There are various passages in the New Testament which are alleged to be spurious quotations of the Old Testament. In other words, the passage indicates that it is citing the Old Testament, but there is controversy as to whether there is actually such a quotation in the Old Testament. This article will examine each of these passages.
Click the link to jump to a specific passage:
Matthew 2:23
23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.
This is the only time in Matthew in which it says something was written or spoken by the prophets, plural, instead of prophet, singular (Matthew 1:22, 2:5, 2:15, 2:17, 3:3, 4:14, 8:17, 12:17, 13:35, 21:4, 27:9, 27:35). So, Matthew is not necessarily quoting any one particular passage of Scripture. It could be that this is touching on the theme that the Messiah would be not esteemed (Psalm 22:6-7, Isaiah 53:3), which would be in keeping with coming from a village like Nazareth (John 1:46).
Secondly, this could be a play on words for the Hebrew word nêtser (נֵצֶר), which means "branch", and is used Messianically - the theme of the quotations of Scripture given in Matthew chapter 2 (Matthew 2:5-6, 2:15, 2:17-18):
Isaiah 11:1-2
1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch (nêtser) shall grow out of his roots:
2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;
Elsewhere, the Messiah is described as "a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground" (Isaiah 53:2), which is utilizing similar imagery in relation to His origins.
Matthew 27:9-10
9 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value;
10 And gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me.
The alleged problem with this passage is that it ascribes to "Jeremy the prophet" a passage from Zechariah:
Zechariah 11:12-13
12 And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.
13 And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.
While the above passage specifically mentions thirty pieces of silver, and a potter, it does not mention buying a field. However, there is a passage in Jeremiah which speaks of buying a field:
Jeremiah 32:6-9
6 And Jeremiah said, The word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
7 Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thine uncle shall come unto thee, saying, Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth: for the right of redemption is thine to buy it.
8 So Hanameel mine uncle's son came to me in the court of the prison according to the word of the LORD, and said unto me, Buy my field, I pray thee, that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin: for the right of inheritance is thine, and the redemption is thine; buy it for thyself. Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.
9 And I bought the field of Hanameel my uncle's son, that was in Anathoth, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver.
Also, the Lord has Jeremiah go to the potter's house in Jeremiah 18:1-6, saying "as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel" (Jeremiah 18:6). So, it is possible that Matthew had these things in mind, and combined them with the quotation from Zechariah, attributing it to Jeremiah.
Further, it is possible that Zechariah is writing down that which was "spoken" at an earlier time by Jeremiah the prophet. Further still, it could be that there was another writing a Jeremiah at the time of Christ, which though not fully inspired, contained this quotation.
John 7:37-38
37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
Above, the Lord does not quote any particular prophet, or passage of Scripture. Rather, the theme of water bursting forth into a dry area is a motif throughout the Old Testament, all the way from the Exodus (Exodus 17:1-6, Numbers 20:1-13), to the later prophets (Isaiah 12:2-3, Jeremiah 2:13), where water is symbolic for the Spirit of God, or blessing more generally:
Isaiah 44:3-4
3 For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:
4 And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses.
Zechariah 14:8-9
8 And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
Therefore, there are many different passages which would fit the criteria for the Lord's reference here in John chapter 7.
Ephesians 5:14
14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
Above is often translated the equivalent of "Wherefore it saith", as well.
Some have suggested that this is an allusion to the following passage from Isaiah:
Isaiah 26:19
19 Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.
Putting the parallel sections side by side, as the order is reversed in the allusion, gives:
Others have suggested that another passage from Isaiah what is being referenced:
Isaiah 60:1-3
1 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.
2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
The above seems closer in parallel to Ephesians 5:14, especially because the context of Isaiah 60 - wherein Israel is called to be a light to the Gentiles - finds its parallel in the Church being the light to the world through Christ.
In addition, the Apostle Paul may have had both passages in mind, when making his reference in Ephesians 5:14.
Hebrews 10:5-10
5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:
6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.
8 Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;
9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.
10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
The above passage from Hebrews is an exposition of a passage from Psalm 40:
Psalm 40:6-8
6 Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.
7 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,
8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.
However, notice that Hebrews 10:5 says "a body hast thou prepared for me", whereas in Psalm 40:6, it says "my ears hast thou opened".
Some see a reference in "my ears hast thou opened" to the Law regarding a willing servant's ear being bored through with an aul, which signified that they would serve their master forever (Deuteronomy 15:16-17, Exodus 21:5-6), and somehow linking this to the Incarnation of Christ, who came to minister (Matthew 20:28, Mark 10:45), and do the will of the Father (John 4:34, 6:38). I think this is a stretch, as the opening of someone's ears seems to more naturally be symbolic of hearing the Word of God, and heeding it (Job 33:16, 36:10, 36:15, Isaiah 42:20, 50:5), as opposed to anything physical.
I believe that the answer lies first in understanding that the Greek translation of the Old Testament used at the time of Christ, called the Septuagint, in Psalm 40:6 reads "a body thou hast prepared for me". Therefore, the writer of Hebrews is appealing to that translation, which does not match the Hebrew.
Further, we can note that he makes a meaningful point from the variant - verse 10's "we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" seems directly linked to verse 5's "a body hast thou prepared me".
In my opinion, C.I. Scofield's note on the passage makes the most sense:
Scofield Reference Bible - Hebrews 10:5
The rule, applicable to all modifications of the modifications of the form of quotations in the N.T. from the O.T. writings, is that the divine Author of both Testaments is perfectly free, in using an earlier statement, to recast the mere literary form of it. The variant form will be found invariably to give the deeper meaning of the earlier statement.
In other words, God inspired the New Testament, just as He inspired the Old Testament. He is fully at liberty to recast the text, and utilize translations which the readers would have been familiar with during the day.
James 4:5
5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
The above is clearly intended to be a reference to the teaching of inspired Scripture. However, no direct quotation of any passage is made.
Some commentators, citing passages such as Genesis 26:14, 30:1, 37:11, Job 5:2, Psalm 73:3, 106:16, Proverbs 14:30, 27:4, and Ecclesiastes 4:4, argue that this is a reference to the general Scriptural teaching, found throughout the Old Testament, that mankind is prone to envy, which is what James would mean when he says "the spirit that dwells in us lusts to envy". Here, the "spirit" would be a reference to the spirit of a man. In other words, James would be using "spirit" to refer to essentially, the fallen human nature.
In this view, the following verses would be connected:
James 4:3, 5
3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
The other view, which I favor, is that James 4:5 is a general statement about the Holy Spirit, who is God, and who indwells us. The teaching that the Holy Spirit indwells us is clear in Scripture (2 Timothy 1:14, Romans 8:9, etc.), as is the fact that God is a jealous God (Exodus 34:14, Deuteronomy 32:21, etc.), meaning that He does not tolerate devotion which is due to Him being given to another. This would flow naturally from the verse immediately preceding James 4:5, wherein the world is displayed in opposition to God:
James 4:4-5
4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
Therefore, when James says that the Scripture says "The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy", he is likely referring to the general Scriptural teaching that God is a jealous God.
In only one case above did the author arguably depart from the Old Testament text (Hebrews 10:5). Even then, it was to make a point by utilizing a popular contemporary translation of the Old Testament. And, the thrust of the point he was making - the dissatisfaction of the animal sacrificial system, put to an end with the obedience of the Messiah - could still be made from the Hebrew original.