1 Kings 3 — 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 3
A listening heart and the treasure of the kingdom
Published Roman selection [L1]: 3:5, 7–12, Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A; Gospel Matthew 13:44–52 or 13:44–46. The heading’s connection between wisdom and the kingdom is editorial.
3:1–4 | Marriage, worship, and the high place
Verse MT 3:1 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 3:1
Solomon allied himself by marriage with Pharaoh king of Egypt. He took Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her into the City of David until he finished building his own house, YHWH’s house, and Jerusalem’s surrounding wall.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
No LXX counterpart
[No Greek verse at this location; related Greek wording appears at 2:35c.]
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: The checked Greek chapter begins at verse 2. Its earlier marriage-and-building notice remains at 2:35c, where it also gives seven years. No duplicate Greek text is inserted here.
Verse MT 3:2 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 3:2
The people, however, were sacrificing at the high places, because no house had yet been built for YHWH’s name.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 3:2
The people, however, were burning incense at the high places, because no house had yet been built for the Lord’s name.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew names sacrificing; Greek names incense-burning. Both give the absence of the house as the setting for the practice.
Verse MT 3:3 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 3:3
Solomon loved YHWH, walking in the statutes of his father David; however, he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 3:3
Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the ordinances of his father David; however, he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Both retain the favorable statement and its qualification together. The narrative is not rewritten in anticipation of Solomon’s later conduct.
Verse MT 3:4 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 3:4
The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for it was the great high place. Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 3:4
He rose and went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for it was the highest and great. Solomon offered a thousand whole burnt offerings on the altar at Gibeon.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Greek adds rising, uses a superlative highest, and names Gibeon again. Hebrew calls it the great high place and refers back to that altar. Both preserve a thousand offerings.
3:5–15 | Solomon asks for discernment
The complete dream narrative is retained around the selected liturgical verses.
Verse MT 3:5 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 3:5
At Gibeon YHWH appeared to Solomon in a dream at night. God said, “Ask what I shall give you.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 3:5
The Lord appeared to Solomon in sleep at night. The Lord said to Solomon, “Ask a request for yourself.”
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew begins by naming Gibeon and shifts from YHWH to God; Greek repeats Lord and Solomon. The invitation differs in phrasing, with Hebrew expressly naming the divine giving.
Verse MT 3:6 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 3:6
Solomon said, “You showed great kindness to Your servant David my father, as he walked before You in truth, righteousness, and uprightness of heart with You. You kept this great kindness for him and gave him a son to sit on his throne, as it is today.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 3:6
Solomon said, “You showed great mercy to Your servant David my father, as he walked before You in truth, righteousness, and uprightness of heart with You. You kept this great mercy for him, placing his son on his throne, as it is today.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew explicitly describes a son sitting on the throne; Greek describes placing his son on it. Kindness and mercy retain the respective covenantal terms. David’s conduct is characterized within Solomon’s prayer.
Verse MT 3:7 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 3:7
Now, YHWH my God, You have made Your servant king in place of my father David. But I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 3:7
Now, Lord my God, You have placed Your servant in place of my father David. I am a little child and do not know my going out or my coming in.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew explicitly says made king; Greek says placed and adds my to both movement nouns. The movement idiom conveys inexperience without being replaced by a modern job description.
Rabbinic: Rashi calculates Solomon’s age as twelve here [R3]; Greek 2:12 gives that age directly.
Verse MT 3:8 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 3:8
Your servant is among Your people whom You chose, a great people too numerous to be counted or numbered.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 3:8
Your servant is among Your people whom You chose, a numerous people who cannot be numbered.
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Hebrew uses two counting verbs and expressly attributes the impossibility to multitude. Greek retains one counting clause. Both describe the people as divinely chosen.
Verse MT 3:9 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 3:9
Give Your servant a hearing heart to judge Your people, discerning between good and evil; for who can judge this weighty people of Yours?”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 3:9
Give Your servant a heart to hear and judge Your people in righteousness, understanding between good and evil; for who can judge this weighty people of Yours?”
