2 Samuel 10 — 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 10
An offered kindness rejected and war enlarged
Editorial Christian moral reading beside Luke 6:27–38 [NT2]. The humiliation of the envoys and escalation of conflict remain the narrative’s stated events.
10:1–5 | The envoys humiliated
Verse MT 10:1 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 10:1
After this, the king of the sons of Ammon died, and Hanun his son became king in his place.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 10:1
After this, the king of the sons of Ammon died, and Hanun his son became king in his place.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: The death and succession correspond. The deceased king is named in verse 2.
Verse MT 10:2 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 10:2
David said, “I will show steadfast kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, as his father showed steadfast kindness to me.” David sent his servants to comfort him concerning his father. David’s servants entered the land of the sons of Ammon.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 10:2
David said, “I will show mercy to Hanun son of Nahash, as his father showed mercy to me.” David sent his servants to comfort him concerning his father. David’s servants entered the land of the sons of Ammon.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Both identify the mission as consolation motivated by a previous kindness. The nature of Nahash’s earlier act is not supplied by the narrator here.
Verse MT 10:3 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 10:3
The leaders of the sons of Ammon said to Hanun their lord, “Do you think David is honoring your father by sending comforters to you? Has David not sent his servants to you to search the city, spy it out, and overthrow it?”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 10:3
The leaders of the sons of Ammon said to Hanun their lord, “Do you think David is glorifying your father by sending comforters to you? Has David not sent his servants to you so that they may search the city, spy it out, and inspect it?”
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew ends with overthrowing the city; Greek with inspecting it. The speakers’ suspicion is retained as their accusation, not converted into David’s actual stated purpose.
Verse MT 10:4 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 10:4
Hanun took David’s servants, shaved off half their beards, cut their garments in half at their buttocks, and sent them away.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 10:4
Hanun took David’s servants, shaved their beards, cut their cloaks in half at their hips, and sent them away.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew specifies half the beard, while Greek does not. Buttocks / hips and garments / cloaks also differ. Both narrate the public humiliation without an invented additional assault.
Verse MT 10:5 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 10:5
David was told, and he sent to meet them, for the men were deeply ashamed. The king said, “Stay in Jericho until your beards grow, and then return.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 10:5
David was told about the men, and he sent to meet them, for the men had been greatly dishonored. The king said, “Stay in Jericho until your beards grow, and then you shall return.”
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: Greek makes the report’s subject explicit and foregrounds dishonor; Hebrew describes shame. The instruction to wait and return agrees.
10:6–14 | The allied armies and the divided defense
Verse MT 10:6 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 10:6
The sons of Ammon saw that they had become a stench to David. They sent and hired twenty thousand foot soldiers from Aram of Beth-rehob and Aram of Zobah, the king of Maacah with a thousand men, and twelve thousand men of Tob.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 10:6
The sons of Ammon saw that David’s people had been put to shame. They sent and hired Syria of Beth-rehob, twenty thousand foot soldiers, the king of Maacah, a thousand men, and Istob, twelve thousand men.
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Greek makes David’s people the shamed group, omits Zobah from this hiring list, and gives Istob rather than men of Tob. The three troop totals agree. Hebrew’s stench idiom expresses the hostility produced by Ammon’s action; it is not a literal smell report.
Verse MT 10:7 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 10:7
David heard and sent Joab and the whole army, the mighty men.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 10:7
David heard and sent Joab and the whole force, the mighty men.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: The dispatch and description of the force correspond. The apposition mighty men is retained without assigning a modern unit designation.
Verse MT 10:8 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 10:8
The sons of Ammon came out and drew up for battle at the gate’s entrance. Aram of Zobah and Rehob, the men of Tob, and Maacah were by themselves in the field.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 10:8
The sons of Ammon came out and drew up for battle at the gate’s entrance. Syria of Zobah and Rehob, Istob, and Maacah were by themselves in the field.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: The two fronts agree, while men of Tob / Istob repeats the source-specific designation. Greek includes Zobah here despite its absence from verse 6’s hiring list.
Verse MT 10:9 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 10:9
Joab saw that the battle faced him in front and behind. He selected some of all Israel’s chosen men and drew them up against Aram.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 10:9
Joab saw that the battle faced him from the front and from behind. He selected some of all Israel’s young men, and they drew up against Syria.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew chosen men and Greek young men distinguish selection from age description. Hebrew makes Joab the arranging agent; Greek says the selected men drew up. The threat on both sides agrees.
