Genesis 23 — Hebrew and Greek compared
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Same 5 Similar 1 Different 11 Divergent 2 Disparate 1
Disparate in this chapter: 23:6
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 Death of Sarah
23:1 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
23:1 Sarah's life was one hundred years, twenty years, and seven years. These were the years of Sarah's life.
Greek · Saints priority
23:1 Sarah's life was one hundred and twenty-seven years.
The total of 127 agrees. H repeats years with each numerical unit and closes with a lifespan formula absent from G.
23:2 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
23:2 Sarah died at Kiriath-arba, which is Hebron, in the land of Canaan. Abraham came to mourn Sarah and weep for her.
Greek · Saints priority
23:2 Sarah died in the city of Arbok, which is in the hollow, that is, Hebron, in the land of Canaan. Abraham came to lament Sarah and mourn.
G adds in the hollow and has Arbok as the city name. The mourning verbs differ; the draft's Valley of Hebron blended the extra location with the identification.
23:3 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
23:3 Abraham rose from before his dead and spoke to the sons of Heth:
Greek · Saints priority
23:3 Abraham rose from his dead and spoke to the sons of Heth:
The action and addressees agree; his dead refers to Sarah.
23:4 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
23:4 “I am a stranger and a resident among you. Give me burial property among you, so that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”
Greek · Saints priority
23:4 “I am a sojourner and a temporary resident among you. Give me burial property among you, and I will bury my dead away from me.”
H pairs foreignness with resident status; G emphasizes sojourning and temporary residence. Both request possession of a burial place.
Saints — Hebrews 11:13–16: The patriarchs’ status as strangers is developed into longing for a heavenly homeland.
23:5 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
23:5 The sons of Heth answered Abraham,
Greek · Saints priority
23:5 The sons of Heth answered Abraham,
The formal response introduction agrees.
23:6 Disparate
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
23:6 “Hear us, my lord. You are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs; none of us will withhold his tomb from you for burying your dead.”
Greek · Saints priority
23:6 “No, lord; hear us. You are a king from God among us. Bury your dead in our choicest tombs; none of us will withhold his tomb from you for burying your dead there.”
H offers the honorific prince of God; G says king from God and adds an initial refusal. The social designation differs, without making the greeting a narrated coronation.
23:7 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
23:7 Abraham rose and bowed to the people of the land, the sons of Heth.
Greek · Saints priority
23:7 Abraham rose and bowed to the people of the land, the sons of Heth.
The respectful gesture and recipients agree.
23:8 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
23:8 He spoke with them: “If you are willing that I bury my dead out of my sight, hear me and intercede for me with Ephron son of Zohar,
Greek · Saints priority
23:8 Abraham spoke to them: “If you are willing that I bury my dead out of my sight, hear me and speak for me to Ephron son of Zohar,
G names Abraham, uses speak for where H says intercede, and has the Greek form Saar for Ephron’s father, represented here by familiar Zohar, as at 25:9.
23:9 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
23:9 so that he may give me his cave of Machpelah, at the edge of his field. For the full price in silver, let him give it to me among you as burial property.”
Greek · Saints priority
23:9 and let him give me his double cave, which is in a part of his field. For its proper value in silver, let him give it to me among you as burial property.”
H names Machpelah and locates the cave at the field's edge; G describes a double cave in a part of the field. Full and proper-value silver express the requested payment differently.
Abraham Purchases the Tomb
23:10 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
23:10 Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth. Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the sons of Heth, before all who entered his city's gate:
Greek · Saints priority
23:10 Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth. Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the sons of Heth and all who entered the city:
H specifies the city gate; G mentions entry into the city without the gate.
23:11 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
23:11 “No, my lord, hear me. I give you the field, and I give you the cave in it. In the sight of the sons of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead.”
Greek · Saints priority
23:11 “Come to my side, lord, and hear me. I give you the field and the cave in it. Before all my fellow citizens I have given it to you. Bury your dead.”
RH begins with an invitation to his side rather than H's no. It compresses H's repeated gifts and uses fellow citizens for sons of my people.
23:12 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
23:12 Abraham bowed before the people of the land.
Greek · Saints priority
23:12 Abraham bowed before the people of the land.
The gesture agrees.
23:13 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
23:13 He spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land: “If only you would hear me! I give the price of the field. Take it from me, so that I may bury my dead there.”
Greek · Saints priority
23:13 He said to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, “Since you are on my side, hear me. Take the price of the field from me, and I will bury my dead there.”
H's difficult conditional appeal differs from G's since you are on my side, which responds to verse 11. H also explicitly says I give the silver.
23:14 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
23:14 Ephron answered Abraham,
Greek · Saints priority
23:14 Ephron answered Abraham,
The response introduction agrees.
23:15 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
23:15 “My lord, hear me. Land worth four hundred shekels of silver—what is that between me and you? Bury your dead.”
Greek · Saints priority
23:15 “No, lord, I have heard. Land worth four hundred didrachms of silver—what would that be between me and you? Bury your dead.”
H commands hear me; RH answers I have heard and adds no. G uses didrachms for H shekels; the denomination is not replaced with modern coinage.
23:16 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
23:16 Abraham listened to Ephron and weighed out to him the silver he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth: four hundred shekels of silver current among merchants.
Greek · Saints priority
23:16 Abraham listened to Ephron and paid him the silver he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth: four hundred didrachms of silver approved by merchants.
H explicitly weighs the payment; RH uses a payment/restoration verb. The monetary terms and description of acceptable silver differ; the draft's Greek weighed was not retained.
Tomb of the Patriarchs
23:17 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
23:17 So Ephron's field at Machpelah, facing Mamre—the field, its cave, and every tree within all its surrounding boundaries—was secured
Greek · Saints priority
23:17 So Ephron's field at the Double Cave, facing Mamre—the field, its cave, and every tree within its surrounding boundaries—was established
G uses Double Cave where H has Machpelah. Its literal in the double cave is rendered at as a locality description, not an assertion that the entire field was underground.
23:18 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
23:18 to Abraham as a purchase in the sight of the sons of Heth, before all who entered his city's gate.
Greek · Saints priority
23:18 to Abraham as a possession before the sons of Heth and all who entered the city.
H emphasizes acquisition/purchase and the gate; G possession and the city. Both complete the property statement begun in verse 17.
23:19 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
23:19 Afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of the field of Machpelah, facing Mamre, which is Hebron, in the land of Canaan.
Greek · Saints priority
23:19 Afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the double cave of the field, opposite Mamre, which is Hebron, in the land of Canaan.
H retains Machpelah; G again describes a double cave. The burial, regional identification, and country agree.
23:20 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
23:20 The field and its cave were secured to Abraham as burial property from the sons of Heth.
Greek · Saints priority
23:20 The field and its cave were ratified to Abraham as burial property from the sons of Heth.
G uses an explicit confirmation verb for H's standing/being secured formula. The legal result agrees.
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Saints Translation · Companion comparison edition · working draft awaiting specialist review.