![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Joshua-Schachterle-Bart-Ehrman-Author-1-1.png\" "\\"Joshua")
<\/span><\/p>\nWritten by <\/a>Joshua Schachterle, Ph.D<\/a><\/p>\n Author | Professor | Scholar<\/p>\n Author | Professor | BE Contributor<\/p>\n Verified! See our editorial guidelines<\/a><\/p>\n Verified! See our guidelines<\/a><\/p>\n\nDate written: February 26th, 2025\n \nDate written: February 26th, 2025<\/p>\n Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily match my own. – Dr. Bart D. Ehrman<\/p>\n Can readers of the Bible find Jesus in the Old Testament? The connection between the Old Testament and the figure of Jesus has been a subject of deep exploration and debate for millennia<\/strong>. Christian theologians have long highlighted various Old Testament verses as prophecies that predict the coming of the Messiah<\/a>, identifying these Scriptures as pointing directly to Jesus.<\/p>\n However, the interpretation of these passages is not without controversy. Biblical scholars often challenge the application of these Old Testament<\/a> verses to Jesus, emphasizing the need to understand the historical and literary context in which they were originally written.<\/p>\n In this article, I\u2019ll look at some of the most commonly cited Old Testament verses that Christians believe predict the Messiah, examine the reasoning behind their interpretation, and consider how scholars view these verses from a historical perspective.<\/p>\n Most of our knowledge about how early Christians related Jesus to the Old Testament comes from the Gospels. The author of Matthew, for example, provides several Old Testament verses he thinks predicted Jesus, along with other verses he thinks were fulfilled by the circumstances of Jesus\u2019 life<\/strong>.<\/p>\n One of the first prophecies Matthew<\/a> cites is Isaiah 7:14 (cited in Matt 1:23)<\/a>, some translations of which say this:<\/p>\n Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.<\/p>\n While biblical scholars often use the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) translation when teaching, I\u2019m quoting this one from the English Standard Version (ESV), both to highlight the traditional formulation of the virgin birth and to prepare you for my later discussion on translation issues with this passage. In addition, Matthew is citing the Greek version of the Old Testament, known as the Septuagint, so his version of these verses is often a bit different from the NRSV and other modern English translations which translated directly from the original Hebrew.<\/p>\n Be that as it may, Matthew clearly believes that the passage in Isaiah predicts the coming of the Messiah, who he believes will be born of a virgin. To this day, some Christians point to this verse as validation for Jesus\u2019 status as the predicted Messiah. In addition, for both Matthew and many modern Christians, this cements Jesus\u2019 divine status, since he was born through divine agency acting upon a human woman.<\/p>\n A second verse Matthew indicates as predicting and validating Jesus as Messiah is Micah 5:2 (cited in Matt 2:6):<\/p>\n But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah,who are one of the little clans of Judah,from you shall come forth for meone who is to rule in Israel\u2026<\/p>\n Matthew sees this as a reference to Jesus in the Old Testament, and he says his birth occurred in Bethlehem. Unlike the Gospel of Luke, which has an elaborate story about how Joseph and Mary ended up in Bethlehem before Jesus\u2019 birth, Matthew seems to imply that they were already living there, even before they were betrothed.<\/p>\n Matthew then cites a third verse (in Matt 2:15), one line of Hosea 11:1 to explain the sojourn in Egypt taken by Mary, Joseph, and the infant Jesus: \u201cOut of Egypt I called my son.\u201d<\/p>\n While this verse is short and sweet, Matthew sees Jesus as the son who fulfills it. You may remember that in Matthew 2, the Magi come to find Jesus<\/a>, stopping first in Jerusalem to ask for Herod\u2019s help. Herod, hearing that the Magi are looking for \u201ca child who has been born king of the Jews,\u201d becomes alarmed and orders that all baby boys under the age of two be slaughtered to prevent any royal competition with him.