Jeremiah 52 — Hebrew and Greek compared
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 52
Jeremiah 52
The siege and Zedekiah's capture
Hebrew source: BHS52 • chapter 52
Greek source: LXX52 • chapter 52
Verse 52:1 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[52:1] Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[52:1] It was Zedekiah's twenty-first year when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Amitaal daughter of Jeremiah, from Lobena.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek uses an ordinal twenty-first year rather than Hebrew's age of twenty-one years, and preserves Amitaal/Lobena against Hamutal/Libnah. The opening Greek temporal construction continues into verse four; no otherwise unnamed grandfather is identified with the prophet.
Verse 52:2 Divergent
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[52:2] He did evil in YHWH's eyes, just as Jehoiakim had done.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[—] [No corresponding verse in the selected Greek text.]
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek passes from verse one to verse four, lacking this evaluation of Zedekiah.
Verse 52:3 Divergent
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[52:3] Because of YHWH's anger this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until He cast them from His presence. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[—] [No corresponding verse in the selected Greek text.]
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek lacks both the divine-anger explanation and Zedekiah's rebellion here. This absence is recorded without claiming that Greek lacks every account of the rebellion elsewhere.
Verse 52:4 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[52:4] In the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against Jerusalem, he and all his army. They camped against her and built siegeworks around her.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[52:4] In the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his force came against Jerusalem. They enclosed her with a palisade and built around her with squared stones.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: The regnal date corresponds. Greek specifies a palisade and squared stones against Hebrew camping and siegeworks. LSJ-tetrapedos supports squared with stones, alongside a distinct four-feet sense; no unqualified stone dimension is supplied.
Verse 52:5 Similar
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[52:5] The city remained under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[52:5] The city came under confinement until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Both date the confinement to Zedekiah's eleventh year; Greek's constraint term is rendered confinement rather than substituting a more specific siege apparatus.
Verse 52:6 Divergent
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[52:6] In the fourth month, on the ninth of the month, the famine grew severe in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[52:6] On the ninth of the month, the famine grew severe in the city, and there were no loaves for the people of the land.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek lacks in-the-fourth-month. Both retain the ninth day; Hebrew bread is collective against Greek plural loaves.
Verse 52:7 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[52:7] The city was breached. All the fighting men fled and left the city at night by the gate between the two walls beside the king's garden, while the Chaldeans surrounded the city. They went by the Arabah road.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[52:7] The city was breached, and all the warriors went out at night by the gate between the wall and the outer wall beside the king's garden, while the Chaldeans surrounded the city. They went by the road to Arabah,
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek distinguishes wall and outer wall rather than Hebrew two walls and lacks the separate fled verb. Its road-to-Arabah is retained; the final clause belongs to the displayed verse seven and continues into eight.
Verse 52:8 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[52:8] The Chaldean army pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. His entire army scattered away from him.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[52:8] and the Chaldean force pursued the king and overtook him beyond Jericho. All his servants scattered away from him.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek beyond-Jericho differs from Hebrew Jericho's plains, servants from army, and him from the repeated name Zedekiah. No servants-to-soldiers substitution is made.
Verse 52:9 Divergent
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[52:9] They captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in Hamath's land, and he pronounced judgments against him.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[52:9] They captured the king and brought him to the king of Babylon at Deblatha, and he spoke to him with judgment.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek lacks in-Hamath's-land and uses Deblatha against Riblah. Hebrew plural judgments differs from Greek singular judgment; the unnamed judging subject is Babylon's king in context.
Verse 52:10 Similar
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[52:10] The king of Babylon slaughtered Zedekiah's sons before his eyes, and he also slaughtered all Judah's officials at Riblah.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[52:10] The king of Babylon slaughtered Zedekiah's sons before his eyes, and he slaughtered all Judah's rulers at Deblatha.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: The sons' execution before their father and the killing of all Judah's rulers correspond; the selected place-name forms remain visible.
Verse 52:11 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[52:11] He blinded Zedekiah's eyes and bound him with bronze fetters. The king of Babylon brought him to Babylon and put him in the house of custody until the day of his death.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[52:11] He blinded Zedekiah's eyes and bound him in fetters. The king of Babylon brought him to Babylon and put him in a mill house until the day he died.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek mill house differs from Hebrew house-of-custody and does not specify bronze. The Greek building may imply confinement with milling, but forced labor is not added as an explicit action.
Jerusalem burned and the temple furnishings removed
Hebrew source: BHS52 • chapter 52
Greek source: LXX52 • chapter 52
Verse 52:12 Divergent
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[52:12] In the fifth month, on the tenth of the month—it was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon—Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, who stood before the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[52:12] In the fifth month, on the tenth of the month, Nebuzaradan, the chief guard who stood before the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek lacks the entire nineteenth-year regnal synchronism. Chief guard follows this book's established contextual rendering of archimageiros, literally chief cook/slaughterer; it is an office title here, not an assertion about domestic cooking.
