Job 9 — Hebrew and Greek compared
Disparate in this chapter: 9:13, 9:21, 9:22, 9:23, 9:29
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 9
Divine power and the search for an arbiter
Source chapters: [BHS9] Hebrew; [LXX9] Greek.
Verse 9:1 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
9:1 Job answered and said:
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
9:1 Then Job replied:
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: Both introduce Job’s reply.
Verse 9:2 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
9:2 “Indeed, I know that it is so;
but how can a mortal be right before God?
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
9:2 “Truly I know that it is so;
for how can a mortal be righteous before the Lord?
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: Both introduce the problem of a mortal’s position before God.
Verse 9:3 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
9:3 If he wished to contend with Him,
he could not answer Him once in a thousand.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
9:3 For if he wishes to enter judgment with Him, He certainly will not listen to him, lest he answer back to one of His words out of a thousand.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek includes not listening and a lest clause. The pronoun subjects are difficult: this provisional reading makes God the one not listening and the mortal the potential respondent. Hebrew simply denies the mortal’s capacity to answer.
Verse 9:4 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
9:4 Wise of heart and mighty in strength—
who has hardened himself against Him and remained unharmed?
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
9:4 For He is wise in understanding, mighty and great.
Who grew hard against Him and endured?
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: The rhetorical challenge agrees; Greek adds great.
Verse 9:5 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
9:5 He removes mountains without their knowing,
He overturns them in His anger.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
9:5 He wears mountains old, and they do not know;
He overturns them in anger.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek palaion is making old or wearing out; Hebrew is moving or removing mountains.
Verse 9:6 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
9:6 He shakes the earth from its place,
and its pillars tremble.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
9:6 He shakes the world beneath heaven from its foundations,
and its pillars sway.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: The shaking world and pillars agree, with Greek foundations explicit.
Verse 9:7 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
9:7 He speaks to the sun and it does not rise,
and He seals up the stars.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
9:7 He speaks to the sun and it does not rise,
and He seals up the stars.
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: Both describe command over the heavenly lights.
Verse 9:8 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
9:8 He alone stretches out the heavens
and treads on the heights of the sea.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
9:8 He alone stretched out heaven
and walks on the sea as on ground.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek explicitly compares walking on the sea with walking on solid ground; Hebrew names the sea’s heights.
Verse 9:9 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
9:9 He makes Ash, Kesil, and Kimah,
and the chambers of the south.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
9:9 He makes the Pleiades, the Evening Star, and Arcturus,
and the storehouses of the south.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: The Hebrew astral names are retained without forcing uncertain identifications. The explicit Greek names and their order remain distinct; the usual modern constellational equations are not imposed.
Verse 9:10 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
9:10 He does great things beyond searching out,
and wonders beyond numbering.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
9:10 He does great and unsearchable things,
glorious and extraordinary things beyond numbering.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Greek adds glorious, as at 5:9.
Verse 9:11 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
9:11 Look, He passes by me, and I do not see;
He moves past, and I do not perceive Him.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
9:11 If He passes over me, I will not see;
if He passes by me, even then I do not perceive Him.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: The inability to perceive divine passing agrees.
Verse 9:12 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
9:12 Look, He snatches away—who can turn Him back?
Who can say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
9:12 If He takes away, who will turn Him back?
Who will say to Him, ‘What have You done?’
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Both deny human power to reverse or challenge the act; Greek refers to what has been done.
Verse 9:13 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
9:13 God will not turn back His anger;
beneath Him Rahab’s helpers bow down.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
9:13 For He Himself has turned away anger;
beneath Him the sea creatures under heaven bent down.
Classification & Notes
Disparate. Text: The Hebrew negative will not turn back anger contrasts with Greek has turned away anger. Hebrew Rahab’s helpers and Greek sea creatures also differ; no negative is inserted into Greek.
Verse 9:14 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
9:14 How much less could I answer Him
and choose my words with Him?
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
9:14 But if He listens to me,
He will surely sift my words.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek makes God the listening and assessing subject rather than Job selecting an answer.
Verse 9:15 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
9:15 Even if I were right, I could not answer;
I would plead for mercy with my Judge.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
9:15 For even if I am righteous, He will not listen to me;
I will plead for His judgment.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek explicitly denies God’s listening where Hebrew denies Job’s ability to answer. The marked final Greek clause is translated as displayed, without an apparatus claim.
Verse 9:16 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
9:16 If I called and He answered me,
I would not believe that He was listening to my voice.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
9:16 Even if I call and He answers,
I do not believe that He has heard me.
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: The paradox of a response without confidence of being heard agrees.
Verse 9:17 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
9:17 For He crushes me with a storm
and multiplies my wounds without cause.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
9:17 Might He crush me with gloom?
He has multiplied my injuries without cause.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek gloom differs from Hebrew storm. The first Greek me question is rendered as an anxious question, without inserting a negative assertion; the injuries without cause remain explicit.
Verse 9:18 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
9:18 He will not let me recover my breath,
but fills me with bitter things.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
9:18 For He does not let me breathe,
but has filled me with bitterness.
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: Both describe suffocation and bitterness.
Verse 9:19 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
9:19 If it is a matter of strength, look, He is mighty!
If of judgment, who will summon me?
