Genesis 33 — Hebrew and Greek compared
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Same 4 Similar 7 Different 4 Divergent 3 Disparate 2
Disparate in this chapter: 33:19, 33:20
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.
Reunion and Reconciliation
33:1 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
33:1 Now Jacob looked up with his eyes and saw, and behold, Esau was coming, and with him were four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two slave women.
Greek · Saints priority
33:1 Now Jacob looked up with his eyes and saw, and behold, Esau his brother was coming, and with him were four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two slave women.
Greek explicitly identifies Esau as his brother [G33].
33:2 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
33:2 And he put the two slave women and their children in the front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph last.
Greek · Saints priority
33:2 And he put the two slave women and their sons in the front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph last.
The arrangement agrees; Greek calls the slave women’s offspring sons, then uses children for Leah’s offspring.
33:3 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
33:3 He himself went on before them and bowed down upon the earth seven times until he came near to his brother.
Greek · Saints priority
33:3 He himself went on before them and bowed down upon the earth seven times until he came near to his brother.
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
33:4 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
33:4 And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him, and they both wept.
Greek · Saints priority
33:4 Esau ran to meet him, embraced and kissed him, and fell on his neck; both of them wept.
The kiss and falling-on-the-neck actions occur in a different order. Both describe reconciliation [G33]. Rabbinic reception: Rashi records disagreement about the kiss. One reading questions its sincerity; Rabbi Simeon ben Yochai says Esau felt compassion and kissed Jacob wholeheartedly at that moment [R33].
33:5 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
33:5 He looked up and saw the women and children and asked, “Who are these with you?” Jacob said, “The children God has graciously given your servant.”
Greek · Saints priority
33:5 And looking up, Esau saw the women and the children, and said, “Who are these with you?” And he said, “The children with whom God has had mercy on your servant.”
Gracious giving and showing mercy overlap in this acknowledgment.
33:6 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
33:6 Then the slave women and their children drew near and bowed down.
Greek · Saints priority
33:6 Then the slave women and their children drew near and bowed down.
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
33:7 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
33:7 And Leah also and her children drew near and bowed down; and after these things Joseph and Rachel drew near and bowed down.
Greek · Saints priority
33:7 And Leah also and her children drew near and bowed down; and after these things Rachel and Joseph drew near and bowed down.
The order of the final pair’s names differs [G33].
33:8 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
33:8 Esau asked, “What did you mean by all this company I met?” Jacob said, “To find favor in my lord’s sight.”
Greek · Saints priority
33:8 Esau asked, “What did you mean by all these companies I met?” Jacob said, “So your servant might find favor in your sight, my lord.”
The camp/company noun is singular in Hebrew and plural in Greek; Greek also explicitly repeats your servant [G33].
33:9 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
33:9 But Esau said, “I have plenty, my brother; keep what is yours for yourself.”
Greek · Saints priority
33:9 But Esau said, “I have plenty, my brother; keep what is yours for yourself.”
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
33:10 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
33:10 Jacob said, “No, please. If I have found favor in your sight, accept my gift from my hand. Seeing your face has been like seeing the face of God, and you have accepted me.”
Greek · Saints priority
33:10 Jacob said, “If I have found favor in your sight, accept the gifts from my hands. I have seen your face as one might see the face of God, and you will accept me.”
Greek has a future acceptance expression, not you will be pleasing to me. The comparison to God’s face remains a simile, not an identification of Esau as God [G33].
33:11 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
33:11 “Please accept my blessing that has been brought to you, for God has dealt graciously with me, and I have enough.” He urged him, and Esau accepted it.
Greek · Saints priority
33:11 “Accept my blessings that I have brought to you, for God has shown me mercy, and I have everything.” He pressed him, and Esau accepted them.
Blessing/blessings refers to the gift; the strong urging verb need not mean physical coercion [G33].
Parting of the Ways
33:12 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
33:12 Esau said, “Let us journey on, and I will go beside you.”
Greek · Saints priority
33:12 He said, “Let us set out and go straight ahead.”
Greek does not contain a separate I will go beside you clause. V1’s combined wording is corrected [G33].
33:13 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
33:13 Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are tender, and I must care for the nursing flocks and herds. If they are driven hard for one day, all the flock will die.”
Greek · Saints priority
33:13 He said to him, “My lord knows that the children are tender, and the sheep and cows are nursing under my care. If I drive them hard for one day, all the livestock will die.”
Both emphasize vulnerable children and nursing animals. Greek explicitly makes Jacob the hypothetical driver [G33].
33:14 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
33:14 “Let my lord go ahead of his servant. I will lead on gently at the pace of the livestock before me and of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.”
Greek · Saints priority
33:14 “Let my lord go ahead of his servant. I will make my way at a leisurely pace, according to the journey before me and the children’s steps, until I come to my lord in Seir.”
Hebrew refers to the work/property before him, here the livestock; Greek describes progress on the journey [G33].
33:15 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
33:15 And Esau said, “Let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.” But he said, “Why is this necessary? Let me find grace in the sight of my lord.”
Greek · Saints priority
33:15 Esau said, “Let me leave some of my people with you.” He replied, “Why do that? It is enough that I have found favor in your sight, my lord.”
Greek explicitly says it is enough [G33].
33:16 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
33:16 So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir.
Greek · Saints priority
33:16 So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir.
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
33:17 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
33:17 Jacob traveled to Succoth. He built himself a house and made shelters for his livestock. Therefore he named the place Succoth.
Greek · Saints priority
33:17 Jacob traveled to Booths. He built himself houses there and made tents for his livestock. Therefore he named the place Booths.
Greek translates the place name and has houses in the plural, restored from the consulted reading [G33].
33:18 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
33:18 Jacob arrived safely at the city of Shechem in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan-aram. He camped in front of the city.
Greek · Saints priority
33:18 Then Jacob came to Salem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Mesopotamia of Syria; and he pitched his tent before the city.
Hebrew shalem is read as safely/whole; Greek has Salem as a name. This need not be expanded into a claim that two unrelated cities are intended [G33].
33:19 Disparate
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
33:19 He bought the plot of ground where he had pitched his tent from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for one hundred kesitahs.
Greek · Saints priority
33:19 He bought the plot of ground where he had pitched his tent from Hamor, Shechem’s father, for one hundred lambs.
Hebrew gives one hundred kesitahs as the payment and names the sons of Hamor as sellers; Greek gives one hundred lambs and names Hamor. Both the payment and the parties to the transaction differ materially. The ancient kesitah is retained without a fabricated modern value. [G33]
33:20 Disparate
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
33:20 He erected an altar there and named it El-Elohe-Israel.
Greek · Saints priority
33:20 And he erected an altar there and invoked the God of Israel.
Hebrew names the altar God, the God of Israel; Greek describes invoking the God of Israel [G33]. Naming an altar and invoking God describe different religious acts.
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Saints Translation · Companion comparison edition · working draft awaiting specialist review.