Did Jesus Misquote Scripture in Luke 4?
I’ve started studying the temptation of Christ, focusing on the Scripture Jesus uses to rebuke Satan. The first verse, from Deuteronomy 8:3, was longer than I expected and includes more than just the reference to bread. However, I’m really stuck on the second verse Jesus quotes: ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve’; (Luke 4:8). All my Bibles reference Deuteronomy 6:13. However, that verse says, ‘You shall fear the Lord your God and serve Him,’ not ‘worship’. Why would Jesus change the wording? Is it the same Hebrew word, and if so, why isn’t it translated the same way? I’m curious because I think understanding the correct terminology is important, especially since I’m studying Jesus’ response to apply it to my own struggles. I’d love to hear your thoughts—you know way more about this than I do!
Excerpt From The Answer
“So the short answer is, the Old Testament word is mainly translated as serve. In the NT the word used to translate the Hebrew into Greek is clearly a term of worship, bowing down before. So our English Bible translators are doing the best they can with the languages that are not as simple as one-to-one word meaning / usage.”
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