Genesis 4 — Hebrew and Greek compared
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Same 2 Similar 5 Different 9 Divergent 1 Disparate 9
Disparate in this chapter: 4:5, 4:6, 4:7, 4:12, 4:13, 4:14, 4:21, 4:24, 4:26
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.
Cain and Abel
4:1 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
4:1 The human knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain. She said, “I have acquired a man with YHWH.”
Greek · Saints priority
4:1 Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain. She said, “I have acquired a human through God.”
H’s “with YHWH” is commonly understood as divine assistance; G explicitly has “through God.” G uses the personal names Adam and Eve here, after Life in 3:20.
4:2 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
4:2 She bore again, his brother Abel. Abel became a shepherd of the flock, while Cain worked the ground.
Greek · Saints priority
4:2 She bore again, his brother Abel. Abel became a shepherd of sheep, while Cain worked the earth.
Both contrast pastoral and agricultural work. H’s flock can include sheep and goats; G specifies sheep.
4:3 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
4:3 After some time Cain brought an offering to YHWH from the fruit of the ground.
Greek · Saints priority
4:3 After some days Cain brought a sacrifice to the Lord from the fruits of the earth.
H has minchah, an offering or gift; G uses thysia, sacrifice. G’s term does not require Cain’s offering to contain an animal.
Rabbinic — Rashi on Genesis 4:3: He regards Cain’s produce as inferior and also reports an aggadic identification with flaxseed. These details are commentary, not explicit in either running text.
4:4 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
4:4 Abel also brought from the firstborn of his flock and from their fat portions. YHWH regarded Abel and his offering,
Greek · Saints priority
4:4 Abel also brought from the firstborn of his sheep and from their fat portions. God looked upon Abel and his gifts,
G calls Abel’s offerings gifts, in contrast to Cain’s sacrifices, and uses God where H has YHWH. Both explicitly mention firstborn and fat portions.
Saints — Hebrews 11:4: Abel’s accepted offering is interpreted through faith; Genesis itself does not expressly supply that explanation.
4:5 Disparate
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
4:5 but He did not regard Cain and his offering. Cain became very angry, and his face fell.
Greek · Saints priority
4:5 but He paid no attention to Cain and his sacrifices. Cain was deeply grieved, and his face fell.
H portrays burning anger; G portrays sorrow or distress. The rejection agrees, but the stated emotional response changes substantially.
4:6 Disparate
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
4:6 YHWH said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen?
Greek · Saints priority
4:6 The Lord God said to Cain, “Why have you become deeply grieved, and why has your face fallen?
The divine question preserves the anger–grief distinction of 4:5. G additionally has Lord God rather than H’s YHWH.
4:7 Disparate
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
4:7 If you do well, will there not be a lifting up? But if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; its desire is toward you, but you must rule over it.”
Greek · Saints priority
4:7 If you offer correctly but do not divide correctly, have you not sinned? Be still; his turning is toward you, and you shall rule over him.”
H pictures crouching sin and possible mastery; G addresses correct offering and division, then commands stillness. The masculine Greek pronouns can refer to Abel, though their antecedent is debated. Neither a geometric ritual nor peaceful trust is stated explicitly.
4:8 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
4:8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother. While they were in the field, Cain rose against Abel his brother and killed him.
Greek · Saints priority
4:8 Cain said to Abel his brother, “Let us go out into the plain.” While they were in the plain, Cain rose against Abel his brother and killed him.
H reports speech without its words. G includes the invitation. The Hebrew column does not silently restore it; the missing speech content is acknowledged here.
Cain’s Judgement
4:9 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
4:9 YHWH said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”
Greek · Saints priority
4:9 God said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”
The divine designation differs; the question and denial agree.
4:10 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
4:10 He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries to Me from the ground.
Greek · Saints priority
4:10 God said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries to Me from the earth.
H’s blood word is plural, often expressing bloodshed; G uses singular blood and expressly identifies God as speaker. The plural receives further interpretation in Jewish reception.
4:11 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
4:11 Now you are cursed from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.
Greek · Saints priority
4:11 Now you are cursed from the earth, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.
Both personify the earth receiving blood. G is “from,” not the draft’s “upon”; H again has plural bloods.
4:12 Disparate
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
4:12 When you work the ground, it will no longer give you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer upon the earth.”
Greek · Saints priority
4:12 For you will work the earth, and it will no longer give you its strength. You shall be groaning and trembling upon the earth.”
H’s fugitive wandering becomes G’s bodily distress. Agricultural deprivation is shared, but the resulting condition is expressed differently.
4:13 Disparate
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
4:13 Cain said to YHWH, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.
Greek · Saints priority
4:13 Cain said to the Lord, “My guilt is too great for me to be forgiven.
The displayed readings contrast unbearable punishment with unforgivable guilt. H’s avon and nasa can also yield a guilt-and-forgiveness reading; this is a substantial but linguistically qualified contrast.
