Numbers 5 — Hebrew and Greek compared
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Same 6 Similar 10 Different 10 Divergent 1 Disparate 4
Disparate in this chapter: 5:6, 5:17, 5:18, 5:25
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.
Exclusion of the Unclean
5:1 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:1 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying:
Greek · Saints priority
5:1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
5:2 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:2 Command the sons of Israel to send out of the camp everyone with leprosy, everyone with a discharge, and everyone unclean through a dead person.
Greek · Saints priority
5:2 Command the sons of Israel to send out of the camp everyone with leprosy, everyone with a seminal discharge, and everyone unclean through a dead person.
Greek gonorryēs specifies a genital or seminal flux. These are ancient purity categories, not modern medical diagnoses.
Apostolic comparison: Matthew describes a woman with a long-standing hemorrhage approaching Jesus and receiving healing. This comparison places the purity background beside the Gospel narrative without rewriting the camp exclusion rule.
Source: Matthew 9:20–22
5:3 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:3 Send out male and female alike. Send them outside the camp, so that they do not defile their camps, where I dwell among them.
Greek · Saints priority
5:3 Send out male and female alike, outside the camp, so that they do not defile their camps, where I reside among them.
Both expressly apply the camp rule to males and females.
5:4 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:4 The sons of Israel did so and sent them outside the camp. As YHWH spoke to Moses, so the sons of Israel did.
Greek · Saints priority
5:4 The sons of Israel did so and sent them outside the camp. As the Lord spoke to Moses, so the sons of Israel did.
Confession and Restitution
5:5 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:5 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying:
Greek · Saints priority
5:5 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
5:6 Disparate
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:6 Speak to the sons of Israel: When a man or woman commits any human sin, acting unfaithfully against YHWH, and that person becomes guilty,
Greek · Saints priority
5:6 Speak to the sons of Israel, saying: When a man or woman commits any human sin, acts with deliberate disregard, and that person commits an offense,
Hebrew expressly names unfaithfulness against YHWH; Greek does not name God as the offended party in this clause. The Greek still places restitution in a divine legal setting.
5:7 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:7 They shall confess the sin they committed. The person shall repay the full amount of the wrong, add one-fifth to it, and give it to the person wronged.
Greek · Saints priority
5:7 That person shall confess the sin committed, repay the offense’s full amount, add one-fifth to it, and give it to the person wronged.
The confession, principal, surcharge, and recipient agree; Hebrew begins with a plural confession verb.
5:8 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:8 If the man has no kinsman to receive repayment, the repayment made to YHWH shall belong to the priest, besides the ram of atonement with which atonement is made for him.
Greek · Saints priority
5:8 If the man has no next of kin to receive repayment, the repayment made to the Lord shall belong to the priest, besides the ram of propitiation with which propitiation is made for him.
Hebrew and Greek retain both restitution and sacrifice. The two English ritual glosses do not by themselves demonstrate opposing theologies.
5:9 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:9 Every contribution from all the holy gifts of the sons of Israel that they bring to the priest shall belong to him.
Greek · Saints priority
5:9 Every first portion from all the things consecrated among the sons of Israel that they bring to the Lord, to the priest, shall belong to him.
Greek names the Lord in the presentation and uses first-portion language; Hebrew says contribution.
5:10 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:10 Each man’s holy gifts shall be his; whatever a man gives to the priest shall belong to him.
Greek · Saints priority
5:10 Each person’s consecrated things shall be his; whatever a man gives to the priest shall belong to him.
Both preserve the compressed “his/him” ownership language. Interpretation of the first clause belongs in notes.
The Mandate
5:11 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:11 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying:
Greek · Saints priority
5:11 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
5:12 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:12 Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them: If any man’s wife strays and acts unfaithfully against him,
Greek · Saints priority
5:12 Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them: If any man’s wife transgresses and treats him with contempt,
Unfaithfulness / contempt changes the stated description of marital wrongdoing.
5:13 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:13 And a man lies with her in an emission of seed, hidden from her husband’s eyes, and she conceals herself, having become defiled, with no witness against her and without being caught,
Greek · Saints priority
5:13 And someone lies with her in a bedding of seed, escapes her husband’s notice, and conceals it, while she is defiled, with no witness concerning her and without her being caught,
Both concern concealed intercourse without an available witness. The Greek does not establish a different evidentiary requirement.
5:14 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:14 And a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife, when she is defiled—or a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife, when she is not defiled—
Greek · Saints priority
5:14 And a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife, when she is defiled—or a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife, when she is not defiled—
Both expressly allow that the suspected woman may be innocent.
5:15 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:15 The man shall bring his wife to the priest and bring her offering on her behalf: one-tenth of an ephah of barley flour. He shall not pour oil on it or put frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering of jealousy, a memorial grain offering bringing guilt to remembrance.
Greek · Saints priority
5:15 The man shall bring his wife to the priest and present the gift on her behalf: one-tenth of an ephah of barley flour. He shall not pour oil on it or put frankincense on it, because it is a sacrifice of jealousy, a memorial sacrifice bringing sin to remembrance.
Grain offering / sacrifice, guilt / sin. The barley quantity and absence of oil and incense agree.
The Ritual Elements
5:16 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:16 The priest shall bring her near and stand her before YHWH.
Greek · Saints priority
5:16 The priest shall bring her near and stand her before the Lord.
5:17 Disparate
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:17 The priest shall take holy water in an earthenware vessel. He shall take some dust from the floor of the Dwelling and put it into the water.
Greek · Saints priority
5:17 The priest shall take clean, living water in an earthenware vessel. He shall take some earth from the floor of the Tent of Testimony and put it into the water.
