The author of the book of Hebrews follows the Greek Septuagint

Hebrews 10:5-6

King James Version

5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:

6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.

The author of the book of Hebrews quotes Psalm 40:

“A body you have prepared for me.”

But the Hebrew Masoretic text is commonly translated:אָזְנַיִם כָּרִיתָ לִּי (Oznayim karita li)

“My ears you have opened.”

7 זבח ו\מנחה לא חפצת אזנים כרית ל\י עולה ו\חטאה לא שׁאלת

Emanuel Tov, The Parallel Aligned Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Texts of Jewish Scripture (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2003), Ps 40:6–7.

7 Sacrifice and meal-offering Thou hast no delight in; mine ears hast Thou opened; burnt-offering and sin-offering hast Thou not required.

Jewish Publication Society of America, Torah Nevi’im U-Khetuvim. The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text. (Philadelphia, PA: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1917), Ps 40:7.

The Greek Septuagint has the “body” wording.

Hebrews author follows the Greek Septuagint.

σῶμα δὲ κατηρτίσω μοι· (Sōma de katērtisō moi)

Translation: "...but a body You prepared for me..."

     

 7 θυσίαν καὶ προσφορὰν οὐκ ἠθέλησας, 

      σῶμα δὲ κατηρτίσω μοι· 

      ὁλοκαύτωμα καὶ περὶ ἁμαρτίας οὐκ ᾔτησας. 

Henry Barclay Swete, The Old Testament in Greek: According to the Septuagint (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1909), Ps 39:7.

     7 *You did not want sacrifice and offering, 

       but a body you restored to me. 

     You did not ask for whole burnt offering, 

       and an offering concerning sin. 

* 40:7 in the Hebrew Bible

Rick Brannan et al., eds., The Lexham English Septuagint (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), Ps 39:7.

The differences between Hebrews 10:5 and the Hebrew text of Psalm 40 illustrate how New Testament writers engaged with textual traditions available to them—and reveal something important about the Masoretic Text’s authority in their eyes.

The Masoretic Text of Psalm 40:6 reads “sacrifice and offering you have not desired, but ears you have dug for me,” whereas Hebrews (following the Septuagint) reads “sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but you prepared a body for me.”[1] The Hebrew emphasizes “hearing” the Torah and obeying it as the work pleasing to God, rather than ritual sacrifice.[1] The Greek translator likely understood the Psalm similarly but found the imagery of “digging out ears” distasteful and substituted “a body” to convey living out Torah’s requirements.[1]

The author of Hebrews’ choice to follow the Septuagint over the Masoretic Text reveals a pragmatic approach to textual authority. The Septuagint version opens the Psalm to a christological interpretation impossible from the Masoretic Text, allowing Christ to become the speaker and receive a body from God to effect the perfect sacrifice replacing Levitical rituals.[1] Rather than viewing the Masoretic Text as uniquely authoritative, the Hebrews author selected the Greek version because it better served his theological argument about Christ’s sacrifice.

Theologians suggest that when the Masoretes inserted vowels into consonantal Hebrew texts, they made errors of judgment—and that New Testament writers, directed by the Holy Spirit, provide the correct translation where the consonants could support multiple readings. Since the original text was inspired, the consonants are reliable, but the Masoretes’ vowel choices may be wrong.[2] This perspective frames the Masoretic Text not as infallible but as one interpretive layer applied to the original consonantal text, subject to correction by Spirit-guided apostolic usage.

[1] David Arthur deSilva, An Introduction to the New Testament: Contexts, Methods and Ministry Formation (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2004), 807.
[2] Clive Anderson and Brian Edwards, Evidence for the Bible (Leominster: Day One, 2014), 202.