(39:6) Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not; but a body hast thou prepared me: whole-burnt-offering and sacrifice for sin thou didst not require.
7(39:7) Then I said, Behold, I come: in the volume of the book it is written concerning me,
8(39:8) I desired to do thy will, O my God, and thy law in the midst of mine heart.
7(39:7) Then I said, Behold, I come: in the volume of the book it is written concerning me,
8(39:8) I desired to do thy will, O my God, and thy law in the midst of mine heart.
This is in reference to a Septuagint version, e.g. as found in Vaticanus, Sinaiticus, and Alexandrinus.
https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/ ... e-hebrew-t
This was an important prophecy to Christians. For example, it was cited by Eusebius:
https://tertullian.org/fathers/eusebius_de_10_book8.htm
This also another prophet has recorded, where he says, "Sacrifice and offering hast thou not required, but a body hast thou prepared for me." (Demonstration of the Gospel 8.1)
Eusebius, Demonstration of the Gospel 1.10:
https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/euse ... _book1.htm
And he shews clearly what "the new song" is when he goes on to say:
"7. Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not ; |60 but a body hast them prepared me |; whole burnt-offering; and sin offering thou didst take no pleasure in |. 8. Then said I, Lo, I come: | in the volume of the book it is written of me |, to do thy will, O God, I desired. |"
And he adds: "I have preached righteousness in the great congregation." He plainly teaches that in place of the ancient sacrifices and whole burnt-offerings the incarnate presence of Christ that was prepared was offered. And this very thing He proclaims to his Church as a great mystery expressed with prophetic voice in the volume of the book.
"7. Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not ; |60 but a body hast them prepared me |; whole burnt-offering; and sin offering thou didst take no pleasure in |. 8. Then said I, Lo, I come: | in the volume of the book it is written of me |, to do thy will, O God, I desired. |"
And he adds: "I have preached righteousness in the great congregation." He plainly teaches that in place of the ancient sacrifices and whole burnt-offerings the incarnate presence of Christ that was prepared was offered. And this very thing He proclaims to his Church as a great mystery expressed with prophetic voice in the volume of the book.
Athanasius, Festal Letter 6.8:
https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2806006.htm
And on this account [Abraham] was restrained from laying his hand on the lad, lest the Jews, taking occasion from the sacrifice of Isaac, should reject the prophetic declarations concerning our Saviour, even all of them, but more especially those uttered by the Psalmist; 'Sacrifice and offering You would not; a body You have prepared Me;' and should refer all such things as these to the son of Abraham.
Origen comments on this passage:
https://archive.org/details/analectasac ... 6/mode/2up
He understands the will of the Father, according to which He bore the sin of the world. "For I have come," He says, "not to do my will, but the will of Him who sent me." And He was offered for the sin of all, so that, with remission now accomplished, there is no need for further sacrifice for sin.
Origen took this as a reference to Christ speaking (Commentary on John 5.6):
... as the Savior himself says when he sends us back to the Scriptures and says, "Search the Scriptures for you think you have eternal life in them. And it is they that testify of me." If then, he refers us to "the Scriptures" as testifying to himself, he does not refer us to this one, but not to that one, but to all which bring tidings of himself, which in the Psalms he calls the "roll of the book" when he says, "In the roll of the book it has been written of me."
In Peri Pascha 2.46, Origen distinguishes slightly between what Christ says and what was prophecy:
This is why he says: Behold I come-for it is written of me in the head of the book-O God, to do thy will (Heb. 10.7-8; Ps. 40[39].7-8); for it is prophesied: Sacrifice and offering you did not want, but a body you have prepared for me; in burnt offering and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure (Heb. 10.5-6; Ps. 40[39].7).
Unless the quote from Christ extends further to include 'for it was prophecied,' etc.
Hebrews 10:5-7
As in Origen, it is part of the sayings. According to Hebrews: "when Christ came into the world, he said."
5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you prepared for me;
6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings
you were not pleased.
7 Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—
I have come to do your will, my God.’”
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you prepared for me;
6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings
you were not pleased.
7 Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—
I have come to do your will, my God.’”
Relevance to Christians
Psalm 40:7, with its explicit reference to "it is written concerning me," raises the likelihood of the passage being taken as prophetically meaningful substantially, even before knowing about its use in Hebrews 10, which is itself a very early use in the Christian tradition.
Psalm 40:6 with "Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not" and "whole-burnt-offering and sacrifice for sin thou didst not require" was of enduring interest to Christians, and taken as the will of God, it can be read as going against some of the instructions of the law.
Psalm 40:8, with its reference to "thy law in the midst of mine heart" can be read by Christians alongside the new covenant language of Jeremiah 31:33. But in a prophetic context, it also can be understood as a special reference to the one being foretold revealing it, being written especially on his heart that is in his body.
Psalm 40:8, with "a body you prepared for me," would be read prophetically as the creation of the divine body of Christ.
Relevance to the Body of Jesus
The idea of how Jesus was conceived, in some understandings, is not very different from the idea of a divine man created in heaven:
https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/cg ... wes_theses
Or to put it another way, if neither parent was involved, other than the development in the womb, then the virgin birth would be necessary to the whole process and God would have had to prophesy and use the virgin birth because there was no other way, short of a creation that would make Him just appear out of nowhere as a complete independent man.
https://findinghopeministries.org/the-d ... ntributed/
It is more likely Mary nourished and “made” the infant Jesus from a single cell being conceived (created) only by God.
