Ezekiel 3 — The eaten scroll and the watchman’s charge — Hebrew and Greek compared
Disparate in this chapter: 3:15, 3:20
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 3 — The eaten scroll and the watchman’s charge
3:1–3:3 — Eat and speak
Verse 3:1 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[3:1] He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find. Eat this scroll, then go and speak to the house of Israel.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[3:1] He said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll, then go and speak to the sons of Israel.”
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek lacks Hebrew’s initial eat what you find. The audience is house of Israel in Hebrew, sons of Israel in Greek.
Verse 3:2 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[3:2] I opened my mouth, and He fed me this scroll.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[3:2] I opened my mouth wide, and He fed me the scroll.
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: Both narrate the prophet opening his mouth and being fed the scroll.
Verse 3:3 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[3:3] He said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly and fill your inward parts with this scroll that I am giving you.” I ate it, and in my mouth it was like honey for sweetness.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[3:3] He said to me, “Son of man, your mouth will eat, and your belly will be filled with this scroll that has been given to you.” I ate it, and in my mouth it became like sweetening honey.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew commands feeding the belly and filling the inward parts; Greek predicts eating by the mouth and passive filling of the belly. The honey-like sweetness agrees.
3:4–3:9 — Strength for a resistant house
Verse 3:4 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[3:4] He said to me, “Son of man, go, enter the house of Israel, and speak My words to them.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[3:4] He said to me, “Son of man, go, enter the house of Israel, and speak My words to them;
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: The audience and commission to speak God’s words agree.
Verse 3:5 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[3:5] For you are not sent to a people of obscure speech and heavy tongue, but to the house of Israel—
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[3:5] for you are not sent out to a people of deep speech and heavy tongue, but to the house of Israel,
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: Both contrast unfamiliar speech with the prophet’s own house of Israel; deep speech is idiomatic for speech difficult to understand.
Verse 3:6 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[3:6] not to many peoples of obscure speech and heavy tongue whose words you cannot understand. Surely, had I sent you to them, they would listen to you.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[3:6] nor to many peoples of foreign speech or foreign tongues, nor those strong in tongue whose words you cannot understand. If I had sent you to such people, they would have listened to you.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek expands the descriptions of foreign speech and retains a separate strong-in-tongue phrase. Hebrew’s oath-like im-lo is read emphatically in the counterfactual assurance, not as a simple denial.
Verse 3:7 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[3:7] But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, because they are not willing to listen to Me; the entire house of Israel is hard-foreheaded and hard-hearted.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[3:7] But the house of Israel certainly will not be willing to listen to you, because they do not wish to listen to Me; the entire house of Israel is contentious and hard-hearted.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Both attribute refusal toward the prophet to refusal toward God; Hebrew’s hard forehead becomes Greek contentiousness.
Verse 3:8 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[3:8] Behold, I have made your face strong against their faces, and your forehead strong against their forehead.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[3:8] Behold, I have made your face strong against their faces, and I will strengthen your contention against their contention,
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew strengthens the prophet’s forehead; Greek strengthens his contention and changes the second clause to future.
Verse 3:9 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[3:9] Like adamant, harder than flint, I have made your forehead. Do not fear them or be dismayed before their faces, for they are a rebellious house.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[3:9] and it will always be stronger than rock. Do not fear them or be terrified before their faces, for it is an embittering house.”
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Hebrew gives adamant, flint and forehead; Greek continues the contention clause, compares it with rock, and adds always. Adamant is a traditional hard-substance rendering, not a claim of precise mineral identity.
3:10–3:15 — The return among the exiles
Verse 3:10 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[3:10] He said to me, “Son of man, take into your heart all My words that I will speak to you, and hear them with your ears.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[3:10] He said to me, “Son of man, take into your heart all the words that I have spoken with you, and hear with your ears,
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew speaks of words yet to be spoken; Greek refers to words already spoken.
Verse 3:11 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[3:11] Go, enter among the exiles, the sons of your people; speak to them and say to them, ‘Thus says Lord YHWH,’ whether they listen or refrain.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[3:11] and go, enter the captivity, to the sons of your people; speak to them and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord,’ if indeed they listen, if indeed they yield.”
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew contrasts hearing with refraining; Greek has hearing and yielding. The Greek must not be supplied with a negative to reproduce the Hebrew contrast.
Verse 3:12 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[3:12] A spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the sound of a great shaking: “Blessed be YHWH’s glory from His place!”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[3:12] A spirit took me up, and I heard behind me the sound of a great shaking: “Blessed be the Lord’s glory from His place!”
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: The lifting, sound behind the prophet and blessing from the divine place correspond.
Verse 3:13 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[3:13] There was the sound of the living creatures’ wings touching one another, the sound of the wheels beside them, and the sound of a great shaking.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[3:13] I saw the sound of the living creatures’ wings fluttering one toward another, and the sound of the wheels adjoining them, and the sound of the shaking.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek explicitly says I saw the sound, retained as visionary sensory language. Hebrew has touching wings and repeats great; Greek has fluttering and lacks the final great.
Verse 3:14 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[3:14] The spirit lifted me up and took me away. I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit, while YHWH’s hand was strong upon me.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[3:14] The spirit raised me and took me up. I went in the impulse of my spirit, and the Lord’s hand came strongly upon me.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew describes bitterness and the heat of the prophet’s spirit; Greek has impulse without the explicit bitterness. Divine constraint remains in both.