Verse 52:13 Similar
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[52:13] He burned YHWH's house, the king's house, and all Jerusalem's houses; every great house he burned with fire.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[52:13] He burned the Lord's house, the king's house, and all the city's houses; every great house he burned with fire.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: The destruction and repeated burning clauses correspond; Greek the-city replaces the Hebrew repeated Jerusalem.
Verse 52:14 Similar
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[52:14] The entire Chaldean army with the captain of the guard tore down all Jerusalem's walls around her.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[52:14] The Chaldean force with the chief guard pulled down the whole wall of Jerusalem all around.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Hebrew plural walls and Greek collective singular wall describe the surrounding fortifications. Hebrew explicitly calls the army entire; Greek does not repeat all with force.
Verse 52:15 Divergent
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[52:15] Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, deported some of the poorest people, the rest of the people remaining in the city, the defectors who had gone over to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[—] [No corresponding verse in the selected Greek text.]
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek jumps from fourteen to sixteen and lacks this deportation list. Hebrew ha-amon is provisionally rendered craftsmen; multitude is another interpretation requiring lexical review. The distinct mention of poor people is retained.
Verse 52:16 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[52:16] Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, left some of the poorest of the land as vinedressers and farmers.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[52:16] The chief guard left the remaining people as vinedressers and farmers.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek remaining-people differs from Hebrew some-of-the-poorest-of-the-land and lacks Nebuzaradan's name. It does not identify the workers by poverty.
Verse 52:17 Similar
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[52:17] The Chaldeans broke up the bronze pillars belonging to YHWH's house, the stands, and the bronze Sea in YHWH's house, and carried all their bronze to Babylon.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[52:17] The Chaldeans shattered the bronze pillars in the Lord's house, the bases, and the bronze Sea in the Lord's house. They took their bronze and carried it to Babylon.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Both preserve the named bronze furnishings and their removal. Sea is the text's designation for the large vessel; no modern capacity is introduced.
Verse 52:18 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[52:18] They took the pots, shovels, snuffers, sprinkling basins, ladles, and all the bronze utensils with which they ministered.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[52:18] And the rim, the bowls, the meat forks, and all the bronze utensils with which they performed service,
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: The Greek list has a singular rim and meat forks against Hebrew pots, shovels, snuffers, sprinkling basins, and ladles. Its taking verb is delayed until verse nineteen; no separate verb or missing objects are imported into this row.
Verse 52:19 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[52:19] The captain of the guard took the basins, firepans, sprinkling basins, pots, lampstands, ladles, and libation jugs—those of gold, gold, and those of silver, silver.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[52:19] and the saphphoth, the masmaroth, the pouring vessels, the lampstands, the incense bowls, and the ladles—those of gold, gold, and those of silver, silver—the chief guard took.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek preserves the transcribed utensil names saphphoth and masmaroth, whose objects are not identified by replacing them with Hebrew terms. Both repeat each metal. Greek hypochyteres are pouring vessels; the actually read LSJ-hypochyter entry specifically associates this verse with vessels for supplying lamp oil. The lists are not identical.
Verse 52:20 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[52:20] The two pillars, the one Sea, and the twelve bronze oxen beneath the stands, which King Solomon made for YHWH's house—the bronze of all these utensils was beyond weighing.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[52:20] The two pillars, the one Sea, and the twelve bronze calves beneath the Sea, which King Solomon made for the Lord's house—their bronze was beyond weighing.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew puts the oxen beneath the stands; Greek puts the calves beneath the Sea. The Hebrew placement is not repaired from another temple account. Greek lacks the closing all-these-utensils phrase.
Verse 52:21 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[52:21] As for the pillars, one pillar was eighteen cubits high, and a cord of twelve cubits encircled it. Its thickness was four fingerbreadths; it was hollow.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[52:21] As for the pillars, one pillar was thirty-five cubits high, and a cord of twelve cubits encircled it. Its thickness was four fingerbreadths all around,
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek thirty-five differs from Hebrew eighteen, and Greek all-around replaces the Hebrew statement hollow. Both specify a twelve-cubit circumference and four fingerbreadths of thickness. Each source's height is retained without averaging or harmonization.
Verse 52:22 Divergent
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[52:22] A bronze capital was on it, and one capital was five cubits high. Latticework and pomegranates surrounded the capital, all of bronze. The second pillar had the same, with pomegranates.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[52:22] and a bronze cornice was on them. The projection of one cornice was five cubits in length, and a net and pomegranates surrounded the cornice, all of bronze. The second pillar had the same: eight pomegranates per cubit over the twelve cubits.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek adds eight-pomegranates-per-cubit over twelve cubits, absent from Hebrew. It has on-them, cornice, and the compressed length/projection description against Hebrew on-it, capital, and height. Projection is provisional for hyperoche; no reconstruction of the architectural shape is asserted. LSJ-geison supports the cornice/coping vocabulary.
