Numbers — Hebrew and Greek compared · 1–17
Choose a chapter to explore the source readings and their notes. Original references, source labels, and review records are retained.
Source guide and review record
Saints Translation
Numbers 1–17 [V2]
Reader’s Guide
A parallel translation of all 653 verses, with independent Hebrew–English and Greek–English renderings and a verse-by-verse comparison.
The Hebrew base is Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (1997); the Greek base is Rahlfs–Hanhart (2006). Both main texts were checked throughout. The Göttingen Numeri critical text and apparatus and the NETS Numbers file were unavailable for this final review.
The Rabbinic Priority and Saints Priority labels identify the interpretive traditions consulted. Their readings appear in attributed notes; each translation preserves its own source’s wording and ambiguities. The linked column headings open the relevant ancient-language chapter.
Same, Similar, Different, Divergent, and Disparate mark increasing or differently shaped differences. Disparate includes substantial practical, ritual, legal, narrative, or theological consequences; it is not limited to strict contradiction. See the source register for definitions and totals.
The running references follow familiar English numbering. Where source numbering differs, MT or LXX references appear in parentheses. Editorial headings aid reading and do not claim formal lectionary authority.
Textual Method and Source Register
Text Bases and Critical Editions
Hebrew: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, fifth corrected edition (1997), Numbers 1–17, as displayed by the German Bible Society. The Hebrew main text was consulted throughout. Its critical apparatus was not collated.
Greek: Septuaginta, edited by Alfred Rahlfs and revised by Robert Hanhart (2006), Numbers 1–17, as displayed by the German Bible Society. The Greek main text was consulted throughout. The English column is a fresh rendering of that text.
Göttingen: the project catalog identifies Numeri, volume III/1, John William Wevers with Udo Quast, second edition (2020). Its critical text and apparatus were not directly consulted. This revision therefore does not claim an exhaustive Göttingen collation or reconstruction of the earliest attainable text.
The earlier source register listed Peter W. Flint’s Numbers in A New English Translation of the Septuagint (NETS) for selected comparisons. Its official file was unavailable during this final review. Those comparisons are not treated as verified evidence here; the current translation conclusions rest on the directly consulted BHS and Rahlfs–Hanhart main texts.
Chronology and the Limits of the Comparison
The Greek Pentateuch is conventionally dated to the third century BCE. This concerns translation history, not the date of every surviving manuscript or every reading in a modern critical edition. See the Brepols publisher’s description of The Egyptian Background of the Septuagint.
Medieval Masoretic codices preserve a Hebrew tradition with much older roots. The Israel Museum describes ancient scroll evidence that is often close to the later Masoretic text. Consequently, an early Greek translation date and a medieval Hebrew manuscript date do not by themselves determine which reading is earlier at a particular verse.
This work documents agreements and differences between the named source editions. It does not assume that every Greek–Hebrew difference reflects a different Hebrew manuscript: translation choices, ambiguous vocabulary, interpretation, and transmission can also matter. A claim about the fidelity of a modern Bible translation requires a separate audit naming that translation and edition.
Numbering and Alignment
The table order follows the Hebrew narrative and familiar English chapter divisions. Hebrew and Rahlfs–Hanhart Numbers 17:1–15 correspond to English 16:36–50; source 17:16–28 correspond to English 17:1–13. Thus the present chapter 16 contains fifty verses and chapter 17 contains thirteen.
In the chapter 1 census, Hebrew 1:24–25 align with Greek 1:36–37 (Gad), while Hebrew 1:26–37 align with Greek 1:24–35. This is an order difference, not missing census material.
Hebrew 6:27 aligns with the parenthetical promise at Rahlfs–Hanhart 6:23. In chapter 10, Hebrew 10:34, 10:35, and 10:36 align respectively with Greek 10:36, 10:34, and 10:35. The references in each cell disclose these alignments.
Classification Register
One principal classification is assigned to each of the 653 aligned verse rows. Other differences in the same verse remain in its note. These are editorial judgments about the compared readings, not manuscript sigla or certainty ratings.
Same — 135 verses. Corresponding meaning; ordinary differences of grammar, idiom, or the divine-name convention need not create a substantive variant.
Similar — 185 verses. The essentials agree, with modest variation in expression or emphasis.
Different — 175 verses. A meaningful detail, participant, number, action, designation, or image differs.
Divergent — 75 verses. Addition, omission, reordering, or restructuring changes the presentation or extent of the passage. An omission does not automatically deny what another text states.
Disparate — 83 verses. A difference has substantial practical, legal, ritual, narrative, or theological consequences, even where the two readings are not logically contradictory. Examples include service eligibility, prescribed ritual actions or materials, census quantities, and the manner of divine manifestation.
Totals count affected verses, not unique variants. For example, a repeated offering difference in twelve tribal presentations yields twelve affected rows. Repeated service-age formulas are also counted where they occur. No minimum number of Disparate classifications was imposed.
Disparate Verse Index
1:53; 3:9; 3:10; 3:26; 3:32; 3:34; 3:36; 3:38; 3:49; 4:3; 4:7; 4:13; 4:14; 4:20; 4:23; 4:26; 4:30; 4:31; 4:32; 4:35; 4:36; 4:39; 4:43; 4:47; 5:6; 5:17; 5:18; 5:25; 6:12; 6:13; 6:20; 7:17; 7:23; 7:29; 7:35; 7:41; 7:47; 7:53; 7:59; 7:65; 7:71; 7:77; 7:83; 7:88; 8:8; 8:11; 8:13; 8:15; 8:19; 8:21; 8:26; 9:13; 10:6; 10:31; 10:36; 11:20; 12:8; 12:12; 12:15; 13:20; 13:33; 14:9; 14:12; 14:23; 14:27; 14:36; 15:14; 15:24; 15:28; 15:30; 15:31; 16:5; 16:14; 16:15; 16:16; 16:18; 16:24; 16:27; 16:30; 16:37; 16:42; 17:4; 17:13.
Translation and Reception
Modern, literal-smooth English is used independently in both columns. YHWH represents the Hebrew divine name, and the Lord represents Greek kyrios; divine pronouns are capitalized. Familiar names are retained where appropriate, while substantive name differences are disclosed. Numbers are written out in translated prose; references and analytical notes may use digits.
Meeting and Testimony, waving and presenting, and distinct offering terms are preserved where the sources differ. Atonement and propitiation are contextual renderings, not proof that the sources teach opposing doctrines. Words for offering or burning do not alone establish that one ritual lacked fire. Uncertain terms, syntax, and diagnoses are identified without forcing a modern conclusion.
Thirty-one attributed reception notes draw on Rashi, apostolic writings, Clement of Rome, and Cyril of Jerusalem. Each gives a work and passage with a source link. Explicit reuse, thematic comparison, and later interpretation are identified as such. Interpretive explanations do not become additional words in the source text.
Ancient weights, capacities, and lengths remain in their own terms. Shekels of silver are weights in the relevant passages; uncertain modern purchasing-power, salary, or currency conversions are not imposed. Where a measure or material is uncertain, the note preserves that uncertainty.