Proverbs 21 — Righteous action, wise judgment, and divine help — Hebrew and Greek compared

Saints Translation — Proverbs 1–31 [V1]

Same 3 Similar 4 Different 16 Divergent 3 Disparate 5

Disparate in this chapter: H 21:8, H 21:10, H 21:15, H 21:17, H 21:30

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.

Proverbs 21 — Righteous action, wise judgment, and divine help

21:1–21:8 — The king's heart and righteous action

Verse H 21:1 Similar

Hebrew–English (H)

H 21:1

The heart of a king is streams of water in the hand of YHWH;

He bends it toward whatever He desires.

Greek–English (G)

G 21:1

As a rush of water, so is a king's heart in God's hand;

wherever He willingly inclines, there He has bent it.

Comparison and reception

Similar. Text: H has channels or streams, G water's impetus; both express divine direction of the royal heart.

Verse H 21:2 Different

Hebrew–English (H)

H 21:2

Every way of a man is upright in his own eyes,

but YHWH weighs hearts.

Greek–English (G)

G 21:2

Every man appears righteous to himself,

but the Lord sets hearts straight.

Comparison and reception

Different. Text: H contrasts self-assessment with weighing; G with divine straightening of hearts.

Verse H 21:3 Different

Hebrew–English (H)

H 21:3

Doing righteousness and justice

is more desirable to YHWH than sacrifice.

Greek–English (G)

G 21:3

Doing righteous things and speaking truth

are more pleasing before God than the blood of sacrifices.

Comparison and reception

Different. Text: G has truth-speaking instead of H's justice and explicitly names sacrificial blood. G 16:7 separately repeats a related preference for righteous action; that distinct source entry remains translated once there.

Verse H 21:4 Different

Hebrew–English (H)

H 21:4

Height of eyes and breadth of heart—

the lamp of the wicked is sin.

Greek–English (G)

G 21:4

One lofty-minded in insolence is rash-hearted,

and the lamp of the impious is sin.

Comparison and reception

Different. Text: H nir is provisionally lamp, with cultivated field or plowing also proposed; the syntax linking the proud eyes and heart to the final clause is compressed. G explicitly has a lamp and characterizes the insolent person.

Verse H 21:5 Divergent

Hebrew–English (H)

H 21:5

The plans of the diligent lead only to abundance,

but everyone hasty leads only to lack.

Greek–English (G)

G —

[No corresponding text in the displayed Greek main text.]

Comparison and reception

Divergent. Text: No G 21:5 entry is displayed.

Verse H 21:6 Different

Hebrew–English (H)

H 21:6

Making treasures by a lying tongue

is a driven breath—seekers of death.

Greek–English (G)

G 21:6

One who works up stores with a false tongue

pursues empty things toward traps of death.

Comparison and reception

Different. Text: H's concluding plural 'seekers of death' attaches awkwardly to the acquisition saying and is retained as a fragment. G explicitly has death-traps and a person pursuing empty things.

Verse H 21:7 Different

Hebrew–English (H)

H 21:7

The violence of the wicked drags them away,

for they refuse to do justice.

Greek–English (G)

G 21:7

Destruction will lodge with the impious,

for they do not wish to do righteous things.

Comparison and reception

Different. Text: H's own violence carries the wicked off; G destruction takes up lodging with them.

Verse H 21:8 Disparate

Hebrew–English (H)

H 21:8

A guilty man's way is twisted,

but the pure person's work is upright.

Greek–English (G)

G 21:8

God sends crooked ways to the crooked,

for His works are pure and upright.

Comparison and reception

Disparate. Text: H's rare vazar is provisionally guilty, with foreign or estranged also proposed. G explicitly makes God the sender of crooked ways and the owner of pure works; H does not name God here.

21:9–21:16 — Mercy, justice, and the way of life

Verse H 21:9 Divergent

Hebrew–English (H)

H 21:9

Better to dwell on a corner of a roof

than with a contentious wife in a shared house.

Greek–English (G)

G 21:9

Better to dwell on a corner in the open air

than in plastered rooms with injustice and in a shared house.

Comparison and reception

Divergent. Text: G removes the contentious wife from this saying and adds plastered accommodation and injustice. It does retain a contentious woman at 21:19.

Verse H 21:10 Disparate

Hebrew–English (H)

H 21:10

The appetite of the wicked desires evil;

his neighbor finds no favor in his eyes.