<\/p>\n For this reason, Mary and Joseph<\/a> escape along with the infant Jesus to Egypt for a time, eventually returning not to Bethlehem but to Nazareth where they remain. This is why the author of Matthew believes that Jesus\u2019 brief time in Egypt is a fulfillment of the prophecy from Hosea 11:1.<\/p>\n Speaking of Herod\u2019s slaughter of the innocents, Matthew\u2019s author also believes that this was the fulfillment of a prophecy found in a fourth verse (cited in Matt 2:18) from Jeremiah 31:15:<\/p>\n A voice is heard in Ramah,lamentation and bitter weeping.Rachel is weeping for her children;she refuses to be comforted for her children,because they are no more.<\/p>\n Finally, outside of the book of Matthew, one of the most cited of all Old Testament quotations believed to refer to Jesus occurs in Isaiah 53<\/strong>. Parts of it are quoted throughout the New Testament (see Matthew 8:14-17; John 12:37-41; Luke 22:35-38; 1 Peter 2:19-25; Acts 8:26-35; Romans 10:11-21), but modern Christians often refer to it also to prove that Jesus\u2019 crucifixion for the sins of the world was prophesied. I\u2019ll quote some of it here at length:<\/p>\n He was despised and rejected by others;a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity,and as one from whom others hide their faceshe was despised, and we held him of no account.Surely he has borne our infirmitiesand carried our diseases,yet we accounted him stricken,struck down by God, and afflicted.But he was wounded for our transgressions,crushed for our iniquities;upon him was the punishment that made us whole,and by his bruises we are healed.All we like sheep have gone astray;we have all turned to our own way,and the Lord has laid on himthe iniquity of us all.He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,yet he did not open his mouth;like a lamb that is led to the slaughterand like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,so he did not open his mouth.<\/p>\n Note that these verses (Isaiah 53:3-7) speak of someone suffering \u201cfor our transgressions,\u201d a claim which Christian theologians have long used to explain why Jesus needed to die on the cross in order to save the world from sin. The passage goes on to say that \u201cthe Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all,\u201d which could indicate not only that this individual suffered but that his suffering was part of a divine plan. We can see how Christians might interpret this as referring to Jesus\u2019 salvific death.<\/p>\n There are many more Old Testament verses Christians, both ancient and modern, have pointed to as indicating the life and mission of Jesus, but I think we have enough context with these five. Speaking of context, I\u2019ll next look at how scholars interpret these verses based on their historical and literary contexts.<\/p>\n NOW AVAILABLE!<\/p>\n Finding Moses: What Scholars Know About The Exodus & The Jewish Law<\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/u><\/b>Riveting and controversial, the “FINDING MOSES” lecture series takes you on a deep dive into the stories of Moses, the exodus, and a whole lot more…<\/span><\/p>\n __CONFIG_colors_palette__{“active_palette”:0,”config”:{“colors”:{“62516”:{“name”:”Main Accent”,”parent”:-1}},”gradients”:[]},”palettes”:[{“name”:”Default Palette”,”value”:{“colors”:{“62516”:{“val”:”rgb(255, 133, 34)”,”hsl”:{“h”:26,”s”:0.99,”l”:0.5667}}},”gradients”:[]}}]}__CONFIG_colors_palette__ <\/span> LEARN MORE<\/strong><\/span><\/span> <\/a> Let\u2019s begin with Isaiah 7:14, a verse Matthew believes points to Jesus\u2019 virgin birth. It turns out that part of what we have here is a mistake in translation<\/strong>. As I said above, Matthew, like all the New Testament authors, read the Hebrew Bible\/Old Testament in its Greek version, known as the Septuagint. As many wise people have noted, translation is extremely complicated. It turns out that Isaiah 7:14 in Greek does not exactly match what the original Hebrew verse said.<\/p>\n The Hebrew verse, as translated accurately into English in the NRSV says this:<\/p>\n Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman <\/strong>is with child and shall bear a son and shall name him Immanuel.<\/p>\n How did Matthew get the word \u201cvirgin\u201d from a verse that originally just said \u201cyoung woman\u201d? In the Septuagint, translators translated the Hebrew word \u201calmah\u201d \u2014 \u201cyoung woman\u201d \u2014 into the Greek word \u201cparthenos\u201d \u2014\u201cvirgin.