2 Samuel 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.
2 Samuel 20
A renewed rebellion and the cost of command
Editorial Christian reading within the troubled royal history preceding Jesus [NT1]. The confined concubines and Amasa’s death remain part of the account.
20:1–3 | Sheba’s call and the women’s confinement
Verse MT 20:1 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 20:1
A worthless man happened to be there, named Sheba son of Bichri, a Benjaminite. He blew the shofar and said, “We have no share in David, no inheritance in Jesse’s son. Each to his tents, Israel!”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 20:1
There was one called a lawless son, named Sheba son of Bichri, a Benjaminite. He sounded the horn and said, “We have no share in David, no inheritance in Jesse’s son. Each to your tents, Israel!”
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew has a worthless man who happened to be there; Greek a called or designated lawless son, an awkward description retained provisionally. Greek changes his tents to your tents. Both preserve the secession cry.
Verse MT 20:2 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 20:2
All the men of Israel left off following David and followed Sheba son of Bichri. But the men of Judah held fast to their king from the Jordan to Jerusalem.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 20:2
All the men of Israel left off following David and followed Sheba son of Bichri. But the men of Judah held fast to their king from the Jordan to Jerusalem.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Both contrast the departing Israelites with Judah’s continued attachment to the king.
Verse MT 20:3 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 20:3
David came to his house in Jerusalem. The king took the ten women, his concubines whom he had left to guard the house, and placed them in a guarded house. He supported them but did not go in to them. They remained confined until the day of their death, in living widowhood.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 20:3
David came to his house in Jerusalem. The king took his ten concubines, whom he had left to guard the house, and placed them in a guarded house. He supported them but did not go in to them. They remained confined until the day of their death, living as widows.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Both retain confinement, material support, and the end of sexual relations. The final widowhood expression describes their condition while David lived. Neither text attributes an offense or consent to the women.
20:4–13 | The delayed muster and Amasa’s death
Verse MT 20:4 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 20:4
The king said to Amasa, “Summon the men of Judah for me within three days, and be here yourself.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 20:4
The king said to Amasa, “Summon the men of Judah for me within three days, and be there yourself.”
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: Hebrew here contrasts with Greek there. Within supplies the deadline’s contextual force, confirmed by the delay in verse 5.
Verse MT 20:5 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 20:5
Amasa went to summon Judah, but delayed beyond the time appointed for him.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 20:5
Amasa went to summon Judah, but delayed beyond the time David appointed for him.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Greek names David; Hebrew leaves the appointing subject implicit. Hebrew follows the checked reading of the delay verb [R20]. Neither main text states why Amasa was late.
Verse MT 20:6 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 20:6
David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom. Take your lord’s servants and pursue him, lest he find fortified cities and escape our sight.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 20:6
David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom. Now take your lord’s servants with you and pursue him, lest he find fortified cities and cast a shadow over our eyes.”
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Greek adds now and with you and retains a shadowing-eyes image. Hebrew’s compressed save-our-eyes expression is provisionally rendered escape our sight; Rashi supplies himself as its omitted object [R20]. No literal injury to the eyes is inferred.
Verse MT 20:7 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 20:7
Joab’s men went out after him, together with the Cherethites, the Pelethites, and all the warriors. They left Jerusalem to pursue Sheba son of Bichri.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 20:7
Joab’s men went out after him, together with the Cherethites, the Pelethites, and all the powerful men. They left Jerusalem to pursue Sheba son of Bichri.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Both name the same groups. The initial him refers naturally to Abishai, who received the command; Joab’s subsequent presence is made explicit in verse 8.
Verse MT 20:8 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 20:8
They were beside the great stone at Gibeon when Amasa came before them. Joab was wearing his belted garment, with a sword strapped at his waist in its sheath. As he stepped forward, it fell out.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 20:8
They were beside the great stone at Gibeon when Amasa came before them. Joab was wearing his belted cloak, with a sword strapped at his waist in its sheath. The sword came out and fell.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Greek names a cloak and explicitly makes the sword come out and fall; Hebrew has he stepped forward and it fell, with the respective subjects inferred. Neither text states here how the sword was recovered, so no hand movement is added.
Verse MT 20:9 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 20:9
Joab said to Amasa, “Are you well, my brother?” Joab’s right hand took hold of Amasa’s beard to kiss him.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 20:9
Joab said to Amasa, “Are you in good health, brother?” Joab’s right hand took hold of Amasa’s beard to kiss him warmly.
