2 Kings 7 — 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 7
Good news from the abandoned camp
Verse 7:1 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
7:1 Elisha said, ‘Hear the word of YHWH. Thus says YHWH: About this time tomorrow, a seah of fine flour will sell for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.’
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
7:1 Elisha said, ‘Hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord: About this hour tomorrow, a measure of fine flour will sell for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, at the gates of Samaria.’
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew names the capacity seah; Greek μέτρον says ‘measure.’ Both explicitly name the shekel and retain the one-to-two flour/barley ratio. Hebrew addresses a plural audience; Greek's opening imperative is singular.
Verse 7:2 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
7:2 The officer on whose arm the king leaned answered the man of God, saying, ‘Look, even if YHWH makes windows in heaven, could this thing happen?’ He said, ‘Look, you will see it with your eyes, but you will not eat from it.’
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
7:2 The officer on whose arm the king leaned answered Elisha, saying, ‘Look, the Lord will make floodgates in heaven—surely this word cannot come true?’ Elisha said, ‘Look, you will see it with your eyes, but you will not eat from there.’
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: Both retain the officer's skeptical heavenly-opening image and Elisha's sentence. Greek uses floodgates and a negative question; the Hebrew conditional force is supplied from the rhetorical setting.
Verse 7:3 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
7:3 Four leprous men were at the entrance of the gate. They said to one another, ‘Why are we sitting here until we die?’
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
7:3 Four leprous men were beside the city's doorway. One said to his neighbor, ‘Why are we sitting here until we die?’
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Both introduce four leprous men outside the city and their deliberation about death.
Verse 7:4 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
7:4 ‘If we say, Let us enter the city, the famine is in the city, and we will die there. If we sit here, we will die. Now come, let us surrender to the camp of Aram. If they let us live, we will live; if they kill us, we will die.’
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
7:4 ‘If we say, Let us enter the city, the famine is in the city, and we will die there. If we sit here, we will die. Now come, let us throw ourselves upon the camp of Syria. If they keep us alive, we will live; if they kill us, we will die.’
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Both preserve all three alternatives and the final life/death conditional. ‘Surrender’ gives the contextual force of Hebrew's falling-to idiom; Greek retains the corresponding image.
Verse 7:5 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
7:5 They rose at twilight to go to the camp of Aram. They came to the edge of Aram's camp, and look, no one was there.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
7:5 They rose in the darkness to enter Syria's camp. They came to a part of Syria's camp, and look, no man was there.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew specifies twilight and the camp's edge; Greek says darkness and a part of the camp.
Verse 7:6 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
7:6 The Lord had made Aram's camp hear the sound of chariots, the sound of horses, the sound of a great army. They said to one another, ‘Look, the king of Israel has hired the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt against us, to come upon us.’
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
7:6 The Lord had made Syria's camp hear the sound of a chariot, the sound of horse forces, and the sound of a great army. One said to his brother, ‘Now the king of Israel has hired the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt against us, to come upon us.’
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Both attribute the perceived army sound to the Lord and give the same mistaken explanation. Hebrew here reads אֲדֹנָי, so its English is ‘the Lord,’ not YHWH. Greek's singular military nouns can be collective.
Verse 7:7 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
7:7 They rose and fled at twilight, leaving their tents, their horses, and their donkeys—the camp just as it was—and fled for their lives.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
7:7 They rose and ran away in the darkness, abandoning their tents, their horses, and their donkeys in the camp just as it was, and fled for their lives.
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: Both retain abandoned tents and animals and flight for life; twilight/darkness repeats the distinction in verse five.
Verse 7:8 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
7:8 These leprous men came to the edge of the camp and entered one tent. They ate and drank, carried away silver, gold, and clothes from there, and went and hid them. They returned, entered another tent, carried things away from there, and went and hid them.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
7:8 These leprous men entered as far as part of the camp and entered one tent. They ate and drank, carried away silver, gold, and clothing from there, and went away. They returned, entered another tent, took things from there, and went and hid them.
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Hebrew explicitly says they hid the first tent's goods as well as the second's. Greek includes hiding only after the second visit.
Verse 7:9 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
7:9 They said to one another, ‘What we are doing is not right. This day is a day of good news, yet we are silent. If we wait until morning light, guilt will overtake us. Now come, let us go and tell the king's household.’
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
7:9 One said to his neighbor, ‘We are not acting rightly. This day is a day of good news, yet we are silent and remain until morning light, and we will encounter lawlessness. Now come, let us go in and report to the king's house.’
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: Both recognize the duty to report the good news. Hebrew says guilt will find them; Greek says they will find lawlessness. Greek εὐαγγελία is translated in its immediate news context, without inserting later Christian proclamation.
