Photo credit: Keith Williamson (2010), shared under a Creative Commons Attribution License
I recently finished a read-through of the Bible, during which I kept track of every instance the New Testament quotes an Old Testament passage.
I counted only direct, explicit quotations, such as those introduced with “it is written,” or “as it says in the Law of Moses.” I gave some leniency, allowing clear quotations on the list even if introduced by a mere “for.”
I did not include any mere allusions or references to people or events in the Old Testament. I don’t think such allusions are unimportant; I just think they can be difficult to measure. For example, the New Testament mentions Abraham 72 times. Should we connect every one of those references to a specific passage in the Old Testament? Here, I’ll let you practice: Abraham comes up in Matthew 1:1. Which Old Testament text is in mind? Because of such lack of clarity, I left these unclear examples off the list altogether. One unfortunate result is that books like 2 Peter, Jude, and Revelation, which contain Old Testament allusions in almost every verse, are almost completely absent from the list.
This list has the top 10 OT chapters quoted in the NT (see here for the top 10 OT books). Which chapters did Jesus’ apostles reference most often as they sought to explain his life and ministry?
After each entry, I include the number of times the New Testament quotes from that chapter.
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Exodus 20/Deuteronomy 5 (12 times)
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Leviticus 19 (8)
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Psalm 110 (8)
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Deuteronomy 6 (7)
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Genesis 2 (6)
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Genesis 15 (6)
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Deuteronomy 32 (6)
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Psalm 69 (6)
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Isaiah 40 (6)
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Psalm 95 (5)
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Psalm 118 (5)
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Isaiah 6 (5)
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Isaiah 53 (5)
Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 contain the 10 commandments, which we can confidently say is the most quoted Old Testament passage in the New Testament.
Deuteronomy 6 and Leviticus 19 have the first and second greatest commandments (Matt 22:36-40), so no surprise there. We should expect the most important parts to be quoted most often. For the raw data listing every quotation, see the resources page.
I encourage you to study the rest of the chapters on the list and make sure you understand them. The apostles clearly believed them important for understanding Christ’s mission. A solid understanding of these 13 passages will pay great dividends for your understanding of the main points of the Bible and your relationship with Christ.
What do you think? Does anything on this list (or not on it) surprise you?
This is clearly a Top 13 list because 10-13 are tied, and you felt you couldn’t not include Isaiah 53.
I would have thought Psalm 22 would be on the list. Maybe it’s only 4 or 5 times.
Keep in mind that I’m tracking only direct quotations, not allusions. So, for example, I’m not including Jesus’s cry from the cross. By these parameters, Psalm 22 is quoted directly only two times: John 19:24 and Heb 2:12.