Psalm 12 — Hebrew and Greek compared
Disparate in this chapter: 12:6, 12:9
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.
Psalm 12
Pure words amid deceitful speech
Verse 12:1 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[12:1] For the director. On the eighth. A psalm of David.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[11:1] For the end, concerning the eighth. A psalm of David.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: The attribution and eighth designation correspond; Hebrew’s musical direction and Greek’s for the end remain distinct. No exact instrument or performance is inferred.
Verse 12:2 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[12:2] Save, YHWH, for the faithful one has ceased;
for the trustworthy have vanished from the sons of humankind.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[11:2] Save me, Lord, for the holy one is gone;
for truths have become few among the sons of humankind.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek explicitly adds me and speaks of diminishing truths; Hebrew speaks of trustworthy people disappearing. Faithful and holy render the respective personal descriptions.
Verse 12:3 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[12:3] They speak emptiness, each to his neighbor;
with smooth lips and a double heart they speak.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[11:3] Each spoke empty things to his neighbor;
deceitful lips spoke with a heart and a heart.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Both condemn deceptive speech and a divided inner intention. Hebrew’s heart and heart is rendered by the idiom double heart; Greek’s repetition is retained.
Verse 12:4 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[12:4] May YHWH cut off every smooth lip,
the tongue that speaks great things,
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[11:4] May the Lord destroy all deceitful lips
and a boastful tongue—
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: The same petition opposes flattering deceit and magnifying speech.
Verse 12:5 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[12:5] those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail;
our lips are with us; who is lord over us?”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[11:5] those who said, “We will magnify our tongue;
our lips are our own; who is our lord?”
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew boasts of prevailing by the tongue; Greek of magnifying it. Both deny another’s authority over the speakers.
Verse 12:6 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[12:6] “Because of the devastation of the afflicted,
because of the groaning of the needy,
now I will arise,” says YHWH.
“I will set him in safety; he pants for it.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[11:6] “Because of the misery of the poor
and because of the groaning of the needy,
now I will arise,” says the Lord.
“I will set him in salvation; I will speak openly in him.”
Classification & Notes
Disparate. Text: Both announce divine intervention. Hebrew’s last clause is provisionally the sufferer’s panting for safety, though its subject and sense are disputed. Greek retains a first-person divine assertion of open speech and a masculine or neuter pronoun, not a silent repetition of the feminine noun salvation. The difficult closing promises remain distinct.
Verse 12:7 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[12:7] The words of YHWH are pure words,
silver refined in a furnace in the earth,
purified seven times.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[11:7] The sayings of the Lord are pure sayings,
silver tried by fire, tested in the earth,
purified sevenfold.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Both compare divine speech to sevenfold refined silver. Hebrew ba‘alil and its connection with earth are uncertain; furnace is provisional. Greek’s dative earth can mark the setting or relation of testing, and requires further lexical review.
Verse 12:8 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[12:8] You, YHWH, will keep them;
You will guard him from this generation forever.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[11:8] You, Lord, will keep us
and preserve us from this generation and forever.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew moves from them to him; Greek consistently says us. Neither Hebrew pronoun is silently replaced with the Greek first person.
Verse 12:9 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[12:9] The wicked walk about on every side,
when vileness is exalted among the sons of humankind.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[11:9] The ungodly walk around;
according to Your height, You held the sons of humankind in high regard.
Classification & Notes
Disparate. