Quotations

Quotations from the Old Testament in the New Testament number in the hundreds — by various counts, from 250 to over 600 direct citations and many more allusions — making the relationship between the two Testaments a defining feature of New Testament theology. The New Testament authors cite the Old Testament in Greek, primarily using the Septuagint (LXX) translation rather than the Hebrew Masoretic text, which accounts for some differences between their citations and the Hebrew original. The citation formulas vary: "it is written" (gegraptai), "the Scripture says," "as the prophet says," or "David says in the Holy Spirit" all indicate scriptural authority.

The New Testament's use of the Old Testament follows several hermeneutical patterns: direct fulfillment (a prophecy accomplished in Christ), typological fulfillment (an OT person or event prefigures a NT reality), analogical application (applying an OT principle to a NT situation), and summary allusion (evoking an OT theme without direct citation). Matthew's Gospel is the most concentrated in explicit fulfillment quotations, often introduced by "that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet." Paul's Epistles make the densest use of OT citations for doctrinal argument, especially Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews. The study of NT quotation patterns is a major field of biblical scholarship, illuminating how the apostolic writers understood Christ as the interpretive key to all of Scripture.