Final answer:
The citations of the Old Testament in the New Testament most often follow the Septuagint version, an ancient Greek translation. The Vulgate, while significant for Western Europe later on, was not yet in existence during the New Testament's composition.
Step-by-step explanation:
The citations of the Old Testament in the New Testament most often follow the Septuagint version. This ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures was widely used at the time the New Testament was written, especially among Hellenistic Jews. The Septuagint provided a common language bridge between the Hebrew texts and Greek-speaking communities, playing a crucial role in the spread of Christianity.
The Vulgate, a Latin version of the Bible produced by the monk Jerome in 410, became the main edition in Western Europe until the 16th century. However, during the time of the New Testament's composition, the Vulgate had not yet been created. The definitively canonized list of biblical books wasn't established until the Western Church did so in 1442 during the Renaissance.
On the other hand, the Masoretic Text became the authoritative Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible much later, and the Dead Sea Scrolls, while important for biblical scholarship, were not widely known or used during the time the New Testament was written and thus did not influence its citations of the Old Testament.