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: Hebrew’s peace or wellbeing question corresponds to Greek health. Greek intensifies the kissing verb. Both specify the right hand at the beard.
Verse MT 20:10 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 20:10
Amasa did not guard against the sword in Joab’s hand. Joab struck him with it in the belly and spilled his entrails to the ground. He did not strike him a second time, and Amasa died. Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bichri.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 20:10
Amasa did not guard against the sword in Joab’s hand. Joab struck him with it in the loin, and his entrails spilled to the ground. He did not strike him a second time, and Amasa died. Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bichri.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew’s strike-location term is rendered belly consistently with 2:23 and 3:27; Greek specifies the loin. Hebrew makes Joab spill the entrails; Greek describes their spilling. Both retain the fatal single blow and the pursuit after a paragraph break.
Verse MT 20:11 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 20:11
One of Joab’s young men stood over Amasa and said, “Whoever favors Joab, whoever is for David—follow Joab!”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 20:11
One of Joab’s young men stood over Amasa and said, “Whoever favors Joab, whoever is for David—follow Joab!”
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Amasa’s name clarifies the object pronoun. The appeal identifies following Joab with loyalty to David within the speaker’s proclamation.
Verse MT 20:12 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 20:12
Amasa lay rolling in blood in the middle of the highway. The man saw that all the people were stopping, so he moved Amasa off the highway into the field and threw a garment over him, because he saw everyone who came upon him stop.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 20:12
Amasa lay covered in blood in the middle of the path. The man saw that all the people were stopping, so he moved Amasa off the path into a field and threw a garment over him, because he saw everyone who came upon him stop.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew uses rolling or wallowing; Greek covered or befouled. Both retain the repeated observation explaining why the body was moved and covered.
Verse MT 20:13 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 20:13
When he had been removed from the highway, everyone passed on after Joab to pursue Sheba son of Bichri.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 20:13
When he was clear of the path, every man of Israel passed on after Joab to pursue Sheba son of Bichri.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Greek adds Israel and uses an active reaching expression where Hebrew is passive removed. Was clear of the path provisionally renders the resulting position without inventing movement by the dead man. The Greek clause remains syntactically difficult.
A wise appeal averts the city’s destruction
Editorial Christian thematic comparison with peacemaking and mercy [NT2]. The woman’s intervention and Sheba’s execution are recorded together, without treating the outcome as a general rule for sacrificing one person.
20:14–22 | The siege, the woman’s appeal, and the head
Verse MT 20:14 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 20:14
He passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel and Beth-maacah and all the Berites. They gathered and came after him as well.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 20:14
He passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel and Beth-maacah, and all those in Charri gathered and came after him.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew has the uncertain Berites; Greek all those in Charri. Neither is replaced with a reconstructed location. Hebrew follows the checked gathered reading [R20].
Rabbinic: Rashi on 20:14 identifies the initial he as Sheba but acknowledges not knowing what Berites means [R20].
Verse MT 20:15 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 20:15
They came and besieged him in Abel Beth-maacah. They heaped up a siege mound against the city, and it stood at the outer rampart. All the people with Joab were working destruction to bring down the wall.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 20:15
They came and besieged him at Abel and Beth-maacah. They heaped up a siege mound against the city, and it stood at the outer defense. All the people with Joab were planning to bring down the wall.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Greek separates Abel and Beth-maacah with and, and describes planning where Hebrew describes destructive action. The mound’s position is provisional; the Hebrew fortification term and subject attachment are disputed. No already-fallen wall is inserted.
Verse MT 20:16 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 20:16
A wise woman called from the city, “Listen, listen! Please tell Joab, ‘Come near here, and I will speak to you.’”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 20:16
A wise woman called from the wall, “Listen, listen! Please tell Joab to come near here, and I will speak to him.”
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew has city and direct second-person speech to Joab; Greek wall and third-person him. The doubled call is retained.
Verse MT 20:17 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 20:17
He came near her. The woman asked, “Are you Joab?” He said, “I am.” She said to him, “Hear your female servant’s words.” He said, “I am listening.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 20:17
He came near her. The woman asked, “Are you Joab?” He said, “I am.” She said to him, “Hear your female servant’s words.” Joab said, “I am listening.”
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Greek names Joab again and has an irregular doubled first-person listening expression, rendered idiomatically. Servant is the woman’s deferential self-address, not an assertion of legal enslavement.
