A Body You Prepared For Me — Heb. 10:5

Bible Gems #96
Question: If Hebrews 10:5 is quoting Psalm 40:6, why does the NT quote sound so much different than the OT original?

Where Psalm 40:6 reads “mine ears thou hast opened” (KJV), or “my ears you have pierced” (NIV), Hebrews 10:5 reads: “a body you prepared for me.”  The New Testament quote appears widely different from the Old Testament source.

Here's why:

The apostles and the early church used the Septuagint, rather than the original Hebrew, as their primary version of the Bible. The Septuagint (commonly known as the LXX) is a Greek translation of the Hebrew OT made by Greek and Hebrew speaking Jewish translators in Egypt around 285 - 246 BC. Since Greek was the common language of the NT world, it made sense to use the Greek translation of the Scriptures.

In most ancient manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible, Psalm 40:6 reads (in English): “ears you have dug for me.”  The LXX translates this into Greek as “a body you prepared for me.” Most likely, the translators of the LXX were attempting to make a vague Hebrew figure of speech (‘digging out ears’) more understandable to a Greek speaking audience by making the ‘digging out of the ears’ a reference to God forming the human body, even as He first molded Adam out of the dust of the earth.

The writer of the book of Hebrews used the LXX as his Bible version. On the surface, the difference in his translation compared to the Hebrew seems significant. But the LXX was simply trying to make the sense of the Hebrew text clear to non-Hebrew speaking people. The Hebrew language is very colorful, much like the American Indian languages are very picturesque. Rather than presenting a word-for-word translation from Hebrew to Greek, the translators sought to accurately convey the meaning of the phrase.

  

So the meaning of the original Hebrew was captured by the LXX, and then carried faithfully over into English by both the KJV and the NIV, both capturing the LXX translation of the Hebrew translation of Psalm 40:6.

Once again, God demonstrates how He preserves His Word across time, cultures and languages.

         Ps. 119:89 Your word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.

Can I Trust My Translation (Part 1)

Biblegems # 59

Question: I use the NIV, along with the KJV and other translations. How can I be sure if the translations I use are accurate, according to the original Greek and Hebrew?

My first word of advice is to avoid all those angry posts and websites on the internet (as well as books, tracts and print articles) that condemn modern Bible translations because they may not conform to the KJV. Bible translations flourished and accurately conveyed the Word of God long before the KJV was published in 1611.

I thank God for the King James Bible. It is beautiful in its style and has been used by God for generations in leading people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, it uses 17^th century English, and cannot speak to the Chinese, the French or Russian speaking people. Language is fluid and changes over time; archaic English is increasingly difficult for modern English speaking people to understand.

The real issue is one of integrity. Does the translation you use accurately convey the meaning of the original languages of the Old and New Testaments? For the average Bible reader, the answer can usually be found in the “Introduction” pages in the front of your Bible. If your paperback edition does not have an Introduction, find a hard back or leather bound edition. The Introduction should tell you Who did the translation, Why they believed a new translation was needed, What Greek and Hebrew manuscripts they relied upon the most, and How they decided to translate difficult or unclear words or concepts.

All of the above affect the way your Bible version reads and how accurate it is. But the most important factors are What Hebrew and Greek manuscripts the translators used and How they decided to translate difficult passages.

For example, look at Mark 2:9 in three translations, compared to a literal, word for word translation of the Greek:

Literal Greek Translation¹: And they, hearing the king, went and — Look! — a star, which they had seen in the east, went ahead of them until it came to the place over where the child was.

KJV:         When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.

NIV         After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.

CEV         The wise men listened to what the king said and then left. And the star they had seen in the east went on ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.

Each of these translations aimed at bringing the Greek into the English language in a way that preserves accuracy and at the same time reads and sounds like the English language spoken at the time of the translation.

(Next week will be part 2 of this article)

Resources: 1 Nestle-Aland 26 at studylight.org