Greek–English (G)

G 21:10

The life of the impious will receive mercy from none of humankind.

Comparison and reception

Disparate. Text: H describes the wicked withholding favor from a neighbor; G others withholding mercy from the impious.

Verse H 21:11 Similar

Hebrew–English (H)

H 21:11

When a scoffer is penalized, a simple person becomes wise,

and when a wise person is instructed, he receives knowledge.

Greek–English (G)

G 21:11

When an undisciplined person is penalized, the innocent becomes more resourceful,

and a wise person who understands will receive knowledge.

Comparison and reception

Similar. Text: H's scoffer and simple person correspond to G's undisciplined and innocent; G makes understanding the wise person's action.

Verse H 21:12 Different

Hebrew–English (H)

H 21:12

A righteous one gives thought to the house of the wicked,

overturning the wicked into evil.

Greek–English (G)

G 21:12

A righteous person understands the hearts of the impious,

and brings the impious low amid evils.

Comparison and reception

Different. Text: H has a wicked house, G wicked hearts. Whether H's righteous agent is human or God is not explicit, so no divine identification is imposed. Its second participle may continue that agent or imply a shift.

Verse H 21:13 Same

Hebrew–English (H)

H 21:13

One who stops his ear to the cry of the poor

will himself also call and not be answered.

Greek–English (G)

G 21:13

One who blocks his ears from hearing the weak

will himself also call, and there will be no one listening.

Comparison and reception

Same. Text: Both predict a matching failure to be heard after refusing another's distress.

Verse H 21:14 Divergent

Hebrew–English (H)

H 21:14

A gift in secret subdues anger,

and a bribe in the garment-fold fierce wrath.

Greek–English (G)

G 21:14

A secret gift overturns angers,

but one who is sparing with gifts raises fierce wrath.

Comparison and reception

Divergent. Text: H's concealed bribe also subdues wrath; G contrasts secret giving with withholding gifts that provokes wrath.

Verse H 21:15 Disparate

Hebrew–English (H)

H 21:15

Doing justice is joy to the righteous,

but terror to those who work wrongdoing.

Greek–English (G)

G 21:15

Doing judgment is the joy of the righteous,

but a devout person is unclean in the eyes of evildoers.

Comparison and reception

Disparate. Text: G replaces evildoers' terror at justice with their treating a devout person as unclean.

Verse H 21:16 Different

Hebrew–English (H)

H 21:16

A person who wanders from the way of prudence

will rest in the assembly of the shades.

Greek–English (G)

G 21:16

A man who wanders from the way of righteousness

will rest in the assembly of giants.

Comparison and reception

Different. Text: H repha'im denotes the departed shades here; G explicitly uses giants. The route is prudence in H, righteousness in G.

21:17–21:24 — Pleasure, wisdom, and speech

Verse H 21:17 Disparate

Hebrew–English (H)

H 21:17

One who loves pleasure is a person of lack;

one who loves wine and oil will not become rich.

Greek–English (G)

G 21:17

A needy man loves gladness,

loving wine and oil toward wealth;

Comparison and reception

Disparate. Text: G has no negative in its wine-and-oil clause; the difficult 'toward wealth' is retained, not harmonized to H's failure to become rich. The sentence proceeds to G 21:18.

Verse H 21:18 Different

Hebrew–English (H)

H 21:18

The wicked is a ransom for the righteous,

and the treacherous takes the place of the upright.

Greek–English (G)

G 21:18

but a lawless person is a cleansing-offering for the righteous.

Comparison and reception

Different. Text: G has one clause and perikatharma, a cleansing or expiatory offering, with refuse or a scapegoat-like substitute also within the word's imagery. H explicitly adds the treacherous replacing the upright.

Verse H 21:19 Similar

Hebrew–English (H)

H 21:19

Better to dwell in a wilderness land

than with a contentious and vexatious wife.

Greek–English (G)

G 21:19

Better to dwell in a desert land

than with a battling, talkative, and irascible woman.

Comparison and reception

Similar. Text: G adds talkativeness and uses three characterizations; the wilderness comparison agrees.

Verse H 21:20 Different

Hebrew–English (H)

H 21:20

Desirable treasure and oil are in a wise person's dwelling,

but a foolish person swallows it up.

Greek–English (G)

G 21:20

Desirable treasure will rest upon a wise person's mouth,

but foolish men will swallow it down.

Comparison and reception

Different. Text: H's dwelling and oil become G's mouth with no oil mentioned. The mouth and swallowing imagery is preserved.