4:14 Disparate
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
4:14 Behold, You have driven me today from the face of the ground, and I shall be hidden from Your face. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer upon the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”
Greek · Saints priority
4:14 If You drive me today from the face of the earth, I shall be hidden from Your face and shall be groaning and trembling upon the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”
H states expulsion; G begins conditionally. The wandering–distress difference recurs. Both include fear of being killed, previously abbreviated out of the draft’s literal columns.
4:15 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
4:15 YHWH said to him, “Therefore, whoever kills Cain shall suffer sevenfold vengeance.” YHWH set a sign for Cain, so that whoever found him would not strike him down.
Greek · Saints priority
4:15 The Lord God said to him, “Not so! Whoever kills Cain will discharge seven acts of vengeance.” The Lord God set a sign for Cain, so that whoever found him would not kill him.
H begins therefore; G rejects the preceding fear with not so. G’s difficult paralyein clause is rendered provisionally as discharging seven acts of vengeance; undoing or releasing the penalties remains possible. In the consulted English presentation of Basil, Letter 260 to Optimus §§2–4, killing Cain would relieve his continuing punishment. This reception does not settle the Greek construction, which still needs independent philological review. The sign protects Cain; neither text describes its appearance or a hereditary racial trait.
4:16 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
4:16 Cain went out from the presence of YHWH and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
Greek · Saints priority
4:16 Cain went out from the presence of God and settled in the land of Nod, opposite Eden.
G has God instead of YHWH and opposite rather than east. Nod/Naid is the corresponding place name.
Genealogy of Cain
4:17 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
4:17 Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. He was building a city and named the city after his son Enoch.
Greek · Saints priority
4:17 Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. He was building a city and named the city after his son Enoch.
Both relate the birth and the city’s naming. The wife’s origin is not supplied by either verse.
4:18 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
4:18 To Enoch was born Irad; Irad begat Mehujael, Mehujael begat Methushael, and Methushael begat Lamech.
Greek · Saints priority
4:18 To Enoch was born Gaidad; Gaidad begat Maiel, Maiel begat Mathousala, and Mathousala begat Lamech.
The intermediate names differ materially in form. Mathousala here corresponds to Methushael; the shared Greek form does not merge this genealogy with Seth’s line in chapter 5.
4:19 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
4:19 Lamech took two wives for himself; the name of one was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah.
Greek · Saints priority
4:19 Lamech took two wives for himself; the name of one was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah.
Both explicitly name two wives.
4:20 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
4:20 Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and keep livestock.
Greek · Saints priority
4:20 Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of livestock breeders who dwell in tents.
G makes the animal-keeping occupation explicit; H expresses it through tents and livestock.
4:21 Disparate
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
4:21 His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play the lyre and pipe.
Greek · Saints priority
4:21 His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the one who introduced the harp and lyre.
H names an ancestral founder of musicians and includes a pipe; G presents an introducer of two stringed instruments. The role and instrument inventory both change.
4:22 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
4:22 Zillah also bore Tubal-cain, a sharpener of every tool of bronze and iron. Tubal-cain’s sister was Naamah.
Greek · Saints priority
4:22 Zillah also bore Tubal; he was a hammering smith of bronze and iron. Tubal’s sister was Naamah.
G lacks Cain in the compound name and directly describes smithing. H’s compact artisan phrase is difficult; “every tool” supplies its understood object.
4:23 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
4:23 Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; wives of Lamech, give ear to my speech. I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for bruising me.
Greek · Saints priority
4:23 Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; wives of Lamech, give ear to my words. I have killed a man for a wound to me, a young man for a bruise to me.
Both preserve the parallel boast. The relation of killing to the wound permits interpretation; neither Greek nor Hebrew adds “alone” to his words.
4:24 Disparate
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
4:24 If Cain is avenged sevenfold, then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”
Greek · Saints priority
4:24 For vengeance has been exacted seven times from Cain, but from Lamech seventy times seven.”
H has seventy-seven; the Greek expression is rendered seventy times seven here, though seventy-seven is also argued for this idiom. Greek ek, from/by, also leaves the relation to the avenging act disputed. No simple arithmetic proof settles the full comparison.
Birth of Seth
4:25 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
4:25 Adam again knew his wife, and she bore a son and named him Seth, saying, “God has appointed another offspring for me in place of Abel, because Cain killed him.”
Greek · Saints priority
4:25 Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore a son and named him Seth, saying, “God has raised up another offspring for me in place of Abel, whom Cain killed.”
H’s appointed becomes G’s raised up; G names Eve and includes conception, while H says again. Raised up here concerns provision of offspring, not an explicit resurrection claim.
4:26 Disparate
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
4:26 A son was also born to Seth, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of YHWH.
Greek · Saints priority
4:26 A son was born to Seth, and he named him Enosh. He hoped to call upon the name of the Lord God.
H describes a beginning of invocation; G describes an individual’s hope to invoke. The Hebrew verb also has a history of interpretation as profanation, which must be attributed rather than silently imposed.
Rabbinic — Rashi on Genesis 4:26: He interprets huḥal through profanation: people and idols were called by the divine name. That reception differs from the “began” construal printed in the Hebrew column.
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Saints Translation · Companion comparison edition · working draft awaiting specialist review.