After clearing the Temple, when the children cry out "Hosanna to the Son of David" the chief priests and the scribes protest and Jesus responds by citing from the Psalms:
and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, “‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?” (Matthew 21:16) [ESV]
καὶ εἶπον αὐτῷ Ἀκούεις τί οὗτοι λέγουσιν ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς λέγει αὐτοῖςΝαί οὐδέποτε ἀνέγνωτε ὅτι Ἐκ στόματος νηπίων καὶ θηλαζόντων κατηρτίσω αἶνον (Matthew 21:16)
ἐκ στόματος νηπίων καὶ θηλαζόντων κατηρτίσω αἶνον ἕνεκα τῶν ἐχθρῶν σου τοῦ καταλῦσαι ἐχθρὸν καὶ ἐκδικητήν (Psalm 8:2 LXX)
Later Jesus tells a parable and finishes with a second quotation from the Psalms:
Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? (Matthew 21:42)
λέγει αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς οὐδέποτε ἀνέγνωτε ἐν ταῖς γραφαῖς λίθον ὃν ἀπεδοκίμασαν οἱ οἰκοδομοῦντες οὗτος ἐγενήθη εἰς κεφαλὴν γωνίας παρὰ κυρίου ἐγένετο αὕτη καὶ ἔστιν θαυμαστὴ ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς ἡμῶν Matthew (21:42)
λίθον ὃν ἀπεδοκίμασαν οἱ οἰκοδομοῦντες οὗτος ἐγενήθη εἰς κεφαλὴν γωνίας παρὰ κυρίου ἐγένετο αὕτη καὶ ἔστιν θαυμαστὴ ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς ἡμῶν (Psalm 118:22-23 LXX)
Finally, Matthew records a third instance of Jesus quoting from the Psalms:
“‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet”’? (Matthew 22:44)
εἶπεν κύριος τῷ κυρίῳ μου κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου ἕως ἂν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου ὑποκάτω τῶν ποδῶν σου (NA28)
...εἶπεν ὁ κύριος τῷ κυρίῳ μου κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου ἕως ἂν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν σου (Psalm 110:1 LXX)
εἶπεν ὁ κύριος τῷ κυρίῳ μου κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου ἕως ἂν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν σου (Majority Text)
The NA28 has variations from the LXX, most significantly ὑποκάτω replaces ὑποπόδιον. (The majority of manuscripts follow the LXX verbatim).
The better rendering of the Hebrew הֲדֹ֣ם into Greek is ὑποπόδιον [footstool] as reflected in the LXX. Given this and the two previous occasions where Jesus cited the LXX verbatim, ὑποκάτω [underneath] seems doubtful.1
If ὑποκάτω is correct, then the original writer of Matthew is the source of the alteration of the LXX in order to use the less accurate ὑποκάτω and this variation2 offers the opportunity to assess the accuracy of manuscripts using hermeneutics by considering the two aspects of the change:
- What would Matthew convey by using ὑποκάτω rather than ὑποπόδιον?
- What would a New Testament copyist accomplish by replacing ὑποπόδιον with ὑποκάτω?
Notes:
1. My opinion is the Majority Text is right.
2. The same manuscript issue occurs at Mark 12:36 without the other citations from the Psalms.