Amos 2 — Hebrew and Greek compared
Disparate in this chapter: 2:8, 2:16
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.
Amos 2
Verse 2:1 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
2:1 Thus says YHWH: For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn it back, because he burned the bones of the king of Edom to lime.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
2:1 Thus says the Lord: “For three impieties of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away from him, because they burned the bones of Idumea's king into lime.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: The desecration is identical in both: the bones of Edom's king burned to lime. Hebrew sarfo is an infinitive construct with a 3ms suffix – a singular agent, 'because he burned' – where the Greek column has plural 'they burned'. Edom appears as Idumea, and the refrain keeps its usual Hebrew unstated object against Greek 'from him'. Category confirmed as Similar.
Verse 2:2 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
2:2 And I will send fire against Moab, and it will devour the citadels of Kerioth; and Moab will die amid uproar, with a war cry, with the sound of a horn.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
2:2 I will send fire upon Moab, and it will devour the foundations of her cities. Moab will die in weakness, with shouting and the sound of a trumpet.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Fire, Moab, the death of Moab, the shout and the horn all agree. Hebrew ha-qeriyyot is pointed and tagged as a proper noun, Kerioth, though the same form can be read as the common plural 'the cities'; the Greek column takes it as 'her cities'. Hebrew be-sha'on, 'amid uproar, tumult', appears as 'in weakness'. 'Citadels' again appears as 'foundations'. Category confirmed as Different.
Verse 2:3 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
2:3 And I will cut off the judge from her midst, and all her officials I will kill with him, says YHWH.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
2:3 I will destroy the judge from her, and kill all her rulers with him,” says the Lord.
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: Full correspondence: the judge removed from her midst, all her officials killed along with him, the closing formula. Hebrew shofet, 'judge', and sareha, 'her officials', match Greek 'the judge' and 'her rulers'; 'immo, 'with him', is 3ms in both and keeps the judge as its referent. Category confirmed as Same.
Verse 2:4 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
2:4 Thus says YHWH: For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn it back, because they rejected the instruction of YHWH and did not keep His statutes, and their lies led them astray, after which their fathers walked.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
2:4 Thus says the Lord: “For three impieties of the sons of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away from him, because they rejected the Lord's law and did not keep His ordinances. Their vain things, which they made, led them astray, those their fathers followed.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Both charge Judah with rejecting divine instruction, failing to keep His statutes, and being led astray by something the fathers had followed. Two Greek elements have no Hebrew counterpart: 'the sons of Judah' where Hebrew has simply Yehudah, and the relative clause 'which they made' attached to the vain things. Hebrew kizvehem, 'their lies' (Ncmpc with 3mp suffix), appears as 'their vain things', a standard equivalence for idols but a different word. Hebrew torat YHWH is 'the instruction of YHWH'; the Greek column has 'the Lord's law'. Category confirmed as Divergent on the strength of the added relative clause.
Verse 2:5 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
2:5 And I will send fire against Judah, and it will devour the citadels of Jerusalem.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
2:5 I will send fire upon Judah, and it will devour Jerusalem's foundations.”
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Identical except for the recurrent substitution: Hebrew 'armenot Yerushalaim, 'the citadels of Jerusalem', appears as 'Jerusalem's foundations'. Category confirmed as Different.