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
9:19 For He prevails in strength.
Who, then, will resist His judgment?
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew ends with a first-person summons whose speaker relation is difficult; Greek asks who can resist divine judgment.
Verse 9:20 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
9:20 Even if I am right, my mouth condemns me;
though I am blameless, it makes me crooked.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
9:20 For even if I am righteous, my mouth will act impiously;
even if I am blameless, I will turn out crooked.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek mouth acting impiously differs from Hebrew mouth condemning. Hebrew’s second unexpressed subject is provisionally the mouth; God is another possible reading.
Verse 9:21 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
9:21 I am blameless; I do not regard my own life;
I reject my life.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
9:21 For whether I acted impiously, I do not know in my soul;
I know only that my life is being taken away.
Classification & Notes
Disparate. Text: Hebrew asserts blamelessness and rejects life; Greek expresses uncertainty about impiety and loss of life. Hebrew not knowing my soul is construed as not valuing one’s life, with the literal sense also possible.
Verse 9:22 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
9:22 It is all one; therefore I say,
‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
9:22 Therefore I said,
‘Wrath destroys the great and the ruler,
Classification & Notes
Disparate. Text: Greek wrath is the destroying subject, with great people and rulers as objects; Hebrew names God destroying blameless and wicked alike.
Verse 9:23 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
9:23 If a scourge suddenly kills,
He mocks the despair of the innocent.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
9:23 for the worthless meet an extraordinary death,
but the righteous are mocked,
Classification & Notes
Disparate. Text: Greek distinguishes the worthless dying and righteous being mocked, without expressing God as mocker. Hebrew’s masat is provisionally despair or trial.
Verse 9:24 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
9:24 The earth is given into a wicked person’s hand;
He covers the faces of its judges.
If it is not He, then who is it?
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
9:24 for they have been handed over into an ungodly person’s hands.
He covers the faces of its judges;
if it is not He, who is it?’
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek begins with a plural subject continuing the righteous and does not explicitly name earth, although its judges presupposes a feminine referent such as the land. The displayed marked clauses and their pronouns are retained; agency remains contextually difficult.
Verse 9:25 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
9:25 My days are swifter than a runner;
they flee and see no good.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
9:25 My life is swifter than a runner;
they fled and did not see.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek shifts from singular life to an unexpressed plural, plausibly days, and omits the object good. The grammatical shift is retained.
Verse 9:26 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
9:26 They pass by like reed boats,
like an eagle swooping upon food.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
9:26 Is there a trace of a ship’s way,
or of an eagle flying in search of food?
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek asks about a vanished trace; Hebrew compares the speed of days with boats and a swooping bird. Hebrew eveh is provisionally reeds; its precise boat material remains uncertain.
Verse 9:27 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
9:27 If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,
leave my gloomy face and brighten up,’
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
9:27 For even if I speak, I will forget while speaking;
bowing my face, I will groan.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek describes forgetful speech and groaning, where Hebrew imagines abandoning complaint and brightening.
Verse 9:28 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
9:28 I dread all my pains;
I know that You will not acquit me.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
9:28 I shake in all my limbs,
for I know that You will not leave me innocent.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek bodily shaking differs from Hebrew dread of pains. Both directly address God about innocence.
Verse 9:29 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
9:29 I will be declared guilty;
why, then, should I toil in vain?
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
9:29 Since I am ungodly,
why did I not die?
Classification & Notes
Disparate. Text: Greek asks why he did not die and states impiety; Hebrew anticipates condemnation and questions futile labor.
Verse 9:30 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
9:30 If I wash myself with snow water
and cleanse my hands with lye,
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
9:30 For if I wash myself with snow
and purify myself with clean hands,
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek clean hands differs from Hebrew the cleansing agent bor, provisionally lye. The snow-water written form is rendered contextually.
Verse 9:31 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
9:31 then You would plunge me into a pit,
and my own clothes would abhor me.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
9:31 You have thoroughly dipped me in filth,
and my robe abhorred me.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek states the act as already done and explicitly names dirt; Hebrew imagines plunging into a pit.
Verse 9:32 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
9:32 For He is not a man like me, that I could answer Him,
that we could come together in judgment.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
9:32 For You are not a human being like me, with whom I could contend,
so that we might come together for judgment.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Greek addresses God directly while Hebrew speaks of Him in the third person.
Verse 9:33 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
9:33 There is no arbiter between us
to lay his hand on both of us.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
9:33 If only there were our mediator,
one to reprove and hear the case between us both!
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek expresses a wish and specifies reproving and hearing; Hebrew states absence and pictures the arbiter’s hand.
Verse 9:34 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
9:34 Let Him remove His rod from me,
and let His terror not frighten me.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
9:34 Let him remove the rod from me,
and let His terror not whirl me about,
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Greek’s immediate subject could be the wished-for mediator or God; lower-case him preserves that uncertainty. The terror is contextually divine.
Verse 9:35 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
9:35 Then I would speak and not fear Him,
for I am not so within myself.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
9:35 and I will certainly not fear, but will speak;
for I am not conscious of being so.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Both end with a difficult statement of inward condition. Its precise reference, such as alleged guilt or imposed fear, is left open rather than expanded into a certain innocence formula.