Ezra — Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek compared
Choose a chapter to explore the source readings and their notes. Original references, source labels, and review records are retained.
Source guide and review record
Saints Translation
Ezra
Complete working translation draft, V2, Sep 13, 2026. All 10 chapters: 280 Hebrew/Aramaic verses and 280 Greek verses directly read and independently translated in 280 comparison rows. Qualified independent specialist review remains outstanding.
Text, language and numbering
H: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, fifth corrected edition (1997), publisher's displayed Hebrew and Aramaic main text. G: Rahlfs–Hanhart Septuaginta, second revised edition (2006), publisher's displayed Greek Esdras B main text. The BHS and Göttingen apparatuses were not collated.
Navigation uses canonical Ezra chapters 1–10. H is BHS Ezra; G is Esdras B, published as ESDRAS II, chapters 1–10. These are not Esdras A (commonly English 1 Esdras). Each translation cell carries its actual H or G reference. The combined Greek book continues with Nehemiah at Esdras B 11–23. Both source sequences contain 280 verses, aligned in 280 rows without reordering or absent-verse rows. Greek 5:12 begins by completing 5:11; the final phrase of 8:34 begins the sentence in 8:35; 10:37–42 carries one awkward Greek clause across six source-numbered rows.
The first column is Hebrew–English except for Aramaic 4:8–6:18 and 7:12–26, explicitly labeled in its verse references. The second column translates Greek independently. The third supplies the governing comparison category, textual explanation and selective attributed reception.
Comparison guide
Same: Corresponding meaning and content, allowing ordinary differences between languages.
Similar: The essentials agree, with a modest difference in expression or emphasis.
Different: A meaningful difference in a particular detail, name, number, action or image.
Divergent: Added, omitted or substantially rearranged material governs the comparison.
Disparate: A major difference in meaning or consequence; strict contradiction is not required.
Category totals count aligned rows: Different 87; Disparate 21; Divergent 9; Same 57; Similar 106.
Sources and method
All source access dates in this register are Sep 8, 2026. Each entry states what was actually read. Biblical English was composed from the ancient main texts; modern English Bible translations were not used as a running base.
[H] Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, edited by Karl Elliger and Wilhelm Rudolph; fifth corrected edition edited by Adrian Schenker (1997). Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft publisher presentation, Esra.
Chapters 1–10: all 280 displayed publisher Hebrew/Aramaic main-text verses directly read. Aramaic 4:8–6:18 and 7:12–26 distinguished. No critical apparatus collated. Access: Direct publisher main text.
[G] Septuaginta, edited by Alfred Rahlfs; second revised edition edited by Robert Hanhart (2006). Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft publisher presentation, Esdras II (Esdras B).
Esdras B 1–10: all 280 displayed publisher Greek main-text verses directly read; no apparatus collated. Access: Direct publisher Greek main text.
[R1] Commentary presented as Rashi on Ezra 1, Chabad.org
Notes on 1:1–9 read in displayed Hebrew and English. Selected comments on 1:1, 1:4 and 1:9 used; no independent authorship investigation. Access: Direct commentary presentation; later interpretation.
[R2] Commentary presented as Rashi on Ezra 2, Chabad.org
Displayed biblical written/read notices at 2:46 and 2:50, and commentary at 2:36–69 read in Hebrew and English. Selected reception notes at 2:62–64 used. No independent authorship investigation. Access: Direct commentary and written/read presentation; not BHS apparatus.
[LSJ-ANCH] Liddell–Scott–Jones, A Greek–English Lexicon, ninth edition (1940), anchisteuo, especially II.3; Perseus Scaife ATLAS transcription
Full entry directly read, including the passive contextual sense at II.3 and its explicit citations of Esdras B 2:62 and Nehemiah 7:64. Access: Direct historical lexicon transcription; not textual apparatus.
[R4] Commentary presented as Rashi on Ezra 4, Chabad.org
Displayed Hebrew written/read notices at 4:2,4,7,9 and comments on 4:1–10 read in Hebrew and English. The note on 4:7 is selectively used; historical identifications are not imported into the translation. Access: Direct commentary and written/read presentation; not BHS apparatus.
