Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sin offerings You took no delight. Then I said, ‘Here I am, it is written about Me in the scroll: I have come to do Your will, O God.’” In the passage above He says, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not desire, nor did You delight in them” (although they are offered according to the law). Then He adds, “Here I am, I have come to do Your will.” He takes away the first to establish the second.
Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but my ears You have opened. Burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not require. Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—it is written about me in the scroll: I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your law is within my heart.”
Significance
Put in mouth of Christ at incarnation ("when Christ came into the world"). Old covenant sacrifices insufficient; Christ's obedient offering of his body fulfills God's will. The LXX form Hebrews quotes, "a body You prepared for Me" (Heb 10:5), instead of the Hebrew text's "my ears You have opened" (Ps 40:6; literally, ears You have dug), fits incarnation theology. "Then" (tote) shows temporal sequence—annuls first to establish second. Climax of superiority of Christ's once-for-all sacrifice. The psalm's critique of sacrificial system (God desires obedience not offerings) finds ultimate fulfillment in Christ whose incarnation and obedient death accomplish what the law's sacrifices could never do—decisively remove sins.
Found via
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type
Direct Quotation
Connection Method(s)
Promise-Fulfillment (prosopological — the Son's incarnational speech; NOT Typology) + Contrast
Prosopological Shift: Speaker (David offering himself in worship → Christ entering the world at the incarnation). David's first-person prayer about open ears and ready obedience becomes the Son's own speech at the moment of his incarnation. Hebrews uses the LXX rendering ("a body You prepared for Me") prosopologically to identify Christ as the true sacrificer who replaces the Levitical system.
NT Use Pattern: Alternate Textual — Same as Heb 10:5-7: the LXX "body" reading is what makes Hebrews's incarnation-sacrifice argument work. The Hebrew text does not contain the "body" reference.
