Jeremiah 48 — Hebrew and Greek compared
Disparate in this chapter: 48:6, 48:9, 48:18, 48:26, 48:27, 48:33
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 48
Moab: pride, devastation, and lament
Hebrew source: BHS48 • chapter 48
Greek source: LXX31 • chapter 31
Verse 48:1 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:1] Concerning Moab, thus says YHWH of hosts, Israel's God: Woe to Nebo, for she is devastated! Kiriathaim is disgraced and captured; the stronghold is disgraced and shattered.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:1] For Moab, thus said the Lord: Woe to Nebo, for she perished! Kiriathaim was taken; Amath was disgraced and defeated.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek Amath differs from Hebrew the-stronghold, possibly a place designation there. Greek lacks of-hosts and Israel's-God. No hypothetical underlying Hebrew is substituted for either running text.
Verse 48:2 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:2] Moab's praise is no more. In Heshbon they devise evil against her: Come, let us cut her off as a nation. You too, Madmen, will be silenced; the sword will follow you.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:2] There is no longer healing for Moab, a boast in Heshbon. They devised evils against her: We cut her off from a nation, and she will certainly cease. A sword will walk behind you.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek healing/boast differs from Hebrew praise and has past we-cut against let-us-cut. It lacks Madmen as a name, giving she-will-cease instead. The person change to you at the end remains.
Verse 48:3 Similar
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:3] A cry is heard from Horonaim: devastation and great destruction!
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:3] For a sound of people crying out comes from Horonaim: destruction and great shattering!
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: The sound/cry formula and place correspond; English comes/is-heard supplies the verbless sound construction.
Verse 48:4 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:4] Moab is shattered; her little ones make a cry heard.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:4] Moab was shattered; announce it in Zogora.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek Zogora is a destination against Hebrew her-little-ones. The displayed Hebrew form is rendered provisionally without claiming an independently consulted written/read apparatus.
Verse 48:5 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:5] On Luhith's ascent, weeping follows weeping upward; on Horonaim's descent they hear the distress of a cry of destruction.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:5] For Alaoth was filled with weeping; he will go up weeping on Horonaim's road. You heard a cry of shattering:
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek filled/Alaoth differs from Hebrew ascent/Luhith, and Greek road from descent. Its singular he and second-person plural you are retained. Hebrew's compressed tsare-cry construction is provisionally distress-of-a-cry, not an asserted enemy noun.
Verse 48:6 Disparate
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:6] Flee, save your lives, and be like a shrub in the wilderness!
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:6] Flee and save your lives, and you will be like a wild donkey in the wilderness!
Classification & Notes
Disparate. Text: Greek wild-donkey differs from Hebrew aroer, provisionally a wilderness shrub; the Hebrew word can also evoke the place-name Aroer. No species identification is asserted.
Verse 48:7 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:7] Because you trusted in your works and treasures, you too will be captured. Chemosh will go into exile, his priests and officials together.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:7] Because you trusted in your fortifications, you too will be seized. Chemosh will go into deportation, his priests and rulers together.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek fortifications differs from Hebrew works-and-treasures. Chemosh is the named deity in this oracle; taking a deity into exile is preserved as the text's cultic imagery.
Verse 48:8 Similar
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:8] A destroyer will come to every city; no city will escape. The valley will perish and the plateau be destroyed, as YHWH has said.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:8] Destruction will come upon every city; no city will be saved. The valley will perish and the plain be destroyed, as the Lord said.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Greek destruction is abstract against Hebrew destroyer. Plateau/plain retains the regional landform without asserting a modern border.
Verse 48:9 Disparate
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:9] Give Moab wings, for she will surely fly away; her cities will become a desolation, with no one living in them.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:9] Give signs to Moab, for she will surely be kindled; all her cities will become an untrodden place. From where will an inhabitant come to her?
