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The Bible: Exploring Facts and Myths About the Word of God  /  The Apostle's Bible (Part 1)  /  Discussion Questions
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Question 3
Bercot claims the writer of Hebrews “assumes his readers had the same Old Testament he did,” especially when Hebrews quotes phrases missing from many modern Old Testaments (for example, “a body hast thou prepared for me” in Heb 10:5 / Ps 40:6). What does this assumption imply about early Christian congregational life—what Scriptures they heard/read publicly, and what kind of “Bible literacy” was expected?
Another way to ask: If Hebrews expects readers to know lines like “a body you prepared for me” (Heb 10:5 / Ps 40:6), what does that tell us about what Scriptures early churches heard and read? What level of Bible knowledge were Christians expected to have?

Direct Answer It implies early Christian congregations commonly heard and read the Septuagint in Greek, and were expected to recognize Old Testament quotations in that same wording. Their “Bible literacy” included familiarity with the Greek Scriptures that matched the apostles’ citations.

Support from Transcript:

  • Bercot says the apostles quoted the Septuagint “about 90%” of the time, and New Testament readers would see “the exact same Greek words in both the Old Testament and in the New Testament.”
  • He notes Greek didn’t have quotation marks, so sometimes writers paraphrase, but the overall wording and sense aligns with Septuagint usage.
  • In Hebrews 10:5 the quote is “a body hast thou prepared for me,” but in the Masoretic/KJV Psalm 40:6 it reads “Mine ears hast thou opened”—and the Hebrews wording “doesn’t appear” there.
  • He concludes the writer of Hebrews was quoting Septuagint and “assumes his readers all were reading the Septuagint, or else he would be quoting something that they wouldn’t know what he was talking about.”
  • Bercot’s story about preaching Hebrews shows modern congregations using KJV/NKJV were confused because the Old Testament text base didn’t match Hebrews.
Discussion Follow-ups What does it say about early church teaching if the congregation could be expected to “check” quotations and recognize them as Scripture in the same form?

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