The Reception of Vulgate Ps 39:7–9 (Heb 40:7–9) among Latin Christian Hebraists

Abstract

Psalm 40:7–9 (= 40:7–9 in the Vulgate) is quoted in Hebrews 10:5–10, yet the New Testament citation diverges markedly from the Old Testament text. How did early modern scholars account for this discrepancy? This article examines the responses of three sixteenth–seventeenth-century Latin Christian scholars – Martin Bucer, Robert Bellarmine, and Solomon Glassius – each of whom possessed strong Hebrew competence and serious interest in textual criticism. None was prepared to question the authority of the New Testament wording, and none dismissed the integrity of the preserved Hebrew text. Their explanations of the differences among the textual witnesses reveal distinctive configurations of critical method and confessional commitment. Together, their treatments illustrate how early modern exegetes wrestled with the interplay of philology, theology, and emerging text-critical awareness.