Holy water / clean, living water changes the expressed ritual specification. “Living” water normally denotes fresh flowing or spring water; holiness and cleanness are not interchangeable words.
5:18 Disparate
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:18 The priest shall stand the woman before YHWH, loosen the hair of her head, and put the memorial grain offering—the grain offering of jealousy—on her palms. In the priest’s hand shall be the bitter water that brings a curse.
Greek · Saints priority
5:18 The priest shall stand the woman before the Lord, uncover her head, and put the memorial sacrifice—the sacrifice of jealousy—on her hands. In the priest’s hand shall be this curse-bringing water of testing.
Loosening the hair / uncovering the head changes the described act; bitter water / water of testing changes the ritual’s stated characterization. The Hebrew head action can include uncovering, so the contrast is not absolute incompatibility.
5:19 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:19 The priest shall put her under oath and say to the woman: If no man has lain with you, and you have not strayed into defilement while under your husband, be free from this bitter water that brings a curse.
Greek · Saints priority
5:19 The priest shall put her under oath and say to the woman: If no one has lain with you, and you have not transgressed into defilement while under your own husband, be unharmed by this curse-bringing water of testing.
Bitter / testing remains visible; the condition for release agrees.
5:20 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:20 But if you have strayed while under your husband, if you have become defiled, and a man other than your husband has put his emission in you—
Greek · Saints priority
5:20 But if you have transgressed while under a husband, or have become defiled, and someone other than your husband has put his bedding in you—
Hebrew links the clauses with “and/if”; Greek has “or” before defilement. The explicit intercourse clause remains, so a wholly new offense is not assumed.
5:21 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:21 The priest shall put the woman under the oath of the curse and say to her: May YHWH make you a curse and an oath among your people, when YHWH makes your thigh fall and your belly swell.
Greek · Saints priority
5:21 The priest shall put the woman under the oaths of this curse and say to her: May the Lord make you a curse and an oath among your people, when the Lord makes your thigh collapse and your belly swell.
Both preserve bodily curse imagery. Thigh and belly are not silently replaced by a definite pregnancy or miscarriage diagnosis.
5:22 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:22 May this curse-bringing water enter your inward parts, making the belly swell and the thigh fall. The woman shall say: Amen, amen.
Greek · Saints priority
5:22 This curse-bringing water shall enter your belly, making the belly swell and your thigh collapse. The woman shall say: May it be, may it be.
Greek translates the assent rather than transliterating amen; the bodily consequences substantially agree.
The Divine Verdict
5:23 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:23 The priest shall write these curses in a scroll and wipe them off into the bitter water.
Greek · Saints priority
5:23 The priest shall write these curses in a scroll and wipe them off into the curse-bringing water of testing.
Bitter / testing, with curse-bringing explicit in Greek.
5:24 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:24 He shall make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and the curse-bringing water shall enter her for bitterness.
Greek · Saints priority
5:24 He shall make the woman drink the curse-bringing water of testing, and the curse-bringing water of testing shall enter her.
Hebrew’s repeated bitterness language corresponds to Greek testing/reproof language.
5:25 Disparate
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:25 The priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman’s hand, wave the grain offering before YHWH, and bring it near the altar.
Greek · Saints priority
5:25 The priest shall take the sacrifice of jealousy from the woman’s hand, place the sacrifice before the Lord, and bring it near the altar.
Wave / place changes the expressly commanded presentation action; grain offering / sacrifice also differs.
5:26 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:26 The priest shall take a handful from the grain offering as its memorial portion and burn it on the altar. Afterward he shall make the woman drink the water.
Greek · Saints priority
5:26 The priest shall take a handful from the sacrifice as its memorial portion and offer it up on the altar. Afterward he shall make the woman drink the water.
Burn / offer up gives different verbal precision, not necessarily a different use of altar fire. The sequence agrees.
5:27 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:27 He shall make her drink the water. If she is defiled and has acted unfaithfully against her husband, the curse-bringing water shall enter her for bitterness; her belly shall swell and her thigh fall, and the woman shall become a curse among her people.
Greek · Saints priority
5:27 If she is defiled and has concealed it from her husband, the curse-bringing water of testing shall enter her; her belly shall swell and her thigh collapse, and the woman shall become a curse among her people.
Greek lacks the renewed initial drinking instruction and describes concealment rather than marital unfaithfulness. The bodily curse agrees.
5:28 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:28 If the woman has not been defiled and is clean, she shall be free and shall be sown with seed.
Greek · Saints priority
5:28 If the woman has not been defiled and is clean, she shall be unharmed and shall produce seed.
Passive reception of seed / active production of seed: the reproductive imagery differs. Both present a favorable outcome for the innocent woman.
5:29 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:29 This is the instruction for jealousy, when a wife strays while under her husband and becomes defiled,
Greek · Saints priority
5:29 This is the law of jealousy, when a wife transgresses while under a husband and becomes defiled,
5:30 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:30 Or when a spirit of jealousy comes over a man and he is jealous of his wife. He shall stand the woman before YHWH, and the priest shall perform all this instruction for her.
Greek · Saints priority
5:30 Or when a spirit of jealousy comes over a man and he is jealous of his wife. He shall stand his wife before the Lord, and the priest shall perform all this law for her.
5:31 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
5:31 The man shall be free from guilt, and that woman shall bear her guilt.
Greek · Saints priority
5:31 The man shall be free from sin, and that woman shall bear her sin.
Both have the same asymmetrical closing provision.
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Saints Translation · Companion comparison edition · working draft awaiting specialist review.