2 Samuel 4 — Hebrew and Greek compared
Disparate in this chapter: MT 4:6
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 4
The king rejects a murder offered as good news
Editorial Christian reading in the troubled royal history preceding Jesus [NT1]. The assassins’ claim of divine vengeance is tested by David’s answer.
4:1–7 | Fear, the brothers, and the killing
Verse MT 4:1 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 4:1
When Saul’s son heard that Abner had died in Hebron, his hands grew weak, and all Israel was alarmed.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 4:1
When Mephibosheth son of Saul heard that Abner had died in Hebron, his hands grew weak, and all Israel’s men lost heart.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Greek expressly names Mephibosheth son of Saul where Hebrew leaves Saul’s son unnamed, later calling him Ish-bosheth. Greek describes loss of courage where Hebrew describes alarm. The complete publisher Greek chapter was checked after an initial substitute transcription; their normalized wording agrees.
Verse MT 4:2 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 4:2
Saul’s son had two men who commanded raiding bands. One was named Baanah, and the other Rechab, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, from the sons of Benjamin, for Beeroth too was counted as belonging to Benjamin.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 4:2
Mephibosheth son of Saul had two men who led bands. One was named Baanah, and the second Rechab, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, from the sons of Benjamin, for Beeroth was counted as belonging to Benjamin’s sons.
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: Greek repeats the king’s name and describes bands more generally. Their leaders, father, origin, and Beeroth’s reckoning with Benjamin otherwise correspond. Rechab represents both Greek Rechab and the later letter-order variant Rekcha.
Verse MT 4:3 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 4:3
The Beerothites had fled to Gittaim and remained there as resident aliens to this day.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 4:3
The Beerothites had escaped to Gittaim and remained there as resident aliens to this day.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: The flight, destination, and continuing status correspond. To this day belongs to the narrator’s standpoint, not the date of this translation.
Verse MT 4:4 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 4:4
Jonathan son of Saul had a son whose feet were impaired. He was five years old when news of Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled. As she hurried to flee, he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 4:4
Jonathan son of Saul had a son whose feet had been injured. He was five years old when news of Saul and Jonathan his son came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled. As she hurried and withdrew, he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: Both recall the earlier childhood fall and its lasting effect on his feet. Greek makes Jonathan’s relationship to Saul explicit. Jonathan’s son is a different person from Saul’s reigning son, although this Greek text calls both Mephibosheth; the identities are not merged.
Verse MT 4:5 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 4:5
The sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, went and entered Ish-bosheth’s house in the heat of the day. He was lying down for his midday rest.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 4:5
The sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, went and entered Mephibosheth’s house in the heat of the day. He was sleeping in bed at midday.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: The king’s name differs, and Greek explicitly states sleep while Hebrew describes his midday lying down. The arrivals and time agree.
Verse MT 4:6 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 4:6
They came into the middle of the house to take wheat, and struck him in the belly. Rechab and his brother Baanah escaped.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 4:6
Look, the woman keeping the house’s door was cleaning wheat. She became drowsy and fell asleep, and the brothers Rechab and Baanah slipped past unnoticed.
Classification & Notes
Disparate
Text: Hebrew narrates the men’s entry, wheat-taking purpose, blow, and escape; Greek instead introduces a female doorkeeper, her sleep, and their unnoticed passage. The agent and stage of the assassination differ substantially. The Hebrew purpose is not expanded into an explicitly false pretext.
Verse MT 4:7 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 4:7
They entered the house while he was lying on his bed in his bedchamber. They struck him, killed him, and removed his head. They took his head and traveled by the Arabah road all night.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 4:7
They entered the house while Mephibosheth was sleeping on his bed in his bedchamber. They struck him, killed him, and removed his head. They took his head and went by the westward road all night.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Both describe the killing and removal of the head. Greek names the sleeping man and gives a westward road where Hebrew names the Arabah road. Hebrew’s return to the entry scene after verse 6 is retained without deleting its repetition.
4:8–12 | The head presented and David’s judgment
Verse MT 4:8 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 4:8
They brought Ish-bosheth’s head to David at Hebron and said to the king, “Look, the head of Ish-bosheth son of Saul your enemy, who sought your life! YHWH has given my lord the king vengeance this day upon Saul and his offspring.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 4:8
They brought Mephibosheth’s head to David at Hebron and said to the king, “Look, the head of Mephibosheth son of Saul your enemy, who sought your life! The Lord has given the lord king vengeance upon his enemies, as on this day, upon Saul your enemy and his offspring.”
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Beyond the name difference, Greek expands the vengeance claim with his enemies and repeats your enemy. Both attribute the killing to divine vengeance within the assassins’ speech; David’s answer is not preempted by treating their claim as the narrator’s endorsement.
Verse MT 4:9 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 4:9
David answered Rechab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, “As YHWH lives, who redeemed my life from every distress,
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 4:9
David answered Rechab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, “As the Lord lives, who redeemed my life from every distress,
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: The reply, oath, and remembered deliverance correspond. Life renders the personal-life sense of Hebrew nephesh and Greek psychē here.
Verse MT 4:10 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 4:10
when someone told me, ‘Look, Saul is dead,’ thinking himself a bearer of good news, I seized him and killed him in Ziklag—that was my reward to him for the news!
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 4:10
the one who reported to me that Saul had died was like a bearer of good news before me, and I seized him and killed him in Ziklag—the one to whom I was supposed to give a reward for good news!
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew locates the good-news assessment in the messenger’s own eyes; Greek has before me and an explicit supposed obligation to reward him. Hebrew’s final abbreviated reward clause is rendered as David’s irony. Both recall the execution in chapter 1, not an ordinary reward payment.
Verse MT 4:11 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 4:11
How much more when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house, on his bed! Now shall I not require his blood from your hands and remove you from the earth?”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 4:11
And now wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house, on his bed! Now I will require his blood from your hands and destroy you from the earth.”
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: Hebrew reasons how much more and asks a rhetorical question; Greek states the accusation and judgment directly. Both distinguish the murdered man’s innocence in this act from the killers’ wrongdoing; righteous is not expanded into a claim of sinlessness.
Verse MT 4:12 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 4:12
David commanded the young men, and they killed them, cut off their hands and feet, and hung them beside the pool in Hebron. They took Ish-bosheth’s head and buried it in Abner’s tomb in Hebron.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 4:12
David commanded his young men, and they killed them, cut off their hands and feet, and hung them beside the spring in Hebron. They buried Mephibosheth’s head in the tomb of Abner son of Ner.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Both describe execution, mutilation, display, and burial. Hebrew names a pool and repeats Hebron with the tomb; Greek names a spring and adds Abner’s father. The king’s name continues the chapter’s difference. The actions are retained without added graphic detail or a claim that the passage prescribes them generally.