Ezekiel 1 — The vision by the River Chebar — Hebrew and Greek compared
Disparate in this chapter: 1:7, 1:20
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.
Ezekiel 1 — The vision by the River Chebar
1:1–1:3 — The date and the prophetic word
Verse 1:1 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:1] In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth of the month, while I was among the exiles by the River Chebar, the heavens opened, and I saw visions of God.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:1] And it happened in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth of the month, while I was amid the captivity by the River Chebar: the heavens opened, and I saw visions of God.
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: The date, exilic setting, opened heavens and visions agree. Neither text specifies the event from which the thirtieth year is counted.
Verse 1:2 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:2] On the fifth of the month—it was the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s exile—
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:2] on the fifth of the month—this was the fifth year of King Jehoiakim’s captivity—
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: The Hebrew names Jehoiachin; Greek Ioakim is rendered Jehoiakim, preserving the differing royal name. Both date the captivity’s fifth year.
Verse 1:3 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:3] YHWH’s word indeed came to Ezekiel son of Buzi, the priest, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Chebar; YHWH’s hand was upon him there.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:3] the Lord’s word came to Ezekiel son of Buzi, the priest, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Chebar; and the Lord’s hand came upon me,
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew concludes with third-person him and there; Greek switches to first-person me and lacks there. The priestly apposition is preserved without supplying an additional genealogy.
1:4–1:14 — The storm and the living creatures
Verse 1:4 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:4] I looked, and behold, a storm wind was coming from the north: a great cloud and fire flashing continually, with brightness around it; from within it, from within the fire, was something like the gleam of ḥashmal.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:4] and I looked, and behold, a sweeping wind was coming from the north, and a great cloud was within it, with brightness around it and lightning-flashing fire; within it was something like the appearance of electrum, within the fire, and brightness within it.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek expressly locates the cloud within the wind and adds the final brightness within it. Hebrew ḥashmal is retained as an uncertain luminous substance; Greek ēlektron is conventionally electrum here, though its precise material sense remains open.
Verse 1:5 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:5] From within it appeared the likeness of four living creatures. This was their appearance: they had a human likeness.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:5] And within it was something like a likeness of four living creatures. This was their appearance: a human likeness was upon them,
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Both describe four living creatures with human likeness, while Greek expressly uses upon them.
Verse 1:6 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:6] Each had four faces, and each of them had four wings.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:6] and each had four faces, and each had four wings.
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: The four faces and four wings per creature agree.
Verse 1:7 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:7] Their legs were straight legs, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf’s foot; they sparkled like the gleam of burnished bronze.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:7] Their legs were straight, and their feet were winged, with sparks like flashing bronze; and their wings were light.
Classification & Notes
Disparate. Text: Hebrew gives calf-like soles; Greek gives winged feet and adds light wings. This materially changes the creatures’ bodily imagery, beyond the shared straight legs and bronze-like brilliance.
Verse 1:8 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:8] A human hand was beneath their wings on their four sides; and their faces and their wings belonged to all four of them.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:8] A human hand was beneath their wings on their four sides; and the faces of all four of them
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: The displayed Hebrew written hand-form is retained as singular here, without silently supplying the common plural reading. Hebrew continues with faces and wings; Greek has faces alone and carries its clause into verse nine.
Verse 1:9 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:9] Their wings joined one to another. They did not turn as they went; each went straight toward its face.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:9] did not turn as they walked; each went straight toward its face.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek continues the faces clause from verse eight and lacks Hebrew’s separate statement that the wings joined one another.
Verse 1:10 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:10] The likeness of their faces was a human face; all four had a lion’s face on the right, all four an ox’s face on the left, and all four an eagle’s face.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:10] The likeness of their faces was a human face and a lion’s face on the right for all four, and a calf’s face on the left for all four, and an eagle’s face for all four.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Human, lion and eagle faces correspond; Hebrew names an ox, Greek a calf.
Verse 1:11 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:11] Their faces and their wings were separated above; each had two wings joining another’s, and two covering their bodies.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:11] The wings of all four were stretched out above; each had two joined to one another, and two covered the top of their bodies.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew includes faces and describes separation above; Greek describes stretched-out wings alone. Both retain two joined wings and two covering the body.
Verse 1:12 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:12] Each went straight toward its face. Wherever the spirit was to go, they went; they did not turn as they went.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:12] Each went straight toward its face. Wherever the spirit was going, they went and did not turn.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Movement directed by the spirit and absence of turning agree; the Hebrew explicitly repeats the going phrase. Spirit is not capitalized to settle its precise identity.
Verse 1:13 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:13] As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches. It moved among the living creatures; the fire had brightness, and lightning came out of the fire.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:13] And amid the living creatures was an appearance like burning coals of fire, like the sight of torches whirling among the living creatures, and brightness of the fire; lightning came out of the fire.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew begins with the creatures’ own appearance; Greek locates the fiery appearance amid them and gives whirling torches. Both retain brightness and outgoing lightning.
Verse 1:14 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:14] The living creatures ran out and returned like the appearance of a lightning flash.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[—] — No counterpart at this label in the declared Greek text.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: This whole Hebrew unit has no numbered counterpart in the selected Greek main text. No Greek translation is reconstructed.
1:15–1:21 — The wheels and their movement
Verse 1:15 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:15] I looked at the living creatures, and behold, one wheel was on the earth beside the living creatures, by its four faces.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:15] I looked, and behold, one wheel was on the earth adjoining the four living creatures;
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew retains the difficult singular its four faces; Greek directly associates the wheel with the four creatures, without naming faces.
