Exodus 3 — Hebrew and Greek compared
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Same 4 Similar 11 Different 4 Divergent 3 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 Divine Visitation
3:1 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
3:1 Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. He led the flock beyond the wilderness and came to the mountain of God, to Horeb.
Greek · Saints priority
3:1 Moses was tending the sheep of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. He led the sheep toward the wilderness and came to Mount Horeb.
Hebrew calls it the mountain of God; the consulted Greek lacks that title [H3; G3]. The route expression remains a translation judgment.
3:2 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
3:2 The angel of YHWH appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet it was not consumed.
Greek · Saints priority
3:2 An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the bush. He saw that the bush was burning with fire, yet it was not consumed.
The corresponding scene agrees. Greek article usage alone does not prove a different angelic identity [G3].
Rabbinic: Rashi on 3:2 connects the thornbush with God’s presence beside those in affliction, invoking Psalm 91:15. This is a homiletic explanation of the setting [R3].
3:3 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
3:3 Moses said, “I will turn aside and look at this great sight. Why does the bush not burn up?”
Greek · Saints priority
3:3 Moses said, “I will go over and look at this great sight. Why is the bush not consumed?”
The verbs describe the same unconsumed bush; sight need not be changed into a separate visionary event.
3:4 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
3:4 When YHWH saw that he had turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” He replied, “Here I am.”
Greek · Saints priority
3:4 When the Lord saw that he was approaching to look, the Lord called to him from the bush, “Moses, Moses!” He replied, “What is it?”
Hebrew uses God for the caller and Here I am for the reply; Greek repeats Lord and has What is it? [H3; G3]. These are not incompatible accounts of the encounter.
3:5 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
3:5 He said, “Do not come near. Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.”
Greek · Saints priority
3:5 He said, “Do not come near. Unfasten the footwear from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.”
The removal instructions agree; the Greek collective footwear need not imply a single shoe [G3].
3:6 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
3:6 He said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
Greek · Saints priority
3:6 He said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses turned his face away, for he was afraid to look before God.
Hiding and turning away differ in action. The Greek caution verb can express fearful reverence; it does not make Hebrew fear irreverent [H3; G3].
Saints: In Matthew 22:31–32, Jesus quotes the identification with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in His argument about resurrection and the living God. That application does not add resurrection wording to Exodus [S3].
The Divine Commission
3:7 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
3:7 YHWH said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people in Egypt. I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their pains.
Greek · Saints priority
3:7 The Lord said to Moses, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people in Egypt. I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their pain.
Greek explicitly addresses Moses; the Hebrew collective pronouns refer to the people [H3; G3].
3:8 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
3:8 “I have come down to rescue them from the hand of Egypt and bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
Greek · Saints priority
3:8 “I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and bring them out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
Greek includes the Girgashites [G3]. Both preserve the land’s milk-and-honey image.
3:9 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
3:9 “Now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has reached Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.
Greek · Saints priority
3:9 “Now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has reached Me, and I have seen the affliction with which the Egyptians afflict them.
The oppression and affliction vocabulary overlaps; neither wording requires a different experience.
3:10 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
3:10 “Come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh. Bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.”
Greek · Saints priority
3:10 “Come now, and let Me send you to Pharaoh, king of Egypt; you shall bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of the land of Egypt.”
Greek makes Pharaoh’s title explicit and gives the outcome with you shall bring [G3].
3:11 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
3:11 Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?”
Greek · Saints priority
3:11 Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and bring the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt?”
Greek again states the royal title [G3].
3:12 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
3:12 He said, “I will be with you. This shall be the sign for you that I have sent you: when you bring the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”
Greek · Saints priority
3:12 God said to Moses, “I will be with you. This shall be the sign for you that I am sending you: when you bring My people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”
Greek names God, Moses, and My people [G3]. Both service verbs concern service to God here; the Hebrew is not reduced to agricultural labor.
The Divine Name
3:13 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
3:13 Moses said to God, “When I come to the sons of Israel and say, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?”
Greek · Saints priority
3:13 Moses said to God, “When I go to the sons of Israel and say, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?”
RH has your fathers, corresponding to Hebrew. The provisional webpage’s our fathers is not the selected reading.
3:14 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
3:14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
Greek · Saints priority
3:14 God said to Moses, “I am the One Who Is.” He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘The One Who Is has sent me to you.’”
Hebrew ehyeh also allows I will be; Greek ho ōn means the One Who Is [H3; G3]. The forms differ, but do not by themselves establish V1’s opposition between dynamic and static deities.
Rabbinic: Rashi on 3:14 interprets the repeated Ehyeh as God’s presence in this distress and in later oppression; Moses asks that the people not be burdened with future troubles. Saints: Augustine, On the Trinity V.2.3, invokes this divine self-identification when discussing God’s unchangeable being. These are distinct interpretive uses [R3; S4].
3:15 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
3:15 God said further to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘YHWH, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is My memorial from generation to generation.
Greek · Saints priority
3:15 God said again to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My eternal name and My memorial from generation to generation.
YHWH and Lord follow the established divine-name convention. Forever and eternal express corresponding duration.
The Divine Plan
3:16 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
3:16 “Go, gather the elders of Israel, and say to them: ‘YHWH, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have surely attended to you and to what is being done to you in Egypt.
Greek · Saints priority
3:16 “Go, gather the council of elders of the sons of Israel, and say to them: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have surely attended to you and to all that has happened to you in Egypt.
Council of elders renders Greek gerousia; it need not imply a Roman senate. The visitation idiom expresses divine attention [H3; G3].
3:17 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
3:17 “‘“I have said that I will bring you up from the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.”’
Greek · Saints priority
3:17 “‘“And I said that I will bring you up from the affliction of the Egyptians to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.”’
Greek adds the Girgashites. RH continues first-person divine speech with I said, corresponding to Hebrew’s I have said.
3:18 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
3:18 “They will listen to your voice. You and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘YHWH, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to YHWH our God.’
Greek · Saints priority
3:18 “They will listen to your voice. You and the council of elders of Israel shall go to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and say to him, ‘The God of the Hebrews has called us. Let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to our God.’
Met with and called differ. Greek names Pharaoh but lacks Lord within the quoted request [H3; G3].
3:19 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
3:19 “I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go except by a strong hand.
Greek · Saints priority
3:19 “I know that Pharaoh, king of Egypt, will not let you go unless by a strong hand.
Hebrew’s closing negative is difficult: except by is a contextual rendering; not even by is also discussed. Greek explicitly says unless [H3; G3]. The ambiguity is not evidence of copyist confusion.
3:20 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
3:20 “I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders that I will perform in its midst. Afterward he will send you away.
Greek · Saints priority
3:20 “I will stretch out My hand and strike the Egyptians with all My wonders that I will perform among them. Afterward he will send you away.
Egypt and the Egyptians overlap as references to the affected country and people.
3:21 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
3:21 “I will give this people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians. When you go, you shall not go empty-handed.
Greek · Saints priority
3:21 “I will give this people favor before the Egyptians. When you depart, you shall not go empty-handed.
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
3:22 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
3:22 “Every woman shall ask her neighbor and the woman staying in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and daughters, and you shall plunder Egypt.”
Greek · Saints priority
3:22 “Every woman shall ask her neighbor and her fellow lodger for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and daughters, and you shall plunder the Egyptians.”
Both say ask, without specifying a loan. Articles preserves the broad object term; V1’s ornaments does not cover every possible item [H3; G3].
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Saints Translation · Companion comparison edition · working draft awaiting specialist review.