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Greek expressly includes in righteousness and makes both hearing and judging functions of the heart. Hebrew has a hearing heart for judging. Weighty retains the shared metaphor for the people’s demanding significance.
Saints: The published Sunday selection places the request for discernment beside Matthew’s kingdom parables [L1]. The relationship is a liturgical reading context, not an additional clause in either source.
Verse MT 3:10 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 3:10
The matter was good in the Lord’s eyes, that Solomon had asked this.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 3:10
It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this.
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: Hebrew uses an eyes-of-the-Lord image; Greek expresses approval before the Lord. Hebrew here has the title Adonai, so Lord rather than YHWH is used.
Verse MT 3:11 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 3:11
God said to him, “Because you have asked this and have not asked for many days for yourself, or wealth for yourself, or the life of your enemies, but have asked for understanding to hear judgment,
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 3:11
The Lord said to him, “Because you have asked this of Me and have not asked for many days for yourself, or wealth, or the lives of your enemies, but have asked for understanding to hear judgment,
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew names God; Greek Lord and explicitly of Me. Hebrew has collective life and Greek plural lives. Both contrast the requested discernment with longevity, wealth, and the enemies’ deaths.
Verse MT 3:12 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 3:12
look, I have done according to your words. Look, I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that no one like you has been before you, and no one like you shall arise after you.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 3:12
look, I have done according to your word. Look, I have given you a discerning and wise heart, so that no one like you has been before you, and no one like you shall arise after you.
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: The paired qualities appear in reversed order; Hebrew words is plural and Greek word singular. The repeated look and the two temporal comparisons agree.
Verse MT 3:13 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 3:13
I have also given you what you did not ask: both wealth and honor, so that no man among the kings shall be like you all your days.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 3:13
I have also given you what you did not ask: both wealth and glory, so that no man like you has been among the kings.
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Hebrew includes all your days and is read prospectively in the promise’s context; Greek states that no such king has existed. Both give the additional gifts without turning the next condition into an unconditional guarantee.
Verse MT 3:14 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 3:14
If you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and commandments as your father David walked, I will lengthen your days.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 3:14
If you walk in My way, keeping My commandments and ordinances as your father David walked, I will multiply your days.”
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew has plural ways and lengthening; Greek singular way and multiplying. The order of statutes and commandments also differs. Both explicitly condition the extension of life on faithful conduct.
Verse MT 3:15 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 3:15
Solomon awoke: it was a dream. He came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the Lord’s covenant. He offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 3:15
Solomon awoke: it was a dream. He rose and came to Jerusalem, and stood before the altar that was before the ark of the Lord’s covenant in Zion. He offered whole burnt offerings and peace offerings, and made a great feast for himself and all his attendants.
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Greek adds the altar before the ark, Zion, rising, and the king’s own participation in a great feast. Hebrew’s shorter account remains intact. Both now explicitly identify the preceding experience as a dream.
Wisdom that seeks the child’s life
Editorial Christian reading: life-preserving judgment gives concrete content to the king’s request; it does not make the threatened division a command to imitate.
3:16–28 | Two women and the living child
Verse MT 3:16 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 3:16
Then two women who were prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 3:16
Then two women who were prostitutes appeared before the king and stood before him.
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: The approach verbs differ slightly. Both retain the women’s stated occupation and do not replace it with an unsupported social identification.
Verse MT 3:17 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 3:17
One woman said, “Please, my lord, this woman and I live in one house. I gave birth with her there in the house.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 3:17
One woman said, “Please, my lord, this woman and I live in one house, and we gave birth in the house.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew has the speaker’s singular giving birth while the other woman was present; Greek says we gave birth. The shared appeal is a courteous idiom, not an invitation to infer enslavement.
Verse MT 3:18 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 3:18
On the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. We were together, with no stranger in the house; only the two of us were in the house.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 3:18
On the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. We were together, with no one in the house except the two of us.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Both specify the three-day interval and the absence of another witness. The household description remains the woman’s testimony.
