Deuteronomy 10 — Hebrew and Greek compared
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Same 8 Similar 4 Different 5 Divergent 4 Disparate 1
Disparate in this chapter: 10:18
Each verse is rendered independently from the Hebrew (Rabbinic reading tradition) and from the Greek (Saints reading tradition). The badge classifies the relationship between the two readings; the note beneath records the source document’s comparison and attributed interpretation. Each column retains its own verse references where numbering differs.
The Stone Tablets and the Ark
10:1 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
10:1 At that time YHWH said to me: Cut yourself two stone tablets like the first ones, come up to Me on the mountain, and make yourself a wooden ark.
Greek · Saints priority
10:1 At that time the Lord said to me: Cut yourself two stone tablets like the first ones and come up to Me on the mountain; make yourself a wooden ark.
Both command replacement tablets and a wooden ark.
10:2 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
10:2 I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets you shattered, and you shall put them in the ark.
Greek · Saints priority
10:2 I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets you shattered, and you shall put them in the ark.
Both preserve the same inscription and deposit command.
10:3 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
10:3 I made an ark of acacia wood, cut two stone tablets like the first ones, and went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hand.
Greek · Saints priority
10:3 I made an ark of decay-resistant wood, cut the two stone tablets like the first ones, and went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hands.
Hebrew names acacia; Greek describes wood resistant to decay. Greek uses plural hands. Incorruptibility as a theological symbol belongs in reception, not the material specification itself.
10:4 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
10:4 He wrote on the tablets, as in the first inscription, the ten words YHWH spoke to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly. YHWH gave them to me.
Greek · Saints priority
10:4 He wrote on the tablets, as in the first inscription, the ten words the Lord spoke to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire. The Lord gave them to me.
Greek omits on the day of the assembly. Both literally say ten words, the expression commonly rendered Ten Commandments.
10:5 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
10:5 I turned and came down the mountain and put the tablets in the ark I had made. They were there, as YHWH commanded me.
Greek · Saints priority
10:5 I turned and came down the mountain and put the tablets in the ark I had made. They were there, as the Lord commanded me.
Both report the tablets' placement in the ark.
The Journey and the Levites
10:6 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
10:6 The Israelites journeyed from Beeroth-bene-jaakan to Moserah. Aaron died there and was buried there, and his son Eleazar served as priest in his place.
Greek · Saints priority
10:6 The Israelites set out from Beeroth of the sons of Iakim to Misadai. Aaron died there and was buried there, and his son Eleazar served as priest in his place.
The Greek itinerary has Iakim and Misadai rather than Jaakan and Moserah. The account of Aaron's death is preserved as written, without harmonizing it to Numbers 33.
10:7 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
10:7 From there they journeyed to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land of flowing streams.
Greek · Saints priority
10:7 From there they set out to Gadgad, and from Gadgad to Jotbathah, a land of flowing torrents.
Greek has Γαδγαδ (Gadgad) and Ετεβαθα, the latter adapted to Jotbathah consistently with Numbers 33. These are ordinary forms of the itinerary names, unlike the substantive Iakim/Jaakan and Misadai/Moserah variants in verse 6. Both describe a well-watered destination.
10:8 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
10:8 At that time YHWH set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of YHWH's covenant, to stand before YHWH and minister to Him, and to bless in His name, as to this day.
Greek · Saints priority
10:8 At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the Lord's covenant, to stand before the Lord and minister, and to pronounce blessings in His name, as to this day.
Greek uses cultic service and blessing vocabulary; both assign the same functions to Levi.
10:9 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
10:9 Therefore Levi has no share or inheritance with his brothers. YHWH is his inheritance, as YHWH your God told him.
Greek · Saints priority
10:9 Therefore the Levites have no share or allotment among their brothers. The Lord Himself is his allotment, as He told him.
Greek begins with plural Levites, then returns to singular his, and omits the repeated YHWH your God in the final clause.
Rabbinic: Rashi connects Levi's lack of territorial inheritance with service at the altar; divine inheritance is expressed through the gifts allotted for that service.
Source: Rashi on Deuteronomy 10:9
10:10 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
10:10 I stayed on the mountain as on the first occasion, forty days and forty nights. YHWH listened to me that time also; YHWH was unwilling to destroy you.
Greek · Saints priority
10:10 I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. The Lord listened to me at this time also; the Lord was unwilling to destroy you.
Greek omits as on the first occasion and says this time rather than that time. The fast's duration is not altered.
10:11 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
10:11 YHWH said to me: Rise; set out ahead of the people, so that they may enter and possess the land I swore to their fathers to give them.
Greek · Saints priority
10:11 The Lord said to me: Go; set out ahead of this people, and let them enter and inherit the land I swore to their fathers to give them.
