Deuteronomy 29 — Hebrew and Greek compared
Disparate in this chapter: 29:19
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.
Deuteronomy 29
The Renewal of the Covenant
The Preamble in Moab
Verse 29:1 Similar
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
29:1 [BHS 28:69] These are the words of the covenant YHWH commanded Moses to make with Israel’s sons in the land of Moab, besides the covenant He made with them at Horeb.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
29:1 [LXX 28:69] These are the words of the covenant the Lord commanded Moses to establish for Israel’s sons in the land of Moab, besides the covenant He made with them at Horeb.
Classification & Notes
[Similar] Text: Hebrew uses the covenant-cutting idiom; Greek establishing and covenant-making. Both source editions number this 28:69; it is aligned with customary English 29:1.
Recalling God's Acts
Verse 29:2 Different
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
29:2 [BHS 29:1] Moses summoned all Israel and said: You saw everything YHWH did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, all his servants, and all his land—
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
29:2 [LXX 29:1] Moses summoned all Israel’s sons and said: You saw everything the Lord did in the land of Egypt before you to Pharaoh, his attendants, and all his land—
Classification & Notes
[Different] Text: Greek specifies Israel’s sons and court attendants but lacks all before attendants. Neither servant term alone establishes a precise legal status.
Verse 29:3 Same
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
29:3 [BHS 29:2] the great trials your eyes saw, those great signs and wonders.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
29:3 [LXX 29:2] the great trials your eyes saw, those great signs and wonders.
Classification & Notes
[Same] Text: The trials, signs, and wonders agree.
Verse 29:4 Divergent
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
29:4 [BHS 29:3] Yet to this day YHWH has not given you a heart to know, eyes to see, or ears to hear.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
29:4 [LXX 29:3] Yet to this day the Lord God has not given you a heart to know, eyes to see, or ears to hear.
Classification & Notes
[Divergent] Text: Greek adds God to the divine designation. Both ascribe the absent perceptive capacity to a divine gift not yet given.
Saints: Paul reuses the unseeing eyes and unhearing ears in his discussion of Israel’s hardening. His wording is not identical to this whole verse. Romans 11:8
Verse 29:5 Different
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
29:5 [BHS 29:4] I led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes did not wear out upon you, and your sandal did not wear out upon your foot.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
29:5 [LXX 29:4] He led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes did not grow old, and your sandals did not wear away from your feet.
Classification & Notes
[Different] Text: Hebrew has I led; Greek He led. Greek also makes sandals and feet plural and lacks upon you after clothes. The speaker shift is retained, but both recount the same wilderness care; the surrounding speech moves between Moses’ address and divine first-person wording. A contrary claim about the deliverance is not established.
Verse 29:6 Different
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
29:6 [BHS 29:5] You ate no bread and drank no wine or strong drink, so that you might know that I am YHWH your God.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
29:6 [LXX 29:5] You ate no bread and drank no wine or strong drink, so that you might know that He is the Lord your God.
Classification & Notes
[Different] Text: Hebrew explicitly says I am YHWH your God; Greek has οὗτος, this one or He, identifying the Lord your God in the third person. The divine identification remains the same within the address; the grammatical person differs without establishing a different deity or deliverance.
Verse 29:7 Same
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
29:7 [BHS 29:6] When you reached this place, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan came out against us for battle, and we struck them down.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
29:7 [LXX 29:6] When you reached this place, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan came out to meet us in battle, and we struck them down.
Classification & Notes
[Same] Text: The kings, encounter, and victory agree.
Verse 29:8 Different
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
29:8 [BHS 29:7] We took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
29:8 [LXX 29:7] We took their land, and I gave it as an allotment to Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh.
Classification & Notes
[Different] Text: Hebrew has we gave; Greek I gave, with Reuben and Gad as tribal eponyms. The action is assigned to the collective or to its speaker, naturally Moses here. Both give the same conquered land to the same tribes; different recipients or a contrary outcome are not asserted.
The Assembly and Scope
Verse 29:9 Different
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
29:9 [BHS 29:8] Keep and perform the words of this covenant, so that you may act wisely in everything you do.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
29:9 [LXX 29:8] Keep and perform all the words of this covenant, so that you may understand everything you do.
Classification & Notes
[Different] Text: Hebrew taskilu can concern wise conduct and consequent success; Greek explicitly understanding. Greek adds all to words.
Verse 29:10 Divergent
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
29:10 [BHS 29:9] All of you stand today before YHWH your God: your tribal heads, your elders, your officers, every man of Israel,
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
29:10 [LXX 29:9] All of you stand today before the Lord your God: your tribal leaders, your council of elders, your judges, your court scribes, every man of Israel,
Classification & Notes
[Divergent] Text: Greek expressly includes judges as a distinct group and calls the officials γραμματοεισαγωγεῖς, court scribes. Hebrew’s heads/tribes construction is understood as tribal heads. Both introduce all Israel standing at the covenant; the additional named group does not imply that Hebrew excludes judges.