Verse MT 3:19 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 3:19
This woman’s son died during the night because she lay on him.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 3:19
This woman’s son died during the night when she lay on him.
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: Hebrew is rendered causally, while Greek uses a temporal conjunction that permits the contextual cause. Neither column adds a medical diagnosis or a claim of deliberate killing.
Verse MT 3:20 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 3:20
She rose in the middle of the night and took my son from beside me while your servant slept. She laid him in her bosom, and laid her dead son in my bosom.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 3:20
She rose in the middle of the night and took my son from my arms. She laid him in her bosom, and laid her dead son in my bosom.
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Greek specifies from my arms but lacks the speaker’s statement that she was asleep. Both preserve the alleged exchange and both bosom references.
Verse MT 3:21 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 3:21
I rose in the morning to nurse my son, and there he was, dead. I looked carefully at him in the morning, and he was not my son whom I had borne.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 3:21
I rose in the morning to nurse my son, and that child was dead. I looked carefully at him in the morning, and he was not my son whom I had borne.”
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Both repeat morning and preserve the sequence from discovering death to recognizing the child. The demonstratives are rendered contextually without changing the identification.
Verse MT 3:22 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 3:22
The other woman said, “No! My son is the living one, and your son is the dead one.” The first said, “No! Your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.” Thus they spoke before the king.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 3:22
The other woman said, “No! My son is the living one, and your son is the dead one.” Thus they spoke before the king.
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Greek lacks the first woman’s renewed counterclaim in this verse. Its concluding plural they spoke crosses a publisher paragraph boundary and remains part of this source unit.
Verse MT 3:23 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 3:23
The king said, “This one says, ‘This is my son, the living one, and your son is the dead one.’ The other says, ‘No! Your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.’”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 3:23
The king said to them, “You say, ‘This is my son, the living one, and her son is the dead one.’ And you say, ‘No! My son is the living one, and your son is the dead one.’”
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew describes this one and the other; Greek addresses each as you and changes one quoted possessive to her son. The competing claims are retained in each source’s own order.
Verse MT 3:24 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 3:24
The king said, “Bring me a sword.” They brought the sword before the king.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 3:24
The king said, “Bring me a sword.” They brought the sword before the king.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Both retain the king’s command and the actual presentation of the weapon.
Verse MT 3:25 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 3:25
The king said, “Divide the living child in two. Give half to one and half to the other.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 3:25
The king said, “Divide the living nursing child in two. Give half of it to this woman and half of it to this woman.”
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Greek explicitly calls the child nursing and uses demonstratives for the women. Both retain the threatened division; the subsequent resolution is not inserted into the command itself.
Verse MT 3:26 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 3:26
The woman whose son was alive spoke to the king, for her compassion burned for her son. She said, “Please, my lord, give her the living child! You must not kill him!” But the other said, “He shall belong to neither me nor you. Divide him.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 3:26
The woman whose son was alive answered the king, for her womb was stirred for her son. She said, “Please, my lord, give her the child! You must not put him to death!” But the other said, “He shall belong to neither me nor her. Divide him.”
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew describes burning compassion; Greek explicitly names the womb and its disturbance. Greek lacks living in the mother’s appeal and shifts the other woman’s final possessive from you to her. Both identify the true mother before the decision.
Verse MT 3:27 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 3:27
The king answered, “Give her the living child. You must not kill him. She is his mother.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 3:27
The king answered, “Give the child to the woman who said, ‘Give it to her,’ and you must not put him to death. She is his mother.”
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Greek identifies the recipient by quoting her appeal rather than leaving her as a pronoun. Hebrew explicitly repeats living. The prohibition against killing and recognition of the mother agree.
Verse MT 3:28 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 3:28
All Israel heard the judgment the king had given, and they feared the king, for they saw that God’s wisdom was within him to execute judgment.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 3:28
All Israel heard this judgment the king had given, and they feared the king, for they saw that God’s discernment was within him to carry out justice.
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: Wisdom and discernment name the respective divine gifts. Both ground the people’s fear in his capacity for judgment, bringing the case back to the preceding request.