Exodus 15 — Hebrew and Greek compared
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Same 4 Similar 8 Different 14 Divergent 0 Disparate 1
Disparate in this chapter: 15:3
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 Songs of Moses and Miriam
15:1 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
15:1 Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to YHWH, saying:
“I will sing to YHWH, for He is highly exalted;
horse and rider He has thrown into the sea.
Greek · Saints priority
15:1 Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to God, saying:
“Let us sing to the Lord, for He is gloriously glorified;
horse and rider He has thrown into the sea.
The introduction has YHWH/God; the song begins I will sing/let us sing [H15; G15]. Repetition in the praise is retained.
Rabbinic: Rashi on 15:1 distinguishes the contextual explanation of the future-form verb as an intention then carried out from a midrashic reading that connects it with resurrection [R15].
15:2 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
15:2 “Yah is my strength and song;
He has become my salvation.
This is my God, and I will glorify Him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.
Greek · Saints priority
15:2 “A helper and shelterer has become my salvation.
This is my God, and I will glorify Him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.
Strength and song/helper and shelterer differs [H15; G15]. Hebrew glorify renders the difficult we’anwehu; adorn Him and make Him a dwelling are interpretive alternatives. Yah preserves the short divine name.
Rabbinic: Rashi on 15:2 records Onkelos’s dwelling-place interpretation of ve’anvehu and another explanation involving praise of God’s beauty. These alternatives belong in the note rather than being combined in the translation [R15].
15:3 Disparate
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
15:3 “YHWH is a man of war;
YHWH is His name.
Greek · Saints priority
15:3 “The Lord shatters wars;
Lord is His name.
Hebrew portrays YHWH as a man of war; Greek names the Lord as One who shatters wars. The governing martial image differs. Greek’s surrounding battle imagery does not make this a denial that God fights.
Rabbinic: Rashi on 15:3 explains the warrior idiom as mastery of warfare. His comment does not require treating God as a bodily human combatant [R15].
15:4 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
15:4 “Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He cast into the sea;
his chosen officers sank in the Sea of Reeds.
Greek · Saints priority
15:4 Pharaoh’s chariots and his force He cast into the sea;
He drowned his chosen mounted officers in the Red Sea.
Greek names mounted officers and explicitly makes God the agent of drowning them; Hebrew’s second poetic line says the officers sank. The sea names remain source-specific.
15:5 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
15:5 “The depths covered them;
they went down into the deep like a stone.
Greek · Saints priority
15:5 “He covered them with the sea;
they sank into the deep like a stone.
Hebrew makes the depths the subject; Greek leaves the covering agent implicit [H15; G15].
15:6 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
15:6 “Your right hand, YHWH, is glorious in power;
Your right hand, YHWH, shatters the enemy.
Greek · Saints priority
15:6 “Your right hand, Lord, has been glorified in strength;
Your right hand, Lord, shattered enemies.
The enemy is collective in Hebrew and plural in Greek; poetic verbal forms are preserved with readable English [H15; G15].
15:7 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
15:7 “In the greatness of Your majesty You overthrow those who rise against You.
You send out Your burning anger;
it consumes them like stubble.
Greek · Saints priority
15:7 “In the abundance of Your glory You shattered Your adversaries.
You sent out Your wrath;
it devoured them like stubble.
Majesty/glory and the verbal presentation differ, while the stubble image agrees [H15; G15].
15:8 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
15:8 “At the blast of Your nostrils the waters piled up;
the flowing waters stood like a heap;
the depths congealed in the heart of the sea.
Greek · Saints priority
15:8 “Through the breath of Your anger the water parted;
the waters congealed like a wall;
the waves congealed in the midst of the sea.
Nostrils/anger, piling up/parting, heap/wall, and depths/waves preserve real differences [H15; G15]. Congealing is poetic language here; no physical mechanism is added.
15:9 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
15:9 “The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake;
I will divide the spoil; my desire shall be filled with them.
I will draw my sword; my hand shall dispossess them.’
Greek · Saints priority
15:9 “The enemy said, ‘I will pursue and overtake;
I will divide the spoils; I will satisfy my desire.
I will kill with my sword; my hand shall rule.’
Drawing the sword/killing with it and dispossessing/ruling differ [H15; G15]. Desire renders the appetite of nephesh/psychē in the enemy’s boast.
15:10 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
15:10 “You blew with Your wind; the sea covered them.
They sank like lead in the mighty waters.
Greek · Saints priority
15:10 “You sent out Your wind; the sea covered them.
They sank like lead in the violent water.
Wind renders ruaḥ/pneuma in the sea setting [H15; G15]. A Christian reading concerning the Spirit belongs in an attributed reception note, not an automatic capitalized replacement.
15:11 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
15:11 “Who is like You among the gods, YHWH?
Who is like You, glorious in holiness,
awesome in praises, doing wonders?
Greek · Saints priority
15:11 “Who is like You among the gods, Lord?
Who is like You, glorified among the holy ones,
wonderful in glories, doing wonders?
Hebrew has in holiness. Greek en hagiois can be understood as among holy ones or in holy things/places; the personal rendering is retained provisionally [H15; G15]. It does not specify later canonized saints by itself.
15:12 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
15:12 “You stretched out Your right hand;
the earth swallowed them.
Greek · Saints priority
15:12 “You stretched out Your right hand;
the earth swallowed them.
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
15:13 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
15:13 “In Your steadfast love You led the people You redeemed;
in Your strength You guided them to Your holy dwelling.
