Deuteronomy 22 — Hebrew and Greek compared
Disparate in this chapter: 22:28
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 22
Compassion, Community, and Purity Laws
Neighborly Help and Lost Property
Verse 22:1 Different
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
22:1 If you see your brother’s ox or sheep straying, do not ignore them. You must bring them back to your brother.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
22:1 If you see your brother’s calf or sheep wandering on the road, do not overlook them. You must bring them back to your brother and restore them to him.
Classification & Notes
[Different] Text: Greek specifies a calf and adds on the road and a second restoration clause. Hebrew names an ox; both prohibit ignoring the lost animals.
Verse 22:2 Similar
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
22:2 If your brother is not near you and you do not know him, bring it into your house. It shall remain with you until your brother seeks it; then return it to him.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
22:2 If your brother is not near you and you do not know him, gather them into your house. They shall remain with you until your brother seeks them; then return them to him.
Classification & Notes
[Similar] Text: Hebrew treats the lost animal as singular; Greek uses plural objects. Both join the negative circumstances with connective wording that can be construed cumulatively; inability to reach or identify the owner explains the safekeeping requirement. A Hebrew or versus Greek and textual difference is not established by the actual conjunctions.
Verse 22:3 Same
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
22:3 Do the same with his donkey; do the same with his garment; and do the same with anything your brother loses that you find. You may not ignore it.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
22:3 Do the same with his donkey; do the same with his garment; and do the same with anything your brother loses that you find. You may not overlook it.
Classification & Notes
[Same] Text: The selected Greek has onos, donkey, not the draft’s hypozygion, beast of burden. The three duties correspond.
Verse 22:4 Different
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
22:4 If you see your brother’s donkey or ox fallen on the road, do not ignore them. You must help him raise them.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
22:4 If you see your brother’s donkey or calf fallen on the road, do not overlook them. You must help him raise them.
Classification & Notes
[Different] Text: Greek calf corresponds to Hebrew ox. Both name a donkey, and their animal order agrees; the earlier note incorrectly suggested an order difference.
Distinctiveness in Dress
Verse 22:5 Similar
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
22:5 A woman shall not have a man’s gear upon her, and a man shall not put on a woman’s garment, for everyone doing these things is an abomination to YHWH your God.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
22:5 A woman shall not have a man’s equipment upon her, and a man shall not put on a woman’s robe, for everyone doing these things is an abomination to the Lord your God.
Classification & Notes
[Similar] Text: Hebrew keli and Greek skeuē can include equipment beyond clothing. Neither first clause should be narrowed to apparel without explanation. The second explicitly concerns clothing.
Environmental and Compassionate Care
Verse 22:6 Similar
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
22:6 If you come upon a bird’s nest along the road, in any tree or on the ground, with young birds or eggs and the mother sitting over them, do not take the mother with the young.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
22:6 If you come upon a bird’s nest along the road, in any tree or on the ground, with nestlings or eggs and the mother warming them, do not take the mother with the young.
Classification & Notes
[Similar] Text: Greek describes the mother’s warming or brooding; Hebrew her sitting over the young or eggs. The prohibition agrees.
Rabbinic: Ramban sees this command as training human compassion and restraining cruelty; he also discusses preserving a species. This is moral exposition of the law. Ramban, Deut. 22:6
Verse 22:7 Same
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
22:7 You must release the mother, but you may take the young for yourself, so that it may go well with you and you may prolong your days.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
22:7 You must release the mother, but you may take the young for yourself, so that it may go well with you and you may be long-lived.
Classification & Notes
[Same] Text: Both command release of the mother and allow taking the young, with the same twofold promise. The former note’s alleged verbatim New Testament wording was inaccurate.
Domestic Safety and Liability
Verse 22:8 Different
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
22:8 When you build a new house, make a parapet for your roof, so that you do not bring bloodguilt upon your house if someone falls from it.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
22:8 When you build a new house, make a rim around your roof, so that you do not cause a killing in your house if someone falls from it.
Classification & Notes
[Different] Text: Hebrew names bloodguilt and a parapet; Greek names a killing and a crown-like rim. Both require a protective roof barrier.
Laws Concerning Mixed Kinds
Verse 22:9 Similar
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
22:9 Do not sow your vineyard with mixed seed, lest the entire yield—the seed you sow and the vineyard’s produce—become consecrated.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
22:9 Do not sow your vineyard with a different crop, lest the produce and the seed you sow together with your vineyard’s produce become consecrated.
Classification & Notes
[Similar] Text: Both use consecration language, not defilement. Greek arranges produce and seed differently. The legal consequence concerns produce withdrawn from ordinary use.