This passage can then be understood by some as a prophetic reference to a certain form of the conception by the holy spirit by "creation" ex nihilo inside the womb of Mary (a belief which is of course not universally accepted by Christians). It could also not be interpreted that way.
Yet it could also be interpreted as a reference to the creation of the divine man who came from heaven (perhaps with reference also to 1 Cor 15:47 - "The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven").
Placement in a Gospel Tradition
We already have two indications of where a saying like this would be placed in a gospel tradition, if it were in a gospel.
The phrase "when Christ came into the world" in Hebrews suggests (but does not strictly demand) that it would be in the beginning of a gospel.
And the text of Psalms itself (as noted by Eusebius for example): "I have preached righteousness in the great congregation." (Psalm 40:9) This is immediately following Psalm 40:6-8 itself:
9(39:9) I have preached righteousness in the great congregation; lo! I will not refrain my lips; O Lord, thou knowest my righteousness.
10(39:10) I have not hid thy truth within my heart, and I have declared thy salvation; I have not hid thy mercy and thy truth from the great congregation.
10(39:10) I have not hid thy truth within my heart, and I have declared thy salvation; I have not hid thy mercy and thy truth from the great congregation.
Relevance to Evangelion
Evangelion, in parallel to Luke 4 (but unlike Luke), is often thought to begin with Jesus coming into the world and teaching in the synagogue. Support of this point is beyond the scope of this post, but if so, and if *Ev preceded Luke, then the content of Psalm 40:9-10 may have been relevant here to the teaching in the synagogue.
It's also beyond the scope of this post to determine whether it might be that *Ev used Hebrews, vice-versa, or neither. But none of them are necessary to see that Hebrews 10:5, with its reference to "when Christ came into the world, he said," supports the suggestion that the beginning of a gospel could have included Jesus saying something like this.
In addition to Hebrews, Origen viewed this as something that Christ had said, supporting the fact that this was something that Christians believed that Jesus had said.
It can't really be speculated on yet whether the anti-sacrifice parts of the passage were relevant to the interests of the author of *Ev (given that this requires a deeper review of what those interests were), but at this point it's at least possible.
Luke 4, in parallel to Evangelion, has an important passage where Jesus quotes Isaiah, spoken as a sort of proclamation. This raises the question of whether Evangelion had any quote at this point, and if so, what it would have been.
The presence of a quote from Jesus here would help motivate a question about Jesus' identity, the quote of a proverb ("Physician heal thyself"), and the subsequent kerfuffle that leads to wanting to push him off a cliff. And this quote does raise a point about Jesus' identity, in that it says that he was the one spoken of here.
The phrase "Have you come to destroy us?" earlier also has an interesting resonance here, "I have come to do Your will, O God."
As a Suggestion for the Text
Here is one way this could work as a suggestion for the text of Evangelion.
01.00 GOSPEL
03.01 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar,
04.31 Jesus came down from above to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbaths.
04.32 And they were astonished at his teaching because his word had authority.
04.33 In the synagogue, there was a man with an unclean demon who cried out with a loud voice,
04.34 "What have you to do with us, Jesus? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God."
04.35 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent and come out of him!" And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him without harming him.
04.36 And amazement seized them all, and they began to talk with one another, saying, "What is this word? For with authority and power, he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!"
04.37 And the report about him spread into every place in the surrounding region.
04.16 He went to Nazara, and on the Sabbath day, he entered the synagogue and said:
"Here I am, it is written about Me in the scroll of the book: 'I have come to do Your will, O God.'"
04.22 And they said, "Is not this the carpenter's son?"
And they took offense at him.
04.23 And he said to them, "Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, 'Physician, heal yourself. What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your own country as well.'"
04.24 And he said, "Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his own country.
But have you not read, 'When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong'? For I am a stranger with you and a sojourner, and you have forgotten God your Savior."
04.28 And all in the synagogue were filled with wrath.
04.29 They rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built so that they could throw him down the cliff.
04.30 But passing through their midst, he went away.
03.01 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar,
04.31 Jesus came down from above to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbaths.
04.32 And they were astonished at his teaching because his word had authority.
04.33 In the synagogue, there was a man with an unclean demon who cried out with a loud voice,
04.34 "What have you to do with us, Jesus? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God."
04.35 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent and come out of him!" And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him without harming him.
04.36 And amazement seized them all, and they began to talk with one another, saying, "What is this word? For with authority and power, he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!"
04.37 And the report about him spread into every place in the surrounding region.
04.16 He went to Nazara, and on the Sabbath day, he entered the synagogue and said:
"Here I am, it is written about Me in the scroll of the book: 'I have come to do Your will, O God.'"
04.22 And they said, "Is not this the carpenter's son?"
And they took offense at him.
04.23 And he said to them, "Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, 'Physician, heal yourself. What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your own country as well.'"
04.24 And he said, "Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his own country.
But have you not read, 'When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong'? For I am a stranger with you and a sojourner, and you have forgotten God your Savior."
04.28 And all in the synagogue were filled with wrath.
04.29 They rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built so that they could throw him down the cliff.
04.30 But passing through their midst, he went away.
An alternative might extend the quote, "for it is prophesied: Sacrifice and offering you did not want, but a body you have prepared for me; in burnt offering and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure."