2 Samuel 14 — Hebrew and Greek compared
Disparate in this chapter: MT 14:14, MT 14:17, MT 14:27
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 14
An appeal for restoration under the question of justice
Editorial Christian thematic reading beside mercy and judgment in Luke 6:27–38 [NT2]. The woman’s constructed case and its difficult theology remain her argument.
14:1–11 | The woman’s case and the king’s oath
Verse MT 14:1 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 14:1
Joab son of Zeruiah knew that the king’s heart was on Absalom.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 14:1
Joab son of Zeruiah knew that the king’s heart was on Absalom.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Both leave the direction of the king’s feeling compressed in the expression heart on Absalom. Affection or hostility is not independently added to resolve 13:39.
Verse MT 14:2 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 14:2
Joab sent to Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman. He said to her, “Please act as a mourner. Put on mourning clothes and do not anoint yourself with oil. Be like a woman who has mourned the dead for many days.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 14:2
Joab sent to Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman. He said to her, “Please mourn. Put on mourning clothes and do not anoint yourself with oil. Be like a woman who has mourned someone dead for many days.
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: Hebrew’s reflexive mourning verb is rendered according to the staged role; Greek directly commands mourning. Both give the same clothes, abstention from oil, and assumed situation.
Verse MT 14:3 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 14:3
Go to the king and speak to him in this manner.” Joab put the words into her mouth.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 14:3
Go to the king and speak to him in this manner.” Joab put the words into her mouth.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Both explicitly identify Joab as the author of the speech she will deliver.
Verse MT 14:4 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 14:4
The woman of Tekoa spoke to the king, fell facedown to the ground, bowed down, and said, “Help, O king!”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 14:4
The woman of Tekoa came in to the king, fell facedown to the ground, bowed down to him, and said, “Help, O king, help!”
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew begins with she spoke; Greek she came in. Greek also repeats the plea and explicitly names the recipient of obeisance. No arrival verb replaces Hebrew’s first verb.
Verse MT 14:5 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 14:5
The king said to her, “What troubles you?” She said, “Indeed, I am a widow; my husband has died.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 14:5
The king said to her, “What troubles you?” She said, “Indeed, I am a widow; my husband has died.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: The question and the woman’s claimed circumstances agree. Her account is presented as the speech Joab arranged, not independently verified biography.
Verse MT 14:6 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 14:6
Your servant had two sons. The two fought in the field, with no one between them to intervene. One struck the other and killed him.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 14:6
Your servant had two sons. Both fought in the field, with no one between them to intervene. One struck his brother and killed him.
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: Greek expressly calls the victim his brother; Hebrew says the other. The lack of an intervening rescuer and the killing agree. Servant is the woman’s deferential self-reference.
Verse MT 14:7 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 14:7
Now the whole family has risen against your servant. They say, ‘Hand over the one who struck his brother, and we will put him to death for the life of the brother he killed. We will destroy the heir as well.’ They would extinguish my last remaining ember, leaving my husband neither name nor remnant on the face of the ground.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 14:7
Now the whole paternal family has risen against your servant. They say, ‘Hand over the one who struck his brother, and we will put him to death for the life of the brother he killed. We will remove your heir as well.’ They would extinguish my last remaining ember, leaving my husband neither remnant nor name on the face of the earth.”
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Greek specifies paternal kinship and adds plural your to heir; it reverses remnant and name. Both retain the ember metaphor and the family’s stated threat to the surviving heir.
Verse MT 14:8 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 14:8
The king said to the woman, “Go to your house, and I will give orders concerning you.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 14:8
The king said, “Go to your house in good health, and I will give orders concerning you.”
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Greek adds a wish for well-being; Hebrew explicitly identifies the woman as addressee. Both promise a royal order.
Verse MT 14:9 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 14:9
The woman of Tekoa said to the king, “Let the guilt fall on me, my lord the king, and on my father’s house; let the king and his throne be innocent.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 14:9
The woman of Tekoa said to the king, “Let the lawlessness fall on me, my lord the king, and on my father’s house; let the king and his throne be innocent.”
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: Guilt / lawlessness reflects the respective terms.
Rabbinic: Rashi on 14:9 treats her self-directed wording as a respectful way of pressing the king about his responsibility [R14]. This interpretation remains separate from her literal speech.
Verse MT 14:10 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 14:10
The king said, “Whoever speaks to you, bring him to me, and he will not touch you again.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 14:10
The king said, “Who is speaking to you? Bring him to me, and he will not touch him again.”
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Greek has a question and ends with him, where Hebrew has you. The masculine object’s referent is not specified; it is not silently corrected to the woman.
Verse MT 14:11 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 14:11
She said, “Please let the king remember YHWH your God, so that the avenger of blood does not increase destruction and they do not destroy my son.” He said, “As YHWH lives, not a hair of your son will fall to the ground.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 14:11
She said, “Please let the king remember the Lord his God, for a blood avenger to become great in destruction; and they will certainly not remove my son.” He said, “As the Lord lives, not a hair of your son will fall to the ground.”
