Job 31 — Hebrew and Greek compared
Disparate in this chapter: 31:30, 31:37
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.
Chapter 31
Job’s final oath and appeal to be heard
Source chapters: [BHS31] Hebrew; [LXX31] Greek.
Verse 31:1 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:1 “I made a covenant with my eyes;
how, then, could I gaze intently at a virgin?
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:1 “I established a covenant for my eyes,
and I will not direct my attention toward a virgin.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Hebrew asks a question; Greek states the restraint directly.
Verse 31:2 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:2 What would be God’s portion from above,
and Shaddai’s inheritance from the heights?
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:2 What did God apportion from above,
and what is the Mighty One’s inheritance from the highest places?
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: Both ask about divine allotment.
Verse 31:3 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:3 Is it not calamity for the unjust,
and disaster for those who do wrongdoing?
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:3 Is it not destruction for the unjust
and alienation for those practicing lawlessness?
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Greek alienation differs from Hebrew disaster.
Verse 31:4 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:4 Does He not see my ways
and count all my steps?
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:4 Will He not see my way
and count all my steps?
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: Both assert divine knowledge of conduct.
Verse 31:5 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:5 If I have walked with falsehood,
and my foot has hurried toward deceit,
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:5 If I had walked with mockers,
and if my foot also hastened toward deceit,
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek mockers are persons, where Hebrew names falsehood.
Verse 31:6 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:6 let Him weigh me in just scales,
and let God know my integrity.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:6 may He then set me in a righteous balance;
the Lord knows my innocence.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Greek states divine knowledge rather than asking that God know.
Verse 31:7 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:7 If my step has turned from the way,
my heart followed my eyes,
or a stain clung to my hands,
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:7 if my foot turned from the road,
if my heart followed my eye,
or if I touched gifts with my hands,
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek touching gifts, here potentially bribes, differs from Hebrew a clinging stain.
Verse 31:8 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:8 let me sow and another eat,
and let my offspring be uprooted.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:8 may I then sow and others eat,
and may I become rootless upon the earth.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek makes Job himself rootless rather than uprooting his offspring or produce.
Verse 31:9 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:9 If my heart has been enticed by a woman,
and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door,
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:9 if my heart pursued another man’s wife,
and I became one lying in wait at her doors,
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Greek explicitly identifies another man’s wife; Hebrew supplies the neighboring household in its second line.
Verse 31:10 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:10 let my wife grind for another,
and let others bend over her.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:10 may my wife also please another,
and may my infants be humbled.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek adds humbled children and lacks Hebrew others bending over the wife. Hebrew grinding carries domestic and possible sexual implications in this reciprocal curse.
Verse 31:11 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:11 For that is a shameful deed,
and an offense for judges;
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:11 for defiling a man’s wife is an unrestrainable fury of wrath;
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek describes wrath from adultery, where Hebrew describes a judicial offense.
Verse 31:12 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:12 for it is a fire that consumes to Abaddon
and uproots all my produce.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:12 for it is a fire burning through every part;
wherever it comes, it destroys from the roots.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Greek generalizes destructive reach and lacks the named Abaddon and Job’s own produce.
Verse 31:13 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:13 If I rejected the claim of my servant or maidservant
when they disputed with me,
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:13 if I also despised the case of my manservant or maidservant
when they were in judgment against me,
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: Both acknowledge subordinate household members’ legal claims against their master.
Verse 31:14 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:14 what would I do when God rose up,
and what would I answer Him when He inspected?
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:14 what will I do if the Lord makes an examination of me?
If He also makes an inspection, what answer will I make?
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Greek explicitly describes examination rather than divine rising.
Verse 31:15 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:15 Did not He who made me in the womb make him,
and did not One establish us in the womb?
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:15 Were they not also formed in the womb just as I was?
We were formed in the same belly.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew identifies the one Maker; Greek explicitly asserts a shared womb or belly without naming the Maker. The shared-belly formulation is not rewritten as a literal claim of the same mother.
Verse 31:16 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:16 If I withheld what the poor desired
or made a widow’s eyes fail,
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:16 the powerless did not fail to obtain whatever need they had,
and I did not waste away a widow’s eye.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Greek states the denial directly instead of continuing Hebrew if-clauses.
Verse 31:17 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:17 or ate my morsel alone,
while the orphan did not eat from it—
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:17 if I also ate my morsel alone
and did not share with an orphan—
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: Both deny exclusive eating without the orphan.
Verse 31:18 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:18 for from my youth he grew up with me as with a father,
and from my mother’s womb I guided her—
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:18 for from my youth I nourished like a father,
and from my mother’s womb I guided—
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Hebrew’s unusual geddelani is provisionally grew up with me; him and her refer back to orphan and widow. Greek leaves the objects of nourishing and guiding unexpressed.
Verse 31:19 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:19 if I saw someone perishing without clothing,
or a needy person with no covering,
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:19 if I also disregarded a naked person perishing
and did not clothe him,
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Greek explicitly names neglect and failed clothing.
Verse 31:20 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:20 if his loins did not bless me,
and he was not warmed by the fleece of my sheep,
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:20 if the powerless did not bless me,
while their shoulders were warmed from the shearing of my lambs,
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek blessing people and warmed shoulders differ from Hebrew blessing loins and the individual warmed.
Verse 31:21 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:21 if I raised my hand against an orphan
because I saw support for myself at the gate,
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:21 if I lifted a hand against an orphan,
trusting that abundant help remained for me,
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Greek lacks the explicit gate as the place of social or judicial support.
