1 Samuel 23 — Hebrew and Greek compared
Disparate in this chapter: MT 23:11
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 Samuel 23
Deliverance and the threatened deliverer
Editorial Christian reading of David’s preservation within the royal history [NT1]. The changing danger is followed through the sources’ own inquiries and replies.
23:1–6 | Keilah rescued and Abiathar arrives
Verse MT 23:1 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 23:1
They told David, saying, “Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and plundering the threshing floors.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 23:1
It was reported to David, saying, “Look, the foreigners are fighting at Keilah. They are plundering and trampling the threshing floors.”
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Greek adds trampling to the plunder. The report is active plural in Hebrew and passive in Greek.
Verse MT 23:2 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 23:2
David inquired of YHWH, saying, “Shall I go and strike these Philistines?” YHWH said to David, “Go, strike the Philistines, and save Keilah.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 23:2
David inquired through the Lord, saying, “Shall I go and strike these foreigners?” The Lord said, “Go, and you will strike these foreigners and save Keilah.”
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: Both authorize the rescue. Hebrew names David again in the response introduction; Greek repeats these with the enemy designation.
Verse MT 23:3 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 23:3
David’s men said to him, “Look, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more if we go to Keilah against the Philistines’ battle lines!”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 23:3
David’s men said to him, “Look, we are afraid here in Judea. How will it be if we go to Keilah? We will go into the foreigners’ spoils.”
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew fears the battle lines; Greek speaks of entering the foreigners’ spoils, a difficult expression suggesting exposure to being plundered. That implication stays in the note rather than replacing the Greek noun.
Verse MT 23:4 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 23:4
David inquired of YHWH again. YHWH answered him and said, “Rise, go down to Keilah, for I am giving the Philistines into your hand.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 23:4
David inquired again through the Lord. The Lord answered him and said to him, “Rise and go down to Keilah, for I am handing the foreigners into your hands.”
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: The renewed inquiry and divine assurance agree; Greek has plural hands where Hebrew has singular hand.
Verse MT 23:5 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 23:5
David and his men went to Keilah. He fought the Philistines, drove away their livestock, and struck them with a great blow. David saved Keilah’s inhabitants.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 23:5
David and the men with him went to Keilah. He fought the foreigners, and they fled before him. He drove away their livestock and struck them with a great blow. David saved Keilah’s inhabitants.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Greek adds the enemy’s flight before the livestock seizure. Both preserve the battle, seizure, and rescue as distinct actions.
Verse MT 23:6 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 23:6
When Abiathar son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, an ephod came down in his hand.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 23:6
When Abiathar son of Abimelech fled to David, he went down with David to Keilah, having an ephoud in his hand.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew’s compressed wording links Abiathar’s flight and the ephod’s descent; Greek explicitly describes his going with David to Keilah. The Ahimelech/Abimelech distinction continues.
23:7–13 | Saul’s plan and David’s inquiry
Greek 23:12 is absent in this edition.
Verse MT 23:7 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 23:7
Saul was told that David had come to Keilah. Saul said, “God has handed him over into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a city with doors and a bar.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 23:7
It was reported to Saul that David had come to Keilah. Saul said, “God has sold him into my hands, for he has been shut in by entering a city with doors and bars.”
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew’s difficult nikkar is rendered handed over provisionally; Greek explicitly says sold. Hebrew has singular bar and hand; Greek plurals. Saul’s interpretation of divine action remains his own assertion.
Verse MT 23:8 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 23:8
Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah and besiege David and his men.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 23:8
Saul commanded all the people to go down to Keilah for war, to hem in David and his men.
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: The mobilization and intent to confine David agree, with besieging and hemming-in verbs.
Verse MT 23:9 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 23:9
David knew that Saul was secretly devising evil against him. He said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 23:9
David knew that Saul was not keeping silent about the evil concerning him. David said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the Lord’s ephoud.”
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew describes concealed hostile planning; Greek explicitly negates silence. Greek adds the Lord’s to the ephoud designation. The source-specific negative is retained.
Verse MT 23:10 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 23:10
David said, “YHWH, God of Israel, Your servant has heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah and destroy the city because of me.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 23:10
David said, “Lord, God of Israel, Your servant has heard that Saul seeks to come against Keilah and destroy the city because of me.
