Numbers 36 — Hebrew and Greek compared
Disparate in this chapter: 36:1
Each card keeps the independently rendered source readings above their shared comparison and reception notes. The badge records the source’s governing classification; disparate readings are marked in red. Each reading retains its original reference.
Numbers 36
Marriage and Inheritance
The Leaders' Petition
Verse 36:1 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
36:1 The ancestral heads of the clan of the descendants of Gilead son of Machir, son of Manasseh, from the clans of Joseph’s descendants, approached and spoke before Moses and the leaders, the ancestral heads of the Israelites.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
36:1 The rulers of the tribe of the descendants of Gilead son of Machir, son of Manasseh, from the tribe of Joseph’s descendants, approached and spoke before Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the rulers of the ancestral houses of the Israelites.
Classification & Notes
Disparate
Greek explicitly includes Eleazar the priest among those hearing the case and uses tribal terminology where Hebrew describes clans.
Verse 36:2 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
36:2 They said, “YHWH commanded my lord to give the land to the Israelites as an inheritance by lot, and my lord was commanded by YHWH to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
36:2 They said, “The Lord commanded our lord to distribute the inherited land by lot to the Israelites, and the Lord instructed the lord to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters.
Classification & Notes
Similar
The honorific refers to Moses; Greek first has “our lord” where Hebrew has “my lord.”
Verse 36:3 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
36:3 But if they become wives of men from one of the other Israelite tribes, their inheritance will be taken from our ancestral inheritance and added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry. It will be taken from our allotted inheritance.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
36:3 If they become wives in one of the Israelite tribes, their allotment will be taken from our fathers’ possession and added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry. It will be taken from our inherited allotment.
Classification & Notes
Same
Both identify the same consequence for the tribe’s land.
Verse 36:4 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
36:4 When the Jubilee comes for the Israelites, their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry, and their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of our ancestral tribe.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
36:4 If the release comes for the Israelites, their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry, and their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of our ancestral tribe.”
Classification & Notes
Different
Greek aphesis describes release where Hebrew names the Jubilee. Both present the tribal transfer as persisting through that event.
Rabbinic reception: Rashi distinguishes inherited land from land sold temporarily: the tribal transfer through inheritance would not be reversed at the Jubilee.
Source: Rashi, Numbers 36:4
Inheritance within the Tribe
Verse 36:5 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
36:5 Moses commanded the Israelites at YHWH’s direction, saying, “The tribe of Joseph’s descendants speaks rightly.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
36:5 Moses commanded the Israelites by the Lord’s instruction, saying, “Thus speaks the tribe of Joseph’s descendants.
Classification & Notes
Different
Hebrew ken affirms the claim as right in context; Greek houtōs directly states “thus.”
Verse 36:6 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
36:6 This is what YHWH has commanded concerning Zelophehad’s daughters: Let them marry whom they think best, but they shall marry within the clan of their father’s tribe.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
36:6 This is the word that the Lord prescribed concerning Zelophehad’s daughters: Let them marry whom they please, but they shall marry from their father’s clan.
Classification & Notes
Different
Hebrew explicitly combines clan and tribe; Greek states the father’s clan. The women’s choice is retained alongside the kinship restriction in both.
Verse 36:7 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
36:7 No inheritance of the Israelites shall pass from tribe to tribe, for each Israelite shall hold fast to the inheritance of his ancestral tribe.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
36:7 No inheritance among the Israelites shall pass from tribe to tribe, for each Israelite shall hold fast to the inheritance of his ancestral tribe.
Classification & Notes
Same
Verse 36:8 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
36:8 Every daughter who inherits property among the Israelite tribes shall marry someone from the clan of her father’s tribe, so that each Israelite may possess his ancestral inheritance.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
36:8 Every daughter who succeeds as next of kin to an inheritance among the Israelite tribes shall marry someone from her father’s clan, so that each Israelite may succeed as next of kin to his paternal inheritance.
Classification & Notes
Different
Greek anchisteuō explicitly emphasizes succession through kinship; Hebrew uses the ordinary inheritance verb and explicitly includes the tribe.
Verse 36:9 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
36:9 No inheritance shall pass from one tribe to another, for the Israelite tribes shall each hold fast to their own inheritance.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
36:9 No allotment shall pass from one tribe to another; rather, the Israelites shall each hold fast to their own inheritance.”
Classification & Notes
Different
Hebrew explicitly makes the tribes the final collective subject; Greek names the Israelites.
Obedience of the Daughters
Verse 36:10 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
36:10 Zelophehad’s daughters did as YHWH had commanded Moses.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
36:10 Zelophehad’s daughters did as the Lord had prescribed to Moses.
Classification & Notes
Same
Verse 36:11 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
36:11 Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, became wives of their paternal uncles’ sons.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
36:11 Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, Noah, and Mahlah, the daughters of Zelophehad, married their cousins.
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Greek moves Mahlah from first to last and uses the broader word cousins, where Hebrew specifies sons of their paternal uncles.
Rabbinic reception: Rashi understands the Hebrew order here as reflecting the daughters’ ages, while explaining other lists through their wisdom. His explanation concerns the Hebrew ordering; the Greek sequence is preserved independently.
Source: Rashi, Numbers 36:11
Verse 36:12 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
36:12 They married within the clans of the descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained within the tribe of their father’s clan.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
36:12 They married within the clan of Manasseh, of Joseph’s descendants, and their inheritance remained with the tribe of their father’s clan.
Classification & Notes
Similar
The tribal retention of the inheritance agrees.
Summary of the Wilderness Era
Verse 36:13 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
36:13 These are the commandments and judgments that YHWH commanded the Israelites through Moses on the plains of Moab, by the Jordan opposite Jericho.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
36:13 These are the commandments, ordinances, and judgments that the Lord commanded through Moses on the western side of Moab, by the Jordan opposite Jericho.
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Greek adds ordinances to the closing legal list, omits the explicit Israelite addressees, and again reads Moab’s west where Hebrew names its plains.