Verse 1:16 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:16] The appearance of the wheels and their workmanship was like the gleam of tarshish; all four had one likeness. Their appearance and workmanship was as though a wheel were within a wheel.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:16] the appearance of the wheels was like the appearance of tharsis, and all four had one likeness; their workmanship was as though a wheel were within a wheel.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Both keep the gemstone designation and the wheel-within-wheel construction. The Hebrew repeats appearance and workmanship; Greek distributes those terms across its clauses. Tarshish/tharsis is retained without a confident modern mineral identification.
Verse 1:17 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:17] As they went, they went toward their four sides; they did not turn as they went.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:17] They went toward their four sides; they did not turn as they went,
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: The four-sided movement without turning agrees; the Greek sentence continues into verse eighteen.
Verse 1:18 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:18] Their rims were high and awe-inspiring; the rims of all four were full of eyes all around.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:18] nor did their backs; they had height, and I saw them. The backs of all four were full of eyes all around.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew describes height and awesomeness of the rims; Greek continues the no-turning clause with backs, adds I saw them, and then gives their eyes. The Greek anatomical term is retained rather than replaced by rims.
Verse 1:19 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:19] When the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:19] When the living creatures went, the wheels went adjoining them; when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose.
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: The wheels accompany the creatures in movement and ascent in both texts.
Verse 1:20 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:20] Wherever the spirit was to go, they went—there the spirit was to go—and the wheels rose alongside them, for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:20] Wherever the cloud was, there was the spirit for going; the living creatures and the wheels went and rose together with them, because a spirit of life was in the wheels.
Classification & Notes
Disparate. Text: Hebrew locates the direction in the spirit and names the spirit of the living creature; Greek introduces the cloud as the locator and names a spirit of life. Both preserve the coordinated ascent, but its depicted guidance and animating designation differ materially.
Verse 1:21 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:21] When they went, these went; when they stood, these stood; when they rose from the earth, the wheels rose alongside them, for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:21] When they went, these went; when they stood, these stood; when they rose from the earth, these rose together with them, because a spirit of life was in the wheels.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: The synchronized motion agrees; Hebrew again has spirit of the living creature, Greek spirit of life. Pronouns retain the relation between creatures and wheels.
1:22–1:28 — The expanse, the throne and the glory
Verse 1:22 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:22] Over the heads of the living creatures was the likeness of an expanse, like the gleam of awe-inspiring ice, stretched out above their heads.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:22] Above the living creatures’ heads was a likeness as of a firmament, like the appearance of crystal, stretched out above their wings;
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew has awe-inspiring ice and a surface above the heads; Greek has crystal and ends above their wings. Raqia/sterēōma is rendered expanse/firmament without importing a modern physical model.
Verse 1:23 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:23] Beneath the expanse their wings were straight, one toward another; each had two covering them, and each had two covering them—their bodies.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:23] and beneath the firmament their wings were stretched out, fluttering one toward another; each had two joined together, covering their bodies.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew repeats the two-covering phrase; Greek instead describes fluttering wings and two joined together. Neither column silently regularizes the source’s wing description from a neighboring verse.
Verse 1:24 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:24] I heard the sound of their wings as they went, like the sound of many waters, like the voice of Shaddai—a sound of tumult, like the sound of an army. When they stood, they lowered their wings.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:24] As they went, I heard the sound of their wings like the sound of much water; when they stood, their wings came to rest.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek lacks Hebrew’s Shaddai and army-like tumult comparisons. Hebrew lowers the wings; Greek brings them to rest.
Verse 1:25 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:25] A voice came from above the expanse that was over their heads. When they stood, they lowered their wings.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:25] And behold, a voice came from above the firmament that was over their heads.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek has behold but lacks the Hebrew repetition of standing and lowering the wings.
Verse 1:26 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:26] Above the expanse over their heads was something like the appearance of a sapphire stone, the likeness of a throne; above the likeness of the throne was a likeness like the appearance of a human being upon it.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:26] Like the appearance of a sapphire stone was the likeness of a throne upon it; and above the likeness of the throne was a likeness like the form of a human being.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Both describe a throne and human-like figure by repeated likeness language. Hebrew explicitly restates the expanse over the heads; Greek’s upon it refers back to the firmament. Sapphire is a conventional ancient stone-name rendering, not a verified modern mineral identification.
Verse 1:27 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:27] I saw something like the gleam of ḥashmal, like the appearance of fire enclosed around it, from the appearance of His waist upward; and from the appearance of His waist downward I saw something like the appearance of fire, with brightness around Him.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:27] I saw something like the sight of electrum from the appearance of a waist upward; and from the appearance of a waist down below I saw something like the appearance of fire, with its brightness all around.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Hebrew adds the difficult enclosed-fire description in the upper region and has explicit possessive waist forms. Greek lacks those possessives and that upper fire clause. The referent of Greek its brightness is left open.
Verse 1:28 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:28] Like the appearance of the rainbow in the cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness around Him. This was the appearance of the likeness of YHWH’s glory. I saw it, fell upon my face, and heard a voice speaking.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:28] Like the appearance of a bow when it is in the cloud on a rainy day, so was the disposition of the brightness all around. This was the appearance of the likeness of the Lord’s glory. I saw it, and I fall upon my face, and I heard the voice of One speaking.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Both culminate in the likeness of divine glory and the prophet’s prostration. Greek has disposition of brightness and a present-tense fall amid past narration; these are retained. A rainbow is contextually explicit in the Hebrew rendering; Greek retains the simpler bow.