Verse 52:23 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[52:23] There were ninety-six pomegranates facing outward; all the pomegranates around the latticework numbered one hundred.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[52:23] There were ninety-six pomegranates on one side; all the pomegranates around the net numbered one hundred.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek on-one-side differs from Hebrew ruchah, provisionally facing-outward. Both give ninety-six and a total of one hundred. No invisible-corner reconstruction is inserted to explain the arrangement.
Officials taken and the deportation register
Hebrew source: BHS52 • chapter 52
Greek source: LXX52 • chapter 52
Verse 52:24 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[52:24] The captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest, and the three threshold keepers.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[52:24] The chief guard took the first priest, the second priest, and the three men guarding the road,
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek lacks both priests' names and has road against Hebrew threshold. The actual selected Greek noun is hodos; a threshold reading reported in another edition is not substituted.
Verse 52:25 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[52:25] From the city he took one court officer who supervised the fighting men, seven men who saw the king's face who were found in the city, the army commander's scribe who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land found inside the city.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[52:25] and one eunuch who supervised the warriors, seven prominent men in the king's presence who were found in the city, the scribe of the forces who kept records for the people of the land, and sixty people from the people of the land found inside the city.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Both retain one official, seven royal associates, and sixty others. Greek explicitly calls the official a eunuch and the seven men prominent, and gives record-keeping rather than Hebrew mustering. Hebrew army-commanders-scribe is a provisional construal of the title chain. Greek continues the taking verb from verse twenty-four.
Verse 52:26 Similar
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[52:26] Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[52:26] Nebuzaradan, the chief guard, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Deblatha,
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: The captives and their destination before Babylon's king correspond; Riblah/Deblatha preserves the selected name forms.
Verse 52:27 Divergent
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[52:27] The king of Babylon struck them and put them to death at Riblah in Hamath's land. Judah was exiled from his land.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[52:27] and the king of Babylon struck them at Deblatha in Aimath's land.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek lacks both the separate put-to-death verb and the concluding exile-of-Judah clause. Struck remains in the Greek, so the absence does not establish that its captives survived.
Verse 52:28 Divergent
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[52:28] These are the people Nebuchadnezzar deported: in the seventh year, three thousand twenty-three Judeans;
Greek–English Saints Priority
[—] [No corresponding passage in the selected Greek text.]
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek lacks the complete deportation register in verses twenty-eight through thirty. The Hebrew seventh year and three thousand twenty-three are retained without conversion to a modern calendar.
Verse 52:29 Divergent
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[52:29] in Nebuchadnezzar's eighteenth year, eight hundred thirty-two persons from Jerusalem;
Greek–English Saints Priority
[—] [No corresponding passage in the selected Greek text.]
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: The Hebrew-only register continues with the eighteenth year and eight hundred thirty-two people. Its date is not altered to match the nineteenth-year synchronism in verse twelve.
Verse 52:30 Divergent
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[52:30] in Nebuchadnezzar's twenty-third year, Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, deported seven hundred forty-five Judean persons. All the persons numbered four thousand six hundred.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[—] [No corresponding passage in the selected Greek text.]
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Hebrew ends the register with seven hundred forty-five and the total four thousand six hundred. The three listed groups sum to that total. Greek has no counterpart to the register.
The exiled king released and provided for
Hebrew source: BHS52 • chapter 52
Greek source: LXX52 • chapter 52
Verse 52:31 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[52:31] In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth of the month, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year he became king, raised the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him out of prison.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[52:31] In the thirty-seventh year after Ioakim king of Judah had been deported, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fourth of the month, Oulaimaradach king of Babylon, in the year he became king, took up the head of Ioakim king of Judah and brought him out of the house where he was guarded.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek twenty-fourth differs from Hebrew twenty-fifth. Greek Ioakim is retained against Jehoiachin, and Oulaimaradach against Evil-merodach. Hebrew raises the head; Greek uses take in the same release setting, rendered took-up without implying execution. The Greek house-where-guarded is not an explicit prison noun.
Verse 52:32 Similar
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[52:32] He spoke kindly to him and placed his throne above the throne of the kings with him in Babylon.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[52:32] He spoke kindly to him and placed his throne above the thrones of the kings with him in Babylon.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Greek plural thrones differs from Hebrew singular throne in the comparison; the favorable treatment and elevation among the other kings correspond.
Verse 52:33 Similar
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[52:33] He changed his prison clothes, and he ate bread continually before him all the days of his life.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[52:33] He changed his prison robe, and he ate bread continually before him all the days he lived.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Greek singular robe differs from Hebrew clothes. The succession of male pronouns is retained; the beneficiary of the change and royal provision is the released Judean king.
Verse 52:34 Divergent
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[52:34] His allowance, a continual allowance, was given to him by the king of Babylon, each day's portion on its day, until the day of his death, all the days of his life.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[52:34] His allowance was given to him continually by the king of Babylon, from day to day until the day he died.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek lacks the repeated allowance noun and the final all-the-days-of-his-life phrase. Both preserve continuing royal provision until death.