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, Jesus refers to the Flood as a real event and as something to instruct us today (Luke 17:26-27).  But he does not quote directly from the text of Genesis 6-9.  Therefore, I left such 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 OT verses most quoted in the NT (see here for the most quoted OT books and chapters).  Which verses did Jesus’ apostles reference most often as they sought to explain his life and ministry?  If they had “memory verses” to focus on in Sunday School, what might they have been?  Which sentences did they meditate on and find most useful to explain Christ’s mission?

After each entry, I include the number of times the New Testament quotes that verse.

1. Leviticus 19:18 (8 times)

2. Exodus 20:12/Deuteronomy 5:16 (6)

3. Exodus 20:13/Deuteronomy 5:17 (6)

4. Exodus 20:14/Deuteronomy 5:18 (6)

5. Psalm 110:1 (5)

6. Isaiah 6:10 (5)

7. Genesis 2:24 (4)

8. Exodus 3:6 (4)

9. Psalm 118:22 (4)

10. Isaiah 6:9 (4)

11. Isaiah 40:3 (4)

Close behind are Genesis 15:6, Deuteronomy 6:5, Psalm 2:7, Psalm 40:6-8, Psalm 95:7,8,11, Psalm 110:4, Isaiah 28:16, Isaiah 56:7, Jeremiah 31:33, Habakkuk 2:4, and Malachi 3:1, each quoted 3 times. For the raw data listing every quotation, see my resources page.

The most quoted verse is the second greatest commandment: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  Perhaps this verse ought to be on our hearts and minds more often.

I don’t want to minimize the differences between Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 (the first and second statements of the 10 commandments), but it’s difficult to exaggerate their similarities.  One noteworthy point is that Ephesians 6:2-3 clearly quotes Deuteronomy’s version of the command to honor parents (Exodus doesn’t have the phrase “that it may go well with you”).  But the two versions of the law are so similar that I considered Eph 6:2-3 still to be referencing both.

Although we could say these verses are important, we must not forget their contexts.  G.K. Beale and D.A. Carson (among others) have amply demonstrated that quotes by New Testament authors are primarily quotes of passages, not just quotes of verses.  In other words, when you study a NT passage that quotes the OT, you ought to go back and look up the OT quote in context.  Determine the main point of the OT text and then go back to the NT passage to see how the author uses it.

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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.

1. Exodus 20/Deuteronomy 5 (12 times)

2. Leviticus 19 (8)

3. Psalm 110 (8)

4. Deuteronomy 6 (7)

5. Genesis 2 (6)

6. Genesis 15 (6)

7. Deuteronomy 32 (6)

8. Psalm 69 (6)

9. Isaiah 40 (6)

10. Psalm 95 (5)

11. Psalm 118 (5)

12. Isaiah 6 (5)

13. 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?

“Open Bible” by Ryk Neethling (2011), 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, when Paul says he was “rescued from the lion’s mouth” (2 Tim 4:17), is that an allusion to Daniel 6:22-23 (which we probably think of first), or to Psalm 22:21 (which is more linguistically likely)? It’s hard to say. Therefore, I left such 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 all the Old Testament books that are never explicitly quoted in the New Testament.

1. Judges

2. Ruth

3. Ezra

4. Esther

5. Ecclesiastes

6. Song of Solomon

7. Lamentations

8. Obadiah

9. Jonah

10. Zephaniah

They’re mostly short books, except for Judges. Also, Ezra & Nehemiah were on one scroll (in Hebrew) and were likely to be considered a single book with a unified literary structure. Thus, since Nehemiah is quoted (John 6:31), we could possibly take Ezra off this list. For the same reason, we could potentially remove Obadiah and Jonah, as the twelve minor prophets were on one scroll, considered one book (named “The Twelve”).

Let’s not conclude, however, that the books on this list are unimportant. They are the Word of God, and, as such, they are useful for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16). But as we seek to interpret and apply these books, we have few scriptural examples to guide us, and we must instead rely on more general principles from the rest of Scripture. We ought to be less dogmatic about what we come up with. For the raw data listing every quotation, see the resources page.

What strikes you about this list?  How ought it to inform our Bible study?