Exodus 2 — Hebrew and Greek compared
← Exodus 1 compared · Reading text of Exodus 2 · Exodus: all chapters · Exodus 3 compared →
Same 5 Similar 11 Different 4 Divergent 5 Disparate 0
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.
Birth of Moses
2:1 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
2:1 A man from the house of Levi went and took a daughter of Levi as his wife.
Greek · Saints priority
2:1 There was a man from the tribe of Levi who took one of the daughters of Levi as his wife.
House and tribe express the same descent here. V1’s extra marriage clause is unnecessary [G2].
2:2 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
2:2 The woman conceived and bore a son. Seeing that he was beautiful, she hid him for three months.
Greek · Saints priority
2:2 She conceived and bore a male child. Seeing that he was beautiful, they hid him for three months.
Hebrew has she saw and she hid; Greek has plural seeing and they hid [G2]. The plural does not itself name every participant.
Saints: Hebrews 11:23 retells the concealment as an act of the parents’ faith and freedom from fear of the king. Its mention of both parents belongs to that later retelling [S2].
2:3 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
2:3 When she could no longer hide him, she took a papyrus basket for him and coated it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds at the river’s edge.
Greek · Saints priority
2:3 When they could no longer hide him, his mother took a basket for him and coated it with bitumen-pitch. She put the child in it and placed it in the marsh beside the river.
Hebrew specifies papyrus and two coating materials; Greek names his mother, uses a compound for the coating, and retains plural they [G2]. Basket renders the small vessel; Hebrew uses the same noun for Noah’s ark.
2:4 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
2:4 His sister stood at a distance to learn what would be done to him.
Greek · Saints priority
2:4 His sister watched from a distance to learn what would happen to him.
Standing at a distance and watching describe compatible actions; V1’s surveillance claims exceed the wording.
2:5 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
2:5 Pharaoh’s daughter came down to bathe at the river while her young women walked along its bank. She saw the basket among the reeds, sent her servant woman, and had it brought to her.
Greek · Saints priority
2:5 Pharaoh’s daughter came down to bathe at the river while her attendants walked beside it. She saw the basket in the marsh, sent her attendant, and had it brought to her.
Hebrew distinguishes the young women from the woman sent; Greek uses attendant language for both [G2]. The words alone do not establish V1’s detailed court hierarchy.
2:6 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
2:6 She opened it and saw the child: behold, a boy was weeping. She had compassion on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrew children.”
Greek · Saints priority
2:6 She opened it and saw a child weeping in the basket. Pharaoh’s daughter had compassion on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrew children.”
Greek explicitly repeats Pharaoh’s daughter and the basket [G2]. Its pity/spare verb does not require an additional judicial decree.
2:7 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
2:7 His sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call a nursing woman from the Hebrews to nurse the child for you?”
Greek · Saints priority
2:7 His sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Would you like me to call a nursing woman from the Hebrews to nurse the child for you?”
The forms of the offer differ modestly. Go is not added to the Greek question [G2].
2:8 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
2:8 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” The young woman went and called the child’s mother.
Greek · Saints priority
2:8 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” The young woman went and called the child’s mother.
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
2:9 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
2:9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” The woman took the child and nursed him.
Greek · Saints priority
2:9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take care of this child for me and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” The woman took the child and nursed him.
Take away and take care of differ [G2]. The Greek command does not itself confer V1’s claimed legal immunity.
2:10 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
2:10 When the child grew, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “Because I drew him out of the water.”
Greek · Saints priority
2:10 When the child grew, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I took him up out of the water.”
Both explain the name through rescue from water. Adoption is stated in the preceding clause, not imposed as the sole meaning of the rescue verb [G2].
Life of Moses
2:11 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
2:11 In those days, when Moses had grown, he went out to his brothers and saw their burdens. He saw an Egyptian man striking a Hebrew, one of his brothers.
Greek · Saints priority
2:11 During those many days, when Moses had grown, he went out to his brothers, the sons of Israel. Seeing their suffering, he saw an Egyptian man striking a Hebrew, one of his own brothers, the sons of Israel.
Greek repeats the identification sons of Israel and describes their suffering; Hebrew names their burdens [G2]. Both allow attentive concern.
