Genesis 32 — Hebrew and Greek compared
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Same 13 Similar 5 Different 6 Divergent 4 Disparate 4
Disparate in this chapter: 32:10, 32:25, 32:28, 32:32
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.
Jacob’s Discovery
32:1 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
32:1 [MT 32:2] Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.
Greek · Saints priority
32:1 [RH 32:2] And Jacob departed for his journey; and having looked up, he saw the host of God encamped; and the angels of God met him.
Greek adds Jacob looking up and seeing God’s encamped host before the angelic encounter. Common English 32:1 corresponds to 32:2 in both the Hebrew source and Rahlfs–Hanhart. [G32]
32:2 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
32:2 [MT 32:3] And when Jacob saw them, he said, “This is the Camp of God!” So he called the name of that place Mahanaim.
Greek · Saints priority
32:2 [RH 32:3] And when Jacob saw them, he said, “This is the Camp of God!” So he called the name of that place Encampments.
Greek translates the camp name descriptively; Hebrew retains Mahanaim.
32:3 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
32:3 [MT 32:4] Then Jacob sent messengers before his face to Esau, his brother, to the land of Seir, to the country of Edom.
Greek · Saints priority
32:3 [RH 32:4] Then Jacob sent messengers before his face to Esau, his brother, to the land of Seir, to the country of Edom.
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
32:4 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
32:4 [MT 32:5] He instructed them, “Say to my lord Esau, ‘Your servant Jacob says: I have lived with Laban and remained there until now.’”
Greek · Saints priority
32:4 [RH 32:5] He instructed them, “Say to my lord Esau, ‘Your servant Jacob says: I have lived with Laban and remained there until now.’”
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
32:5 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
32:5 [MT 32:6] “‘I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, and male and female slaves. I have sent to tell my lord, so I may find favor in your sight.’”
Greek · Saints priority
32:5 [RH 32:6] “‘I have acquired oxen, donkeys, sheep, and male and female slaves. I have sent to tell my lord Esau, so your servant may find favor in your sight.’”
Greek names Esau and repeats your servant. Its acquisition verb does not mean the slaves were all born to Jacob [G32].
32:6 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
32:6 [MT 32:7] Then the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and look, he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.”
Greek · Saints priority
32:6 [RH 32:7] Then the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and look, he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.”
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
32:7 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
32:7 [MT 32:8] Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. He divided the people with him, the flocks, the herds, and the camels into two camps.
Greek · Saints priority
32:7 [RH 32:8] Jacob was greatly afraid and perplexed. He divided the people with him, the oxen, and the sheep into two camps.
The consulted Greek lacks camels in this list; V1’s addition is removed [G32].
32:8 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
32:8 [MT 32:9] He said, “If Esau comes to one camp and attacks it, the remaining camp will escape.”
Greek · Saints priority
32:8 [RH 32:9] He said, “If Esau comes to one camp and attacks it, the remaining camp will escape.”
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
Jacob’s Dependence
32:9 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
32:9 [MT 32:10] Jacob said, “God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, YHWH, who said to me, ‘Return to your land and kindred, and I will do you good,’”
Greek · Saints priority
32:9 [RH 32:10] Jacob said, “God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, Lord, who said to me, ‘Hurry to the land of your birth, and I will do you good,’”
Return to land and kindred/hurry to birthplace differs in expression [G32].
32:10 Disparate
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
32:10 [MT 32:11] “I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness You have shown Your servant. With my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps.”
Greek · Saints priority
32:10 [RH 32:11] “All the righteousness and truth You have shown Your servant suffice for me. With my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps.”
Hebrew expresses Jacob’s unworthiness of the kindness and faithfulness he has received; Greek describes their sufficiency for him. This changes the force of his acknowledgment within the prayer. The difficult Greek present expression is preserved without changing it into a command. [H32; G32]
32:11 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
32:11 [MT 32:12] “Please rescue me from my brother’s hand, from Esau’s hand, for I fear that he may come and strike me down, mothers together with children.”