Verse MT 10:10 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 10:10
He placed the rest of the people in the hand of Abishai his brother, who drew them up against the sons of Ammon.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 10:10
He placed the rest of the people in the hand of Abishai his brother, and they drew up against the sons of Ammon.
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: Hebrew describes the commander arranging the force; Greek the force taking its position. The assignment to Abishai and the enemy front agree.
Verse MT 10:11 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 10:11
He said, “If Aram is too strong for me, you shall come to my rescue. If the sons of Ammon are too strong for you, I will come to rescue you.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 10:11
He said, “If Syria is too strong for me, you all shall come to my rescue. If the sons of Ammon are too strong for you, we will be there to rescue you.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Greek shifts to plural you all and we where Hebrew has singular you and I. Both arrange mutual aid between the two divisions; the grammatical expansion is retained rather than treating every pronoun as Joab alone.
Verse MT 10:12 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 10:12
Be strong, and let us act strongly for our people and for the cities of our God. May YHWH do what is good in His eyes.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 10:12
Be courageous, and let us act strongly for our people and for the cities of our God. The Lord will do what is good in His eyes.”
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: The call to courage corresponds. Hebrew’s final clause is rendered as a wish, while Greek’s explicit future is a statement. Both leave the outcome with God; neither guarantees the specific result Joab desires.
Verse MT 10:13 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 10:13
Joab and the people with him advanced to battle against Aram, and they fled before him.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 10:13
Joab and his people with him advanced to battle against Syria, and they fled before him.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: The advance and opposing force’s flight agree. Aram / Syria is the ordinary regional correspondence here.
Verse MT 10:14 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 10:14
The sons of Ammon saw that Aram had fled, and they fled before Abishai and entered the city. Joab returned from fighting the sons of Ammon and came to Jerusalem.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 10:14
The sons of Ammon saw that Syria had fled, and they fled before Abishai and entered the city. Joab returned from the sons of Ammon, and they came to Jerusalem.
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: Greek ends with a plural arrival, they, where Hebrew has Joab’s singular arrival. The retreat into the city and subsequent return agree; fighting supplies the context of Hebrew’s return from against them.
10:15–19 | The renewed campaign and its aftermath
Verse MT 10:15 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 10:15
Aram saw that it had been defeated before Israel, and they gathered together.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 10:15
Syria saw that it had been defeated before Israel, and they gathered together.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: The recognition of defeat and regrouping correspond. The collective people-name naturally shifts from singular to plural reference.
Verse MT 10:16 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 10:16
Hadadezer sent and brought out Aram from beyond the River. They came to Helam, with Shobach, commander of Hadadezer’s army, at their head.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 10:16
Hadadezer sent and gathered Syria from beyond the River Chalamak. They came to Ailam, with Shobach, leader of Hadadezer’s force, at their head.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Greek adds Chalamak after River and gives Ailam for Hebrew Helam. Its location sequence is uncertain: River Chalamak preserves the immediate construction without equating that name with the Euphrates or silently moving it. The shared commander and deployment agree.
Verse MT 10:17 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 10:17
David was told. He gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan, and came to Helam. Aram drew up against David and fought with him.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 10:17
David was told. He gathered all Israel and crossed the Jordan, and they came to Ailam. Syria drew up opposite David and fought with him.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: The destination remains Helam / Ailam; Greek again shifts to a plural arrival. The mustering, crossing, and battle otherwise correspond.
Verse MT 10:18 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 10:18
Aram fled before Israel. David killed seven hundred of Aram’s charioteers and forty thousand horsemen. He struck Shobach, the commander of his army, and he died there.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 10:18
Syria fled before Israel. David destroyed seven hundred Syrian chariots and killed forty thousand horsemen. He struck Shobach, the leader of his force, and he died there.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Both give 700 and 40,000. Hebrew’s killed chariotry is rendered contextually as charioteers; Greek explicitly names chariots with a broader destroying verb. No crew-size calculation or the differing figures of 1 Chronicles 19:18 is substituted.
Verse MT 10:19 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 10:19
All the kings serving Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated before Israel. They made peace with Israel and served them, and Aram feared to help the sons of Ammon again.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 10:19
All the kings serving Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated before Israel. They deserted to Israel and served them, and Syria feared to help the sons of Ammon again.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew gives peace-making; Greek desertion to Israel. Both retain the resulting service and fear of further intervention. The final fear clause continues across a publisher paragraph break in Greek and is included in full.