Verse 22:10 Different
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
22:10 Do not plow with an ox and a donkey together.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
22:10 Do not plow with a calf and a donkey together.
Classification & Notes
[Different] Text: Greek calf corresponds to Hebrew ox. Greek explicitly names a donkey; the previous beast-of-burden gloss was not the selected reading.
Verse 22:11 Different
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
22:11 Do not wear mixed fabric, wool and linen together.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
22:11 Do not wear an adulterated fabric, wool and linen together.
Classification & Notes
[Different] Text: Hebrew names shaatnez, the prohibited textile mixture; Greek kibdēlon characterizes it as adulterated or mixed. Both specify wool and linen.
The Reminder of the Commandments
Verse 22:12 Similar
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
22:12 Make tassels on the four corners of the covering with which you cover yourself.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
22:12 Make twisted tassels on the four edges of the outer garments with which you cover yourself.
Classification & Notes
[Similar] Text: Hebrew has a singular covering; Greek plural outer garments. Both prescribe four tassels. Greek edges here is kraspeda, not the earlier note’s pterygia.
Legislation on Marital and Sexual Integrity
False Accusation of Non-Virginity
Verse 22:13 Different
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
22:13 If a man takes a wife, goes in to her, and then hates her,
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
22:13 If a man takes a wife, lives with her as husband, and then hates her,
Classification & Notes
[Different] Text: Hebrew uses the sexual idiom go in to; Greek describes marital cohabitation. Both retain hates.
Verse 22:14 Similar
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
22:14 and brings charges against her and gives her a bad name, saying, I took this woman, but when I approached her I found no evidence of virginity,
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
22:14 and brings pretextual charges against her and gives her a bad name, saying, I took this woman, but when I approached her I found no evidence of her virginity,
Classification & Notes
[Similar] Text: Greek characterizes the charges as pretextual; Hebrew uses a charges-of-words expression. Both report the husband’s accusation, not an established finding.
Verse 22:15 Different
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
22:15 then the young woman’s father and mother shall take the evidence of her virginity and bring it to the city’s elders at the gate.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
22:15 then the girl’s father and mother shall take the evidence of her virginity and bring it to the council of elders at the gate.
Classification & Notes
[Different] Text: Greek has council of elders but lacks of the city in this verse. Both parents present the evidence.
Verse 22:16 Similar
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
22:16 The young woman’s father shall tell the elders: I gave my daughter to this man as a wife, but he hates her.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
22:16 The girl’s father shall tell the council of elders: I gave this daughter of mine to this man as a wife, but having hated her,
Classification & Notes
[Similar] Text: Greek carries the final participial clause into verse seventeen and adds this to daughter. Hebrew completes the hatred statement here.
Verse 22:17 Similar
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
22:17 Look, he has brought charges against her, saying, I found no evidence of your daughter’s virginity. Yet here is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity. They shall spread the cloth before the city’s elders.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
22:17 he now brings pretextual charges against her, saying, I found no evidence of your daughter’s virginity. Yet here is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity. They shall unfold the garment before the city’s council of elders.
Classification & Notes
[Similar] Text: The Greek sentence continues from verse sixteen. Look corresponds to now; cloth corresponds to garment. Both describe the presentation of evidence.
Verse 22:18 Same
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
22:18 The elders of that city shall take the man and discipline him.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
22:18 The council of elders of that city shall take the man and discipline him.
Classification & Notes
[Same] Text: The disciplinary action agrees. The Greek institutional term does not by itself establish a different court or penalty.
Verse 22:19 Different
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
22:19 They shall fine him one hundred silver pieces and give them to the young woman’s father, because he gave an Israelite virgin a bad name. She shall remain his wife; he may not send her away all his days.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
22:19 They shall fine him one hundred shekels and give them to the young woman’s father, because he gave an Israelite virgin a bad name. She shall remain his wife; he may not send her away for all time.
Classification & Notes
[Different] Text: Hebrew specifies silver and leaves the weight unit implicit; Greek explicitly names shekels but does not repeat silver here. Both prohibit divorce in this case.
Confirmed Marital Deception
Verse 22:20 Same
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
22:20 But if this charge is true and no evidence of the young woman’s virginity is found,
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
22:20 But if this charge proves true and no evidence of the young woman’s virginity is found,
Classification & Notes
[Same] Text: The stated condition agrees. Neither text supplies a modern medical test of virginity.
Verse 22:21 Different
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
22:21 they shall bring the young woman to the entrance of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death, because she committed an outrage in Israel by prostituting herself in her father’s house. Purge the evil from among you.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
22:21 they shall bring the young woman to the doors of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death, because she committed folly among Israel’s sons by prostituting her father’s house.
Remove the evil person from among yourselves.
