The Old Testament and Jesus
Fourteen studies of passages the New Testament connects with Jesus. Read the texts, explore Christian interpretations and examine significant alternatives.
These connections are important within Christianity. They are not all predictions in the same sense, and identifying a passage with Jesus is not a conclusion shared by every Jewish or historical interpreter. The studies distinguish the earlier setting, the New Testament use and the reasoning behind a proposed fulfilment.
Quotation and interpretation
A New Testament writer explicitly quotes or applies an earlier passage. That establishes the writer’s use, while its original meaning remains a question to examine.
Typology and patterns
An earlier person or event supplies a pattern for understanding Jesus. Hosea’s account of Israel’s past, for example, is not simply a future-tense forecast.
Royal and visionary language
Kingship, priesthood and apocalyptic images are used to explain Jesus. Ask what each image meant in its own setting and how the later argument develops it.
A prophet like Moses
Deuteronomy 18:15-22
Acts 3:17-26; Acts 7:37
God's anointed king and son
Psalm 2:1-12
Acts 13:32-37; Hebrews 1:5-9
Not abandoned to the grave
Psalm 16:1-11
Acts 2:22-36; Acts 13:34-37
The sufferer's prayer and the crucifixion
Psalm 22:1-31
Mark 15:24-39; Matthew 27:35-46; John 19:23-24
At God's right hand: king and priest
Psalm 110:1-7
Mark 12:35-37; Hebrews 7:11-28
Immanuel: a sign to Ahaz and Matthew's reading
Isaiah 7:1-17
Matthew 1:18-25
Prepare the way
Isaiah 40:1-11
Mark 1:1-8; Luke 3:1-6
The suffering servant
Isaiah 52:13-15; Isaiah 53:1-12
Acts 8:26-40; 1 Peter 2:21-25
A ruler from Bethlehem
Micah 5:1-6
Matthew 2:1-12
Out of Egypt: Israel and Jesus
Hosea 11:1-11
Matthew 2:13-23
The king riding a donkey
Zechariah 9:9-17
Matthew 21:1-11; John 12:12-19
Mourning for the pierced one
Zechariah 12:1-14
John 19:31-37; Revelation 1:4-8
The sign of Jonah
Jonah 1:1-17; Jonah 2:1-10
Matthew 12:38-42; Luke 11:29-32
One like a son of man
Daniel 7:1-28
Mark 14:60-64; Mark 13:24-27; Revelation 1:4-8
Read the surrounding chapters
The library includes 19 complete Old Testament chapters. Sixteen supply context for these comparisons. Isaiah 8–9 and Psalm 118 provide additional reading connected with the wider prophecy collection. This is a selected collection, not the complete Old Testament.
Original editorial introductions, updated 20 October 2026. Source links accompany each study. Christian, Jewish and academic sources are identified where used; no independent specialist review is claimed. Our method.