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: The prayer’s report and feared consequence agree; Greek explicitly gives against Keilah.
Verse MT 23:11 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 23:11
Will Keilah’s masters hand me over into his hand? Will Saul come down, as Your servant has heard? YHWH, God of Israel, please tell Your servant.” YHWH said, “He will come down.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 23:11
Will it be shut up? And now, will Saul come down, as Your servant has heard? Lord, God of Israel, tell Your servant.” The Lord said, “It will be shut up.”
Classification & Notes
Disparate
Text: Hebrew first asks about the city’s masters surrendering David and receives an answer about Saul’s descent. Greek asks an impersonal-looking question about shutting up and receives that answer. Its unnamed singular subject is left open, possibly the city or the person enclosed. The responses are not harmonized, and Greek lacks a separate 23:12.
Verse MT 23:12 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 23:12
David said, “Will Keilah’s masters hand me and my men over into Saul’s hand?” YHWH said, “They will hand you over.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
No LXX counterpart
[No corresponding verse in the selected Greek text.]
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: The selected Greek proceeds from 23:11 to 23:13. Hebrew’s repeated inquiry and answer about surrender remain a distinct verse; the supplied you makes the answer’s implicit object readable.
Verse MT 23:13 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 23:13
David and his men, about six hundred men, rose and went out from Keilah. They went wherever they could go. Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, and he gave up going out.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 23:13
David and the men with him, about four hundred, rose and went out from Keilah. They went wherever they went. It was reported to Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, and he gave up going out.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew has about six hundred men; Greek about four hundred. Both preserve the indefinite wandering expression and Saul’s abandoned expedition.
Faithfulness in wilderness danger
Editorial Christian thematic frame: Hebrews 11 remembers faithful people driven to deserts and caves [NT2, 11:32–40]. It does not identify each place in this chapter.
23:14–18 | Jonathan strengthens David
Verse MT 23:14 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 23:14
David stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hill country in the wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him all the days, but God did not give him into his hand.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 23:14
David stayed in the wilderness at Maserem, in the narrow places. He stayed in the wilderness on Mount Ziph, in the parched land. Saul sought him all the days, but the Lord did not hand him into his hands.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Greek has the retained place-name Maserem, narrow places, Mount Ziph, and parched land, where Hebrew gives strongholds and the Ziph wilderness hill country. Hebrew names God; Greek the Lord.
Verse MT 23:15 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 23:15
David saw that Saul had come out to seek his soul. David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 23:15
David saw that Saul was coming out to seek David. David was on the parched mountain at Kaine of Ziph.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew seeks his soul; Greek repeats David’s name. Hebrew Horesh, associated with woodland, corresponds to Greek Kaine, literally new, with a different terrain description. Kaine is retained as the displayed location designation.
Verse MT 23:16 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 23:16
Saul’s son Jonathan rose and went to David at Horesh and strengthened his hand in God.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 23:16
Saul’s son Jonathan rose and went to David at Kaine and strengthened his hands in the Lord.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: The Horesh/Kaine distinction continues. Hebrew has hand in God; Greek hands in the Lord. The source of encouragement is retained in each form.
Verse MT 23:17 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 23:17
He said to him, “Do not fear. My father Saul’s hand will not find you. You will reign over Israel, and I will be second to you. My father Saul knows this too.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 23:17
He said to him, “Do not fear. My father Saul’s hand certainly will not find you. You will reign over Israel, and I will be second to you. My father Saul knows this.”
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Jonathan’s assurance and expectation of a subordinate place agree. They remain his stated expectation; no later fulfillment claim is inserted.
Verse MT 23:18 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 23:18
The two of them made a covenant before YHWH. David stayed at Horesh, and Jonathan went to his house.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 23:18
The two of them made a covenant before the Lord. David stayed at Kaine, and Jonathan went to his house.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: The covenant and separation agree; the distinct location designation continues.
23:19–24 | The Ziphites report and Saul pursues
Verse MT 23:19 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 23:19
Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is David not hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, south of Jeshimon?