\u201d It was likely an innocent mistranslation, but nevertheless, this Greek version was Matthew\u2019s source. This is the first issue with citing Isaiah 7:14 as validation for Jesus as Messiah: even if it did refer to Jesus, scholars would say it did not originally indicate a virgin birth.<\/p>\n The second problem, as noted by Bart Ehrman<\/a>, is that the author of Isaiah is not talking about a future Messiah at all (the word Messiah is never used in this passage). As Ehrman says<\/p>\n The context is quite clear. Ahaz the king of Judea is in a bad way because the kings of Syria and Israel have ganged up on him and laid siege to his capital city of Jerusalem. Ahaz is in a panic and doesn\u2019t know what to do. He calls in Isaiah, who tells him. He has to do nothing. There is a young woman who has become pregnant. Before the child to be born to her is old enough to know right from wrong, he will be eating curds and honey (that is, there will be prosperity in the land) and the two kings who are now threatening will be dispersed.<\/p>\n This is what the passage was intended to mean: a young woman was already pregnant with a child who would be Judea\u2019s next king and lead Israel into prosperity.<\/strong><\/p>\n Micah 5:2 is a bit more complicated. Although there is no translation issue with this quotation in Matthew, the original context of the verse is just as important for scholars. In the HarperCollins Study Bible<\/a>, Carol Dempsey notes that Micah was prophesying during the reign of King Hezekiah, who had instituted many reforms, including changing Judah from a bartering to a monetary economy. This change, while beneficial in some ways, increased the gap between rich and poor.<\/p>\n (Affiliate Disclaimer: We may earn commissions on products you purchase through this page at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting our site!<\/em>)<\/p>\n Much of Micah\u2019s prophetic book was about the injustice of this new economic system and encouraged the wealthy to help the poor. Since Jerusalem was the capital of Judah and where the king lived, Micah conflated Jerusalem with the wealthy. He therefore said that God had told him the next ruler wouldn\u2019t come from Jerusalem, the center of wealth and power, but instead from a humble small town, Bethlehem. In addition, of course, this tied the soon-to-be-born ruler to the great King David. Again, however, there is no mention of the word Messiah here.<\/p>\n What about Hosea 11:1? Is this line a reference to Jesus\u2019 family fleeing to Egypt to escape the wrath of Herod? According to biblical scholars, the context of the original verse does not refer to this at all.<\/p>\n Instead, it\u2019s about God\u2019s mercy despite the ungratefulness of Israel. We can see this if we look at the whole passage surrounding the line quoted by Matthew, Hosea 11:1-2:<\/p>\n When Israel was a child, I loved him,and out of Egypt I called my son.The more I called them,the more they went from me;they kept sacrificing to the Baalsand offering incense to idols.<\/p>\n As you can see from the first line, \u201cmy son\u201d refers to Israel as a whole. It\u2019s the personification or an individuation of the entire nation of Israel, not an actual individual. The reference is not to a distant future Messiah but to God liberating Israel from slavery in Egypt in the past tense, not a future condition.<\/p>\n Similarly, the passage from Jeremiah 31:15 is taken out of context by Matthew. Rather than referring to a future event, it refers to the sadness of Rachel, the wife of the biblical Jacob, who is used by Jeremiah as a symbol of the nation of Israel, when many Israelites were taken by their Babylonian conquerors away from their homeland and into captivity.<\/p>\n Now, let\u2019s look at Isaiah 53. Certainly on its own, most of the chapter could be read as a description of later theological explanations about the significance of Jesus\u2019 suffering. However, in context, it\u2019s quite different.<\/p>\n The author of this passage was writing during the Babylonian exile to his fellow exiled Jews. But it\u2019s not about one person. Like Hosea, the author of Jeremiah is using an individual symbol, whom he calls the \u201csuffering servant,\u201d to symbolize the beleaguered nation of Israel in captivity. \u201cHe\u201d in this passage means \u201cthey.