Old Testament Passages Referred to or Quoted in the New Testament

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Matthew Henry

The New Testament writers included approximately 250 express Old Testament quotations, and if one includes indirect or partial quotations, the number jumps to more than 1,000 (referring to all OT books except Obadiah) It is to be noted that the whole New Testament contains not even one explicit citation of any of the Old Testament Apocrypha which are considered as canonical by the Roman Catholic Church. This omission can scarcely be viewed as accidental.

It is clear that the writers of the New Testament were concerned with demonstrating the continuity between the Old Testament Scriptures and the faith they proclaimed. They were convinced that in Jesus the Old Testament promises had been fulfilled. We will examine the New Testament Scriptures to see how these verses / passages are utilized.

I. Prophetic truth in the New Testament is presented by citing specific Old Testament passages.

A. “It is written” (Matt. 4:4 cites Deut. 8:3; Rom. 1:17 cites Hab. 2:4; I Cor. 1:19 cites Isa. 29:14, etc.). This phrase is used over 70 times in the New Testament.

B. “This is what the prophet has written,” (Matt. 2:5-6 cites Micah 5:2, etc.)

C. “As it is written in the second Psalm” (Acts 13:33 cites Psa. 2:7, etc.)

D. “The Lord has said through the prophet” (Matt. 1:22-23 cites Isa. 7:14; Matt. 2:15 cites Psa. 72:10, etc.)

E. “The Scripture” says (John 19:24 cites Psa. 22:18; Gal. 3:8 cites Gen. 12:3, etc.) The term “Scripture” is used 48 times in the New Testament, referring to the Old Testament in general or to a specific book of the Old Testament.

II. Spiritual truth is confirmed in the new testament by quoting old testament passages.

A. By using “the Scripture says” the teaching is shown to have its basis in the OldTestament also (Rom. 10:11 cites Isa. 28:16; I Tim. 5:18 cites Deut. 25:4, etc.).

B. Old Testament passages are sometimes just cited from numerous places in the Old Testament in order to establish a point (Rom. 3:10-12 cites Psa. 14:1-3; Rom. 3:13 cites Psa. 5:9 and Psa. 140:3; Rom. 3:14 cites Psa. 10:7; Rom. 3:15-17 cites Isa. 59:7-8; Rom. 3:18 cites Psa. 36:1). Notice the wide range of passages cited and utilized back to back to establish a point.

III. Preachers  utilized  the Scriptures in their teaching.

A. Jesus utilized Old Testament Scripture in teaching people about Himself and His mission....Luke 24:27, 32, 45-47

B. Jesus indicated that people should be acquainted with Scriptural teaching...Matt. 22:29

C. Early preachers reasoned from and appealed to Scripture (Acts 17:2, 18:24, 28)

D. People were encouraged to examine the Scriptures to verify the teaching they were receiving...Acts 17:11; John 5:39

IV.  Brief phrases are sometimes lifted from the old testament to establish a point, without even quoting the entire passage.

Matt. 21:13 cites a portion of Jer. 7:11, etc.

V. Sometimes a point is established by referring to  “thescriptures” without citing a specific passage.

A. Christ’s resurrection is said to be “according to the Scriptures” 1 Cor. 15:4, Luke 24:46

B. New Testament writers sometimes cited a passage without stating where it was found (remember, there were no chapter and verse designations at that time)...Heb. 2:6, 4:4

VI. Inspired writers sometimes quoted or referred to other new testament passages as “scripture”.

A. I Tim. 5:18 cites Luke 10:7 (Matt. 10:10), instead of an Old Testament passage.

B. Peter refers to Paul’s writings as “Scripture” (II Peter 3:16)

VII. Sometimes a passage was quoted from a translation (greek) instead of the original hebrew old testament.

“The Septuagint (LXX) was the Bible of Jesus and the apostles. Most New Testament quotations are taken from it directly...” (A General Introduction to the Bible by Geisler and Nix, page 254). An example is Heb. 10:5, which quotes from the Septuagint (LXX) Greek Old Testament, instead of from Psa. 40:6 in the Hebrew Old Testament.

Old Testament Passages Referred to or Quoted in the New Testament
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Genesis


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Exodus


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Leviticus


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Numbers


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Deuteronomy


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Joshua


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Judges


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1 Samuel


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2 Samuel


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1 Kings


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Job


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Psalm


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Proverbs


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Isaiah


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Jeremiah


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Ezekiel


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Daniel


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Hosea


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Joel


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Amos


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Jonah


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Micah


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Nahum


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Habakkuk


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Haggai


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Zechariah


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Malachi


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