) Masoretic Text is the obvious standard and that any Yuuniy (Greek) difference is an error. A study argues that the preference for the Masoretic Text in modern translation is largely a post-fourth-century development, tied to Jerome’s Latin translation.
That is one reading of the history, and we would not ask you to adopt it blindly. The balanced lesson is that neither text should be treated as untouchable. The Dead Sea Scrolls showed that more than one Abariy (Hebrew) form existed in the period, some of them closer to the Yuuniy (Greek) than to the later standard Abariy (Hebrew). Reading with that in mind keeps you from two errors: assuming the emissaries (apostles) were careless, and assuming the Yuuniy (Greek) always preserves the older reading.
Perspective: Why We Care About Source Texts
At Promote The Truth we believe the way to honor the Scriptures is to go as close to the sources as we can. That means the earliest Abariy (Hebrew) and Aramiyt (Aramaic) manuscript witnesses for the Ta’anak and Bariyt Hadash, and an honest look at the Yuuniy (Greek) tradition wherever the Bariyt Hadash (New Testament) writers cite it.
We and many others believe a quotation is never a reason to stop reading. When a Bariyt Hadash writer quotes the Septuagint, we want to know what stood behind that Yuuniy (Greek), what the Abariy (Hebrew) said in its setting, and what the writer meant to teach. That is why our translation work restores the Name YAHUAH and the original names and meanings, and why we try to explain our choices instead of merely announcing them.
We also try to be fair to the evidence. The Septuagint is not our enemy and it is not our final authority. It is a witness, an early and valuable one, and the Bariyt Hadash (New Testament) citations are part of its story. Read each one with the manuscripts open, and let the text correct you.
— Maria
Study These Passages With the Truth Scriptures
If you want to work through quotations like these with a translation built from ancient Abariy (Hebrew) and Aramiyt (Aramaic) sources, the Truth Scriptures Translation is our English restoration of the Ta’anak and Bariyt Hadash. You can also use the Truth Scriptures Digital Collection for study on a screen, and our free Names and Places download to keep the restored names straight as you read. For guided study with others, see the virtual retreats, each listed at 197 GBP.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
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Counting without checking. A list of “300 quotations” depends on what counts as a quotation, an allusion or an echo.
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Treating a difference as an error. A different word may reflect a different manuscript tradition or a deliberate application.
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Ignoring the Hebrew context. The meaning of the Yuuniy (Greek) verse often depends on the chapter it came from.
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Building doctrine on one word. Where the readings split, weigh the whole witness of Scripture.
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Forgetting the manuscripts. Our piece on textual variants in the Bariyt Hadash shows why raw counts can mislead.
FAQ
Is the Septuagint quoted in the Bariyt Hadash (New Testament)?
Yes, in many places. Some Ta’anak (Old Testament) citations in the Bariyt Hadash are in Yuuniy (Greek), and a good number agree with Septuagint wording. Others differ from it, so each passage needs its own check.
What did Yahusha (Jesus) quote from the Septuagint?
The Bashurah (Gospels) record Yuuniy (Greek) forms of passages such as Dabariym (Deuteronomy) 8:3 and Yisha’aiyahu (Isaiah) 29:13. Because his teaching was likely delivered in Abariy (Hebrew) or Aramiyt (Aramaic), the Yuuniy (Greek) wording we read may be the Bashurah (Gospels) writer’s rendering. Compare the passages with their Ta’anak (Old Testament) contexts before drawing a firm conclusion.
Is there a Septuagint version of the New Testament?
No. The Septuagint is the Yuuniy (Greek) translation of the Abariy (Hebrew) Scriptures. Two collections were transmitted separately for centuries, even though they often sit in the same codex.
Does the Bariyt Hadash (New Testament) always quote the Septuagint word for word?
No. Writers shortened, combined and reworded their citations, and they worked in a period when several textual traditions circulated. Studying the wording of each quotation is the only reliable approach.
Sources
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Varieties of Greek in the Septuagint and the New Testament, Cambridge
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Interpreting Septuagint Quotations in the New Testament, Unio cum Christo