Classification & Notes
Disparate. Text: Hebrew wings/fly-away is provisional for the rare tsits/natso construction; Greek instead has signs/be-kindled and an interrogative about inhabitants. These difficult readings are kept separate and require specialist review. BDB-tsits and BDB-natsa, directly read by the independent reviewer, describe the traditional wings/fly reading as doubtful rather than lexically secure.
Verse 48:10 Divergent
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:10] Cursed is one who does YHWH's work negligently, and cursed is one who keeps his sword from blood.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:10] Accursed is one who does the Lord's works carelessly, removing his sword from blood.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek links the withdrawing sword by a participle, lacking the second cursed formula. This is translated within the ancient oracle, not recast as an instruction for present-day violence.
Verse 48:11 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:11] Moab has been at ease from youth, resting on his lees. He has not been poured from vessel to vessel or gone into exile. Therefore his taste remains in him and his scent has not changed.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:11] Moab rested from childhood and trusted in his glory. He did not pour from vessel to vessel or go into deportation. Therefore his taste remained in him and his scent did not fade.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek glory differs from Hebrew lees, interrupting the Hebrew wine image; Greek's pouring verb is active rather than passive. Both retain taste and scent.
Verse 48:12 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:12] Therefore days are coming—YHWH's declaration—when I will send him pourers who will pour him out, empty his vessels, and smash their jars.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:12] Therefore days are coming, says the Lord, when I will send him tilters who will tip him, thin out his vessels, and cut up his horns.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek horns differs from Hebrew their-jars; thin-out differs from empty. The Hebrew switches to their in the final jar phrase; the Greek's more awkward mixed imagery is not harmonized to the wine metaphor.
Verse 48:13 Divergent
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:13] Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, as Israel's house was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:13] Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, as Israel's house was ashamed of Bethel, their hope, having trusted in them.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek adds having-trusted-in-them, with a plural pronoun whose exact antecedent is not resolved by an invented name.
Verse 48:14 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:14] How can you say, We are warriors, men of strength for battle?
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:14] How will you say, We are strong, and a man strong for warfare?
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek shifts from plural we to singular a-man; this grammatical mismatch is retained rather than replaced with the Hebrew plural men.
Verse 48:15 Divergent
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:15] Moab is devastated; he has gone up against her cities, and his choice young men have gone down to slaughter—declares the King whose name is YHWH of hosts.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:15] Moab perished, his city, and his choice young men went down to slaughter.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Hebrew's city/ascent clause is difficult: an unnamed invader as subject and against are provisionally supplied. Greek's appositional his-city remains compressed; it lacks the entire King/name declaration formula.
Verse 48:16 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:16] Moab's calamity is near to coming; his disaster hastens greatly.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:16] Moab's day is near to coming, and his calamity is very swift.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek day differs from Hebrew calamity in the first clause.
Verse 48:17 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:17] Mourn for him, all who surround him, all who know his name. Say, How the strong staff is broken, the glorious rod!
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:17] Move in lament for him, all who surround him, all who know his name. Say, How the renowned staff is shattered, the rod of grandeur!
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek's move command is rendered move-in-lament contextually; it does not explicitly name a head gesture. Renowned differs from Hebrew strong.
Verse 48:18 Disparate
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:18] Come down from glory and sit in thirst, resident daughter Dibon, for Moab's destroyer has come up against you and ruined your fortifications.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:18] Come down from glory and sit in dampness, resident Dibon. Be crushed, for Moab perished; he came up against you, ruining your fortification.
Classification & Notes
Disparate. Text: Greek dampness contrasts Hebrew thirst, adds be-crushed/Moab-perished, and lacks daughter. The source's unnamed he is retained rather than importing Hebrew destroyer as a noun.
Verse 48:19 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:19] Stand by the road and watch, resident Aroer. Ask the fleeing man and the escaping woman; say, What has happened?
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:19] Stand on the road and look, you who live in Aroer. Ask the one fleeing and the one being saved, and say, What happened?
