Nahum — Hebrew and Greek compared
Choose a chapter to explore the source readings and their notes. Original references, source labels, and review records are retained.
Source guide and review record
SAINTS TRANSLATION
Nahum
V2 • Reviewed translation draft • Sep 11, 2026
All forty-seven Hebrew and forty-seven Greek running-text units and all comparison notes have received a final editorial source review. The selected BHS and Rahlfs–Hanhart publisher texts remain the bases. Rashi on 1:7 and Augustine, City of God XVIII.31, were verified in their stated online presentations. Critical apparatuses, manuscript collation, an exhaustive reception survey and independent specialist certification are not claimed.
3 chapters • 47 translation rows
Reader’s guide
Read across each row to compare independent literal-smooth English renderings of the declared Hebrew and Greek texts. Rabbinic Priority and Saints Priority identify interpretive traditions, not alternate sources of biblical wording. Actual source references remain visible.
The accessed BHS and Greek editions both have 14, 14 and 19 verses: 47 source verses in each and 47 aligned rows. Their 2:1 corresponds to common English 1:15; their 2:2–14 corresponds to common English 2:1–13. Greek sentences sometimes continue across 2:3–5 and 3:3–4. The actual source boundaries are retained. The Greek “swift” clause at 1:14 may connect conceptually with the messenger’s feet at 2:1; no clause is duplicated.
Source basis and review scope
Hebrew: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, fifth corrected edition (1997). Greek: Rahlfs–Hanhart Septuaginta, second revised edition (2006). Complete running texts were directly checked; the registered reception passages were consulted selectively.
Same: corresponding meaning. Similar: modest expression or emphasis difference. Different: meaningful specific detail. Divergent: addition, omission, or rearrangement. Disparate: major difference in meaning or consequence. Each row uses one governing category under the updated project reference.
Sources, Method & Decisions
Source register
[BHS1] Karl Elliger and Wilhelm Rudolph, eds., Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia; fifth corrected edition prepared by Adrian Schenker (1997), German Bible Society official online main text. Scope: Nahum 1, complete chapter. Access: Direct Hebrew main text. Accessed Sep 11, 2026.
[BHS2] Karl Elliger and Wilhelm Rudolph, eds., Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia; fifth corrected edition prepared by Adrian Schenker (1997), German Bible Society official online main text. Scope: Nahum 2, complete chapter. Access: Direct Hebrew main text. Accessed Sep 11, 2026.
[BHS3] Karl Elliger and Wilhelm Rudolph, eds., Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia; fifth corrected edition prepared by Adrian Schenker (1997), German Bible Society official online main text. Scope: Nahum 3, complete chapter. Access: Direct Hebrew main text. Accessed Sep 11, 2026.
[LXX1] Alfred Rahlfs, Septuaginta; second revised edition prepared by Robert Hanhart (2006), German Bible Society official online main text. Scope: Nahum 1, complete chapter. Access: Direct Greek main text. Accessed Sep 11, 2026.
[LXX2] Alfred Rahlfs, Septuaginta; second revised edition prepared by Robert Hanhart (2006), German Bible Society official online main text. Scope: Nahum 2, complete chapter. Access: Direct Greek main text. Accessed Sep 11, 2026.
[LXX3] Alfred Rahlfs, Septuaginta; second revised edition prepared by Robert Hanhart (2006), German Bible Society official online main text. Scope: Nahum 3, complete chapter. Access: Direct Greek main text. Accessed Sep 11, 2026.
[RASHI-NAH] Rashi, Commentary on Nahum 1:7; Chabad.org bilingual presentation. Scope: Commentary on 1:7. Access: Direct commentary reading; modern biblical translation not used as a base. Accessed Sep 11, 2026.
[AUG-NAH] Augustine, City of God XVIII.31; Marcus Dods translation, NPNF First Series vol. 2 (1887), New Advent. Scope: XVIII.31, connected Nahum 1:14–2:2 passage; Dods English presentation. Access: Direct English patristic translation; Latin not collated. Accessed Sep 11, 2026.
Contextual term record
משא / λῆμμα → oracle. 1:1; prophetic burden, not a physical load.
בליעל / εἰς παλαίωσιν → wicked one / into decay. 2:1; Greek expression left provisional, not replaced with a Hebrew person.
מפיץ / ἐμφυσῶν → scatterer / one who breathes. 2:2; preserve change of agent and action.
גאון / ὕβρις → majesty / arrogance. 2:3; restoration and removal are independently rendered.
פלדות; הוצב; פארור → metal; it is decreed; pallor. 2:4,8,11; all three Hebrew expressions require specialist lexical review.
בכורים / σκοποί → early fruit / lookouts. 3:12; preserve difficult Greek without inventing a fig species.
ילק, ארבה / βροῦχος, ἀκρίς, ἀττέλεβος → locust, swarm / crawling locust, locust, young locust. 3:15–17; descriptive terms are provisional and do not establish exact biological stages.
Material decisions
Complete direct main-text translation and comparison of all 47 verses in each declared edition; no eclectic readings adopted.
Used source numbering, explicitly mapping common English 1:15 and 2:1–13.
Preserved cross-verse Greek clauses without duplicating content.
Marked unusual Greek expressions and Hebrew rare terms as provisional rather than silently harmonizing them.
Production note: Source chapter and verse references remain visible throughout.
Open questions
1:6: confirm whether archas here is best read as rulers, dominions or beginnings.
1:10–12: review the difficult Hebrew and Greek syntax; the major differences are visible but their origins have not been investigated.
1:14–2:1: review the attachment of tacheis and the force of eis palaiōsin.
2:4,8,10–11: review rare Hebrew terms and the fragmentary Greek syntax, especially reins, foundation and weighing down.
3:1,8,12,14,17: review the unusual Greek handling, portion/string, lookouts, brick and locust expressions.
Classification totals
Same: 1 • Different: 22 • Similar: 6 • Disparate: 14 • Divergent: 4. Counting unit: one aligned verse row. These are affected rows, not unique textual variants.
Disparate index
1:6, 1:9, 1:12, 2:1, 2:2, 2:3, 2:4, 2:8, 2:14, 3:1, 3:3, 3:8, 3:17, 3:18
Final editorial review
Review completed: Sep 11, 2026
All forty-seven Hebrew and forty-seven Greek units and their existing notes were checked against the declared publisher texts. Source numbering and all three-column comparison rows remain intact. The six translation corrections concern Hebrew 1:12 and Greek 2:3; 3:2, 3:3, 3:10, 3:14. Notes now distinguish ambiguous subjects, contextual slain vocabulary, and Augustine’s whole-passage interpretation.
[LSJ-TRAUM] Liddell–Scott–Jones, Greek-English Lexicon, s.v. traumatias, sense II (slain person), Scaife ATLAS. The entry cites Deuteronomy 21:1 and Judges 16:24; its application at Nahum 3:3 follows the battle context.
Critical apparatuses, manuscript images and an exhaustive history of reception remain uncollated; difficult lexical readings remain explicitly provisional.