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 23:19
The Ziphites went up from the parched land to Saul on the hill, saying, “Look, is David not hidden among us at Messara, in the narrow places at Kaine, on the hill of Echela, to the right of Jessaimoun?
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Greek adds their departure from the parched land and retains Messara, Kaine, Echela, and Jessaimoun. Hebrew’s right-side direction is rendered south in its geographic idiom; Greek’s right is left explicit. The place and terrain differences are not flattened.
Verse MT 23:20 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 23:20
Now, O king, come down according to all your soul’s desire to descend, and we will hand him over into the king’s hand.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 23:20
Now let the king come down to us according to all his soul’s desire to descend. They have shut him into the king’s hands.”
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew’s speakers promise their own future surrender of David; Greek gives an unnamed plural they with a completed shutting-in claim. The awkward person shift is retained.
Verse MT 23:21 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 23:21
Saul said, “Blessed are you by YHWH, for you have had compassion on me.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 23:21
Saul said to them, “Blessed are you by the Lord, for you have taken trouble for me.
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: The blessing agrees; Hebrew emphasizes compassion, Greek trouble or effort on Saul’s behalf.
Verse MT 23:22 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 23:22
Please go, prepare further, and find out and see his place where his foot has been, and who has seen him there. Someone has told me that he acts very cunningly.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 23:22
Please go, prepare further, and find out his place where his foot will be, quickly, there where you said, lest he act cunningly.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew asks who has seen David and reports his cunning; Greek urges speed at the reported place to prevent cunning action. Hebrew’s unnamed singular speaker is rendered someone; the preceding location clause is temporal only by context.
Verse MT 23:23 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 23:23
See and find out all the hiding places where he hides. Return to me with certainty, and I will go with you. If he is in the land, I will search him out among all Judah’s thousands.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 23:23
See and find out, and we will go with you. If he is in the land, I will search him out among all Judah’s thousands.”
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Greek lacks the explicit hiding-place search and return-report instruction and has we will go where Hebrew has I. Thousands is retained as the source group designation, with clan or military organization possible in context.
Verse MT 23:24 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 23:24
They rose and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah south of Jeshimon.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 23:24
The Ziphites rose and went ahead of Saul. David and his men were in the wilderness of Maan, toward the west, to the right of Jessaimoun.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew explicitly gives the destination Ziph and Arabah; Greek names the departing Ziphites and gives a west/evening expression, rendered west provisionally in the geographic setting. Maon/Maan and Jeshimon/Jessaimoun preserve the source forms.
23:25–28 | The divided rock and the interrupted pursuit
Verse MT 23:25 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 23:25
Saul and his men went to search. They told David, and he went down to the rock and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. Saul heard and pursued David into the wilderness of Maon.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 23:25
Saul and his men went to seek him. They reported to David, and he went down to the rock in the wilderness of Maan. Saul heard and pursued David into the wilderness of Maan.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew separately narrates David’s stay; Greek locates the rock in the wilderness without that additional stay-clause. The unnamed informants remain unnamed.
Verse MT 23:26 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 23:26
Saul went along one side of the mountain, and David and his men along the other side. David hurried to get away from Saul, while Saul and his men were surrounding David and his men to seize them.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 23:26
Saul and his men went along a side of this mountain, and David and his men were along a side of this mountain. David was keeping under cover to get away from Saul, while Saul and his men camped against David and his men to seize them.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew explicitly contrasts the sides and describes haste and encirclement; Greek repeats this mountain, describes covering or concealment, and gives an encampment against them. Greek’s protection verb is rendered keeping under cover provisionally.
Verse MT 23:27 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 23:27
A messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have raided the land.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 23:27
A messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the foreigners have attacked the land.”
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: The urgent interruption and enemy incursion agree, with raid and attack verbs.
Verse MT 23:28 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 23:28
Saul turned back from pursuing David and went to meet the Philistines. Therefore they called that place the Rock of Divisions.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 23:28
Saul turned back from pursuing David and went to meet the foreigners. Therefore that place was called the Divided Rock.
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: Both explain the place-name through separation. Hebrew Sela-hammahlekoth is rendered Rock of Divisions; Greek directly gives Divided Rock. The next source chapter begins with David’s move to En-gedi, often numbered 23:29 in English Bibles.