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew contrasts masculine fugitive and feminine escapee; Greek uses masculine forms for both. The source grammatical distinction is made visible without assigning identities.
Verse 48:20 Similar
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:20] Moab is ashamed, for he is shattered. Wail and cry out; announce at Arnon that Moab is devastated.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:20] Moab was ashamed, for he was shattered. Wail and cry out; announce at Arnon that Moab perished.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: The lament commands correspond; the English retains the selected forms without claiming marginal textual readings.
Verse 48:21 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:21] Judgment has come upon the plateau's land: upon Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath,
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:21] Judgment is coming into the land of Misor: upon Chailon, Jahzah, and Mophath,
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek transliterates Misor where Hebrew has plateau and preserves Chailon/Mophath against Holon/Mephaath. The geographically recognizable list is not reconstructed from an external map.
Verse 48:22 Similar
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:22] upon Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim,
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:22] upon Dibon, Nebo, and the house of Deblathaim,
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Greek translates Beth as house and retains the remaining place designation; both lists continue.
Verse 48:23 Similar
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:23] upon Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon,
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:23] upon Kiriathaim, the house of Gamol, and the house of Maon,
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Greek renders each Beth element as house; the selected Gamol/Maon forms are retained.
Verse 48:24 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:24] upon Kerioth, Bozrah, and all the cities of Moab's land, far and near.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:24] upon Kerioth, Bosor, and all Moab's cities, far and near.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek lacks the Hebrew land noun. Bosor preserves the Greek form corresponding to Hebrew Bozrah; both include the complete near/far range.
Verse 48:25 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:25] Moab's horn is cut off and his arm broken—YHWH's declaration.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:25] Moab's horn was broken and his effort shattered.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek epicheiron is rendered effort provisionally. LSJ lists arm for this verse; Albert Pietersma's specifically focused study argues for effort/endeavor. Recompense is another lexical association. This is a genuine interpretive dispute, not an uncontested different meaning from Hebrew arm. Greek lacks the declaration formula. Sources: Pietersma-epicheiron; LSJ-epicheiron, directly read by the independent reviewer.
Verse 48:26 Disparate
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:26] Make him drunk, for he exalted himself against YHWH. Moab will wallow in his vomit and become a laughingstock himself.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:26] Make him drunk, for he magnified himself against the Lord. Moab will strike with his hand and become a laughingstock himself.
Classification & Notes
Disparate. Text: Greek hand/strike differs from Hebrew vomit/wallow. Greek gives no object of the striking; clapping or another particular gesture is not asserted.
Verse 48:27 Disparate
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:27] Was not Israel a laughingstock to you? Was he found among thieves, that whenever you spoke of him you shook yourself?
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:27] Was not Israel a laughingstock to you? Was he found in your thefts, that you made war on him?
Classification & Notes
Disparate. Text: Greek your-thefts/made-war differs from Hebrew among-thieves/speaking-and-shaking. Hebrew's final gesture is left general rather than inserting a specific head or derisive bodily action.
Verse 48:28 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:28] Leave the cities and live in the rock, Moab's inhabitants. Be like a dove nesting at the sides of a pit's mouth.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:28] Moab's inhabitants left the cities and lived among rocks. They became like doves nesting among rocks at a pit's mouth.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek gives a past narrative against Hebrew commands and plural doves against singular collective dove.
Verse 48:29 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:29] We have heard Moab's pride—very proud—his loftiness, pride, arrogance, and haughty heart.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:29] I heard Moab's insolence; he acted very insolently—his insolence and arrogance—and his heart was lifted up.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek I-heard differs from Hebrew we-heard and restructures the series as actions as well as nouns.
