1 Kings 13 — Hebrew and Greek compared
Each card keeps the independently rendered source readings above their shared comparison and reception notes. The badge records the source’s governing classification; disparate readings are marked in red. Each reading retains its original reference.
1 Kings 13
The word that confronts the altar
Editorial Christian reading: prophetic authority rests on the word received, not merely on a speaker’s status or wonder-working claim.
13:1–10 | The man of God, the sign, and the king’s hand
Verse MT 13:1 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 13:1
Look, a man of God came from Judah to Bethel by YHWH’s word, while Jeroboam stood at the altar to burn offerings.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 13:1
Look, a man of God came from Judah to Bethel by the Lord’s word, while Jeroboam stood at the altar to offer sacrifice.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: The arrival and altar setting agree. Hebrew specifies burning offerings; Greek uses a sacrificial verb. The man remains unnamed, as in the sources.
Verse MT 13:2 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 13:2
He cried against the altar by YHWH’s word: “Altar, altar! Thus says YHWH: Look, a son shall be born to David’s house, Josiah by name. He will sacrifice upon you the priests of the high places who burn offerings upon you, and they will burn human bones upon you.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 13:2
He called to the altar by the Lord’s word: “Altar, altar! Thus says the Lord: Look, a son shall be born to David’s house, Josiah by name. He will sacrifice upon you the priests of the high places who offer sacrifice upon you, and he will burn human bones upon you.”
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew ends with plural they will burn; Greek has singular he will burn, continuing Josiah’s action. Both retain the named future king and the violent altar oracle. No chronology or identification of individual priests is added.
Verse MT 13:3 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 13:3
He gave a sign that day, saying, “This is the sign YHWH has spoken: Look, the altar will split, and the ashes upon it will pour out.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 13:3
He gave a portent that day, saying, “This is the word the Lord has spoken: Look, the altar will split, and the fat upon it will pour out.”
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew repeats sign and names ashes, the fatty sacrificial residue; Greek shifts from portent to word and names fat. The different material descriptions are retained rather than translated identically.
Verse MT 13:4 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 13:4
When the king heard the word of the man of God who had cried against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him!” The hand he stretched out against him withered, and he could not draw it back.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 13:4
When King Jeroboam heard the words of the man of God who had called against the altar in Bethel, the king stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him!” Look, the hand he stretched out against him withered, and he could not draw it back.
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: The command, withering, and inability agree. Greek adds look and has plural words, while the two royal designations occur in a different order. No medical diagnosis is supplied.
Verse MT 13:5 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 13:5
The altar split, and the ashes poured from the altar, according to the sign the man of God had given by YHWH’s word.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 13:5
The altar split, and the fat poured from the altar, according to the portent the man of God had given by the Lord’s word.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: The predicted sign occurs in both. Ashes and fat continue the differing material descriptions from verse 3.
Verse MT 13:6 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 13:6
The king answered the man of God, “Please entreat the favor of YHWH your God and pray for me, so my hand may be restored to me.” The man of God entreated YHWH’s favor, and the king’s hand was restored to him as it had been before.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 13:6
King Jeroboam said to the man of God, “Entreat the favor of the Lord your God, and let my hand be restored to me.” The man of God entreated the Lord’s favor, and he restored the king’s hand to him, so it became as it had been before.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew includes pray for me; Greek lacks that separate request. Hebrew makes the hand the subject of returning; Greek uses an active he restored without restating its subject. Lowercase he leaves that Greek agency unresolved rather than inserting an explicit divine or human name. Favor renders the face idiom in both.
Verse MT 13:7 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 13:7
The king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a gift.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 13:7
The king said to the man of God, “Come into the house with me and eat a meal, and I will give you a gift.”
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: The invitation and promised gift agree. Hebrew emphasizes refreshment; Greek names eating a meal.
Verse MT 13:8 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 13:8
The man of God said to the king, “Even if you give me half your house, I will not go in with you, nor eat bread or drink water in this place.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 13:8
The man of God said to the king, “Even if you give me half your house, I will not go in with you, nor will I eat bread or drink water in this place.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: The half-house offer and complete refusal agree. House remains the broad household or estate term, without a modern monetary valuation.
Verse MT 13:9 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 13:9
For this command came to me by YHWH’s word: ‘You shall not eat bread, drink water, or return by the road you traveled.’”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 13:9
For the Lord commanded me by a word: ‘Do not eat bread, drink water, or return by the road you traveled.’”
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: Both give the same three restrictions. Greek explicitly makes the Lord the subject of commanding; Hebrew has the command conveyed by YHWH’s word. The journey prohibition is not reduced to a general rule about hospitality.
Verse MT 13:10 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 13:10
He went by another road and did not return by the road on which he had come to Bethel.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 13:10
He went by another road and did not return by the road on which he had come to Bethel.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: The initial obedience and changed route agree.
Discernment, deception, and the cost of disobedience
Editorial Christian reading: the older prophet’s false angelic claim is narrated as a lie; the story does not license trust in every religious message.
