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In the last study we looked in the Greek New Testament at a pattern of verb-subject-object phrases beginning with the word and (και – kai). Since this pattern is not the norm for Greek but it is common in the Septuagint and it corresponds to the grammar of Biblical Hebrew, it seems likely that the pattern in the New Testament is a Hebraism— "a usage, trait, or characteristic of the Hebrew language."
Five New Testament books contain this pattern much more than any of the other books: the five books are Matthew, Mark, Luke, Acts and Revelation. The following graph shows the counts of this pattern by book, sorted by descending count. Mark has 263 occurrences of the and-verb-subject-object pattern.
In today's study, we are going to look at another pattern— the use of the word behold (Greek: ιδου – idou – G2400). The Greek word idou is translated in the King James Version as behold (181 times), lo (29 times), and see (3 times). Thayer's Lexicon describes idou as "used very often in imitation of the Hebrew hineh (הנה)." The Hebrew word hineh (H2009) and the related word hen (H2005) are translated in the KJV Old Testament as behold, see, lo, here etc. Some would argue that idou is not just an imitation of hineh, but rather, it is a translation— more on this later.
The word idou also occurs more frequently in the same set of books as the and-verb-subject-object pattern. Notice that the same five books— Matthew, Mark, Luke, Acts and Revelation— use this word much more than the other books.
Let's look at idou in the Septuagint to see what Hebrew word it translates. We will look at the texts in English first in order to see the context. Following are texts from Genesis 1-11 that use the word behold in the KJV. The word behold is in bold red; those that are highlighted in yellow correspond to instances of idou in the Septuagint.
The word behold in Genesis 1-11, King James Version
Now we will look at the same texts in Greek from the Septuagint; the word idou is highlighted in yellow. Notice that it is the same verses— Gen 1:29; 1:31; 3:22; 6:13; 6:17; 9:9; and 11:6— that are highlighted above.
The word ιδου in Genesis 1-11, Septuagint
Now we will look at the same texts in Hebrew; words hineh (הנה) and hen (הן) are highlighted in yellow. Notice that it is the same verses— Gen 1:29; 1:31; 3:22; 6:13; 6:17; 9:9; and 11:6— that are highlighted above. The instances of hineh and hen that are not highlighted in yellow below— Gen 4:14; 6:12; 8:11 and 8:13— are not translated in the Septuagint, but they are translated as behold in the KJV.
The words hineh and hen in Genesis 1-11, Hebrew
The word hineh occurs 1061 times in 1004 verses in the Hebrew Bible. I don't have immediate access to the same statistics for idou in the Septuagint, but the evidence I have from the tools I am using is that it occurs more than 1000 times. In the Septuagint, idou is not an imitation of hineh, it is a translation and there are hundreds of instances where idou translates hineh.
Lets look at some examples from the New Testament. Matthew 28 has six instances of idou in 20 verses.
Matt 28:2 And, behold (ιδου – idou), there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
Matt 28:7 And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold (ιδου – idou), he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo (ιδου – idou), I have told you.
Matt 28:9 And as they went to tell his disciples, behold (ιδου – idou), Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.
Matt 28:11 Now when they were going, behold (ιδου – idou), some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done.
Matt 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo (ιδου – idou), I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
This is just one more piece of evidence that some people use to support the idea that some of the books of the New Testament were originally written in Hebrew. This idea isn't just modern speculation. There are ancient sources that present it as history. Eusebius of Caesarea wrote his Church History in the 4th century. Here is the historical/documentary evidence from the Church History.
Book 3, Section 24: Matthew at first preached to Hebrews, and when he planned to go to others also, he wrote his Gospel in his own native language for those he was leaving, his writing filling the gap left by his departure.
Book 3, Section 39: Mathew compiled the sayings in the Hebrew language, and each interpreted them as best he could.
Book 5, Section 8: Matthew composed a written Gospel for the Hebrews in their own language.
Book 6, Section 25: I learned by tradition that the four Gospels alone are unquestionable in the church of God. First to be written was by Matthew, who once was a tax collector but later an apostle of Jesus Christ, who published it in Hebrew for Jewish believers.
There is more documentary evidence; I will talk about it in a future post.
My purpose in studying this topic is not to discredit the Greek New Testament or to search for "lost" Hebrew texts. The goal is to better understand the New Testament by looking at it from a Hebraic perspective.
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