Greek · Saints priority
32:11 [RH 32:12] “Rescue me from the hand of my brother Esau, for I fear that he may come and strike me down, mothers together with children.”
Greek states the brother’s hand once. Mother with children is a collective image of feared destruction [G32].
32:12 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
32:12 [MT 32:13] “But You said, ‘I will surely do you good and make your seed like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted for its multitude.’”
Greek · Saints priority
32:12 [RH 32:13] “But You said, ‘I will surely do you good and make your seed like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted for its multitude.’”
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
Jacob’s Decision
32:13 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
32:13 [MT 32:14] He stayed there that night and selected a gift for Esau his brother from what he had with him.
Greek · Saints priority
32:13 [RH 32:14] He slept there that night, took gifts from what he was carrying, and sent them to Esau his brother.
Greek explicitly states the sending of the gifts [G32].
32:14 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
32:14 [MT 32:15] two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,
Greek · Saints priority
32:14 [RH 32:15] two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
32:15 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
32:15 [MT 32:16] thirty nursing camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten foals.
Greek · Saints priority
32:15 [RH 32:16] thirty nursing camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty donkeys and ten foals.
The numbers agree. Hebrew specifies female donkeys; Greek simply names donkeys here. Companion alignment 32:15 corresponds to RH 32:16.
32:16 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
32:16 [MT 32:17] And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, herd by herd apart; and he said to his servants, “Pass on before me, and make a space between herd and herd.”
Greek · Saints priority
32:16 [RH 32:17] And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, herd by herd apart; and he said to his servants, “Pass on before me, and make a space between herd and herd.”
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
32:17 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
32:17 [MT 32:18] He commanded the first servant, “If my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘Whose servant are you? Where are you going? Whose animals are these before you?’”
Greek · Saints priority
32:17 [RH 32:18] He commanded the first servant, “If my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘Whose servant are you? Where are you going? Whose animals are these before you?’”
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
32:18 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
32:18 [MT 32:19] “then say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. It is a gift sent to my lord Esau, and he himself is behind us.’”
Greek · Saints priority
32:18 [RH 32:19] “then say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. He has sent gifts to my lord Esau, and he himself is behind us.’”
Hebrew treats the gift collectively; Greek uses sent gifts in the plural. Companion alignment 32:18 corresponds to RH 32:19.
32:19 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
32:19 [MT 32:20] And so he commanded the second, and the third, and all that followed the herds, saying, “According to these words you shall speak to Esau when you find him.”
Greek · Saints priority
32:19 [RH 32:20] He also instructed the first, the second, the third, and all who went behind these flocks, “Speak to Esau in this way when you meet him.”
Greek explicitly includes the first in this repeated instruction [G32].
32:20 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
32:20 [MT 32:21] “Also say, ‘Your servant Jacob is behind us.’” For he thought, “I will appease him with the gift going before me; afterward I will see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.”
Greek · Saints priority
32:20 [RH 32:21] “Also say, ‘Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.’” For he thought, “I will appease him with the gifts going before him; afterward I will see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.”
Before me/before him differs. Face idioms concern personal acceptance; propitiation language here concerns reconciliation with Esau, not sacrifice to him [G32].
32:21 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
32:21 [MT 32:22] The gift went ahead of him, while he spent that night in the camp.
Greek · Saints priority
32:21 [RH 32:22] The gifts went ahead of him, while he spent that night in the camp.
Hebrew has the collective gift; Greek has gifts in the plural. Companion alignment 32:21 corresponds to RH 32:22.
Jacob’s Development
32:22 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
32:22 [MT 32:23] And he rose up in the night and took his two wives, and his two slave women, and his eleven children, and crossed over the ford of Jabbok.
Greek · Saints priority
32:22 [RH 32:23] And he rose up in the night and took his two wives, and his two slave women, and his eleven children, and crossed over the ford of Jabbok.