13:11–19 | The older prophet persuades the messenger to return
Verse MT 13:11 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 13:11
An old prophet lived in Bethel. His son came and told him all the man of God had done that day in Bethel; the words he had spoken to the king, they also reported to their father.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 13:11
An old prophet lived in Bethel. His sons came and told him all the deeds the man of God had done that day in Bethel and the words he had spoken to the king; they turned their father’s attention toward it.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew begins with singular son and shifts to plural reporters; Greek has sons throughout. Greek ends with they turned their father’s face, rendered attention provisionally, where Hebrew repeats reporting. The wording is not silently unified into one identical family report.
Verse MT 13:12 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 13:12
Their father said to them, “Which road did he take?” His sons had seen the road taken by the man of God who came from Judah.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 13:12
Their father said to them, “Which road has he taken?” His sons showed him the road by which the man of God who came from Judah had gone up.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew says the sons had seen the road; Greek says they showed it to him and uses went up. Neither column substitutes one verb for the other to simplify the sequence.
Verse MT 13:13 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 13:13
He said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” They saddled the donkey for him, and he rode on it.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 13:13
He said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” They saddled the donkey for him, and he mounted it.
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: The command and saddling agree; Hebrew states riding, Greek mounting.
Verse MT 13:14 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 13:14
He went after the man of God and found him sitting under the terebinth. He said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” He answered, “I am.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 13:14
He went after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak. He said to him, “Are you the man of God who has come from Judah?” He answered, “I am.”
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew identifies the tree as an elah, here terebinth; Greek has oak. The meeting and identification agree.
Verse MT 13:15 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 13:15
He said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 13:15
He said to him, “Come with me and eat bread.”
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew explicitly includes home. Both preserve the invitation which conflicts with the traveler’s earlier command.
Verse MT 13:16 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 13:16
He said, “I cannot return with you or go in with you. I will not eat bread or drink water with you in this place,
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 13:16
He said, “I cannot return with you, nor will I eat bread or drink water in this place,
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew includes both return and go in with you, and repeats with you concerning drinking. Greek gives the shorter refusal, without changing its prohibition.
Verse MT 13:17 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 13:17
because I was told by YHWH’s word, ‘You shall not eat bread or drink water there, nor return along the road you traveled.’”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 13:17
because the Lord commanded me by a word, ‘Do not eat bread there or drink water there, nor return by the road you traveled.’”
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: Greek repeats there after both food and drink and explicitly names the commanding Lord. Both retain all three restrictions.
Verse MT 13:18 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 13:18
He said to him, “I too am a prophet like you. An angel spoke to me by YHWH’s word, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, so he may eat bread and drink water.’” He was lying to him.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 13:18
He said to him, “I too am a prophet like you. An angel has spoken to me by the Lord’s word, saying, ‘Bring him back to yourself, to your house, and let him eat bread and drink water.’” He lied to him.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Both explicitly identify the angelic message as the older prophet’s false claim. It is not presented as an actual new revelation overruling the earlier command.
Verse MT 13:19 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 13:19
He returned with him, ate bread in his house, and drank water.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 13:19
He brought him back, and he ate bread and drank water in his house.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew makes the traveler the subject of returning with him; Greek begins with the older prophet bringing him back. The subsequent eating and drinking agree, with the house phrase placed differently.
13:20–32 | The warning, the lion, and the burial
Verse MT 13:20 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 13:20
While they were sitting at the table, YHWH’s word came to the prophet who had brought him back.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 13:20
While they were sitting at the table, the Lord’s word came to the prophet who had brought him back.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Both now report a divine word to the prophet who had lied. The narrative distinction between the earlier false claim and this reported word is retained.
Verse MT 13:21 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 13:21
He cried to the man of God who had come from Judah, “Thus says YHWH: Because you rebelled against YHWH’s command and did not keep the commandment YHWH your God gave you,
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 13:21
He said to the man of God who had come from Judah, “Thus says the Lord: Because you defied the Lord’s word and did not keep the commandment the Lord your God gave you,
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew has crying out and rebellion against YHWH’s mouth, rendered command; Greek has speaking and defying the Lord’s word. The accusation remains addressed to the traveler, without inventing a verdict on the older prophet’s ultimate fate.
Verse MT 13:22 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 13:22
but returned, ate bread, and drank water in the place where He told you, ‘Do not eat bread or drink water,’ your corpse shall not enter your fathers’ tomb.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 13:22
and returned, ate bread, and drank water in this place where He told you, ‘Do not eat bread or drink water,’ your body shall certainly not enter your fathers’ tomb.”
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew names the corpse, Greek the body, and Greek adds this to the place. Both state denial of burial in the ancestral tomb; the verse itself does not name the means of death.
Verse MT 13:23 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 13:23
After he had eaten bread and drunk, he saddled the donkey for him, for the prophet whom he had brought back.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 13:23
After eating bread and drinking water, he saddled the donkey for him, and he returned.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew’s final prophet-whom-he-brought-back phrase identifies the recipient provisionally amid shifting pronouns. Greek lacks that phrase and ends with he returned, whose subject is not restated. The wording remains open rather than supplying a second journey absent from the text.