Verse 29:11 Divergent
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
29:11 [BHS 29:10] your little ones, your wives, and the resident foreigner within your camp, from your woodcutter to your water drawer,
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
29:11 [LXX 29:10] your wives, your offspring, and the resident foreigner within your camp, from your woodcutter to your water carrier,
Classification & Notes
[Divergent] Text: Greek reverses wives and children and names offspring rather than little ones. The full social range remains included.
Verse 29:12 Different
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
29:12 [BHS 29:11] to enter YHWH
your God’s covenant and His oath-curse, which YHWH your God makes with you today,
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
29:12 [LXX 29:11] to enter the Lord your God’s covenant and His curses, which the Lord your God establishes with you today,
Classification & Notes
[Different] Text: Hebrew has a singular oath carrying a curse; Greek plural curses. Oath-curse retains both aspects of Hebrew alah without concealing Greek’s plurality.
Verse 29:13 Divergent
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
29:13 [BHS 29:12] so that He may establish you today as His people and He will be your God, as He told you and as He swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
29:13 [LXX 29:12] so that He may establish you as His people and He will be your God, as He told you and as He swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Classification & Notes
[Divergent] Text: Greek lacks today in this verse. Both name the same three patriarchs and covenant relationship.
Verse 29:14 Similar
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
29:14 [BHS 29:13] I make this covenant and this oath-curse not with you alone,
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
29:14 [LXX 29:13] I make this covenant and this curse not with you alone,
Classification & Notes
[Similar] Text: Greek emphasizes the curse component of the oath. Both extend the covenant beyond the immediate audience.
Verse 29:15 Different
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
29:15 [BHS 29:14] but with whoever stands here with us today before YHWH our God and whoever is not here with us today.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
29:15 [LXX 29:14] but also with those here with us today before the Lord your God and those not here with us today.
Classification & Notes
[Different] Text: Hebrew has our God and expressly says standing; Greek has your God and being here. Both include those present and absent in the covenant. The possessive difference does not exclude the speaker from the covenant people or establish a different God.
Warnings Against Disobedience
Verse 29:16 Same
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
29:16 [BHS 29:15] You know how we lived in the land of Egypt and passed through the nations through which you passed.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
29:16 [LXX 29:15] You know how we lived in the land of Egypt and passed through the nations through which you passed.
Classification & Notes
[Same] Text: Both retain the shifts between we and you.
Verse 29:17 Same
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
29:17 [BHS 29:16] You saw their abominations and idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold that were among them.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
29:17 [LXX 29:16] You saw their abominations and idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold that were among them.
Classification & Notes
[Same] Text: The objects and materials agree. Hebrew’s disparaging idol term is not mechanically expanded into an uncertain etymological paraphrase.
Verse 29:18 Divergent
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
29:18 [BHS 29:17] Let there be no man, woman, family, or tribe among you whose heart turns today from YHWH our God to serve those nations’ gods. Let there be no root among you bearing poison and wormwood.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
29:18 [LXX 29:17] Is there any man, woman, family, or tribe among you whose mind has turned from the Lord your God to worship those nations’ gods? Is there any root among you growing up in gall and bitterness?
Classification & Notes
[Divergent] Text: Greek uses rhetorical questions, lacks today, and has your God rather than our God. Heart becomes mind; Hebrew poison and wormwood correspond to Greek gall and bitterness. Both warn against an apostate member becoming a harmful root. The differing imagery and address do not make Greek’s rhetorical questions permission for apostasy.
Saints: Hebrews reuses the bitter-root warning to address the danger of communal defilement. Hebrews 12:15
Verse 29:19 Disparate
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
29:19 [BHS 29:18] When he hears this oath-curse, he may bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace though I follow my heart’s stubbornness—sweeping away the watered with the thirsty.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
29:19 [LXX 29:18] When he hears this curse, he may pronounce a blessing in his heart, saying, May favorable things be mine, though I follow my heart’s wandering—so that the sinner may not destroy the guiltless along with him.
Classification & Notes
[Disparate] Text: Hebrew’s obscure watered/thirsty image is replaced by Greek sinner/guiltless and an explicit negative. Greek hosia can denote holy or divinely favorable things. The final purpose clause can connect forward to God’s refusal in verse twenty; it is not harmonized away.
Verse 29:20 Divergent
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
29:20 [BHS 29:19] YHWH will not be willing to forgive him. Then YHWH’s anger and jealousy will smoke against that man, every curse written in this book will settle upon him, and YHWH will erase his name from under heaven.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
29:20 [LXX 29:19] God will certainly not be willing to be propitious to him. Then the Lord’s anger and jealousy will blaze against that man, all this covenant’s curses written in this book of the law will cling to him, and the Lord will erase his name from under heaven.