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
32:23 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
32:23 [MT 32:24] He took them and sent them across the stream, and sent over what he had.
Greek · Saints priority
32:23 [RH 32:24] He took them and crossed the torrent, and brought over all that he had.
Hebrew describes sending them across; Greek describes crossing and bringing the belongings across [G32].
32:24 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
32:24 [MT 32:25] And Jacob was left behind alone; and a man wrestled with him until the morning.
Greek · Saints priority
32:24 [RH 32:25] And Jacob was left behind alone; and a man wrestled with him until the morning.
The corresponding meaning and content agree. Rabbinic reception: Rashi on MT 32:25 identifies the wrestler as Esau’s angelic prince. That interpretation remains distinct from the narrative’s word man [R32].
32:25 Disparate
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
32:25 [MT 32:26] When the man saw that he could not prevail against him, he touched Jacob’s hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was dislocated as he wrestled with him.
Greek · Saints priority
32:25 [RH 32:26] And when the man saw that he could not prevail against him, he touched the broad part of his thigh; and the broad part of Jacob’s thigh became numb in his wrestling with him.
Hebrew describes a dislocated hip socket; Greek describes numbness in the broad part of the thigh. The reported bodily outcome changes substantially. The note identifies the textual descriptions without imposing a modern diagnosis. [G32]
32:26 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
32:26 [MT 32:27] And he said to him, “Let me go, for the dawn has risen.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.”
Greek · Saints priority
32:26 [RH 32:27] And he said to him, “Let me go, for the dawn has risen.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.”
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
32:27 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
32:27 [MT 32:28] Then he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”
Greek · Saints priority
32:27 [RH 32:28] Then he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
32:28 Disparate
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
32:28 [MT 32:29] He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.”
Greek · Saints priority
32:28 [RH 32:29] He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have been strong with God, and with men you are powerful.”
The wording of struggle and strength differs. The consulted Greek’s final phrase is verbless; V1’s future is not forced into the translation [G32]. Rabbinic reception: Rashi on MT 32:29 reads the new name as acknowledging Jacob’s claim to blessing without the charge of deceit [R32]. The explanation of Jacob’s new name and his relation to God is materially recast.
32:29 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
32:29 [MT 32:30] And Jacob asked and said, “Tell me your name.” And he said, “Why is it that you ask for my name?” And he blessed him there.
Greek · Saints priority
32:29 [RH 32:30] And Jacob asked and said, “Tell me your name.” And he said, “Why is it that you ask for my name?” And he blessed him there.
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
32:30 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
32:30 [MT 32:31] Jacob named the place Peniel, saying, “I have seen God face to face, and my life has been preserved.”
Greek · Saints priority
32:30 [RH 32:31] Jacob named the place Form of God, saying, “I have seen God face to face, and my life has been preserved.”
Hebrew Peniel evokes God’s face; Greek uses Form of God as the place name [G32].
32:31 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
32:31 [MT 32:32] The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, and he was limping because of his hip.
Greek · Saints priority
32:31 [RH 32:32] The sun rose upon him as he passed Form of God, and he was limping because of his thigh.
The place-name and injury vocabulary continue. Greek Form of God is retained consistently with verse 30 [G32].
32:32 Disparate
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
32:32 [MT 32:33] Therefore the Israelites do not eat the sinew at the hip socket to this day, because he touched Jacob’s hip socket at that sinew.
Greek · Saints priority
32:32 [RH 32:33] Therefore the Israelites do not eat the sinew that became numb, which is at the broad part of the thigh, to this day, because he touched the broad part of Jacob’s thigh, the sinew, and it became numb.
The dietary explanation recalls distinct injury descriptions: Hebrew’s hip socket and difficult sinew term, and Greek’s numb sinew at the broad part of the thigh. The bodily detail underlying the practice changes. Exact modern anatomical identification remains open. [H32; G32]
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Saints Translation · Companion comparison edition · working draft awaiting specialist review.