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Greek lacks Hebrew’s preventive construction before the blood avenger, producing a difficult positive infinitive clause. The provisional English preserves that difficulty rather than inserting a missing negative. The earlier NETS comparison could not be rechecked [N]. Greek has his God, Hebrew your God. The protective oath agrees.
14:12–20 | The appeal applied to Absalom
Verse MT 14:12 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 14:12
The woman said, “Please let your servant speak a word to my lord the king.” He said, “Speak.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 14:12
The woman said, “Please let your servant speak a word to my lord the king.” He said, “Speak.”
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: The request for further speech and permission agree.
Verse MT 14:13 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 14:13
The woman said, “Why have you planned such a thing against God’s people? By speaking this word, the king is like a guilty man, since the king does not bring back his own banished one.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 14:13
The woman said, “Why have you planned such a thing against God’s people? Is this word from the king’s mouth not an offense, since the king does not bring back his own banished one?
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew describes the king as guilty; Greek questions the word as an offense. Both turn the analogy toward his banished son. The indirect accusation is retained without inserting Absalom’s name into her words.
Verse MT 14:14 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 14:14
We must certainly die and are like water poured onto the ground that cannot be gathered again. Yet God does not take away life; He devises plans so that the banished one is not banished from Him.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 14:14
We must certainly die and are like water poured onto the ground that will not be gathered again. God will take a life, while planning to banish a banished one from Him.
Classification & Notes
Disparate
Text: Greek lacks both Hebrew negatives concerning taking life and banishment. Its resulting divine action is preserved. Hebrew’s lifting a life is disputed: Rashi on 14:14 understands that no person is exempted from death and assigns the planning to the king [R14]. The adopted Hebrew construal is provisional, not a universal doctrine detached from the woman’s argument.
Verse MT 14:15 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 14:15
I have come to speak this word to my lord the king because the people frightened me. Your servant said, ‘Let me speak to the king; perhaps the king will grant his servant’s request.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 14:15
What I have come to say to my lord the king is this, because the people will see me. Your servant will say, ‘Let someone speak to the king; perhaps the king will grant his servant’s request,
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew says the people frightened her; Greek says they will see her. The reporting tense and the person of the inner request also differ. These are not harmonized into a single motive.
Verse MT 14:16 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 14:16
The king will listen and deliver his servant from the hand of the man who would destroy me and my son together from God’s inheritance.’
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 14:16
for the king will listen and deliver his servant from the hand of the man seeking to remove me and my son from God’s inheritance.’”
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: Hebrew includes together; Greek explicitly adds seeking. Both present deliverance from the threatened loss of life and inheritance as the woman’s expectation.
Verse MT 14:17 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 14:17
Your servant said, ‘May my lord the king’s word bring rest, for my lord the king is like God’s angel in hearing good and evil. May YHWH your God be with you.’”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 14:17
The woman said, “May my lord the king’s word be an offering, for my lord the king is like God’s angel in hearing good and evil. The Lord your God will be with you.”
Classification & Notes
Disparate
Text: Hebrew requests rest; Greek an offering, changing the image into sacrificial language. Greek also uses the woman instead of her self-reference and a future assurance in place of the Hebrew wish. The comparison to an angel belongs to her address.
Verse MT 14:18 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 14:18
The king answered the woman, “Please do not hide from me anything I ask you.” The woman said, “Please let my lord the king speak.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 14:18
The king answered the woman, “Please do not hide from me anything I ask you.” The woman said, “Please let my lord the king speak.”
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: The request for candor and her response agree.
Verse MT 14:19 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 14:19
The king said, “Is Joab’s hand with you in all this?” The woman answered, “As your soul lives, my lord the king, no one can turn right or left from anything my lord the king has said. Your servant Joab commanded me; he put all these words into your servant’s mouth.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 14:19
The king said, “Is Joab’s hand with you in all this?” The woman said to the king, “As your soul lives, my lord the king, there is no turning right or left from anything my lord the king has said. Your servant Joab commanded me; he put all these words into your servant’s mouth.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Both identify Joab’s direction through the hand and mouth images. The negative force of the oath’s if clause is made explicit. Hebrew’s unusual ’ish form functions as an existence expression [R14].
Verse MT 14:20 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 14:20
Your servant Joab did this to turn the matter around. My lord is wise, with the wisdom of God’s angel, to know everything in the land.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 14:20
Your servant Joab did this to turn the matter around. My lord is wise, with the wisdom of God’s angel, to know everything in the land.”
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Both use a face-of-the-matter idiom, rendered turn the matter around. The woman’s sweeping praise remains her speech rather than an editorial assertion of royal omniscience.
A return without a healed household
Editorial Christian continuation of the restoration theme. The return, exclusion, pressure on Joab, and audience are separate stages; the text does not state full reconciliation.
14:21–27 | The return, the appearance, and the family
Verse MT 14:21 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 14:21
The king said to Joab, “I have now granted this matter. Go and bring back the young man Absalom.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 14:21
The king said to Joab, “I have now acted for you according to this request of yours. Go and bring back the young man Absalom.”
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Greek adds for you and your request. Both express the king’s agreement in a completed-action form and order Absalom’s return.
