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Acts 13:33. And they occur in some authorities (D a b c & c.) in Luke 3:22. See also the reading of the Ebionitic Gospel on Matt. 3:17.

The same Psalm is quoted Acts 4:25 ff. Comp. Apoc. 2:27; 12:5; 14:1; 19:15.

The passage from 2 Sam. 7:14 is quoted again in 2 Cor. 6:18 with important variations ( e[somai uJmi'n ... uJmei'" e[sesqev moi eij" uiJou;" kai; qugatevra" ), and Apoc. 21:7.

Both passages bring out the relation of ‘the Son of David’ to the fulfilment of the divine purpose. The promise in 2 Sam. 7:14 is the historical starting point. It was spoken by Nathan to David in answer to the king's expressed purpose to build a Temple for the Lord. This work the prophet said should be not for him but for his seed. The whole passage, with its reference to ‘iniquity’ and chastening, can only refer to an earthly king; and still experience shewed that no earthly king could satisfy its terms. The kingdom passed away from the line of David. The Temple was destroyed. It was necessary therefore to look for another ‘seed’ (Is. 11:1; Jer. 23:5; Zech. 6:12): another founder of the everlasting Kingdom and of the true Temple (compare Luke 1:32 f.; John 2:19).

The passage from the Second Psalm represents the divine King under another aspect. He is not the builder of the Temple of the Lord but the representative of the Lord's triumph over banded enemies. The conquest of the nations was not achieved by the successors of David. It remained therefore for Another. The partial external fulfilment of the divine prophecy directed hope to the future. So it was that the idea of the theocratic kingdom was itself apprehended as essentially Messianic; and the application of these two representative passages to Christ depends upon the prophetic significance of the critical facts of Jewish history.

The third quotation is beset by difficulty. Doubt has been felt as to the source from which it is derived. Words closely resembling the quotation are found in Ps. 97:7 (96:7) proskunhvsate aujtw'/ pavnte" oiJ a[ggeloi aujtou' (LXX.). But the exact phrase is found in the Vatican text of an addition made to the Hebrew in Deut. 32:43 by the LXX. version which reads eujfravnqhte oujranoi; a{ma aujtw'/ ,
kai; proskunhsavtwsan aujtw'/ pavnte" uiJoi; qeou' :
eujfravnqhte e[qnh meta; tou' laou' aujtou' ,
kai; ejniscusavtwsan aujtw'/ pavnte" a[ggeloi qeou' .

This gloss is quoted also by Justin M. Dial. c. 130. It was probably derived from the Psalm (comp. Isa. 44:23), and may easily have gained currency from the liturgical use of the original hymn. If (as seems certain) the gloss was found in the current text of the LXX. in the apostolic age, it is most natural to suppose that the writer of the Epistle took the words directly from the version of Deuteronomy.

The quotation of words not found in the Hebrew text is to be explained by the general character of Deut. 32 which gives a prophetic history of the Course of Israel, issuing in the final and decisive revelation of Jehovah in judgment. When this revelation is made all powers shall recognise His dominion, exercised, as the writer of the Epistle explains, through Christ. The coming of Christ is thus identified with the coming of Jehovah. Comp. Luke 1:76; Acts 2:20, 21.


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