Exodus 5 — Hebrew and Greek compared
← Exodus 4 compared · Reading text of Exodus 5 · Exodus: all chapters · Exodus 6 compared →
Same 6 Similar 6 Different 10 Divergent 1 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.
Pharaoh’s Rejection
5:1 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “Thus says YHWH, the God of Israel: ‘Let My people go so that they may hold a feast for Me in the wilderness.’”
Greek · Saints priority
5:1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and said, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Let My people go so that they may hold a feast for Me in the wilderness.’”
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
5:2 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:2 Pharaoh said, “Who is YHWH, that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know YHWH, and I will not let Israel go.”
Greek · Saints priority
5:2 Pharaoh said, “Who is He, that I should obey His voice and let the sons of Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go.”
Greek leaves the opening identity question unnamed but uses Lord in the next clause [G5].
5:3 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:3 They said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to YHWH our God, lest He strike us with pestilence or the sword.”
Greek · Saints priority
5:3 They said to him, “The God of the Hebrews has called us. We will go a three days’ journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to our God, lest death or slaughter meet us.”
Met with/called and pestilence or sword/death or slaughter differ. Greek does not name God as the subject of the final threat [G5].
5:4 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:4 The king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you draw the people away from their work? Get back to your burdens!”
Greek · Saints priority
5:4 The king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you turn my people away from their work? Let each of you return to his work!”
Greek explicitly has my people in Pharaoh’s speech [G5]. His pronouns are not capitalized as divine speech.
5:5 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:5 Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now many, and you are making them rest from their burdens!”
Greek · Saints priority
5:5 Pharaoh said, “Look, the people are now numerous. Let us not give them rest from their work.”
Hebrew accuses Moses and Aaron; Greek states let us not give rest and lacks of the land [G5].
Pharaoh’s Escalation
5:6 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:6 That same day Pharaoh commanded the people’s taskmasters and foremen:
Greek · Saints priority
5:6 Pharaoh commanded the people’s taskmasters and scribes:
Greek lacks that same day and calls the officials scribes [G5]. Their exact administrative duties are not inferred from the title alone.
5:7 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:7 “You shall no longer give the people straw for making bricks as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves.
Greek · Saints priority
5:7 “The people shall no longer be given straw for making bricks as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves.
Hebrew directly addresses the overseers; RH uses an impersonal passive prohibition on giving straw. Both require the people to gather it.
5:8 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:8 “Impose on them the same quota of bricks they made before; do not reduce it. They are idle; that is why they cry out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’
Greek · Saints priority
5:8 “Impose on them the quota of bricks they make each day; do not reduce it at all. They have leisure; that is why they cry out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’
Former output and daily output differ in expression. Greek’s leisure language remains Pharaoh’s accusation; it does not make his treatment lenient [G5].
5:9 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:9 “Let the men’s labor be heavier, and let them work at it rather than pay attention to lying words.”
Greek · Saints priority
5:9 “Let these men’s tasks be heavier. Let them attend to them and pay no attention to empty words.”
Lying and empty are different accusations [G5]; both belong to Pharaoh’s speech.
5:10 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:10 The people’s taskmasters and foremen went out and said to the people, “Thus says Pharaoh: ‘I will not give you straw.
Greek · Saints priority
5:10 The taskmasters and scribes pressed them and said to the people, “Thus says Pharaoh: ‘I will no longer give you straw.
Hebrew describes going out; Greek describes pressing them [G5].
5:11 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:11 “‘Go and get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it; nothing shall be reduced from your work.’”
Greek · Saints priority
5:11 “‘Go and gather straw for yourselves wherever you can find it; nothing shall be reduced from your quota.’”
Work and quota overlap in the demand for unchanged output.
Israel’s Oppression
5:12 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:12 The people scattered throughout the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.
Greek · Saints priority
5:12 The people scattered throughout the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
5:13 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:13 The taskmasters pressed them, saying, “Complete your work, each day’s task on its day, as when straw was provided.”
Greek · Saints priority
5:13 The taskmasters pressed them, saying, “Complete the work due each day, as when straw was provided for you.”
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
5:14 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:14 The foremen of the sons of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and asked, “Why have you not completed your usual quota of bricks, either yesterday or today?”
Greek · Saints priority
5:14 The scribes of the people of the sons of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s overseers had set over them, were flogged and asked, “Why have you not completed your usual quota of bricks, including today’s?”
Greek specifies flogging and scribes; the timing is expressed differently [G5]. The Hebrew beating is not minimized.
5:15 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:15 The foremen of the sons of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, “Why do you treat your servants this way?
Greek · Saints priority
5:15 The scribes of the sons of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, “Why do you treat your household slaves this way?
Greek oiketai highlights household service [G5]. Hebrew servants is their form of address within the same coercive labor system.
5:16 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:16 “No straw is given to your servants, yet they tell us, ‘Make bricks!’ Your servants are being beaten, but the fault lies with your own people.”
Greek · Saints priority
5:16 “No straw is given to your household slaves, yet they tell us to make bricks. Your servants have been flogged; you will wrong your own people.”
The Hebrew closing clause is difficult, here rendered as assigning fault to Pharaoh’s people. Greek addresses Pharaoh as the agent of injustice [G5]. This does not establish a contradiction.
5:17 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:17 He said, “You are idle, idle! That is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to YHWH.’
Greek · Saints priority
5:17 He said to them, “You have leisure; you are idlers! That is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’
YHWH and our God differ. Both versions preserve Pharaoh’s accusation [G5].
5:18 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:18 “Now go and work. No straw shall be given to you, yet you shall deliver the quota of bricks.”
Greek · Saints priority
5:18 “Now go and work. No straw shall be given to you, yet you shall deliver the quota of bricks.”
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
5:19 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:19 The foremen of the sons of Israel saw that they were in trouble when they were told, “You shall not reduce your daily quota of bricks.”
Greek · Saints priority
5:19 The scribes of the sons of Israel saw that they were in trouble saying, “You shall not fall short of the bricks due each day.”
RH’s active saying has the scribes as grammatical subject; Hebrew’s reported instruction is expressed differently. Both concern the unchanged brick quota.
Moses’ Lamentation
5:20 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:20 As they came out from Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron, who were standing there to meet them.
Greek · Saints priority
5:20 As they came out from Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron, who were coming to meet them.
Standing and coming are distinct descriptions of the meeting [G5].
5:21 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:21 They said to them, “May YHWH look upon you and judge! You have made our smell stink in the eyes of Pharaoh and his servants, putting a sword in their hand to kill us.”
Greek · Saints priority
5:21 They said to them, “May God look upon you and judge! You have made our smell loathsome before Pharaoh and his attendants, putting a sword in his hands to kill us.”
The divine designation and the weapon’s recipient differ: their hand/his hands [G5]. Both retain the smell metaphor for becoming detestable.
5:22 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:22 Moses returned to YHWH and said, “Lord, why have You brought harm upon this people? Why did You send me?
Greek · Saints priority
5:22 Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Lord, why have You brought harm upon this people? Why did You send me?
Both preserve Moses’ complaint and his question about being sent. RH contains Lord without a separate Please.
5:23 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:23 “Since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has harmed this people, and You have not delivered Your people at all.”
Greek · Saints priority
5:23 “Since I went to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has harmed this people, and You have not rescued Your people.”
The Hebrew repetition strengthens the negation; both preserve the complaint.
← Exodus 4 compared · Reading text of Exodus 5 · Exodus: all chapters · Exodus 6 compared →
Saints Translation · Companion comparison edition · working draft awaiting specialist review.