Greek · Saints priority
15:13 “In Your righteousness You guided this people of Yours whom You redeemed;
in Your strength You comforted them toward Your holy dwelling.
Steadfast love/righteousness and guided/comforted differ [H15; G15]. These attributes and actions are not mutually exclusive.
15:14 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
15:14 “The peoples have heard; they tremble.
Anguish has seized the inhabitants of Philistia.
Greek · Saints priority
15:14 “Nations heard and grew angry;
pangs seized the inhabitants of Philistia.
Greek explicitly has grew angry [G15]. Hebrew mixes verbal forms in the poetic description; V1’s blanket claim of a purely future Hebrew account was inaccurate [H15].
15:15 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
15:15 “Then Edom’s chiefs were dismayed;
trembling seizes Moab’s leaders;
all Canaan’s inhabitants melt away.
Greek · Saints priority
15:15 “Then Edom’s leaders hurried;
trembling seized the rulers of the Moabites;
all Canaan’s inhabitants melted away.
Dismayed/hurried differs [H15; G15]. Greek does not state where they hurried.
15:16 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
15:16 “Terror and dread fall upon them;
by the greatness of Your arm they are still as stone,
until Your people pass over, YHWH,
until the people You acquired pass over.
Greek · Saints priority
15:16 “May fear and trembling fall upon them;
by the greatness of Your arm let them be turned to stone,
until Your people pass over, Lord,
until this people of Yours whom You acquired pass over.
Greek explicitly frames the first clauses as wishes or petitions and has turned to stone [G15]. The poetic image is retained without asserting literal petrification.
15:17 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
15:17 “You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of Your inheritance,
the place You made for Your dwelling, YHWH,
the sanctuary Your hands established, Lord.
Greek · Saints priority
15:17 “Bring them in and plant them on the mountain of Your inheritance,
in Your prepared dwelling, which You fashioned, Lord,
the sanctuary Your hands prepared, Lord.
Hebrew states what God will do; Greek petitions Him to plant them. Hebrew distinguishes YHWH and Adonai, here rendered Lord [H15; G15].
15:18 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
15:18 “YHWH will reign forever and ever.”
Greek · Saints priority
15:18 “The Lord reigns forever and ever, and beyond.”
Greek uses a reigning participle and adds and beyond, emphasizing continuing reign [G15].
15:19 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
15:19 For Pharaoh’s horses entered the sea with his chariots and horsemen, and YHWH brought the waters of the sea back over them. But the sons of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea.
Greek · Saints priority
15:19 For Pharaoh’s horses entered the sea with chariots and riders, and the Lord brought the water of the sea over them. But the sons of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea.
The collective horse expression is rendered horses in both. The prose summary remains aligned.
15:20 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
15:20 Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her with timbrels and dances.
Greek · Saints priority
15:20 Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her with timbrels and dances.
Miriam’s prophetic designation and the women’s participation are explicit in both sources [H15; G15].
15:21 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
15:21 Miriam answered them:
“Sing to YHWH, for He is highly exalted;
horse and rider He has thrown into the sea.”
Greek · Saints priority
15:21 Miriam led them in song, saying:
“Let us sing to the Lord, for He is gloriously glorified;
horse and rider He has thrown into the sea.”
Answering/leading in song and sing/let us sing differ [H15; G15]. Greek describes her leading action without naming a later liturgical office.
The Waters of Marah and Elim
15:22 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
15:22 Moses led Israel onward from the Sea of Reeds. They went into the wilderness of Shur and traveled three days in the wilderness without finding water.
Greek · Saints priority
15:22 Moses led the sons of Israel onward from the Red Sea and brought them into the wilderness of Shur. They traveled three days in the wilderness without finding water to drink.
Greek explicitly says to drink and names the sons of Israel. The sea-name difference continues [G15].
15:23 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
15:23 They came to Marah but could not drink its water because it was bitter. Therefore it was called Marah.
Greek · Saints priority
15:23 They came to Marah but could not drink its water because it was bitter. Therefore that place was named Bitterness.
Greek translates the explanatory name as Bitterness; Hebrew Marah also recalls bitterness. RH has a passive naming construction without identifying the naming agent.
15:24 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
15:24 The people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”
Greek · Saints priority
15:24 The people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
15:25 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
15:25 He cried out to YHWH, and YHWH showed him a tree. He threw it into the waters, and the waters became sweet. There He established a statute and an ordinance for the people, and there He tested them.
Greek · Saints priority
15:25 Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There He established ordinances and judgments for the people, and there He tested them.
Tree/wood are overlapping senses of Hebrew ets and Greek xylon. Both use singular pronouns in the final clauses, here understood collectively of the people [H15; G15]. Greek has plural ordinances and judgments.
15:26 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
15:26 He said, “If you listen diligently to the voice of YHWH your God, do what is right in His eyes, give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am YHWH who heals you.”
Greek · Saints priority
15:26 He said, “If you listen diligently to the voice of the Lord your God, do what is pleasing before Him, give ear to His commandments, and keep all His ordinances, I will bring none of the diseases on you that I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord who heals you.”
Greek says pleasing before Him, while Hebrew speaks of what is right in His eyes. RH ends with the Lord who heals you, without an added your God.
15:27 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
15:27 They came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there beside the water.
Greek · Saints priority
15:27 They came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trunks, and they camped there beside the water.
Both have springs; V1’s contrast with Hebrew artificial wells was unfounded. Greek counts palm trunks [H15; G15].
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Saints Translation · Companion comparison edition · working draft awaiting specialist review.