Verse 48:30 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:30] I know his fury—YHWH's declaration—but it is not so; his boasts have not accomplished what they claim.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:30] But I knew his works. Not his sufficiency; he did not act so.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Both constructions are compressed and uncertain. Hebrew boasts and their ineffective achievement are provisional for baddaw/lo-khen; Greek works/sufficiency differs and has no fury or declaration formula. No complete explanatory sentence is manufactured to conceal the difficulty. The middle Greek phrase has no finite verb; another proposed construal is that his deeds were not enough for him. Punctuation does not settle its relation to knew.
Verse 48:31 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:31] Therefore I wail over Moab and cry out for all Moab; he moans for the men of Kir-heres.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:31] Therefore wail over Moab from every side; cry out over the men of Kiradas of drought.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek plural commands differ from Hebrew first-person lament followed by singular he-moans. Greek Kiradas-of-drought is retained against Kir-heres; its exact place-name segmentation requires review.
Verse 48:32 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:32] More than the weeping for Jazer, I weep for you, vine of Sibmah. Your branches crossed the sea; they reached the sea of Jazer. A destroyer has fallen upon your summer fruit and vintage.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:32] Like the weeping for Jazer, I will weep for you, vine of Sibmah. Your branches crossed the sea and reached Jazer. Destruction fell upon your summer fruit and your grape gatherers.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek like differs from Hebrew more-than, lacks the second sea, and names gatherers rather than vintage. The Hebrew sea-of-Jazer is retained without assigning an unverified body of water.
Verse 48:33 Disparate
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:33] Joy and gladness are gathered away from the fruitful land and Moab's land. I have stopped wine from the vats. No one treads with a shout; a shout is no shout.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:33] Joy and gladness were boiled away from Moab's land, and wine was upon your winepresses. They did not tread in the morning or in the evening; they did not make an aidad shout.
Classification & Notes
Disparate. Text: Greek says wine-was rather than I-stopped-wine, adds morning/evening, lacks the separate fruitful-land phrase, and uses boiled-away. Aidad transliterates the vintage cry; Hebrew's repeated shout contradiction is retained as difficult rhetoric, not smoothed into a positive celebration. The reviewer checked LSJ-synepso for boiling/fermentation senses; this supplies general lexical support, not a direct citation of this verse.
Verse 48:34 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:34] From Heshbon's cry to Elealeh, as far as Jahaz, they raise their voice; from Zoar to Horonaim, Eglath-shelishiyah, for even Nimrim's waters will become desolations.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:34] From Heshbon's cry as far as Elealeh, their cities raised their voice; from Zogor to Horonaim and Aglath-salisia, for even Nebrim's water will become a burning.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek lacks Jahaz, adds their-cities, and has burning rather than desolations. Eglath-shelishiyah, literally a three-year-old heifer, is provisionally treated as a place designation matching the list, while the Greek transliteration remains explicit.
Verse 48:35 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:35] I will stop Moab—YHWH's declaration—from going up to a high place and burning incense to his god.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:35] I will destroy Moab, says the Lord, as he goes up to an altar and burns incense to his gods.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek destroy differs from Hebrew cause-to-cease, altar from high-place, and plural gods from singular god. The Hebrew could more specifically mean remove the one making offerings; its compressed construction remains provisional.
Verse 48:36 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:36] Therefore my heart murmurs for Moab like flutes, and my heart murmurs for Kir-heres's men like flutes; therefore the wealth he gained has perished.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:36] Therefore my heart, Moab, will hum like flutes; my heart will hum like a flute for Kiradas's people. Therefore what he acquired perished from a person.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek's first heart clause has irregular plural agreement, smoothed only to English singular heart; its final from-a-person is preserved as difficult. Hebrew Kir-heres differs from Greek Kiradas. The lamenting speaker is not identified beyond the text by capitalizing my.
Verse 48:37 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:37] For every head is bald and every beard clipped; on every hand are cuts, and on the loins sackcloth.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:37] They will shave every head in every place; every beard will be shaved, all hands will beat themselves, and on every waist is sackcloth.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek adds every-place and uses future actions against Hebrew nominal descriptions. Greek hands-will-beat-themselves differs from Hebrew cuts on hands; the exact mourning gesture remains uncertain. Greek lacks the Hebrew opening For.