[LSJ-MAK] Liddell–Scott–Jones, A Greek–English Lexicon, ninth edition (1940), makrymma; Perseus Scaife ATLAS transcription
Full short entry read, including the abominable-object sense and explicit Esdras B 9:1,11 citations. Its noted alternative reading was not collated or adopted. Access: Direct historical lexicon transcription; no manuscript collation.
[R10] Commentary presented as Rashi on Ezra 10, Chabad.org
Selected Hebrew and English comments on 10:2–3,9,11–17,44 and displayed written/read notices at 10:2,12,43 directly read. The unusual spelling at 10:16 is explained lexically, not identified as a qere. No independent authorship investigation. Access: Direct commentary and written/read presentation; not BHS apparatus.
[LSJ-HIST] Liddell–Scott–Jones, A Greek–English Lexicon, ninth edition (1940), histemi A.IV; Perseus Scaife ATLAS transcription
The weighing and payment senses at A.IV–IV.2 directly read, along with the adjoining intransitive standing sense. The entire lengthy entry was not read. Access: Direct historical lexicon transcription; not apparatus.
[LSJ-NOM] Liddell–Scott–Jones, A Greek–English Lexicon, ninth edition (1940), nomisma; Perseus Scaife ATLAS transcription
All three senses directly read: established usage/institution, current coin, and legal measure. The entry does not explicitly cite Ezra 8:36; ordinance there is a contextual judgment. Access: Direct historical lexicon transcription; not apparatus.
[JER53] Jerome, Letter 53 to Paulinus, section 8; published English translation reproduced by New Advent
Section 8's survey of Ezra–Nehemiah directly read. Selected book-level reception note only. The Latin original was not collated. Access: Direct patristic work in published English translation; reception only.
Publisher chapter URLs follow the displayed book navigation: BHS EZR.1 through EZR.10 and LXX EZR.1 through EZR.10. Saved source-marker sequences were checked against every draft reference: both sources contain the same chapter counts, 11, 70, 13, 24, 17, 22, 28, 36, 15 and 44. This verifies coverage and ordering, not an independent second translation.
The publisher's displayed main text governs each column. Written/read distinctions that affect translation are noted at the identified passages. Familiar divine and geographical names are normalized where unambiguous; source-specific forms and uncertain identifications remain visible. Hebrew YHWH and Greek Lord are kept distinct; ancient units and all reported totals remain as transmitted.
Disparate index
2:69; 4:2; 4:7; 4:15; 4:16; 4:18; 4:21; 5:4; 5:14; 6:11; 7:17; 7:24; 7:26; 8:17; 8:26; 9:11; 9:14; 10:3; 10:15; 10:37; 10:38. Each listed row's note identifies the governing change in meaning or consequence; these are 21 affected rows, not a count of unique manuscript variants.
Translation decisions and review record
1:8
Preserve Mithredath/Mithradates and Sheshbazzar/Sasabasar as transmitted forms; do not replace either by Daniel or Zerubbabel through later identification.
1:9–11
Keep all source inventory counts, including the shared 5,400 total that differs from the itemized sums. This is not a corrected arithmetic edition.
2:12,28,39
Preserve both census counts, including 1,222/3,222; 223/423; 1,017/1,007.
2:46,50
The publisher's displayed written consonants govern Shamlai, Me'inim and Nephisim. Separately verified reading notices are explained without silently relabeling them BHS apparatus.
2:60
Preserve G's additional sons of Boua, within the unchanged total 652.
3:9
Keep sons of Judah in both sources without harmonization to Hodaviah at 2:40.
3:11–12
Retain G's neuter agathon and awkward attachment of the foundation phrase; note both as uncertain rather than normalizing to H.
2:62
Changed to were excluded from the priesthood on grounds of descent after direct LSJ II.3 verification. This corrects an overly mechanical provisional rendering; H's defilement wording remains separate. Review scope: Second AI agent reviewed G 2:62–63 and located the lexical evidence; translating agent independently read the full LSJ entry. This is not whole-book or human review. Evidence: [LSJ-ANCH].
4:2
Retain the publisher's Hebrew written negative lo'; explicitly disclose the verified read form to Him and its agreement with G. Classify the written-H/G comparison only.
4:7–6:18
Declare the language transition: the source note at 4:7 is Hebrew, and the Aramaic narrative and documents begin at 4:8. Do not label the entire H column linguistically Hebrew.