Verse MT 14:22 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 14:22
Joab fell facedown to the ground, bowed down, and blessed the king. Joab said, “Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your eyes, my lord the king, because the king has granted your servant’s request.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 14:22
Joab fell facedown to the ground, bowed down, and blessed the king. Joab said, “Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your eyes, my lord the king, because my lord the king has granted his servant’s request.”
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew follows the checked qere your servant against the irregular written suffix [R14]; Greek has his servant and repeats my lord. The royal favor and granted request agree.
Verse MT 14:23 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 14:23
Joab rose, went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 14:23
Joab rose, went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: The journey and return agree.
Verse MT 14:24 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 14:24
The king said, “Let him turn aside to his own house; he must not see my face.” Absalom turned aside to his own house and did not see the king’s face.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 14:24
The king said, “Let him turn aside to his own house; he must not see my face.” Absalom turned aside to his own house and did not see the king’s face.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Both distinguish permission to return from access to the king. The repeated face language is retained.
Verse MT 14:25 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 14:25
In all Israel no man was so praised for his beauty as Absalom. From the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 14:25
In all Israel no man was so highly praised as Absalom. From the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew expressly includes beauty in the initial praise; Greek omits that word but retains the physical description. Blemish here describes appearance, not moral perfection.
Verse MT 14:26 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 14:26
When he cut the hair of his head—from time to time he cut it because it grew heavy on him—he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels by the king’s weight.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 14:26
When he cut the hair of his head—from one period of days to another he cut it because it grew heavy on him—he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels by the royal shekel.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew’s interval idiom begins with the end of days; Greek with the beginning of days. The English leaves the interval general rather than asserting an exact calendar. Hebrew names the king’s stone weight, Greek the royal shekel. Two hundred shekels is retained without conversion or correction.
Verse MT 14:27 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 14:27
Three sons and one daughter were born to Absalom. Her name was Tamar, and she was a woman beautiful in appearance.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 14:27
Three sons and one daughter were born to Absalom. Her name was Tamar, and she was a very beautiful woman. She became the wife of Rehoboam son of Solomon and bore him Abijah.
Classification & Notes
Disparate
Text: Greek adds Tamar’s marriage to Rehoboam and motherhood of Abijah, introducing a substantial genealogy absent from Hebrew here. The daughter is distinct from Absalom’s sister Tamar. The added names are not corrected from later parallel accounts.
14:28–33 | The burned field and the royal audience
Verse MT 14:28 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 14:28
Absalom lived in Jerusalem two full years without seeing the king’s face.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 14:28
Absalom lived in Jerusalem two full years without seeing the king’s face.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: The duration of exclusion agrees.
Verse MT 14:29 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 14:29
Absalom sent for Joab to send him to the king, but Joab refused to come to him. He sent again a second time, but Joab refused to come.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 14:29
Absalom sent for Joab to send him to the king, but Joab refused to come to him. He sent to him a second time, but Joab refused to appear.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Both retain two summonses and refusals. Joab’s name clarifies the changing unexpressed subjects.
Verse MT 14:30 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 14:30
He said to his servants, “Look, Joab’s plot is beside mine, and he has barley there. Go and set it on fire.” Absalom’s servants set the plot on fire.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 14:30
Absalom said to his servants, “Look, Joab’s plot in the field is beside mine, and he has barley there. Go and set it on fire.” Absalom’s servants burned the barley. Joab’s servants came to him with their clothes torn and said, “Absalom’s servants have set the plot on fire.”
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Greek names Absalom, specifies the field, refers to the barley with its plural burning object, and adds the servants’ arrival and report in torn clothes. Hebrew’s unusual written imperative is rendered by its clear command sense; no alternative event is introduced.
Verse MT 14:31 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 14:31
Joab rose, came to Absalom at his house, and said to him, “Why have your servants set my plot on fire?”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 14:31
Joab rose, came to Absalom at his house, and said to him, “Why have your servants set my plot on fire?”
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: The confrontation and question agree.
Verse MT 14:32 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 14:32
Absalom said to Joab, “I sent to you, saying, ‘Come here, and I will send you to the king to say, “Why did I come from Geshur? It would be better for me still to be there.”’ Now let me see the king’s face. If there is guilt in me, let him put me to death.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 14:32
Absalom said to Joab, “I sent to you, saying, ‘Come here, and I will send you to the king to say, “Why did I come from Geshur? It would be better for me still to be there.”’ Now look, I have not seen the king’s face. If there is wrongdoing in me, put me to death.”
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew requests an audience and says let him put me to death; Greek states that no audience has occurred and directly commands you to put me to death. The shift of person is preserved rather than silently redirected to the king.
Verse MT 14:33 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 14:33
Joab went in to the king and told him. The king summoned Absalom, who came to the king and bowed facedown to the ground before him. The king kissed Absalom.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 14:33
Joab went in to the king and told him. The king summoned Absalom, who came to the king, bowed down to him, and fell facedown to the ground before him. The king kissed Absalom warmly.
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: Greek separates the bowing and falling and uses an intensified kissing verb. The king is contextually supplied as the summoner in both. The audience and kiss are narrated without an added confession or pardon formula.