\u201d<\/p>\n What the passage says, then, according to J.J.M. Roberts<\/a> writing in the HarperCollins Study Bible, is that the nation of Israel was despised and rejected by other nations who conquered them. The notion that the servant seemed to be \u201crejected by God\u201d means that their conquest and captivity by Babylon seemed like God\u2019s judgment on them for their sins.<\/p>\n Bart Ehrman<\/a> notes that this passage, taken out of context, is often misunderstood. He says that the notion of suffering for \u201cour sins\u201d probably means that those who were taken into captivity in Babylon (not everyone was taken, mostly just the elite) were suffering for the sins of those who remained in the land<\/strong>, a notion of divine retribution found frequently in the Hebrew Bible.<\/p>\n What\u2019s more, Ehrman says the passage cannot be understood in its original context as a future prediction:<\/p>\n The author is not predicting that someone will suffer in the future for other people\u2019s sins at all. Many readers fail to consider the verb tenses in these passages. They do not indicate that someone will come along at a later time and suffer in the future, they are talking about past suffering. The Servant has already suffered \u2013 although he \u201cwill be\u201d vindicated. And so this not about a future suffering Messiah.<\/p>\n Is Jesus in the Old Testament? There are at least two broad ways to answer that question. The first is answered by the authors of the New Testament, particularly the Gospels. Matthew, for instance, finds multiple allusions to Jesus\u2019 miraculous birth in Bethlehem, his fleeing to Egypt with his family, and the slaughter of the innocents by Herod. Other books refer to Isaiah 53 as a reference to Jesus, particularly to his vicarious suffering and death on a cross. Modern Christians have inherited these interpretations.<\/p>\n However, from a scholarly viewpoint, these same verses in their proper historical and literary contexts, did not refer to Jesus at all. They refer to the nation of Israel, often rendering it as an individual used as a symbolic representation of the entire nation. What\u2019s more, they often refer not to future events but rather to interpretations of past events, like Israel\u2019s conquest and captivity in Babylon.<\/p>\n Is Jesus in the Old Testament? There is no final, definitive answer to this question, merely different perspectives from which people have approached it.<\/p>\n NOW AVAILABLE!<\/p>\n Finding Moses: What Scholars Know About The Exodus & The Jewish Law<\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/u><\/b>Riveting and controversial, the “FINDING MOSES” lecture series takes you on a deep dive into the stories of Moses, the exodus, and a whole lot more…<\/span><\/p>\n __CONFIG_colors_palette__{“active_palette”:0,”config”:{“colors”:{“62516”:{“name”:”Main Accent”,”parent”:-1}},”gradients”:[]},”palettes”:[{“name”:”Default Palette”,”value”:{“colors”:{“62516”:{“val”:”rgb(255, 133, 34)”,”hsl”:{“h”:26,”s”:0.99,”l”:0.5667}}},”gradients”:[]}}]}__CONFIG_colors_palette__ <\/span> LEARN MORE<\/strong><\/span><\/span> <\/a> Jesus in the Old Testament: Verses that Predict the Messiah Written by Joshua Schachterle, Ph.D Author | Professor | Scholar Author | Professor | BE Contributor Verified! See our editorial guidelines Verified! See our guidelines Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily match my own. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":18417,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","tve_updated_post":" Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily match my own. - Dr. Bart D. Ehrman<\/p><\/div> Can readers of the Bible find Jesus in the Old Testament? The connection between the Old Testament and the figure of Jesus has been a subject of deep exploration and debate for millennia<\/strong>. Christian theologians have long highlighted various Old Testament verses as prophecies that predict the coming of the Messiah<\/a>, identifying these Scriptures as pointing directly to Jesus.<\/p> However, the interpretation of these passages is not without controversy. Biblical scholars often challenge the application of these Old Testament<\/a> verses to Jesus, emphasizing the need to understand the historical and literary context in which they were originally written.