2:12 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
2:12 He looked this way and that, and, seeing no one, struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
Greek · Saints priority
2:12 He looked this way and that, and, seeing no one, struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
2:13 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
2:13 He went out the next day and saw two Hebrew men fighting. He said to the one in the wrong, “Why are you striking your fellow?”
Greek · Saints priority
2:13 He went out the next day and saw two Hebrew men fighting. He said to the one in the wrong, “Why are you striking your neighbor?”
Fellow and neighbor overlap in this interpersonal setting.
2:14 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
2:14 He replied, “Who made you a ruler and judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Moses was afraid and said, “Surely the matter is known.”
Greek · Saints priority
2:14 He replied, “Who made you a ruler and judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?” Moses was afraid and said, “Has this matter become known so openly?”
Greek includes yesterday and frames Moses’ reaction differently [G2]. Greek rhēma can mean matter here; it need not become a theological word/fact distinction.
2:15 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
2:15 Pharaoh heard about this and sought to kill Moses. Moses fled from Pharaoh’s presence and settled in the land of Midian. He sat down by a well.
Greek · Saints priority
2:15 Pharaoh heard about this and sought to kill Moses. Moses withdrew from Pharaoh’s presence and settled in the land of Midian. Having come to the land of Midian, he sat down by the well.
Greek repeats the arrival in Midian [G2]; the repetition is retained.
2:16 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
2:16 The priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.
Greek · Saints priority
2:16 The priest of Midian had seven daughters who tended the sheep of their father Jethro. They came and drew water until they filled the troughs to water the sheep of their father Jethro.
Greek names Jethro twice and states the daughters’ work [G2; B2]. V1’s Reuel in this Greek verse is corrected; Reuel remains in verse 18.
2:17 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
2:17 The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses rose and rescued them and watered their flock.
Greek · Saints priority
2:17 The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses rose and rescued them, drew water for them, and watered their sheep.
Greek explicitly includes drawing water [G2]. The Hebrew rescue verb does not mean merely casual assistance.
2:18 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
2:18 They came to Reuel their father, and he said, “Why have you come back so quickly today?”
Greek · Saints priority
2:18 They came to Reuel their father, and he said, “Why have you come back so quickly today?”
Reuel is retained here even though the Greek names Jethro in verse 16. Their relationship is an interpretive question, not silently resolved by changing names.
2:19 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
2:19 They said, “An Egyptian man rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock.”
Greek · Saints priority
2:19 They said, “An Egyptian man rescued us from the shepherds. He drew water for us and watered our sheep.”
The women identify Moses by his apparent Egyptian identity; the narrator has already identified his ancestry.
2:20 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
2:20 He said to his daughters, “Where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him so that he may eat bread.”
Greek · Saints priority
2:20 He said to his daughters, “Where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him so that he may eat bread.”
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
2:21 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
2:21 Moses agreed to live with the man, who gave him his daughter Zipporah as his wife.
Greek · Saints priority
2:21 Moses settled with the man, who gave him his daughter Zipporah as his wife.
The Hebrew expresses agreement; Greek describes settling. Zipporah identifies Moses’ wife here.
2:22 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
2:22 She bore a son, and he named him Gershom, saying, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.”
Greek · Saints priority
2:22 The woman conceived and bore a son, and Moses named him Gershom, saying, “I am a sojourner in a foreign land.”
Greek explicitly names Moses and the conception [G2]. V1’s added Eliezer birth notice is absent from both consulted resources [G2; B2]; it is removed here. Compare 18:4.
The Groanings of Israel
2:23 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
2:23 During those many days the king of Egypt died. The sons of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out, and their cry because of their slavery rose to God.
Greek · Saints priority
2:23 After those many days the king of Egypt died. The sons of Israel groaned deeply because of their labor and cried out, and their cry because of their labor rose to God.
The labor is forced in context; Greek uses the plural works. Both repeat the cause of the cry.
2:24 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
2:24 God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Greek · Saints priority
2:24 God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
2:25 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
2:25 God looked upon the sons of Israel, and God knew.
Greek · Saints priority
2:25 God looked upon the sons of Israel, and He became known to them.
Hebrew leaves knew without an expressed object; Greek says became known to them [G2]. Awareness and self-disclosure are different, compatible claims.
← Exodus 1 compared · Reading text of Exodus 2 · Exodus: all chapters · Exodus 3 compared →
Saints Translation · Companion comparison edition · working draft awaiting specialist review.