Classification & Notes
[Divergent] Text: Greek opens with God, adds of this covenant and of the law, and uses clinging rather than settling. Hebrew explicitly says forgive, not the draft’s spare.
Verse 29:21 Different
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
29:21 [BHS 29:20] YHWH will single him out for calamity from all Israel’s tribes, according to all the covenant’s curses written in this book of the law.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
29:21 [LXX 29:20] The Lord will single him out for calamities from all Israel’s sons, according to all the covenant’s curses written in this book of the law.
Classification & Notes
[Different] Text: Hebrew singles the offender out from Israel’s tribes; Greek from Israel’s sons. Calamity is singular in Hebrew and plural in Greek. Both identify the same offender for covenant punishment within Israel; neither formulation establishes a different population eligible for punishment.
Verse 29:22 Similar
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
29:22 [BHS 29:21] The coming generation, your children who arise after you, and the foreigner from a distant land will speak when they see that land’s plagues and the diseases YHWH inflicted upon it—
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
29:22 [LXX 29:21] The next
generation, your children who arise after you, and the foreigner from a distant land will speak when they see that land’s plagues and the diseases the Lord sent upon it—
Classification & Notes
[Similar] Text: Greek describes sending diseases where Hebrew describes afflicting the land. Both introduce the future observers’ question.
Verse 29:23 Similar
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
29:23 [BHS 29:22] sulfur, salt, and burning across the whole land, neither sown nor sprouting, with no vegetation growing, like the overthrow of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, which YHWH overturned in anger and wrath.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
29:23 [LXX 29:22] sulfur and salt, burned over, its whole land neither sown nor sprouting, with nothing green growing, like the overthrow of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, which the Lord overturned in wrath and anger.
Classification & Notes
[Similar] Text: The barren land and four cities agree. Greek rearranges the burning description and uses anything green for vegetation.
Verse 29:24 Same
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
29:24 [BHS 29:23] All the nations will ask: Why has YHWH done this to this land? Why this great burning anger?
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
29:24 [LXX 29:23] All the nations will ask: Why has the Lord done this to this land? Why this great burning anger?
Classification & Notes
[Same] Text: The question agrees. The draft’s Hebrew Therefore was an error for Why.
Verse 29:25 Different
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
29:25 [BHS 29:24] They will answer: Because they abandoned the covenant of YHWH, their fathers’ God, which He made with them when He brought them out of Egypt.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
29:25 [LXX 29:24] They will answer: Because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, their fathers’ God, which He made with their fathers when He brought them out of Egypt.
Classification & Notes
[Different] Text: Hebrew says the covenant was made with them; Greek expressly says with their fathers. Both identify it by the Exodus and charge the later people with abandoning it. The wording differs in how it identifies the covenant generation; the Greek does not release the descendants from its obligations.
Verse 29:26 Same
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
29:26 [BHS 29:25] They went and served other gods and bowed down to them—gods they did not know and He had not allotted to them.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
29:26 [LXX 29:25] They went and worshiped other gods and bowed down to them—gods they did not know and He had not allotted to them.
Classification & Notes
[Same] Text: The forbidden worship and lack of divine allotment agree.
Verse 29:27 Divergent
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
29:27 [BHS 29:26] YHWH’s anger
burned against that land, bringing upon it every curse written in this book.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
29:27 [LXX 29:26] The Lord burned with anger against that land, bringing upon it all the curses written in this book of the law.
Classification & Notes
[Divergent] Text: Greek explicitly adds of the law and uses plural curses against Hebrew’s collective singular.
Verse 29:28 Different
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
29:28 [BHS 29:27] YHWH uprooted
them from their ground in anger, wrath, and great fury, and cast them into another land, as today.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
29:28 [LXX 29:27] The Lord removed them from their land in wrath, anger, and exceedingly great indignation, and cast them into another land, as now.
Classification & Notes
[Different] Text: Greek adds exceedingly and uses removal rather than the Hebrew uprooting image.
The exile outcome agrees.
Secret and Revealed Things
Verse 29:29 Same
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
29:29 [BHS 29:28] Hidden things belong to YHWH our God; revealed things belong to us and our children forever, to perform all the words of this law.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
29:29 [LXX 29:28] Hidden things belong to the Lord our God; revealed things belong to us and our children forever, to perform all the words of this law.
Classification & Notes
[Same] Text: The assignment of hidden and revealed matters agrees. The Masoretic extraordinary dots affect later interpretation but are not additional spoken words.
Rabbinic: Rashi assigns hidden sins to God and communal responsibility to open wrongdoing; he relates the dotted words to responsibility beginning after crossing the Jordan. Rashi, Deut. 29:28