Psalm 40:6, ears you have dug, or a body you have prepared?
Hebrews 10:5 says a body you have prepared because it quotes the Greek reading; Psalm 40:6's Hebrew text reads ears you have dug. The two forms preserve different images without settling which should govern the other.
The APB text at this verse
The manuscripts, editions, and versions
The committee record at this verse
The APB's translation committee works blind: it is never told it is translating the Bible, never given a book name or a verse number, and it never sees the witnesses above. Since revision 3.5, the places where the manuscripts disagree are decided before translation by three readers, Grok 4.3, GPT-6 Astra, and Claude Fable 5.1, who see the readings and the witnesses by age and class but never a reference or a manuscript name. Whatever was done at this verse was done on the language and the evidence alone, and the record is public.
The blind committee's printed text at the crux verse reads, "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire; you have opened my ears. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required." Its wording follows the opened-ears image. The pericope audit verdict is clean, and no rationale note matches this crux.
The argument for each reading
If the Greek's “body”
Reading A is represented by the Septuagint (LXX; translation, c. 2nd century B.C.), which reads σῶμα δὲ κατηρτίσω μοι, but a body you have prepared for me. At LXX Psalm 39:7, this is the wording Hebrews 10:5 places on the Messiah's lips. The case for A is therefore tied directly to that quoted Greek form: it expresses preparation in terms of a body rather than an ear. The supplied difference describes this as the Greek's smooth paraphrase, and the stake label asks what changes if the Greek's body is followed.
If the Hebrew's “ears”
Reading B is represented by the Masoretic Text (Westminster Leningrad Codex) (MT; codex A.D. 1008; tradition centuries older). It reads אזנים כרית לי, ears you have dug for me. The packet places the phrase at Ps 40:7 in Hebrew numbering and describes obedience as an opened ear. In the supplied Hebrew verse, the words stand amid statements about sacrifice, offering, burnt offering, and sin offering. The case for B keeps that striking ear image in view. Its stake label asks what follows if the Hebrew's ears are retained.
The packet does not explain how the Hebrew idiom and Greek paraphrase became related, and the committee record supplies no rationale note. The variant changes the image carried into Hebrews 10:5: ears or a body. It does not itself decide a doctrinal conclusion, nor does it remove the shared setting of sacrifice and offering.
Common questions
Why does Hebrews 10:5 use a body?
The packet says Hebrews 10:5 quotes the Greek wording at LXX Psalm 39:7, which reads σῶμα δὲ κατηρτίσω μοι, but a body you have prepared for me.
What does Psalm 40:6 say in the Hebrew text?
The Masoretic Text reads אזנים כרית לי, ears you have dug for me. The packet describes the image at Ps 40:7 in Hebrew numbering as obedience pictured as an opened ear.
Did the blind committee print body or ears?
Its printed text says, "you have opened my ears." The record provides no rationale note for this crux, though the pericope's audit verdict is clean.
Related entries
Witness readings for critical editions are quoted from the SBLGNT apparatus (CC BY 4.0); Hebrew text from the Westminster Leningrad Codex (Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible). Readings of ancient manuscripts and versions are cited as published scholarly fact with their sources linked above. The page does not declare which reading is original.
The registry gives no verdict
The registry does not say which reading is original. Each page lists the witnesses, shows what the committee did with the same text, and leaves the judgment to the reader.