4:7,18,23
Preserve Greek fiscal official phorologos and each source's actual action; no silent replacement by H's letter terminology.
4:15–16,21
Keep slave flight versus revolt, no peace versus loss of territory, and absence of the until-I-order condition as major differences.
5:4
Preserve unexpected Aramaic we and Greek they, and building versus city.
5:11–12
Keep Greek autois at the beginning of source-numbered 5:12, visibly completing the prior verse.
5:14–15
Retain governor/treasury keeper and house-building command/vessels' placement differences.
4:7
Revised to wrote in peace for Mithradates to Arthasastha: dative of interest is provisional, royal pros addressee explicit. Avoid asserting an intermediary transaction. Review scope: Second AI agent read actual Greek 4:7 and considered the syntax only; no new manuscript or lexical source collated.
6:4
Keep H's new timber and G's one wooden course separately; retain great/strong stone distinction.
6:6,8
Preserve Greek you shall give where H names Tattenai, and the negative noninterference construction at 6:8.
6:11,14,22
Preserve each stated house penalty, G's Levites, and both sources' Assyrian royal title.
7:3–4
Retain Greek Samaria, Esria, Mareroth and Saouia without harmonizing their genealogical counterparts.
7:12
Provisional fully qualified construal of gemir disclosed; no unmarked perfect-peace salutation supplied.
7:17,24,26
Preserve G's book-entry instruction, explicit anti-enslavement provision and discipline penalty independently from H's purchase, fiscal exemptions and uprooting.
8:5,10,14
Keep the Greek extra ancestral group labels and its omission of Zabbud; do not fill incomplete H naming formulas from G.
8:17–18
Retain Greek silver-of-the-place language, request for singers, borrowed sachol and at-first phrase in place of H's Sherebiah.
8:26–27
Keep 100 talents of silver vessels versus 100 vessels, and each source's uncertain gold/bronze inventory wording.
8:34–35
Keep source-numbered Greek at that time in 8:34 while visibly carrying its sentence into 8:35.
9:3–5,7
Preserve the distinct Greek actions and sons versus H priests.
9:11,14
Keep the moving-land image and statement-plus-petition of G, distinct from H's impurity image and rhetorical questions.
8:25–26,33
Use the established weighing sense of transitive histemi after direct LSJ verification; retain the genuinely intransitive stand at 8:29. Remove an artificial placement-versus-weighing contrast. Evidence: [LSJ-HIST].
10:3,12,15,37–38
Preserve G's frighten command, great-word response, with-me phrase, and finite verb plus ancestral-group subjects independently from H.
10:15–16,44
Retain provisional opposition, investigate as unusual orthography, and the difficult final placed-sons clause without reconstructing an expulsion statement. Review scope: Second AI agent independently read actual BHS 10:15–16,44 and the commentary presented as Rashi on 10:15–16. This was targeted syntactic review only, not full-book, apparatus or human review.
Contextual term record
YHWH / kyrios — YHWH / Lord
Preserve the source-specific divine title; do not insert Lord where G only has God, as at 1:3.
gasbaren (G 1:8) — gasbaren
Greek transliteration of the treasury title corresponding to Hebrew gizbar, treasurer. The borrowed title remains visible.
agartelim / psykteres (1:9) — basins / cooling vessels
Hebrew vessel identity is provisional; Greek names cooling vessels.
mahalafim / parellagmena (1:9) — knives / miscellaneous items
Hebrew knives follows a traditional interpretation expressly attested in the commentary presented as Rashi [R1]; the rare word remains uncertain. Greek varied or altered items does not specify knives.
kephphoure (G 1:10) — kephphoure
Borrowed inventory term corresponding to Hebrew bowls; its precise Greek-era vessel identification is left open.
Nethinim / Nathinaians, Nathinin, Nathinim — Source-specific temple-service group names
Hebrew designation and differing Greek borrowed forms retained at 2:43,58,70.
Abdeselma (G 2:55,58) — Abdeselma
Greek compound name stands where H explicitly has Solomon's servants. Do not silently expand G into the Hebrew phrase.
enchisteuthesan (G 2:62) — were excluded on grounds of descent
The passive contextual sense is directly attested in LSJ anchisteuo II.3, citing Esdras B 2:62 and Nehemiah 7:64. The lexical family's kinship sense does not imply a redemption transaction here.