Verse MT 20:18 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 20:18
She said, “In former times they used to say, ‘Let them inquire at Abel,’ and so they settled the matter.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 20:18
She said, “Formerly they spoke a saying: ‘Inquiry was made at Abel and Dan whether the things Israel’s faithful had established had come to an end. They will certainly inquire at Abel, and thus whether they had come to an end.’
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Greek adds Dan and an extended, difficult sequence about what Israel’s faithful established, with repeated inquiry and ending clauses. These are retained provisionally. Hebrew is construed as an old saying; Rashi instead reads a reproach that peace should have been sought before the attack [R20].
Verse MT 20:19 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 20:19
I am among the peaceable and faithful in Israel. You seek to kill a city and a mother in Israel. Why swallow up YHWH’s inheritance?”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 20:19
I am the peaceable part of Israel’s strongholds. You seek to kill a city and a mother city in Israel. Why drown the Lord’s inheritance?”
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew has peaceable and faithful people, with among supplied; Greek an awkward peaceable-things expression and supports or strongholds, provisionally construed as the city’s self-description. Greek mother city makes the urban metaphor explicit. Swallow / drown preserves the differing destruction images.
Verse MT 20:20 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 20:20
Joab answered, “Far be it, far be it from me to swallow up or destroy!
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 20:20
Joab answered, “May it be averted from me, may it be averted from me to drown or destroy!
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: Both repeat an emphatic repudiation. Greek’s averting formula corresponds to Hebrew far be it, while retaining the different destruction image from verse 19.
Verse MT 20:21 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 20:21
That is not the matter. A man from the hill country of Ephraim, named Sheba son of Bichri, has raised his hand against the king, against David. Give up him alone, and I will withdraw from the city.” The woman said to Joab, “His head will be thrown to you over the wall.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 20:21
That is not the matter. A man from the hill country of Ephraim, named Sheba son of Bichri, has raised his hand against King David. Give him alone to me, and I will withdraw from the city.” The woman said to Joab, “His head will be thrown to you through the wall.”
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Greek expressly adds to me, combines King David, and has through the wall where Hebrew is rendered over. Both limit Joab’s demand to Sheba and preserve the woman’s lethal proposal.
Verse MT 20:22 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 20:22
The woman went to all the people in her wisdom. They cut off Sheba son of Bichri’s head and threw it to Joab. He blew the shofar, and they dispersed from the city, each to his tents. Joab returned to the king in Jerusalem.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 20:22
The woman went to all the people and spoke to the whole city in her wisdom. She cut off Sheba son of Bichri’s head and threw it to Joab. He sounded the horn, and they dispersed from the city, each to his tents. Joab returned to the king in Jerusalem.
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Greek adds speech to the whole city and has singular killing and throwing verbs, provisionally referred to the woman; Hebrew explicitly uses plural agents. Both end the siege.
Rabbinic: Rashi on 20:22 cites a debate in Tosefta Terumot about surrendering the named rebel and rejects treating one life as freely exchangeable for another [R20].
20:23–26 | The officers of the restored administration
Verse MT 20:23 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 20:23
Joab was over all Israel’s army, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and Pelethites.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 20:23
Joab was over all Israel’s army, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and Pelethites,
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Hebrew follows qere Cherethites against written Carites [R20]. Both list Joab in command after Amasa’s death; no new appointment ceremony is supplied.
Verse MT 20:24 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 20:24
Adoram was over forced labor, and Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was recorder.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 20:24
Adoniram was over tribute, and Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was recorder,
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew Adoram differs from Greek Adoniram. Hebrew mas concerns the labor levy in this administrative context; Greek phoros is tribute. Recorder renders the official’s memorializing role in both.
Verse MT 20:25 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 20:25
Sheva was scribe, and Zadok and Abiathar were priests.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 20:25
Sousa was scribe, and Zadok and Abiathar were priests.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew follows qere Sheva against written Sheya [R20]; Greek Sousa remains distinct. The other names and offices agree.
Verse MT 20:26 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 20:26
Ira the Jairite was also priest to David.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 20:26
Ira the Jairite was also priest to David.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Both use priest here.
Rabbinic: Rashi on 20:26 distinguishes an interpretation involving priestly gifts from his contextual reading as an official or judge [R20]. The main text retains the priest term rather than deciding the historical office by substitution.