Jesus as Prophet

As Christians, we know Jesus as the Son of God. This is His Divine Nature. He was God by nature from before all time. As the Creator, all things were made by Him.

We also know of Jesus as Prophet, Priest, and King. These are from His human nature. Jesus’ prophetic role was foretold by Moses.

Acts 3:22-23 For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.

This is found in this passage:

Deu 18:18-19 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.

Acts has a different end phrase “I will require it of him” which makes the phrase into “shall be destroyed from among the people“.

The LXX (Brenton, The Septuagint with Apocrypha) puts it a much stronger way:

“I will take vengeance on him.”

The Greek of the passage in the LXX:

Deu 18:18
προφήτην ἀναστήσω αὐτοῖς ἐκ τῶν ἀδελφῶν αὐτῶν ὥσπερ σὲ καὶ δώσω τὸ ῥῆμά μου ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ καὶ λαλήσει αὐτοῖς καθότι ἂν ἐντείλωμαι αὐτῷ
Deu 18:19
καὶ ὁ ἄνθρωπος ὃς ἐὰν μὴ ἀκούσῃ ὅσα ἐὰν λαλήσῃ ὁ προφήτης ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματί μου ἐγὼ ἐκδικήσω ἐξ αὐτοῦ.

The Greek word ἐκδικήσω is also found in the New Testament in one place (from Bible Hub):

ἐκδικήσω (ekdikēsō) — 1 Occurrence
Luke 18:5 V-FIA-1S
GRK: χήραν ταύτην ἐκδικήσω αὐτήν ἵνα
NAS: bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise
KJV: troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest
INT: widow this I will avenge her that

MT Word

The derivation of the Hebrew word used in the MT has to do with “trample down“.

God sent many prophets to the Children of Israel, but this passage is in the singular, “a Prophet”. This points to one definitive Prophet – Jesus.

The Earlier Context

A few verses earlier, Acts quotes the context:

Deu 18:15-16 The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; According to all that thou desiredst of the LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not.

This same passage is quoted later:

Acts 7:37 This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear.

Quotes by Reference

When it is included in short form, it’s by reference. The hearers would know the entire prophecy. This is similar to:

Matthew 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama Sabathani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

This is intended to bring up the whole context of Psalm 22 as was spoken by Jesus on the cross.

The Theological Importance

These passages point out what happens to someone who rejects the Word of Jesus. They are cut off from God. This is particularly relevant to the people who received the Words of Jesus – the Jews.

Why does that the MT have these issues?

It may not be that the MT deliberately distorted the passage. The Hebrew Old Testament, or Tanakh, contains approximately 8,674 unique words. The Septuagint (LXX) Old Testament contains approximately 12,500 unique Greek words. This is significantly more and has more preciseness due to the languages used. The different verb forms are significant as well. Hebrew lacks a lot of what Greek has.

Grok summarizes the differences well:

Comparing Ancient Greek, particularly the form used in the Septuagint (LXX), to Ancient Hebrew involves looking at several linguistic, cultural, and historical aspects:

Script and Alphabet:

• Ancient Hebrew: Utilizes a consonantal alphabet where vowels are largely not written but inferred by the reader. The ancient form of the Hebrew script is known as Paleo-Hebrew, but by the time of the Old Testament’s finalization, the Aramaic script (which evolved into the modern Hebrew square script) was in use.
• Ancient Greek: Uses an alphabet with vowels explicitly written. The Greek alphabet, especially in its classical form, includes 24 letters, providing a clear phonetic system for both consonants and vowels.

Grammar:

• Ancient Hebrew: Has a simpler grammatical structure with a focus on verbal roots from which various forms are derived. It uses prefixes and suffixes for tense, mood, and person. The language has a relatively small number of prepositions and employs word order flexibly for emphasis.
• Ancient Greek: Features a complex grammatical system with declensions (nouns, pronouns, adjectives), conjugations (verbs), and a wide array of particles, conjunctions, and prepositions. Greek verb systems include multiple tenses, voices (active, middle, passive), and moods (indicative, imperative, subjunctive, optative), allowing for nuanced expression of time, aspect, and modality.

Vocabulary:

• Ancient Hebrew: Has a more limited vocabulary due to its focus on concrete, everyday life, law, religion, and poetry of the ancient Near East. Its vocabulary size, as seen in the Old Testament, is relatively small.
• Ancient Greek: Offers a richer vocabulary with extensive synonyms, especially in philosophical, scientific, and literary contexts. The Septuagint translation from Hebrew into Greek had to expand Hebrew concepts into more detailed Greek expressions.

Literary Style:

• Ancient Hebrew: Known for its poetic parallelism, especially in Psalms and Prophets, where ideas are often expressed in mirrored or contrasting couplets. Narrative style is straightforward but can be layered with symbolic meaning.
• Ancient Greek: Employs a wide range of literary forms including epic poetry, drama, history, philosophy, and rhetoric. Greek literature is known for its complexity, with figures like Homer, Aeschylus, and Plato contributing to a rich tradition of varied literary styles.

Cultural Context:

• Ancient Hebrew: Deeply rooted in the culture, religion, and history of the Israelites, with much of its literature serving religious, legal, or historical functions within Judaism.
• Ancient Greek: Reflects the broader Mediterranean world, with significant influence from various civilizations. Greek was the lingua franca of the Hellenistic world, influencing and being influenced by numerous cultures.

Translation and Interpretation:

• When translating from Hebrew to Greek for the Septuagint, translators had to deal with cultural and linguistic gaps, sometimes choosing Greek words that might not fully convey the nuances of the original Hebrew text. This has led to differences in interpretation between Hebrew and Greek versions of the same texts.

Influence:

• Ancient Hebrew: Has had a profound influence on Judaism, Christianity, and even Islam due to its sacred texts. Hebrew continues to be studied for both religious and linguistic purposes.
• Ancient Greek: Its influence extends beyond religion into philosophy, science, literature, and politics, shaping Western thought for millennia. The New Testament, written in Greek, further spread Greek linguistic influence.

In summary, while both languages have left indelible marks on human history, they differ significantly in structure, usage, and cultural context, reflecting the diverse heritages of the civilizations that spoke them.