The Greek expresses the people's entry as an explicit command and adds this.
The Lord’s Way
10:12 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
10:12 Now, Israel, what does YHWH your God ask of you except to fear YHWH your God, walk in all His ways, love Him, and serve YHWH your God with all your heart and all your soul,
Greek · Saints priority
10:12 Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you except to fear the Lord your God, walk in all His ways, love Him, and serve the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul,
Fear, conduct, love, and wholehearted service agree.
10:13 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
10:13 and keep YHWH's commandments and His statutes that I command you today for your good?
Greek · Saints priority
10:13 and keep the commandments of the Lord your God and His ordinances, all that I command you today, so that it may go well with you?
Greek adds your God; for your good becomes a purpose clause.
10:14 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
10:14 Look, to YHWH your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth and everything in it.
Greek · Saints priority
10:14 Look, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heaven, the earth and everything in it.
The upper-heaven expression differs in grammatical number without changing the comprehensive divine ownership.
10:15 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
10:15 Yet YHWH attached Himself to your fathers in love for them, and chose their offspring after them, you, from all the peoples, as today.
Greek · Saints priority
10:15 Yet the Lord preferred your fathers, to love them, and chose their offspring after them, you, above all the nations, as today.
Hebrew describes loving attachment; Greek describes prior preference. Both identify Israel as the chosen offspring.
Circumcision of the Heart
10:16 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
10:16 Circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and no longer stiffen your neck.
Greek · Saints priority
10:16 Circumcise your hardness of heart, and no longer stiffen your neck.
Greek expresses the heart's foreskin as hardness of heart, making the moral sense explicit while retaining the circumcision image. The Hebrew's metaphor and the Greek's moral formulation both call for the removal of resistance to God; a different bodily operation or ethical obligation is not established.
Rabbinic: Rashi understands the heart's foreskin as the obstruction or covering that blocks it. This supports the moral force of the Hebrew image.
Source: Rashi on Deuteronomy 10:16
Saints: Justin cites the command to circumcise the heart in his argument for inward obedience. His Christian polemical application belongs to reception history, not to the wording of Deuteronomy.
Source: Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 16
10:17 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
10:17 For YHWH your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and fearsome God, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribe.
Greek · Saints priority
10:17 For the Lord your God is God of the gods and Lord of the lords, the great, strong, and fearsome God, who shows no partiality and will never accept a bribe.
Greek δῶρον, ordinarily a gift, denotes a bribe in this impartial-judgment setting, corresponding to Hebrew שחד. The Greek refusal is emphatic. Neither statement forbids every legitimate offering to God.
10:18 Disparate
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
10:18 He secures justice for the orphan and widow, and loves the resident alien, giving him bread and clothing.
Greek · Saints priority
10:18 He secures justice for the newcomer, orphan, and widow, and loves the newcomer, giving him bread and clothing.
Greek adds the newcomer to those explicitly receiving justice. Prosēlytos here denotes the resident newcomer corresponding to Hebrew ger; translating it exclusively as religious convert would narrow the social command without sufficient contextual basis.
Rabbinic: Rashi places God's care for orphans and widows beside the preceding declaration of divine greatness, joining power with humility.
Source: Rashi on Deuteronomy 10:18
10:19 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
10:19 Love the resident alien, for you were resident aliens in the land of Egypt.
Greek · Saints priority
10:19 Love the newcomer, for you were newcomers in the land of Egypt.
The terms describe the same vulnerable resident status in this context. Israel's Egyptian experience supports the command in both.
Rabbinic: Rashi grounds restraint toward an alien in Israel's own experience: one must not reproach another for a condition one has shared.
Source: Rashi on Deuteronomy 10:19
10:20 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
10:20 Fear YHWH your God, serve Him, cling to Him, and swear by His name.
Greek · Saints priority
10:20 Fear the Lord your God, serve Him, cling to Him, and swear by His name.
The four duties agree. Only is absent from this selected Greek verse and has been removed from the draft.
10:21 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
10:21 He is your praise and He is your God, who did for you these great and fearsome things that your eyes saw.
Greek · Saints priority
10:21 He is your boast and He is your God, who did among you these great and glorious things that your eyes saw.
Greek describes the deeds as glorious rather than fearsome, and as occurring among Israel rather than for Israel.
10:22 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
10:22 Your fathers went down to Egypt as seventy persons, and now YHWH your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven.
Greek · Saints priority
10:22 Your fathers went down to Egypt as seventy persons, but now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven.
Both selected texts have seventy here. The Greek seventy-five in other Pentateuch passages must not be imported into this verse.
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Saints Translation · Companion comparison edition · working draft awaiting specialist review.