Verse MT 13:24 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 13:24
He went away, and a lion met him on the road and killed him. His corpse lay thrown on the road, with the donkey standing beside it and the lion standing beside the corpse.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 13:24
He went away, and a lion met him on the road and killed him. His body lay thrown on the road, with the donkey standing beside it and the lion standing beside the body.
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: The encounter, death, and unusual positions agree. Hebrew uses corpse, Greek body in this verse. The animals’ behavior is retained without a naturalistic reconstruction.
Verse MT 13:25 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 13:25
Look, men passed by and saw the corpse thrown on the road and the lion standing beside the corpse. They came and reported it in the city where the old prophet lived.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 13:25
Look, men passed by and saw the dead body thrown on the road, with the lion standing beside the dead body. They came and reported it in the city where the old prophet lived.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: The witnesses, sight, and report agree. Greek now uses a dead-body term, alongside the ordinary body term in the preceding verse.
Verse MT 13:26 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 13:26
The prophet who had brought him back from the road heard and said, “It is the man of God who rebelled against YHWH’s command. YHWH gave him to the lion, which mauled and killed him, according to YHWH’s word which He spoke to him.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 13:26
The one who had brought him back from the road heard and said, “This is the man of God who defied the Lord’s word.”
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Greek lacks the explicit explanation that YHWH delivered him to the lion and the concluding fulfillment clause. Hebrew retains that explanation as the older prophet’s speech. Neither column adds a corresponding explanation where it is absent.
Verse MT 13:27 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 13:27
He said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” They saddled it.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
No LXX counterpart
[No Greek verse 27.]
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Hebrew repeats the saddling command before retrieval of the body. Greek proceeds directly to the journey in verse 28.
Verse MT 13:28 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 13:28
He went and found his corpse thrown on the road, with the donkey and lion standing beside the corpse. The lion had not eaten the corpse or mauled the donkey.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 13:28
He went and found his body thrown on the road, with the donkey and lion standing beside the body. The lion had not eaten the man of God’s body or crushed the donkey.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Greek explicitly identifies the man of God in the negative clause and uses a breaking or crushing verb. Both preserve the two things the lion had not done.
Verse MT 13:29 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 13:29
The prophet lifted the man of God’s corpse, laid it on the donkey, and brought him back. He came to the old prophet’s city to mourn and bury him.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 13:29
The prophet lifted the man of God’s body and laid it on the donkey. The prophet brought him back into the city to bury him
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew expressly includes mourning as a purpose and identifies the city with the old prophet. Greek repeats the prophet as subject and continues its burial sentence into verse 30.
Verse MT 13:30 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 13:30
He laid the corpse in his own tomb, and they mourned over him, “Alas, my brother!”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 13:30
in his own tomb; and they mourned him, “Alas, brother!”
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew gives a separate laying-in-the-tomb statement and my brother. Greek completes verse 29’s burial purpose with in his own tomb and has brother without my. Both retain the communal mourning.
Verse MT 13:31 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 13:31
After burying him, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the tomb where the man of God is buried. Lay my bones beside his bones,
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 13:31
After mourning him, he said to his sons, “If I die, bury me in this tomb where the man of God is buried. Place me beside his bones, so that my bones may be preserved with his bones,
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Greek locates the instruction after mourning rather than burial and adds the purpose of preserving his bones. Hebrew directly requests placement of my bones; Greek first says me. The additional purpose is not supplied to Hebrew or explained through an invented assurance of personal salvation.
Verse MT 13:32 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 13:32
for the word he cried by YHWH’s word against the altar in Bethel and against all the houses of the high places in Samaria’s cities will surely come to pass.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 13:32
because the word he spoke by the Lord’s word against the altar in Bethel and against the high houses in Samaria will surely come to pass.”
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew has all the houses of the high places in Samaria’s cities; Greek has the high houses in Samaria. The geographical wording is retained as given, without silently updating or removing it to reconstruct the story’s earliest form.
13:33–34 | Jeroboam persists in his course
Verse MT 13:33 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 13:33
After this matter, Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way. He again appointed priests of the high places from among the people. Whoever wished, he consecrated, and that person became one of the priests of the high places.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 13:33
After this matter, Jeroboam did not turn from his evil. He again appointed priests of high places from some of the people. Whoever wished, he consecrated, and that person became a priest for the high places.
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: Both use filling the hand as the consecration idiom. The pronouns are understood contextually as Jeroboam appointing the willing person; an alternative self-consecration construal remains possible in the compressed wording. Hebrew has evil way and a plural priest expression where Greek is singular.
Verse MT 13:34 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 13:34
This matter became a sin for Jeroboam’s house, bringing its effacement and destruction from the face of the ground.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 13:34
This matter became a sin for Jeroboam’s house, bringing destruction and disappearance from the face of the earth.
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: The sin and dynastic destruction agree, with differing paired destruction terms. The translation retains the house’s collective fate without adding an account of its fulfillment here.