Jeremiah 21 — Hebrew and Greek compared
Disparate in this chapter: 21:7
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.
Chapter 21
Jeremiah 21
Hebrew source: BHS21 • chapter 21
Greek source: LXX21 • chapter 21
Verse 21:1 Same
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[21:1] The word that came to Jeremiah from YHWH when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur son of Malchiah and Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest, saying:
Greek–English Saints Priority
[21:1] The word that came from the Lord to Jeremiah when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur son of Malchiah and Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest, saying:
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: Both introduce the royal delegation; this Pashhur has a different patronymic from the officer in chapter twenty.
Verse 21:2 Divergent
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[21:2] Please inquire of YHWH for us, because Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is fighting against us. Perhaps YHWH will act for us according to all His wondrous deeds, so that he withdraws from us.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[21:2] Ask the Lord about us, because Babylon's king has come against us, whether the Lord will act according to all His wonders, so that he goes away from us.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek lacks the king's personal name; both leave the withdrawing subject implicit, understood here as the besieging king.
Verse 21:3 Similar
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[21:3] Jeremiah said to them: Say this to Zedekiah:
Greek–English Saints Priority
[21:3] And Jeremiah said to them: Say this to Zedekiah king of Judah:
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Greek adds the royal title.
Verse 21:4 Divergent
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[21:4] Thus says YHWH, Israel's God: Look, I am turning back the weapons of war in your hands with which you fight Babylon's king and the Chaldeans besieging you outside the wall, and I will gather them into this city.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[21:4] Thus says the Lord: Look, I am turning the weapons of war with which you fight the Chaldeans who have shut you in outside the wall into this city,
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek lacks Israel's God, in your hands, Babylon's king, and the separate gathering clause; it directly makes the city the destination of the turned weapons. Hebrew them has an uncertain antecedent, weapons or besiegers.
Verse 21:5 Same
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[21:5] I Myself will fight against you with outstretched hand and strong arm, in anger, fury, and great wrath.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[21:5] and I Myself will fight you with outstretched hand and mighty arm, with fury, anger, and great indignation.
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: Both make the Lord the city's opponent, reversing the expected saving-war imagery.
Verse 21:6 Similar
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[21:6] I will strike this city's inhabitants, both people and animals; they will die of a great pestilence.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[21:6] And I will strike all this city's inhabitants, the people and the livestock, with a great death, and they will die.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Greek death corresponds to Hebrew pestilence here, without using a Greek disease-specific noun.
Verse 21:7 Disparate
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[21:7] Afterward—YHWH's declaration—I will give Zedekiah king of Judah, his servants, the people, and those remaining in this city after pestilence, sword, and famine into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, into their enemies' hands and the hands of those seeking their lives. He will strike them with the sword's edge; he will not spare, pity, or have compassion on them.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[21:7] And afterward—thus says the Lord—I will give Zedekiah king of Judah, his servants, and the people remaining in this city after death, famine, and sword into the hands of their enemies who seek their lives. They will cut them down with the sword's edge. I will not spare them or have compassion on them.
Classification & Notes
Disparate. Text: Greek lacks the named Babylonian king and shifts from plural enemy execution to first-person divine refusal of mercy; Hebrew has the king as the continuing singular subject.
Verse 21:8 Same
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[21:8] Say to this people: Thus says YHWH: Look, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[21:8] And say to this people: Thus says the Lord: Look, I have set before your face the way of life and the way of death.
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: Both introduce the two concrete siege choices.
Verse 21:9 Divergent
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[21:9] Whoever stays in this city will die by sword, famine, and pestilence; whoever goes out and falls in with the Chaldeans besieging you will live, and his life will be his spoil.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[21:9] Whoever stays in this city will die by sword and famine; whoever goes out to join the Chaldeans who have shut you in will live, and his life will be spoil, and he will live.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek lacks pestilence and repeats he will live. Life as spoil means escaping with one's life rather than gaining other plunder.
Verse 21:10 Divergent
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[21:10] For I have set My face against this city for disaster and not for good—YHWH's declaration. It will be given into Babylon's king's hand, and he will burn it with fire.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[21:10] Because I have fixed My face upon this city for evils and not for good things. It will be handed into Babylon's king's hands, and he will burn it down with fire.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek lacks the internal declaration formula; the judgment otherwise agrees.
Verse 21:11 Same
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[21:11] And to the house of Judah's king: Hear YHWH's word.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[21:11] House of Judah's king, hear the Lord's word.
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: Both address the royal household.
Verse 21:12 Divergent
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[21:12] House of David, thus says YHWH: Administer justice in the morning and rescue the robbed from the oppressor's hand, lest My fury go out like fire and burn with no one to quench it because of the evil of their deeds.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[21:12] House of David, thus says the Lord: Judge a judgment in the morning, set things straight, and rescue the plundered from the hand of the one wronging him, so that My anger is not kindled like fire and burns with no one to quench it.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek adds set things straight and lacks the final evil-deeds cause. Hebrew their preserves the displayed consonantal suffix; no unverified reading your is substituted.
Verse 21:13 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[21:13] Look, I am against you, inhabitant of the valley, rock of the plain—YHWH's declaration—you who say, Who will descend against us? Who will enter our dwellings?
Greek–English Saints Priority
[21:13] Look, I am against you who dwell in the valley of Sor, the level land, you who say, Who will frighten us? Or who will enter our dwelling?
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek retains Sor as a name where Hebrew has rock, and asks who will frighten rather than descend. The Greek geographical apposition is difficult and provisional; it is not silently identified with a different city.
Verse 21:14 Divergent
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[21:14] I will visit you according to the fruit of your deeds—YHWH's declaration—and kindle a fire in her forest that will consume everything around her.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[21:14] And I will kindle a fire in her woodland, and it will consume everything around her.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek lacks the visitation according to deeds and the declaration formula.