Verse 31:22 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:22 let my shoulder fall from its shoulder blade,
and my arm break from its socket.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:22 may my shoulder then come away from the collarbone,
and my arm be shattered from my elbow.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek collarbone and elbow identify different points of injury from the Hebrew’s shoulder and socket or shaft wording.
Verse 31:23 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:23 For calamity from God was a terror to me,
and I could not endure His majesty.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:23 For fear of the Lord gripped me,
and I will not endure because of His taking hold.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Greek lemma, provisionally taking hold, differs from Hebrew divine exaltation or majesty; its meaning remains difficult.
Verse 31:24 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:24 If I made gold my confidence
or said to fine gold, ‘My trust,’
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:24 if I appointed gold as my strength,
or trusted in a costly stone,
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek costly stone replaces the second Hebrew gold designation.
Verse 31:25 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:25 if I rejoiced because my wealth was great,
and because my hand acquired much,
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:25 if I rejoiced because much wealth came to me,
or laid my hand upon countless things,
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: Both deny pride in accumulated possessions.
Verse 31:26 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:26 if I saw the light when it shone,
or the moon moving in splendor,
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:26 do I not see the shining sun fail,
and the moon diminish?
For it does not depend on them.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek explicitly describes solar failure and lunar waning rather than Hebrew shining light and splendid moon. Its final it is unexpressed and not expanded into a technical account of celestial power.
Verse 31:27 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:27 and my heart was secretly enticed,
and my hand kissed my mouth,
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:27 and if my heart was secretly deceived,
or I placed my hand upon my mouth and kissed it,
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Both describe the secret enticement and kissing gesture; the preceding celestial setting gives its worship-related force.
Verse 31:28 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:28 that too would be a judicial offense,
for I would have denied God above.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:28 may this also be reckoned to me as the greatest lawlessness,
for I lied before the Lord Most High.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek asks reckoning as greatest lawlessness and says lying, where Hebrew says a judicial offense and denial.
Verse 31:29 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:29 If I rejoiced at the disaster of one who hated me,
or exulted when evil found him—
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:29 if I rejoiced at my enemies’ fall,
and my heart said, ‘Well done!’
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Greek has plural enemies and a quoted inward exclamation.
Verse 31:30 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:30 I did not allow my palate to sin
by asking for his life with a curse—
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:30 may my ear then hear my own curse,
and may I be made a repeated tale among my people as I suffer.
Classification & Notes
Disparate. Text: Hebrew denies cursing an enemy; Greek instead calls down a curse and public derision upon Job if guilty.
Verse 31:31 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:31 if the men of my tent did not say,
‘Who can point to someone not filled with his meat?’—
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:31 if my maidservants often said,
‘Who could grant us to be filled with his flesh?’
because I was exceedingly kind—
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek explicitly names maidservants wishing to be filled with his flesh and adds his kindness. Hebrew’s compressed question is provisionally a claim of generous hospitality; the wording’s alternative flesh-related construction remains open.
Verse 31:32 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:32 no stranger spent the night outside;
I opened my doors to the traveler—
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:32 a stranger did not lodge outside;
my door stood open to everyone who came—
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: Both describe unrestricted hospitality to arrivals.
Verse 31:33 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:33 if I covered my transgressions like a human,
hiding my guilt in my breast,
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:33 if, having sinned unintentionally, I also hid my sin—
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek unintentional sin differs from Hebrew like a human, which can also be read like Adam; Hebrew’s hidden breast is absent.
Verse 31:34 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:34 because I feared the great crowd,
and the contempt of families terrified me,
so that I was silent and did not go out the door—
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:34 for I did not shrink before the crowd’s great numbers
so as not to confess before them—
or if I let a powerless person go out my door with an empty fold,
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek explicitly denies fear preventing confession and adds an unfed departing visitor; Hebrew continues the condition of fearful silence.
Verse 31:35 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:35 if only I had someone to hear me!
Look, here is my mark; let Shaddai answer me!
If only my adversary had written a document!
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:35 who could grant me someone who hears me?
But if I had not feared the Lord’s hand,
a written bond I held against someone—
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek introduces Job’s own debt document and fear of God, rather than his signed plea and an adversary’s accusation.
Verse 31:36 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:36 Surely I would carry it on my shoulder
and bind it upon myself like crowns.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:36 placing it upon my shoulders as a crown,
I would read it aloud,
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Both describe displayed documentation as a crown, but the Greek document is Job’s bond against another; Greek adds reading.
Verse 31:37 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:37 I would tell Him the number of my steps;
like a prince I would approach Him.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:37 and if I did not tear it up and return it,
taking nothing from the debtor,
Classification & Notes
Disparate. Text: Greek describes cancelling a debt document; Hebrew describes accounting for conduct and approaching the divine litigant. Greek continues an incomplete conditional series without an invented conclusion here.
Verse 31:38 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:38 if my land cried out against me,
and its furrows wept together,
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:38 if ever the earth groaned against me,
and its furrows wept together,
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: Both personify the land’s complaint.
Verse 31:39 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:39 if I ate its yield without payment
or caused its owners’ lives to expire,
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:39 if I ate its strength alone without payment,
or expelled the landowner’s life and caused grief,
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Greek adds alone and describes expulsion and grief; Hebrew’s causing life to breathe out suggests death, though its precise force is debated.
Verse 31:40 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
31:40 let thorn grow instead of wheat,
and foul weeds instead of barley.”
The words of Job are ended.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
31:40 may nettles then come up for me instead of wheat,
and bramble instead of barley.”
And Job ceased speaking.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: The named weeds differ; both explicitly close Job’s speech.