Verse 7:10 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
7:10 They came and called to the city's gatekeeper and reported to them, saying, ‘We came to Aram's camp, and look, no one was there, not a human sound—only tethered horses, tethered donkeys, and the tents just as they were.’
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
7:10 They came and cried toward the city gate and reported to them, saying, ‘We entered Syria's camp, and look, no man was there, not a human voice—only a tethered horse and a donkey, and their tents just as they were.’
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew calls to a gatekeeper, followed by a plural ‘them’; Greek calls toward the gate. Hebrew explicitly describes both horse and donkey as tethered, while Greek gives the adjective only with horse.
Verse 7:11 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
7:11 He called the gatekeepers, and they reported it inside the king's house.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
7:11 The gatekeepers cried out and reported it inside the king's house.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew's singular calling verb precedes plural gatekeepers; Greek makes the gatekeepers themselves the plural callers. Both carry the report inward.
Verse 7:12 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
7:12 The king rose in the night and said to his servants, ‘Let me tell you what Aram has done to us. They know we are hungry, so they have left the camp to hide in the field, saying: When they come out of the city, we will catch them alive and enter the city.’
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
7:12 The king rose in the night and said to his attendants, ‘I will tell you what Syria has done to us. They know that we are hungry. They have left the camp and hidden in the field, saying: They will come out of the city; we will seize them alive and enter the city.’
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Both preserve the king's false ambush hypothesis; it remains his speech, distinct from the earlier narrator's explanation.
Verse 7:13 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
7:13 One of his servants answered, ‘Please let them take five of the remaining horses that are left in it. Look, they are like all the multitude of Israel left in it; look, they are like all the multitude of Israel that has perished. Let us send and see.’
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
7:13 One of his attendants answered, ‘Please let them take five of the remaining horses left here. Look, they are like all the multitude of Israel that is failing. We will send there and see.’
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Hebrew has two parallel comparisons, to those remaining and those perished. Greek has one comparison to the failing multitude. The Hebrew repetition is retained despite its awkwardness.
Verse 7:14 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
7:14 They took two horse-drawn chariots, and the king sent them after Aram's army, saying, ‘Go and see.’
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
7:14 They took two horse riders, and the king of Israel sent them after the king of Syria, saying, ‘Go and see.’
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew gives two chariot units and the Aramean camp/army; Greek gives two riders and the Syrian king. These concrete participants and vehicles are not harmonized.
Verse 7:15 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
7:15 They followed them as far as the Jordan, and look, the whole road was full of clothes and equipment that the Arameans had thrown away in their haste. The messengers returned and told the king.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
7:15 They followed them as far as the Jordan, and look, the whole road was full of garments and equipment that Syria had thrown away in their panic. The messengers returned and reported to the king.
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: Both retain the Jordan, discarded goods, and report. Hebrew stresses haste; Greek stresses alarm.
Verse 7:16 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
7:16 The people went out and plundered Aram's camp. A seah of fine flour sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, according to the word of YHWH.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
7:16 The people went out and plundered Syria's camp. A measure of fine flour sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the Lord.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Both state fulfillment of the promised prices; seah/measure preserves the source-specific capacity terminology of verse one.
Verse 7:17 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
7:17 The king had appointed the officer on whose arm he leaned to oversee the gate. The people trampled him in the gate, and he died, as the man of God had said when the king came down to him.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
7:17 The king had placed the officer on whose arm the king leaned over the gate. The people trampled him in the gate, and he died, just as the man of God had said when the messenger came down to him.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew identifies the earlier visitor as the king; Greek identifies him as the messenger. Both give the officer's death by trampling as fulfillment.
Verse 7:18 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
7:18 It happened as the man of God had said to the king: ‘Two seahs of barley for a shekel, and a seah of fine flour for a shekel, will be available about this time tomorrow at the gate of Samaria.’
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
7:18 It happened just as Elisha had said to the king: ‘Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, will be available about this hour tomorrow at the gate of Samaria.’
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Both repeat the price prophecy, now listing barley first. Source-specific seah/measure remains visible; Greek names Elisha.
Verse 7:19 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
7:19 The officer had answered the man of God, ‘Look, even if YHWH makes windows in heaven, could such a thing happen?’ He had said, ‘Look, you will see it with your eyes, but you will not eat from it.’
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
7:19 The officer had answered Elisha, saying, ‘Look, the Lord makes floodgates in heaven—surely this word cannot come true?’ Elisha had said, ‘Look, you will see it with your eyes, but you will not eat from there.’
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: Both repeat the officer's skepticism and sentence, preserving windows/floodgates and the differing question construction.
Verse 7:20 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
7:20 So it happened to him: the people trampled him in the gate, and he died.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
7:20 So it happened: the people trampled him in the gate, and he died.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Both repeat the fulfillment and death at the gate without additional explanation.