Vol 03 - Again

Again

ὅταν δὲ πάλιν εἰσαγάγῃYou ask if the text or the marginal reading in the A. V. of this clause gives the sense of the original. If we examine into the habit of the writer of this epistle when adducing quotations from the Old Testament, we shall be at no loss in determinining that πάλιν here is the mark of a new quotation, and not a note of time; for out of the ten occasions in this epistle on which the writer introduces this adverb (1: 5, 6; 2: 13, his; 4: 5, 7; 5: 12; 6: 1, 6; 10: 30) only three of them (5: 12; 6: 1, 6) can be said to express notations of time. Observe how this adverb comes in to mark a new quotation

(Hebrews 1:5; Hebrews 13:1-25, his; 4: 5, 7; 10: 30). The text of the A. V. is correct. The objection made against it on exegetical, grounds, that πάλιν before a verb denotes a second time the thing is done, is a statement which will not always be found correct (see Matthew 5:33; Romans 15:10-11). The fact is that πάλιν is frequently used to introduce a fresh quotation from the Old Testament (Matthew 4:7; Matthew 5:33; John 19:37; Romans 15:10-12;

1 Corinthians 3:20; Hebrews 5:1-14; Hebrews 2:13, his.; 4: 5, 7; 10: 30). With this array of examples before us we can have no real difficulty, whether we examine simply the habit of the writer or the practice of those guided by the Holy Ghost, in determining that Hebrews 1:6 really means, " And again, when he brings the first begotten into the, habitable world." The reference is to Psalms 97:1-12, quoted not with verbal correctness but for the sense of the passage, the point being that as angels are to worship Him when He comes into the universe as the firstborn, He must be superior to them, though he has appeared in the ranks of the human race. So whether the sacred writer had quoted verbally correctly, or only as he has done, the point of the quotation would remain the same. And the writer of the epistle does not always quote verbatim from the LXX. or from the Hebrew. Compare Hebrews 1:7 with Psalms 103:4 in the LXX.; 2:12 with Ps. 21: 23 in the LXX.; 3: 10 with Psalms 94:10 in the LXX. and XCV. 10 in the Hebrew; 6: 14 with Genesis 22:17 in LXX. and Hebrews 8:11 with Jeremiah 31:34 in Heb. and XXXVIII. 34 in LXX.; 10: 7 with Psalms 40:8 in Hebrew and XXXIX. 3 in LXX.

It is true that the words in Hebrews 1:1-14 are found verbatim in the Vatican LXX. in Deuteronomy 32:1-52, though in the Alexandrine LXX. we read, καἱ προσκυνησάτωςαν ἀυτῶ πάντεσ ὑιοὶ θεοῦ. But as neither the Hebrew, the Hebrew Samaritan Pentateuch, nor the Chaldee Targums, know anything of such words in Deuteronomy 32:43, nor the Vulgate or Syriac versions, we could not regard the Vatican LXX. as having preserved in that passage the words of the lawgiver