The Hebraic New Testament (Part 4)

This is the fourth in a series of studies on Hebraic characteristics in the New Testament.

And it came to pass....  the phrase is so stereotypically Biblical.  We probably don't even notice the words as we are reading— we just pass over them along the way to the words that mean something.   Behold, a collection of them all together— all the verses in Luke that begin "And it came to pass..."  (I am not expecting anyone to read every word.  Just scan it and get an impression about how often this phrase appears.  I could give statistics or just list the references— nobody would look them all up— but seeing them makes it more real.)

Luke 1:23 And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house.
Luke 1:41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:
Luke 1:59 And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father.
Luke 2:15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
Luke 2:46 And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions.
Luke 5:12 And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
Luke 5:17 And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them.
Luke 7:11 And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people.
Luke 8:1 And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him,
Luke 9:18 And it came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples were with him: and he asked them, saying, Whom say the people that I am?
Luke 9:33 And it came to pass, as they departed from him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias: not knowing what he said.
Luke 11:1 And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.
Luke 14:1 And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him.
Luke 17:11 And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.
Luke 19:15 And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.
Luke 19:29 And it came to pass, when he was come nigh to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount called the mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples,
Luke 20:1 And it came to pass, that on one of those days, as he taught the people in the temple, and preached the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes came upon him with the elders,
Luke 24:4 And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:
Luke 24:15 And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.
Luke 24:30 And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them.
Luke 24:51 And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.

Every one of these occurrences of "and it came to pass" in Luke is translated from the Greek phrase kai egeneto (και εγενετο – G2532 G1096).   Thayer's Lexicon (p. 115) says that the phrase kai egeneto is "very common in the first three Gospels, especially that of Luke, and in the Acts."  Following is an image from Thayer's Lexicon showing the quote.  Notice the little bit of Hebrew after the και εγενετο; that is the the Hebrew (ויהי – vay'hi) that kai egeneto is translated from where kai egeneto is used in the Septuagint.

Following is a graph of occurrences of kai egeneto (και εγενετο) in the New Testament.  Notice that it is common is the same set of books were we have seen Hebraic patterns in previous studies in this series.  You won't find quite as many occurrences of and it came to pass in the King James Version (and fewer still in most other translations) because it is sometimes ignored in English translations or sometimes translated into English in a different way.

Following is a graph of occurrences of kai egeneto in the New Testament where the phrase is at the beginning of a verse.  As you can see by comparing with the previous graph, most occurrences are used in this way.

The reference in Thayer's Lexicon to the Hebrew vay'hi (ויהי) is a clue that should make us suspect that this is a common pattern in the Septuagint and in Hebrew.  It is.  Vay'hi occurs 601 times at the beginning of verses in the Old Testament.  Here is a graph of the occurrences by book.

Like kai egeneto in the New Testament, some of the occurrences of vay'hi are not translated in the KJV as and it came to pass, but 304 of them are.  Following are some occurrences of vay'hi in Genesis that begin a verse and are translated into English as and it came to pass.  As with the previous list from Luke, I don't expect anyone to read them all— this is just to get a visual impression of the pattern.

Gen 6:1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,
Gen 7:10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.
Gen 8:6 And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:
Gen 8:13 And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.
Gen 11:2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
Gen 19:17 And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.
Gen 19:29 And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.
Gen 22:1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
Gen 24:15 And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder.
Gen 24:30 And it came to pass, when he saw the earring and bracelets upon his sister’s hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, Thus spake the man unto me; that he came unto the man; and, behold, he stood by the camels at the well.
Gen 27:30 And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.
Gen 29:23 And it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him; and he went in unto her.
Gen 31:10 And it came to pass at the time that the cattle conceived, that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and, behold, the rams which leaped upon the cattle were ringstraked, speckled, and grisled.
Gen 39:7 And it came to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.
Gen 39:13 And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth,

All of these verses begin with kai egeneto in the Septuagint.  In the Septuagint, kai egeneto is used to translated vay'hi.   In the New Testament, kai egeneto may or may not be a translation from Hebrew, but it is certainly a Hebraism— a phrase that is characteristic of the Hebrew language.  The Hebraism is evident even when translated into English.  When you see and it came to pass in the New Testament, you can be reminded that it is little bit of Hebrew in the language.