Exodus 20 — Hebrew and Greek compared
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Same 5 Similar 7 Different 6 Divergent 6 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.
The Ten Commandments
20:1 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
20:1 (H 20:1) God spoke all these words, saying,
Greek · Saints priority
20:1 The Lord spoke all these words, saying,
Hebrew has God; the consulted Greek has Lord [H20; G20].
20:2 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
20:2 (H 20:2a) “I am YHWH your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
Greek · Saints priority
20:2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
20:3 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
20:3 (H 20:2b) “You shall have no other gods before Me.
Greek · Saints priority
20:3 “You shall have no other gods except Me.
Before Me/except Me differs in expression [H20; G20]. Hebrew’s face idiom should not be reduced to a merely local restriction.
20:4 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
20:4 (H 20:3) “You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of what is in heaven above, on the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth.
Greek · Saints priority
20:4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol or any likeness of what is in heaven above, on the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth.
Carved image/idol reflects pesel/eidōlon in the worship prohibition continued in verse 5 [H20; G20]. Later debates about sacred images require their own attributed treatment.
20:5 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
20:5 (H 20:4) “You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, YHWH your God, am a jealous God, visiting the fathers’ iniquity upon children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me,
Greek · Saints priority
20:5 “You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I am the Lord your God, a jealous God, repaying the fathers’ sins upon children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me,
Visiting iniquity/repaying sins differs in imagery. Both retain of those who hate Me [H20; G20]; the phrase’s relation to later generations is an interpretive question.
20:6 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
20:6 (H 20:5) “but showing steadfast love to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
Greek · Saints priority
20:6 “and showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My ordinances.
Steadfast love/mercy and commandments/ordinances reflect the respective wording [H20; G20]. Thousands is retained without inserting an unstated noun.
20:7 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
20:7 (H 20:6) “You shall not take the name of YHWH your God in vain, for YHWH will not hold guiltless anyone who takes His name in vain.
Greek · Saints priority
20:7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not clear anyone who takes His name in vain.
Both repeat the divine title without your God in the final clause. Clear renders Greek cleansing language in this accountability setting; it does not establish a separate doctrine of ritual impurity.
20:8 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
20:8 (H 20:7) “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Greek · Saints priority
20:8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Greek’s plural Sabbath form is an ordinary way to designate the Sabbath here [G20].
20:9 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
20:9 (H 20:8) “You shall labor for six days and do all your work,
Greek · Saints priority
20:9 “You shall labor for six days and do all your work,
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
20:10 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
20:10 (H 20:9) “but the seventh day is a Sabbath to YHWH your God. You shall do no work on it—you, your son, your daughter, your male slave, your female slave, your livestock, or the sojourner within your gates.
Greek · Saints priority
20:10 “but on the seventh day there is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You shall do no work on it—you, your son, your daughter, your male slave, your female slave, your ox, your beast of burden, any of your livestock, or the sojourner living among you.
Greek explicitly lists the ox and beast of burden and says living among you [G20]. These animals fit Hebrew’s broader livestock category. The household’s slaves are included in the rest.
20:11 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
20:11 (H 20:10) “For in six days YHWH made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore YHWH blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
Greek · Saints priority
20:11 “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth and the sea and everything in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the seventh day and made it holy.
RH includes the sea in the creation list, corresponding to Hebrew, but concludes with seventh day rather than Sabbath day.
20:12 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
20:12 (H 20:11) “Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long on the land YHWH your God is giving you.
Greek · Saints priority
20:12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that it may go well with you and you may live long on the good land the Lord your God is giving you.
Greek adds the well-being clause and good before land [G20]. The additions do not negate Hebrew’s promise.
Saints: Ephesians 6:2–3 quotes the parental command and a promise of well-being and longevity. The quotation adapts its setting and wording; it does not reproduce every phrase of the Greek Exodus here [S14].
20:13 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
20:13 (H 20:12a) “You shall not murder.
14 (H 20:12b) “You shall not commit adultery.
15 (H 20:12c) “You shall not steal.
Greek · Saints priority
20:13–15 “You shall not commit adultery.
14 “You shall not steal.
15 “You shall not murder.
Verses 13–15 contain the same three prohibitions in different order: Hebrew murder, adultery, theft; Greek adultery, theft, murder [H20; G20]. They are displayed as one comparison block to preserve each sequence without implying contradictory commands. Murder renders the prohibition’s homicide verb; it is not a generic ban on every action causing death.