Verse 3:15 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[3:15] I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, those dwelling by the River Chebar, and where they were dwelling there; I sat there seven days, appalled among them.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[3:15] I entered the captivity aloft and went around those dwelling by the River Chebar, those who were there; I sat there seven days, living among them.
Classification & Notes
Disparate. Text: Hebrew names Tel-abib and gives appalled stillness; Greek has aloft, adds movement around the inhabitants, and gives living among them. The Hebrew displayed wa-esher clause is left syntactically awkward rather than silently changed to a sitting verb.
3:16–3:21 — The watchman’s responsibility
Verse 3:16 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[3:16] At the end of seven days, YHWH’s word came to me, saying,
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[3:16] After the seven days, the Lord’s word came to me, saying,
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: Both introduce the word after seven days. The Hebrew publisher separates the temporal phrase by a paragraph break without creating another verse.
Verse 3:17 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[3:17] “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel. Hear a word from My mouth and warn them from Me.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[3:17] “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel. Hear a word from My mouth and convey My warning to them.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: The watchman appointment and divine source agree; Greek diapeileō gives the warning a threatening force.
Verse 3:18 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[3:18] When I say to the wicked person, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak to warn the wicked person from his wicked way, to preserve his life, that wicked person will die in his iniquity; but I will require his blood from your hand.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[3:18] When I say to the lawless person, ‘You shall surely be put to death,’ and you do not warn him or speak to warn the lawless person to turn from his ways so that he may live, that lawless person will die in his injustice; but I will require his blood from your hand.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: The neglected warning and shared accountability correspond. Greek makes the threatened death passive and explicitly gives turning from plural ways; Hebrew names a singular wicked way.
Verse 3:19 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[3:19] But if you warn the wicked person and he does not turn from his wickedness and his wicked way, he will die in his iniquity, while you have rescued your life.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[3:19] But if you warn the lawless person and he does not turn from his lawlessness and his way, that lawless person will die in his injustice, while you will rescue your life.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Both distinguish the unrepentant person’s death from the watchman’s rescue; Greek does not repeat an adjective with way and uses future rescue.
Verse 3:20 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[3:20] When a righteous person turns from his righteousness and does injustice, and I place a stumbling block before him, he will die. Because you did not warn him, he will die in his sin; the righteous deeds he did will not be remembered, and I will require his blood from your hand.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[3:20] When a righteous person turns from his righteous deeds and commits a transgression, and I place torment before his face, he will die because you did not warn him. He will die in his sins, because the righteous deeds he did certainly will not be remembered, and I will require his blood from your hand.
Classification & Notes
Disparate. Text: Hebrew says God places a stumbling block; Greek says torment. This materially changes the depicted divine action, while both preserve death after wrongdoing, the warning duty and non-remembrance of former deeds.
Verse 3:21 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[3:21] But if you warn the righteous person so that the righteous person does not sin, and he does not sin, he will surely live because he took warning; and you have rescued your life.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[3:21] But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, the righteous person will surely live because you warned him; and you will rescue your own life.”
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew grounds the result in the person taking warning; Greek explicitly grounds it in the prophet having warned him. Both require that he does not sin.
3:22–3:27 — Confinement and opened speech
Verse 3:22 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[3:22] YHWH’s hand was upon me there, and He said to me, “Rise, go out to the valley, and there I will speak with you.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[3:22] The Lord’s hand came upon me, and He said to me, “Rise and go out to the plain, and there speech will be addressed to you.”
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew has valley, there, and an explicit first-person divine speaking verb; Greek has plain and a passive speaking construction.
Verse 3:23 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[3:23] I rose and went out to the valley, and behold, YHWH’s glory stood there, like the glory I had seen by the River Chebar. I fell upon my face.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[3:23] I rose and went out to the plain, and behold, the Lord’s glory stood there, like the vision and like the glory I had seen by the River Chebar; and I fall upon my face.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek adds like the vision and retains a present-tense fall. The same earlier riverside glory is recognized in both.
Verse 3:24 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[3:24] A spirit entered me and set me on my feet. He spoke with me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself inside your house.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[3:24] A spirit came upon me and set me on my feet. He spoke to me and said to me, “Go, be shut inside your house.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew again has spirit entering the prophet; Greek has coming upon him. The confinement command agrees.
Verse 3:25 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[3:25] And you, son of man, behold, they have placed cords upon you and will bind you with them, and you will not go out among them.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[3:25] And you, son of man, behold, bonds have been placed upon you, and they will bind you with them; you certainly will not go out from among them.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew explicitly has people placing cords and forbids going out among them; Greek initially uses passive bonds and says from among them. The unnamed binders are not identified beyond the text.
Verse 3:26 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[3:26] I will make your tongue cling to your palate, and you will become mute; you will not be a man rebuking them, for they are a rebellious house.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[3:26] I will bind your tongue, and you will become mute; you will not be a man rebuking them, for it is an embittering house.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew depicts the tongue clinging to the palate; Greek depicts binding the tongue. Both state muteness and inability to rebuke.
Verse 3:27 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[3:27] But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says Lord YHWH: Let the one who hears hear, and let the one who refrains refrain,’ for they are a rebellious house.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[3:27] But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: Let the one who hears hear, and let the one who disobeys disobey,’ for it is an embittering house.”
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Both make speaking dependent on God opening the prophet’s mouth. Hebrew refraining becomes Greek disobedience; the divine title remains source-specific.