Verse 2:6 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
2:6 Thus says YHWH: For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn it back, because they sold a righteous one for silver and a needy one for a pair of sandals –
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
2:6 Thus says the Lord: “For three impieties of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away from him, because they sold a righteous person for silver and a poor person for sandals,
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: The charge and both prices agree exactly: tsaddiq sold ba-kesef, 'for silver', and 'evyon sold ba-'avur na'alayim. The only differences are of expression: Hebrew na'alayim is a dual noun, 'a pair of sandals', where the Greek column has an unmarked plural 'sandals'; Hebrew 'evyon is 'needy', Greek 'poor'; and the refrain keeps its unstated Hebrew object against Greek 'from him'. Category confirmed as Similar rather than Same because of the dual and the refrain. Saints: Tertullian, Adversus Marcionem IV.40, cites this verse of Judas's betrayal: 'The righteous one did they sell for silver', taking the sale for money as prophetically fixed beforehand. Clement of Alexandria and Cyril of Alexandria are both excerpted on this verse in the Catena collection, but the specific works are not named there and are not cited here. Source: https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf03.v.iv.v.xl.html
Verse 2:7 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
2:7 those who trample upon the dust of the earth on the head of the poor and turn aside the way of the humble; and a man and his father go to the young woman, so as to profane My holy name.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
2:7 which tread upon the earth's dust. They struck the heads of the poor with their fists and turned aside the way of the humble; a son and his father went in to the same young slave woman, to profane the name of their God,
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Both have trampling on the dust, the poor, the turning aside of the humble's way, and a father and son going in to the same woman to profane a divine name. Three differences carry weight. Hebrew ha-sho'afim (lemma tagged as the homonym meaning 'trample, crush') governs both 'the dust of the earth' and 'the head of the poor' in one elliptical and genuinely difficult construction, rendered literally above; the Greek column splits it, taking the dust with the treading and adding that they struck the poor's heads with their fists. Hebrew has ha-na'arah, a common noun with the article, 'the young woman'; Greek has paidiske, a young slave woman. Most significantly, Hebrew shem qodshi is first person – 'My holy name', God speaking of His own – while the Greek column has 'the name of their God', third person, and drops 'holy'. Category confirmed as Different; the person-shift is noted here rather than stacked as a second label. Rabbinic: Rashi on Amos 2:7 takes ha-na'arah as ha-me'orasah, a betrothed girl, which makes the offence adultery with a specific status rather than shared use of a slave; on ha-sho'afim he glosses the root by the Old French for 'craving, aspiring', the other of the two homonyms. Source: https://www.sefaria.org/Rashi_on_Amos.2.7
Verse 2:8 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
2:8 And on garments taken in pledge they stretch themselves out beside every altar, and the wine of those who have been fined they drink in the house of their God.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
2:8 and, tying their garments with cords, they made hangings next to the altar, and drank wine from extortions in their God's house.
Classification & Notes
Disparate. Text: Both have garments, an altar, and wine drunk in a god's house. The action performed with the garments differs completely. Hebrew begadim chavulim is 'garments taken in pledge' (a qal passive participle of chaval, to take in pledge), and yattu is the hiphil used of stretching oneself out to recline at a meal: they recline on clothing held as security from the poor. The Greek column has them tying garments with cords and making hangings beside the altar – a furnishing, not a reclining. Hebrew kol mizbeach is 'every altar'; Greek has one altar. Hebrew yein 'anushim, 'the wine of those who have been fined', names a judicial penalty; the Greek column has 'wine from extortions'. Category confirmed as Disparate. Rabbinic: Rashi on Amos 2:8 makes the Hebrew action explicit: they impose loans on the poor, take their garments in pledge, and make those garments into couches – yattu, he says, is 'an expression of dining, for all meals were eaten reclining on the left side'; and yein 'anushim is wine bought with money exacted as fines. This is the reading the Hebrew column follows. Source: https://www.sefaria.org/Rashi_on_Amos.2.8
Verse 2:9 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
2:9 Yet I Myself destroyed the Amorite from before them, whose height was like the height of cedars and who was strong as the oaks; and I destroyed his fruit above and his roots below.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
2:9 But I removed the Amorite from before them, whose height was like a cedar and who was strong as an oak. I removed his fruit above and his roots below.
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: Full correspondence of sense: the emphatic first-person destruction of the Amorite, the cedar-height and oak-strength similes, and the fruit above and roots below. Hebrew we-'anokhi is the long independent pronoun, carrying emphasis that the Greek column's plain first person does not mark. Hebrew has both similes in the plural, 'cedars' and 'oaks'; the Greek column has singular 'a cedar' and 'an oak'. That number difference does not change the meaning, so the category stays Same, as in the earlier note, with the difference recorded here.
Verse 2:10 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
2:10 And I Myself brought you up from the land of Egypt and led you in the wilderness forty years, to take possession of the land of the Amorite.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
2:10 I brought you up from Egypt's land and led you around in the wilderness forty years, to inherit the Amorites' land.
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: The exodus, the forty years in the wilderness, and the possession of Amorite land correspond throughout, and the forty is identical. Hebrew ha-'Emori is a collective singular gentilic; the Greek column has plural 'the Amorites'. Hebrew la-reshet is 'to take possession of'; the Greek column has 'to inherit'. Category confirmed as Same.
