2 Kings 20 — 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.
Chapter 20
Hezekiah Healed; Babylonian Envoys
Verse 20:1 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
20:1 In those days Hezekiah became sick to the point of death. Isaiah son of Amoz the prophet came to him and said, ‘Thus says YHWH: Give instructions for your house, for you are dying and shall not live.’
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
20:1 In those days Hezekiah became sick to the point of death. Isaiah son of Amos the prophet came to him and said, ‘Thus says the Lord: Give instructions for your house, for you are dying and shall not live.’
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Both announce impending death and command provision for the household.
Verse 20:2 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
20:2 He turned his face to the wall and prayed to YHWH,
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
20:2 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord,
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: Greek explicitly names Hezekiah; the action agrees.
Verse 20:3 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
20:3 ‘Please, YHWH, remember how I walked before You faithfully and with a whole heart, and did what was good in Your eyes.’ Hezekiah wept bitterly.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
20:3 ‘Please, Lord, remember how I walked before You in truth and with a full heart, and did what was good in Your eyes.’ Hezekiah wept bitterly.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Both appeal to faithful conduct and report great weeping.
Verse 20:4 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
20:4 Before Isaiah had gone out of the middle city, YHWH's word came to him:
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
20:4 Isaiah was in the middle courtyard when the Lord's word came to him:
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: The displayed Hebrew written reading is הָעִיר, city; Greek has αὐλή, courtyard. Hebrew also explicitly says he had not yet gone out.
Verse 20:5 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
20:5 ‘Return and tell Hezekiah, leader of My people: Thus says YHWH, the God of your father David: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. Look, I am healing you; on the third day you shall go up to YHWH's house.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
20:5 ‘Return and tell Hezekiah, leader of My people: Thus says the Lord, the God of your father David: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. Look, I shall heal you; on the third day you shall go up to the Lord's house,
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Both promise healing and temple ascent on the third day in response to prayer and tears.
Verse 20:6 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
20:6 I shall add fifteen years to your days. I shall rescue you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria, and protect this city for My own sake and for the sake of David My servant.’
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
20:6 and I shall add fifteen years to your days. I shall save you and this city from the hand of the king of the Assyrians, and shield this city for My own sake and for the sake of David My servant.’
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Both give fifteen added years and the city's protection. Saints: Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture 2.15, uses Hezekiah's changed sentence to encourage repentance and confidence in God's power to forgive [P2]; this is his homiletic application.
Verse 20:7 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
20:7 Isaiah said, ‘Take a cake of figs.’ They took it, placed it on the boil, and he recovered.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
20:7 He said, ‘Let them take a cake of figs and place it on the ulcer, and he will recover.’
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew names Isaiah and narrates application and recovery; Greek gives instructions and a future recovery without narrating their execution here.
Verse 20:8 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
20:8 Hezekiah said to Isaiah, ‘What is the sign that YHWH will heal me and I shall go up to YHWH's house on the third day?’
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
20:8 Hezekiah said to Isaiah, ‘What is the sign that the Lord will heal me and I shall go up to the Lord's house on the third day?’
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Both request a sign for the same healing and third-day ascent.
Verse 20:9 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
20:9 Isaiah said, ‘This is the sign for you from YHWH that YHWH will do what He has spoken: Shall the shadow advance ten steps, or return ten steps?’
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
20:9 Isaiah said, ‘This is the sign from the Lord that the Lord will do the word He has spoken: The shadow will advance ten steps, if it returns ten steps.’
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew presents alternatives using אִם in an alternative question; Greek has an explicit future followed by conditional ἐάν. The awkward Greek conditional is retained rather than turned into the Hebrew choice.
Verse 20:10 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
20:10 Hezekiah said, ‘It is easy for the shadow to stretch forward ten steps. No, let the shadow return backward ten steps.’
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
20:10 Hezekiah said, ‘It is easy for the shadow to incline ten steps. No, let the shadow return ten steps backward.’
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Both request reversal rather than ordinary advancement; steps are retained without conversion into hours or angles.
Verse 20:11 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
20:11 Isaiah the prophet called to YHWH, and He brought the shadow backward ten steps on the steps where it had descended, on Ahaz's steps.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
20:11 Isaiah the prophet cried to the Lord, and the shadow returned backward ten steps on the stairway.