Classification & Notes
[Different] Text: Greek has the father’s house in the accusative, here rendered with a transitive prostitution image. The Hebrew house expression also lacks an explicit locative preposition; its locative English rendering is a construal, not a written preposition absent from Greek. Both constructions are compressed. Greek explicitly names the evil person; the masculine purge formula does not change the accused woman into a man. The penalty agrees.
Adultery
Verse 22:22 Different
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
22:22 If a man is found lying with another man’s wife, both shall die—the man who lay with the woman and the woman. Purge the evil from Israel.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
22:22 If a man is found lying with a woman married to a man, you shall put both to death—the man who lay with the woman and the woman.
Remove the evil person from Israel.
Classification & Notes
[Different] Text: Greek directly commands the addressees to put both offenders to death and explicitly names the evil person; Hebrew says both shall die and purge the evil. Both prescribe the same death penalty for the stated pair. The change of grammatical formulation does not establish a different sanction.
With a Betrothed Woman in the City
Verse 22:23 Same
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
22:23 If a young woman, a virgin, is betrothed to a man, and another man finds her in the city and lies with her,
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
22:23 If a girl, a virgin, is betrothed to a man, and another man finds her in a city and lies with her,
Classification & Notes
[Same] Text: The stated circumstances agree. The ruling continues in verse twenty-four.
Verse 22:24 Different
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
22:24 bring both to the gate of that city and stone them to death: the young woman because she did not cry out in the city, and the man because he violated his neighbor’s wife. Purge the evil from among you.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
22:24 bring both to the gate of their city, and they shall be stoned to death: the young woman because she did not cry out in the city, and the man because he violated his neighbor’s wife. Remove the evil person from among yourselves.
Classification & Notes
[Different] Text: Greek has their city, passive stoning, and evil person; Hebrew has that city, direct stoning, and evil. Both give the same stated rationale and penalty. Neither wording is expanded into a general modern rule about consent or silence.
With a Betrothed Woman in the Countryside
Verse 22:25 Different
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
22:25 But if a man finds a betrothed young woman in the field, seizes her by force, and lies with her, only the man who lay with her shall die.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
22:25 But if a man finds the betrothed girl in the open country, forces her, and lies with her, you shall put only the man who lay with her to death.
Classification & Notes
[Different] Text: Both describe a forced sexual assault. Greek makes the executing community explicit; Hebrew states that the offender alone shall die.
Verse 22:26 Same
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
22:26 Do nothing to the young woman; she has committed no offense deserving death. This case is like a man attacking his neighbor and murdering him.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
22:26 Do nothing to the young woman; she has committed no offense deserving death. This case is like a man rising against his neighbor and murdering him.
Classification & Notes
[Same] Text: Both expressly exonerate the young woman from the capital offense and compare the attack with murder. The earlier lexical New Testament parallel did not establish a textual difference.
Verse 22:27 Same
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
22:27 For he found her in the field; the betrothed young woman cried out, but there was no one to rescue her.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
22:27 For he found her in the field; the betrothed young woman cried out, but there was no one to help her.
Classification & Notes
[Same] Text: The field, cry, and absence of a rescuer agree. The selected Greek has agros here, not the earlier note’s pedion.
With an Unbetrothed Virgin
Verse 22:28 Disparate
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
22:28 If a man finds a young woman, a virgin who is not betrothed, seizes her and lies with her, and they are discovered,
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
22:28 If a man finds a girl, a virgin who is not betrothed, forces her and lies with her, and he is discovered,
Classification & Notes
[Disparate] Text: Greek explicitly says forces and uses a singular discovery clause; Hebrew says seizes and they are discovered. Hebrew’s verb does not by itself establish consent. The draft wrongly made Greek discovery plural.
Verse 22:29 Different
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
22:29 the man who lay with her shall give the young woman’s father fifty silver pieces. She shall be his wife because he violated her; he may not send her away all his days.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
22:29 the man who lay with her shall give the young woman’s father fifty silver didrachmas. She shall be his wife because he violated her; he may not send her away for all time.
Classification & Notes
[Different] Text: Hebrew leaves the silver weight unit implicit; Greek names didrachmas. The numeral is fifty in both. This rendering preserves the ancient provision without adding the woman’s agreement, which is unstated.
Incest with a Father's Wife (v. 30)
Verse 22:30 Similar
Hebrew–English Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
22:30 [BHS 23:1] A man shall not take his father’s wife or uncover his father’s skirt.
Greek–English Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
22:30 [LXX 23:1] A man shall not take his father’s wife or uncover his father’s covering.
Classification & Notes
[Similar] Text: Both use a covering image for the forbidden sexual relationship. This is verse 23:1 in both selected source editions, aligned here with customary English 22:30.