Numbers 21 — Hebrew and Greek compared
Disparate in this chapter: 21:2, 21:5, 21:14, 21:15, 21:17, 21:18, 21:21, 21:24, 21:26, 21:28, 21:29, 21:30, 21:35
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 21
Israel’s Victory
From Hormah to the Bronze Serpent
Verse 21:1 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
21:1 The Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negeb, heard that Israel was coming by the road of Atharim. He fought Israel and took some of them captive.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
21:1 The Canaanite king of Arad, who lived by the wilderness, heard—for Israel had come by the road of Atharim—and fought Israel, and they took captives from them.
Classification & Notes
Different
Negeb / wilderness; the Greek changes to plural captors. Atharim is retained as a road name rather than silently changed to “spies.”
Verse 21:2 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
21:2 Israel vowed a vow to YHWH: If You indeed give this people into my hand, I will devote their towns to destruction.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
21:2 Israel vowed a vow to the Lord: If You hand this people over into my power, I will devote them and their towns to destruction.
Classification & Notes
Disparate
Greek expressly includes the people in the vow of destruction; Hebrew's vow names their towns. Both include people in the fulfillment in verse 3.
Verse 21:3 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
21:3 YHWH heard Israel's voice and gave up the Canaanites. Israel devoted them and their towns to destruction and called the place Hormah.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
21:3 The Lord heard Israel's voice and handed the Canaanite over into his power. Israel devoted him and his towns to destruction, and they called that place Devotion to Destruction.
Classification & Notes
Similar
Greek translates the name Hormah by Anathema. In this war context devotion involves destruction, not merely a religious gift.
Verse 21:4 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
21:4 They set out from Mount Hor by the road to the Sea of Reeds to go around the land of Edom. The people grew impatient on the journey.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
21:4 They set out from Mount Hor by the road toward the Red Sea and went around the land of Edom. The people became fainthearted on the journey.
Classification & Notes
Different
Sea of Reeds / Red Sea; impatience / faintheartedness. The same detour is described.
Verse 21:5 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
21:5 The people spoke against God and Moses: Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread and no water, and we loathe this miserable bread.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
21:5 The people spoke against God and against Moses: Why have you brought us out of Egypt to kill us in the wilderness? There is no bread or water, and we are disgusted with this empty bread.
Classification & Notes
Disparate
“To die” / “to kill us” changes the accusation. Hebrew addresses the leaders in the plural; Greek uses singular “you.”
Verse 21:6 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
21:6 YHWH sent fiery serpents among the people. They bit the people, and many people of Israel died.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
21:6 The Lord sent deadly serpents among the people. They bit the people, and many of the sons of Israel died.
Classification & Notes
Different
Fiery / deadly describes the serpents through different qualities; both report fatal bites.
Verse 21:7 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
21:7 The people came to Moses and said: We have sinned by speaking against YHWH and against you. Pray to YHWH that He remove the serpents from us. Moses prayed for the people.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
21:7 The people came to Moses and said: We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Therefore pray to the Lord, and let Him remove the serpents from us. Moses prayed to the Lord for the people.
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Greek explicitly names the Lord as the recipient of Moses' prayer in the final clause; Hebrew leaves that implicit.
Verse 21:8 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
21:8 YHWH said to Moses: Make yourself a fiery serpent and put it on a standard. Everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
21:8 The Lord said to Moses: Make yourself a serpent and put it on a standard. If a serpent bites a person, everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Greek lacks “fiery” and adds the explicit condition of a serpent biting a person. Sēmeion here can mean a standard or signal; it does not literally say “cross.”
Rabbinic reception: Rashi reports the sages’ explanation that healing came when Israel looked upward and submitted their hearts to their heavenly Father. The serpent itself was not the independent source of life.
Source: Rashi, Numbers 21:8
Verse 21:9 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
21:9 Moses made a bronze serpent and put it on the standard. Whenever a serpent bit someone, that person looked at the bronze serpent and lived.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
21:9 Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a standard. Whenever a serpent bit a person, that person looked at the bronze serpent and lived.
Classification & Notes
Same
The bronze serpent and healing response are shared.
Apostolic reception: John explicitly compares Moses’ lifting of the serpent with the lifting of the Son of Man, connecting belief in Him with eternal life.
Source: John 3:14–15
Saints reception: Justin interprets the bronze serpent as a sign of the crucified Christ’s victory over the serpent’s power. This is an attributed Christian typology of the narrated sign.