Verse H 21:21 Different

Hebrew–English (H)

H 21:21

One who pursues righteousness and steadfast kindness

finds life, righteousness, and honor.

Greek–English (G)

G 21:21

A way of righteousness and mercy

will find life and glory.

Comparison and reception

Different. Text: G makes the way itself the finder and omits H's second occurrence of righteousness among the things found.

Verse H 21:22 Different

Hebrew–English (H)

H 21:22

A wise person climbs a city of mighty men,

and brings down the strength of its confidence.

Greek–English (G)

G 21:22

A wise person mounted fortified cities,

and brought down the stronghold in which the impious trusted.

Comparison and reception

Different. Text: G specifies multiple fortified cities and impious defenders; H mighty men and a city's trusted strength.

Verse H 21:23 Same

Hebrew–English (H)

H 21:23

One who guards his mouth and tongue

guards his life from troubles.

Greek–English (G)

G 21:23

One who guards his mouth and tongue

keeps his life from affliction.

Comparison and reception

Same. Text: The protective result of restrained speech closely agrees.

Verse H 21:24 Different

Hebrew–English (H)

H 21:24

An arrogant, haughty person—Scoffer is his name—

acts in the fury of arrogance.

Greek–English (G)

G 21:24

A rash, self-willed, boastful person is called pestilent,

and one who remembers wrongs is lawless.

Comparison and reception

Different. Text: H identifies the scoffer and his proud fury; G calls the boastful person pestilent and adds a separate characterization of grudge-bearing.

21:25–21:31 — Desire, testimony, and divine deliverance

Verse H 21:25 Same

Hebrew–English (H)

H 21:25

The desire of the lazy person kills him,

for his hands refuse to work.

Greek–English (G)

G 21:25

Desires kill a lazy person,

for his hands do not choose to do anything.

Comparison and reception

Same. Text: The relation of unacted desire to refusal of work closely agrees.

Verse H 21:26 Different

Hebrew–English (H)

H 21:26

All day he craves a craving,

but the righteous gives and does not withhold.

Greek–English (G)

G 21:26

The impious desires evil desires the whole day,

but the righteous shows mercy and compassion without sparing.

Comparison and reception

Different. Text: H's unexpressed subject continues the desire theme, naturally the preceding lazy person; G explicitly names the impious and evil desires, and defines generous action as mercy.

Verse H 21:27 Different

Hebrew–English (H)

H 21:27

The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination;

how much more when he brings it with an evil scheme!

Greek–English (G)

G 21:27

The sacrifices of the impious are an abomination to the Lord,

for they offer them lawlessly.

Comparison and reception

Different. Text: G explicitly names the Lord and explains lawless offering; H intensifies the judgment for a scheming intention.

Verse H 21:28 Different

Hebrew–English (H)

H 21:28

A lying witness will perish,

but a man who listens will speak enduringly.

Greek–English (G)

G 21:28

A false witness will perish,

but an obedient man will speak with caution.

Comparison and reception

Different. Text: H lanetsach denotes continuance, victory, or decisiveness here; 'enduringly' is provisional. G names an obedient speaker who guards himself.

Verse H 21:29 Different

Hebrew–English (H)

H 21:29

A wicked man hardens his face,

but the upright establishes his ways.

Greek–English (G)

G 21:29

An impious man stands his ground shamelessly in face,

but the upright himself understands his ways.

Comparison and reception

Different. Text: G interprets the brazen face explicitly as shameless and understands ways rather than H's establishing them. The unusual H displayed way-form is retained in context without an asserted qere.

Verse H 21:30 Disparate

Hebrew–English (H)

H 21:30

There is no wisdom and no understanding

and no counsel against YHWH.

Greek–English (G)

G 21:30

There is no wisdom, there is no courage,

there is no counsel with the impious.

Comparison and reception

Disparate. Text: H denies wisdom or counsel prevailing against YHWH; G denies these resources in relation to the impious, and substitutes courage for understanding. G pros can also mean toward or against; 'with' is contextual, and no divine name is written there.

Verse H 21:31 Similar

Hebrew–English (H)

H 21:31

A horse is prepared for the day of battle,

but deliverance belongs to YHWH.

Greek–English (G)

G 21:31

A horse is prepared for a day of war,

but help is from the Lord.

Comparison and reception

Similar. Text: Both distinguish military preparation from divine rescue, with G's broader help term.