NT makes edits of the OT

 

The NT makes changes to verses from the OT. Here are a few cases:


Paul alters an Old Testament verse in Ephesians:


Ephesians 4:8 - This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.”

In Ephesians 4:8, Paul renders the verse as gave gifts to his people. However, in Psalm 68:18, where Paul is quoting the verse from, it says:

Psalm 68:18 - When you ascended on high, you took many captives; you received gifts from people, even from the rebellious— that you, Lord God, might dwell there.

The verse in Psalm says that he received gifts while the verse in Ephesians says that he gave gifts.


What scholars say:

The form in which Ps 68:18 is quoted and the manner in which it is interpreted in Eph 4:8-10 pose serious problems. The author of Ephesians is guilty of willful distortion of the Scriptures-unless it can be shown that his interpretation makes sense in terms of the use and understanding of the psalm contemporary with him. A description of the precedents, environment, and meaning of Paul's interpretation is therefore necessary. - Markus Barth, Ephesians 4-6, Anchor Bible: V.34, Page 472



Jesus alters the story of David in the OT:

Mark 2:25-26 - He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”

According to Jesus, in the story of David, David had his companions with him and he did not lie. However, in 1 Samuel 21, it says:

1 Samuel 21:1-3 - David went to Nob, to Ahimelek the priest. Ahimelek trembled when he met him, and asked, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?” David answered Ahimelek the priest, “The king sent me on a mission and said to me, ‘No one is to know anything about the mission I am sending you on.’ As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place. Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever you can find.”

In the OT, David is without his companions and has to lie to the priest. Also the priests in the two stories are different.


What scholars say: 

26. in the time of Abiathar the high priest. Gk epi Abiathar archiereos. Actually, the high priest with whom David dealt in I Samuel 21 was Abiathar's father, Ahimelech (cf. I Sam 30:7)... the reference to Abiathar may simply be a mis take. Abiathar and Ahimelech are sometimes confused with each other in textual transmission, and Abiathar is certainly the better known of the two (see Whitelam, "Abiathar"). - Joel Marcus, Mark 1-8, Anchor Bible, Page 241

those who were with him. Gk hoi met' autou. As Daube ("Responsibilities;' 5-6) points out, David's followers are not with him in 1 Samuel 21, and there is no suggestion that he shares the loaves with them, either in the text or in Jewish interpretations of it. David does, to be sure, mention "the young men," presumably his companions, in 21 :2-6, but this is a trick to get the priest to give him all five loaves. The New Testament retelling thus rehabilitates David by effacing his lie; this sort of "improvement" of fallible OT heroes is common in Jewish and Christian exegesis (see e.g. Sternberg, Poetics, I88-89). - Joel Marcus, Mark 1-8, Anchor Bible, Page 240-241