Urim and Thummim / illuminating things and perfect things (2:63) — Source-specific technical names and Greek glosses
Retain the Greek interpretive wording instead of replacing it with Hebrew transliterations.
darkemonim / mnai (2:69) — darics / minas
The gold denomination differs materially. No conversion or silent common-unit substitution.
kothonoi (G 2:69) — kothonoi
Borrowed priestly garment term corresponding to Hebrew tunics; retained with a contextual gloss.
hesed / eleos (3:11) — steadfast love / mercy
Source-specific covenantal and compassion vocabulary retained.
be'el-te'em / baaltam (4:8 and following) — official / baaltam
Aramaic administrative title translated broadly as official; the Greek borrowed form is retained.
phorologos (G 4:7,18,23) — tax collector
Greek names a fiscal official where H has documentary language. Preserve person versus document.
minnah, belo, halakh / phoroi (4:13,20) — tribute, tax, toll / taxes
Ancient fiscal categories are preserved separately; their exact administrative assessment bases are not reconstructed.
Bishlam / en eirene (4:7) — Bishlam / in peace
H is construed as a name in a list; G as a greeting. The alternative Hebrew greeting interpretation is directly attested in the commentary presented as Rashi [R4].
gemir (H 7:12) — fully qualified
Complete, provisionally construed with Ezra's scribal qualification; an elliptical complete-greeting formula is also possible.
bath / bad (7:22) — bath / bad
Corresponding liquid measure in these source lists; no modern capacity is imposed.
shoroshu / paideia (7:26) — banishment / discipline
H's uprooting term is provisionally understood as expulsion; G's discipline or punishment does not expressly specify banishment.
sachol (G 8:18) — sachol
Borrowed designation corresponding to Hebrew understanding, retained with explanation rather than asserted as a personal name.
kaphoure; chamanim (G 8:27) — kaphoure; chamanim
Uncertain borrowed inventory words; kaphoure corresponds to gold bowls, while the exact chamanim reference and monetary relation are not asserted.
nomisma (G 8:36) — ordinance
Contextually an established royal enactment. The more familiar coin sense is not imposed solely from the noun.
makrymma (G 9:1,11) — repulsive practice
Contextual abominable thing, directly supported by LSJ; not a forced geographical removal sense.
epallomen / eremazon (G 9:3–5) — shook with agitation / sat quietly
The Greek bodily agitation and quiet sitting are kept independently of H's cloak and appalled state.
G histemi / intransitive stete (8:25–26,29,33) — weigh out / stand
Context and verbal construction govern the sense. LSJ A.IV supports weighing, while 8:29 has an intransitive second-aorist form.
H ledaryosh (10:16) — to investigate
Unusual orthography explicitly explained in the commentary presented as Rashi; no qere or reference to King Darius is asserted.
H wayyasimu banim (10:44) — and they placed sons
A deliberately close provisional rendering of a difficult final clause. G clearly states fathering sons; H is not rewritten from G.
Review and outstanding questions
Qualified independent Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek review remains outstanding. Direct main-text reading and targeted AI checks do not establish a critical edition or human scholarly approval.
The BHS apparatus and book-specific Göttingen edition/apparatus were not accessed or collated. Written/read notices are limited to the explicitly identified Chabad presentation; this is not an exhaustive ketiv/qere audit.
Rare inventory nouns at 1:9–10, garment terminology at 2:69, and Greek sachol, kaphoure and chamanim at 8:18,27 remain provisional. No modern conversions of ancient units are supplied.
The compressed syntax of 3:12, 4:7, 6:8, Aramaic gemir at 7:12, the leaders' grouping at 8:24, and the antecedent of Greek them at 9:9 deserve further specialist review.
The opposition or oversight reading at 10:15, Greek's objectless acted clause at 10:37–42, and Hebrew's final placed-sons wording at 10:44 remain explicitly qualified. Later interpretations are not substituted for the chosen main text.
Reception is selective: the identified commentary presented as Rashi was read in Hebrew and English; Jerome's book-level overview was read in the named published English translation. Neither source is made to speak for all Jewish or Christian interpretation.