<\/p> In this article, I\u2019ll look at some of the most commonly cited Old Testament verses that Christians believe predict the Messiah, examine the reasoning behind their interpretation, and consider how scholars view these verses from a historical perspective.<\/p><\/div> Most of our knowledge about how early Christians related Jesus to the Old Testament comes from the Gospels. The author of Matthew, for example, provides several Old Testament verses he thinks predicted Jesus, along with other verses he thinks were fulfilled by the circumstances of Jesus\u2019 life<\/strong>.<\/p> One of the first prophecies Matthew<\/a> cites is Isaiah 7:14 (cited in Matt 1:23)<\/a>, some translations of which say this:<\/p><\/div> Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div> While biblical scholars often use the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) translation when teaching, I\u2019m quoting this one from the English Standard Version (ESV), both to highlight the traditional formulation of the virgin birth and to prepare you for my later discussion on translation issues with this passage. In addition, Matthew is citing the Greek version of the Old Testament, known as the Septuagint, so his version of these verses is often a bit different from the NRSV and other modern English translations which translated directly from the original Hebrew.<\/p> Be that as it may, Matthew clearly believes that the passage in Isaiah predicts the coming of the Messiah, who he believes will be born of a virgin. To this day, some Christians point to this verse as validation for Jesus\u2019 status as the predicted Messiah. In addition, for both Matthew and many modern Christians, this cements Jesus\u2019 divine status, since he was born through divine agency acting upon a human woman.<\/p> A second verse Matthew indicates as predicting and validating Jesus as Messiah is Micah 5:2 (cited in Matt 2:6):<\/p><\/div> But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, Matthew sees this as a reference to Jesus in the Old Testament, and he says his birth occurred in Bethlehem. Unlike the Gospel of Luke, which has an elaborate story about how Joseph and Mary ended up in Bethlehem before Jesus\u2019 birth, Matthew seems to imply that they were already living there, even before they were betrothed.<\/p> Matthew then cites a third verse (in Matt 2:15), one line of Hosea 11:1 to explain the sojourn in Egypt taken by Mary, Joseph, and the infant Jesus: \u201cOut of Egypt I called my son.\u201d<\/p> While this verse is short and sweet, Matthew sees Jesus as the son who fulfills it. You may remember that in Matthew 2, the Magi come to find Jesus<\/a>, stopping first in Jerusalem to ask for Herod\u2019s help. Herod, hearing that the Magi are looking for \u201ca child who has been born king of the Jews,\u201d becomes alarmed and orders that all baby boys under the age of two be slaughtered to prevent any royal competition with him.<\/p>![\"Jesus](\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Jesus-in-the-Old-Testament.png\" "\\"Jesus")
<\/span><\/p>\nAre There Old Testament Verses About Jesus?<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/quote-down.png\" "\\"quote")
<\/span>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/quote-up.png\" "\\"quote")
<\/span><\/p>\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Finding-Moses-PBS-4x3-1.jpg\" "\\"Finding")
<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\nIs Jesus in the Old Testament? A Scholarly View<\/h2>\n
<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/span><\/span>![\"Old](\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/old-testament-verses-about-Jesus.png\" "\\"old")
<\/span><\/p>\nConclusion<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jesus in the Old Testament: Verses that Predict the Messiah<\/h2><\/div>
<\/span><\/div>Are There Old Testament Verses About Jesus?<\/h2><\/div>
<\/span><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/span><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>
who are one of the little clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to rule in Israel\u2026<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/span><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/span><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>