What was the Vorlage for Hebrews 1:6?: Reconsidering Early Old Testament Texts

Abstract

To find the Vorlage of Hebrews 1:6, various hermeneutic models were studied together with the texts of Targums, so-called LXX, Qumran, Josephus, and Masoretic Text surrounding this citation in Hebrews. Differences exist among Paul(the author of the Book of Hebrews here)’s rendering of the text, the ancient versions, and the original Masoretic Text. However, they are minor copulatives, prepositions, pronouns, or vocabulary substitutions. The text-analytical results of the ancient texts reveal that Paul did not cite the modern critical edition of the Septuagint in Hebrews, but he was tapping into a commonly shared midrash method that was considered the scientific writing way of the time. Different from the ancient documents with understanding beclouded by the Judaism of the intertestamental period, it is found Paul did not show discrepancy from what the original text intended to say. It is because the same Christ who was speaking to Moses or David was involved in this Epistle writing of Paul.