Verse 48:38 Divergent
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:38] On all Moab's rooftops and in her squares there is nothing but mourning, for I have broken Moab like a vessel no one desires—YHWH's declaration.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:38] And on all Moab's rooftops and in her squares—for I shattered Moab, says the Lord, like a vessel for which there is no use.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek lacks the explicit nothing-but-mourning predicate, leaving a locative fragment; its vessel has no use against Hebrew no delight/desire. The missing predicate is not supplied from Hebrew.
Verse 48:39 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:39] How shattered she is! Wail! How Moab has turned his back in shame! Moab has become a laughingstock and a terror to everyone around him.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:39] How he has changed! How Moab turned his back! He was ashamed, and Moab became a laughingstock and an object of resentment to all around her.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek changed differs from Hebrew shattered, lacks wail, and has resentment against terror. The Greek final feminine her after masculine Moab is retained rather than explained away.
Verse 48:40 Divergent
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:40] For thus says YHWH: He will swoop like an eagle and spread his wings over Moab.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:40] For thus said the Lord:
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek lacks the entire swooping-eagle image after the introductory formula.
Verse 48:41 Divergent
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:41] Kerioth is captured and the strongholds seized. That day Moab's warriors' hearts will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:41] Akkarioth was taken and the fortifications seized.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek lacks the whole warriors/laboring-woman comparison. Akkarioth retains its selected Greek form against Hebrew Kerioth; Hebrew could also be construed generically as the cities.
Verse 48:42 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:42] Moab will be destroyed from being a people, for he exalted himself against YHWH.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:42] Moab will perish from being a multitude, for he magnified himself against the Lord.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek multitude differs from Hebrew people; the ground of judgment corresponds.
Verse 48:43 Divergent
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:43] Terror, pit, and trap are upon you, resident Moab—YHWH's declaration.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:43] Trap, fear, and pit are upon you, resident Moab.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek reorders the three dangers and lacks the declaration formula. Hebrew's alliterative sequence is not reproducible exactly in this English wording.
Verse 48:44 Different
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:44] One who flees from terror will fall into the pit, and one who climbs from the pit will be caught in the trap. For I will bring upon her, upon Moab, the year of their punishment—YHWH's declaration.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[31:44] One who flees from fear will fall into the pit, and one who climbs from the pit will be caught in the trap, for I will bring these things upon Moab in the year of her visitation.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek brings these-things in-the-year against Hebrew brings-the-year and lacks the declaration formula. Source changes of gender and number in the possessives are retained; visitation is punitive in context.
Verse 48:45 Divergent
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:45] In Heshbon's shadow, fugitives stand exhausted, for fire has gone out from Heshbon, a flame from Sihon's midst. It devours Moab's temples and the crowns of the tumultuous people.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[—] [No corresponding passage in the selected Greek text.]
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek31 ends at44 and lacks Hebrew48:45–47. Temples here means sides of the head, not buildings; the bodily/topographical poetic image remains difficult. Sihon's midst is not expanded into an unattested named city.
Verse 48:46 Divergent
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:46] Woe to you, Moab! Chemosh's people have perished, for your sons have been taken captive and your daughters into captivity.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[—] [No corresponding passage in the selected Greek text.]
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Hebrew-only closing section in the selected Greek text; the captivity of both sons and daughters is retained.
Verse 48:47 Divergent
Hebrew–English Rabbinic Priority
[48:47] Yet I will restore Moab's fortunes in the latter days—YHWH's declaration. Thus far is Moab's judgment.
Greek–English Saints Priority
[—] [No corresponding passage in the selected Greek text.]
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek lacks both the restoration promise and the concluding collection marker. No date for the latter days is supplied.