Earlier navigation: 20:13 → RH 20:13–15.
20:16 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
20:16 (H 20:12d) “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
Greek · Saints priority
20:16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
Both prohibit false testimony against one’s neighbor [H20; G20].
20:17 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
20:17 (H 20:13) “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male slave, his female slave, his ox, his donkey, or anything belonging to your neighbor.”
Greek · Saints priority
20:17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, his field, his male slave, his female slave, his ox, his beast of burden, any of his livestock, or anything belonging to your neighbor.”
Greek places wife before house and explicitly includes field and all livestock [G20]. The sequence and scope additions are preserved without assigning a hierarchy of persons and property from word order alone.
Fear and Reassurance
20:18 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
20:18 (H 20:14) All the people saw the thunder, the flashes, the horn’s sound, and the smoking mountain. When the people saw it, they trembled and stood far away.
Greek · Saints priority
20:18 All the people saw the sound, the flashes, the trumpet’s sound, and the smoking mountain. All the people were afraid and stood far away.
Both strikingly speak of seeing sounds; this is not uniquely Greek. Hebrew has plural sounds/thunder, Greek singular sound, and the response verbs differ [H20; G20].
20:19 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
20:19 (H 20:15) They said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will listen. But do not let God speak with us, lest we die.”
Greek · Saints priority
20:19 They said to Moses, “You speak to us. Do not let God speak to us, lest we die.”
The consulted Greek lacks and we will listen [G20]. The request for Moses to mediate remains.
20:20 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
20:20 (H 20:16) Moses said to the people, “Do not fear. God has come to test you and to put the fear of Him before you, so that you may not sin.”
Greek · Saints priority
20:20 Moses said to them, “Take courage. God has come to you to test you, so that the fear of Him may be in you and you may not sin.”
Do not fear/take courage and before you/in you differ [H20; G20]. The verse distinguishes immediate terror from the fear of God that restrains sin.
20:21 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
20:21 (H 20:17) The people stood far away, while Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was.
Greek · Saints priority
20:21 The people stood far away, while Moses entered the thick darkness where God was.
Drawing near/entering differs [H20; G20]. V1’s stray Spanish/Hebrew editorial text has been removed.
The Law of the Altar
20:22 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
20:22 (H 20:18) YHWH said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel: You yourselves have seen that I spoke with you from heaven.
Greek · Saints priority
20:22 The Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and announce to the sons of Israel: You yourselves have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven.
Greek repeats the house of Jacob/sons of Israel formula also used in 19:3 [G20]. This is an added address, not an opposing revelation.
20:23 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
20:23 (H 20:19) “You shall not make gods of silver alongside Me, nor shall you make gods of gold for yourselves.
Greek · Saints priority
20:23 “You shall not make gods of silver for yourselves, nor shall you make gods of gold for yourselves.
Hebrew has alongside Me; Greek repeats for yourselves [H20; G20].
20:24 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
20:24 (H 20:20) “You shall make an altar of earth for Me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and peace offerings, your sheep and cattle. In every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you.
Greek · Saints priority
20:24 “You shall make an altar of earth for Me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and offerings of well-being, your sheep and calves, in every place where I name My name. I will come to you and bless you.
Peace offerings/offerings of well-being renders shelamim/sōtēria in the sacrificial setting; salvation offerings is a possible more formal Greek gloss. Cattle/calves and remembered/name differ [H20; G20]. Greek initially addresses plural you and then singular you.
20:25 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
20:25 (H 20:21) “If you make an altar of stones for Me, you shall not build it with hewn stones, for by wielding your blade over it you profane it.
Greek · Saints priority
20:25 “If you make an altar of stones for Me, you shall not build it with cut stones, for you have laid your blade upon them, and they are defiled.
Hebrew ḥerev and Greek encheiridion denote a blade used here on stone; blade preserves the implement’s weapon association. Greek’s final pronouns refer to the stones [H20; G20].
20:26 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
20:26 (H 20:22) “You shall not go up by steps to My altar, lest your nakedness be exposed on it.”
Greek · Saints priority
20:26 “You shall not go up by steps to My altar, lest you expose your nakedness on it.”
Passive/active expression differs, with the same modesty requirement [H20; G20].
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Saints Translation · Companion comparison edition · working draft awaiting specialist review.