Journey to Moab
Verse 21:10 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
21:10 The sons of Israel set out and camped at Oboth.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
21:10 The sons of Israel set out and camped at Oboth.
Classification & Notes
Same
Verse 21:11 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
21:11 They set out from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness opposite Moab toward the sunrise.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
21:11 They set out from Oboth and camped at Achel-gai, on the farther side, in the wilderness opposite Moab toward the sunrise.
Classification & Notes
Different
Iye-abarim / Achel-gai with an additional “on the farther side” gives a materially different form of the itinerary name.
Verse 21:12 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
21:12 From there they set out and camped in the wadi of Zered.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
21:12 From there they set out and camped in the ravine of Zered.
Classification & Notes
Similar
Wadi / ravine describes the same itinerary feature.
Verse 21:13 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
21:13 From there they set out and camped beyond the Arnon, in the wilderness extending from the Amorite border. The Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
21:13 From there they set out and camped beyond the Arnon, in the wilderness extending from the Amorite borders. The Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.
Classification & Notes
Same
Verse 21:14 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
21:14 Therefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of YHWH: Waheb in Suphah, and the wadis of the Arnon,
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
21:14 Therefore it is said in a book: A war of the Lord set Zoob ablaze, and the torrents of the Arnon,
Classification & Notes
Disparate
Hebrew names a book and preserves the difficult place phrase Waheb in Suphah; Greek makes the Lord's war the subject of a burning action. The damaged or obscure poetry is not harmonized.
Verse 21:15 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
21:15 and the slope of the wadis that stretches toward the settlement of Ar and rests against the border of Moab.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
21:15 and he appointed the torrents for the settlement of Er, and it lies beside the borders of Moab.
Classification & Notes
Disparate
A geographical slope extending toward Ar / an appointed settlement at Er changes the action and syntax. Greek's subject and final “it” are not fully explicit.
Verse 21:16 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
21:16 From there they went to Beer. This is the well of which YHWH said to Moses: Gather the people, and I will give them water.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
21:16 From there they went to the well. This is the well of which the Lord said to Moses: Gather the people, and I will give them water to drink.
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Greek translates Beer as “well” and adds “to drink.”
Verse 21:17 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
21:17 Then Israel sang this song: Spring up, O well! Sing to it!
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
21:17 Then Israel sang this song over the well: Lead the singing for it!
Classification & Notes
Disparate
Hebrew commands the well to spring up; Greek makes the well the setting and retains a command to lead the song. The poetic address changes.
Verse 21:18 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
21:18 The well that rulers dug, that the nobles of the people excavated with the ruler's staff, with their staffs. From the wilderness they went to Mattanah.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
21:18 A well: rulers dug it; kings of nations hewed it out in their kingdom, when they exercised dominion. From the well they went to Manthanain.
Classification & Notes
Disparate
Nobles and digging staffs / kings of nations and royal dominion changes the song's agents and imagery. The itinerary begins from the wilderness in Hebrew and the well in Greek.
Verse 21:19 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
21:19 From Mattanah they went to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
21:19 From Manthanain they went to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth.
Classification & Notes
Similar
Manthanain is the Greek form corresponding to Mattanah; the sequence otherwise agrees.
Verse 21:20 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
21:20 From Bamoth they went to the valley in the territory of Moab, at the summit of Pisgah overlooking the wasteland.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
21:20 From Bamoth they went to a valley in the plain of Moab, from the summit of the Hewn Height overlooking the wilderness.
Classification & Notes
Different
Greek renders Pisgah descriptively as the Hewn Height and describes movement from its summit; Hebrew gives the summit as a location.
Victory over Kings
Verse 21:21 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
21:21 Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying:
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
21:21 Moses sent envoys to Sihon king of the Amorites with words of peace, saying:
Classification & Notes
Disparate
Israel / Moses as sender; Greek adds an explicit peaceful character to the embassy.
Verse 21:22 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
21:22 Let me pass through your land. We will not turn aside into fields or vineyards or drink well water. We will travel the King's Highway until we have passed through your territory.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
21:22 We will pass through your land; we will travel by the road. We will not turn aside into fields or vineyards or drink water from your well. We will travel the royal road until we have passed through your territory.
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Greek adds an initial commitment to the road and specifies “your well”; the proposed restraint agrees.
Verse 21:23 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
21:23 Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory. He gathered all his people and went out against Israel in the wilderness. He came to Jahaz and fought Israel.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
21:23 Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory. He gathered all his people and went out into the wilderness to array himself against Israel. He came to Jahaz and arrayed himself against Israel.