Verse 2:11 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
2:11 And I raised up from among your sons prophets and from among your young men Nazirites. Is this not indeed so, sons of Israel? – declaration of YHWH.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
2:11 I took some of your sons as prophets and some of your young men for consecration. Are these things not so, sons of Israel?” says the Lord.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Both have God appointing prophets from the sons and a consecrated class from the young men, and both close with the rhetorical challenge to Israel. Two differences: Hebrew wa-'aqim is hiphil of qum, 'I raised up', against Greek 'I took'; and Hebrew nezirim names Nazirites, a defined vow-bound status, where the Greek column has the general abstract 'consecration'. That distinction matters because 2:12 turns on making these same men drink wine, which is a Nazirite vow-breach specifically. Category confirmed as Different.
Verse 2:12 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
2:12 But you made the Nazirites drink wine, and upon the prophets you laid a command, saying: You shall not prophesy.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
2:12 “But you gave the consecrated ones wine to drink and commanded the prophets, saying, ‘You must not prophesy!’
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: The two offences agree: forcing wine on the consecrated and silencing the prophets. Hebrew keeps the specific term ha-nezirim, 'the Nazirites', where the Greek column keeps the general 'the consecrated ones' from 2:11. Hebrew we-'al ha-nevi'im tsiwwitem is literally 'and upon the prophets you commanded', the preposition 'al carrying the sense of a charge laid against them; the Greek column has the plain 'commanded the prophets'. The prohibition itself, lo' tinnav'u (niphal 2mp), corresponds exactly. Category confirmed as Different.
Verse 2:13 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
2:13 Behold, I am pressing down beneath you as the cart presses down that is full of sheaves.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
2:13 Therefore look, I roll beneath you as a wagon full of straw rolls,
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Both have a loaded vehicle used as the image of what God is about to do beneath Israel. The verb is the crux: Hebrew 'uq occurs only here (twice, hiphil participle me'iq and hiphil imperfect ta'iq) and its sense is not securely established – 'press down, weigh down' is the rendering above and is provisional. The Greek column has rolling rather than pressing. The load also differs: Hebrew 'amir is cut grain, 'sheaves'; the Greek column has straw. Neither column mentions breakage or an earthquake; nothing of that is imported here. Category confirmed as Different. Rabbinic: Rashi on Amos 2:13 settles the verb by Aramaic: me'iq is 'the Targum of metsiq', to press or oppress, and ta'iq ha-'agalah is the cart pressed down 'by the weight of the load that is on it'. He glosses tachtekhem as 'your camping place'. This is the basis for the rendering above. Source: https://www.sefaria.org/Rashi_on_Amos.2.13
Verse 2:14 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
2:14 And refuge will perish from the swift, and the strong will not hold fast his strength, and the mighty man will not save his life.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
2:14 and flight will perish from the runner, the mighty one will certainly not maintain his strength, and the fighter will certainly not save his life,
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: All three failures correspond exactly, in the same order, with every negative preserved: refuge lost to the swift, strength failing the strong, life unsaved by the mighty. Hebrew manos is 'a place of flight, refuge'; the Greek column has 'flight' itself. The Greek negatives are emphatic ('will certainly not') where Hebrew has the plain lo'. Category confirmed as Same.
Verse 2:15 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
2:15 And the one who grasps the bow will not stand, and the swift of foot will not deliver himself, and the rider of the horse will not save his life.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
2:15 and the archer will certainly not stand, the swift of foot will certainly not be saved, nor will the horseman save his life,
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: Three more denied escapes, matching item for item: archer, runner, horseman, each with its negative intact. Hebrew qal be-raglav is 'swift on his feet'; the second yemallet has no expressed object in Hebrew, hence 'will not deliver himself', where the Greek column supplies a passive 'will not be saved'. Category confirmed as Same.
Verse 2:16 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
2:16 And the stout of heart among the mighty will flee naked on that day – declaration of YHWH.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
2:16 and he will find his heart among powers; the naked one will pursue on that day,” says the Lord.
Classification & Notes
Disparate. Text: Both columns share only the naked figure and the day. Hebrew 'ammits libbo ba-gibborim is a construct phrase, 'the stout of his heart among the mighty', the subject of the verse; the Greek column reads the first word as a verb of finding, giving 'he will find his heart among powers'. And Hebrew yanus is 'he will flee', a verb of escape; the Greek column has pursuit. The direction of motion reverses. The Greek syntax here is difficult and has not been reconstructed from the Hebrew. Category confirmed as Disparate.