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Greek lacks the prior descent and Ahaz's name and makes the shadow the grammatical subject of returning; Hebrew makes its return causative.
Verse 20:12 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
20:12 At that time Berodach-baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, because he heard that Hezekiah was sick.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
20:12 At that time Marodachbaladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and manaa to Hezekiah, because he heard that Hezekiah was sick.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: The royal name begins Berodach in Hebrew and Marodach in Greek. Greek manaa transliterates the corresponding gift term; it is not treated as a specified coin.
Verse 20:13 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
20:13 Hezekiah listened to them and showed them his entire storehouse: the silver, gold, spices, fine oil, his armory, and everything found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house or all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
20:13 Hezekiah rejoiced over them and showed them the whole house of the nechotha: the silver, gold, spices, fine oil, the house of equipment, and everything found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house or all his authority that Hezekiah did not show them.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew has listening, Greek rejoicing. Greek nechotha remains a transliteration; Hebrew storehouse is a contextual rendering of the difficult נְכֹתֹה. The extensive display agrees.
Verse 20:14 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
20:14 Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said, ‘What did these men say, and from where did they come to you?’ Hezekiah said, ‘They came from a distant land, from Babylon.’
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
20:14 Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said, ‘What did these men say, and from where have they come to you?’ Hezekiah said, ‘They have come to me from a distant land, from Babylon.’
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Both ask about the delegation and identify Babylon as its distant origin.
Verse 20:15 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
20:15 He said, ‘What have they seen in your house?’ Hezekiah said, ‘They saw everything in my house. There was nothing in my treasuries that I did not show them.’
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
20:15 He said, ‘What have they seen in your house?’ He said, ‘They saw everything in my house. There was nothing in my house that I did not show them, and also the things in my treasuries.’
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: Greek repeats the house before adding the treasuries; Hebrew's concluding statement directly concerns the treasuries.
Verse 20:16 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
20:16 Isaiah said to Hezekiah, ‘Hear YHWH's word:
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
20:16 Isaiah said to Hezekiah, ‘Hear the Lord's word:
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Both introduce the prophetic response.
Verse 20:17 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
20:17 Look, days are coming when everything in your house, and what your fathers stored up to this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall remain, says YHWH.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
20:17 Look, days are coming when everything in your house, and what your fathers stored up to this day, shall be taken to Babylon. No word which the Lord spoke shall be left over.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew concludes that nothing will remain, followed by a speech formula. Greek makes ‘which the Lord spoke’ a relative clause attached to ‘word’; its precise sense of a word left over is provisional.
Verse 20:18 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
20:18 They shall take some of your sons who come forth from you, whom you beget, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
20:18 He shall take your sons who come forth from you, whom you beget, and they shall be eunuchs in the house of the king of Babylon.’
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew is partitive, ‘some of your sons,’ with plural takers; Greek lacks the partitive and uses a singular taker. Both foresee eunuch service in Babylon's royal household.
Verse 20:19 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
20:19 Hezekiah said to Isaiah, ‘The word of YHWH which you have spoken is good.’ He said, ‘Is it not so, if there will be peace and faithfulness in my days?’
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
20:19 Hezekiah said to Isaiah, ‘The word of the Lord which He spoke is good. Let there be peace in my days.’
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Greek lacks ‘faithfulness,’ changes ‘you spoke’ to ‘He spoke,’ and expresses a wish for peace rather than Hebrew's elliptical conditional question.
Verse 20:20 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
20:20 The rest of Hezekiah's deeds, all his might, and how he made the pool and conduit and brought water into the city—are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
20:20 The rest of Hezekiah's deeds, all his might, and what he made—the fountain and aqueduct—and how he brought water into the city—are these not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew names a pool; Greek κρήνη names a fountain or spring. Both credit the waterworks and city supply.
Verse 20:21 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
20:21 Hezekiah lay down with his fathers, and his son Manasseh became king in his place.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
20:21 Hezekiah lay down with his fathers and was buried in David's city. His son Manasseh became king in his place.
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Greek adds burial in David's city.