Classification & Notes
Different
Hebrew explicitly reports fighting; Greek twice describes drawing up for battle.
Verse 21:24 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
21:24 Israel struck him with the edge of the sword and possessed his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the sons of Ammon, because the border of the sons of Ammon was strong.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
21:24 Israel struck him with sword-slaughter, and they took control of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the sons of Ammon, because Jazer is the border of the sons of Ammon.
Classification & Notes
Disparate
Hebrew explains the limit by a strong border; Greek names Jazer as the border.
Verse 21:25 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
21:25 Israel took all these towns and settled in all the Amorite towns, in Heshbon and all its dependent villages.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
21:25 Israel took all these towns and settled in all the Amorite towns, in Heshbon and all the towns adjoining it.
Classification & Notes
Similar
Dependent villages / adjoining towns describes the surrounding settlements differently.
Verse 21:26 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
21:26 Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had fought the former king of Moab and taken all his land from his hand as far as the Arnon.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
21:26 Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had previously fought the king of Moab, and they took all his land from Aroer as far as the Arnon.
Classification & Notes
Disparate
Greek supplies Aroer as the starting boundary where Hebrew says “from his hand”; it also shifts the taking to a plural subject.
Verse 21:27 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
21:27 Therefore the makers of proverbs say: Come to Heshbon! Let Sihon's city be built and established.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
21:27 Therefore those who speak in riddles will say: Come to Heshbon, so that Sihon's city may be built and prepared.
Classification & Notes
Similar
Proverb-makers / riddle-speakers are different descriptions of the poets; the invitation agrees.
Verse 21:28 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
21:28 For fire went out from Heshbon, a flame from Sihon's city. It consumed Ar of Moab, the lords of the heights of the Arnon.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
21:28 For fire went out from Heshbon, a flame from Sihon's city. It consumed as far as Moab and swallowed the pillars of the Arnon.
Classification & Notes
Disparate
Ar and the lords of the heights / an extent as far as Moab and pillars changes the places and objects destroyed.
Verse 21:29 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
21:29 Woe to you, Moab! You are ruined, people of Chemosh. He gave his sons as fugitives and his daughters into captivity to Sihon king of the Amorites.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
21:29 Woe to you, Moab! You are ruined, people of Chemosh. Their sons were handed over to escape, and their daughters as captives to Sihon king of the Amorites.
Classification & Notes
Disparate
Hebrew's “he” presents Chemosh as surrendering his people; Greek uses a passive and “their” sons and daughters, leaving the surrendering agent unstated.
Verse 21:30 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
21:30 We shot them down; Heshbon is ruined as far as Dibon. We laid waste as far as Nophah, which reaches to Medeba.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
21:30 Their offspring shall perish, from Heshbon as far as Dibon; and the women kindled still more fire against Moab.
Classification & Notes
Disparate
A sharply different conclusion: Hebrew's difficult lines concern defeat and place names; Greek predicts destroyed offspring and adds women kindling fire. The Hebrew rendering is tentative, especially the final clause.
Verse 21:31 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
21:31 Israel settled in the land of the Amorites.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
21:31 Israel settled in all the towns of the Amorites.
Classification & Notes
Different
Land / all towns changes the extent's description.
Verse 21:32 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
21:32 Moses sent men to spy out Jazer. They captured its dependent villages and dispossessed the Amorites who were there.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
21:32 Moses sent men to inspect Jazer. They captured it and its villages and drove out the Amorites who lived there.
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Greek explicitly includes capture of Jazer itself, alongside its villages.
Verse 21:33 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
21:33 They turned and went up by the road to Bashan. Og king of Bashan came out against them, he and all his people, to fight at Edrei.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
21:33 They turned and went up by the road to Bashan. Og king of Bashan came out to meet them with all his people, for battle at Edrei.
Classification & Notes
Same
Verse 21:34 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
21:34 YHWH said to Moses: Do not fear him, for I have given him, all his people, and his land into your hand. You shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
21:34 The Lord said to Moses: Do not fear him, for I have handed him, all his people, and all his land into your hands. You shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.
Classification & Notes
Same
Verse 21:35 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
21:35 They struck him, his sons, and all his people until no survivor was left to him, and they possessed his land.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
21:35 He struck him, his sons, and all his people until none of his were left alive as captives, and they inherited their land.
Classification & Notes
Disparate
Hebrew has plural attackers and no survivors; Greek has a singular attacker and no live captives. “His land” / “their land” also differs. Neither column softens the reported destruction.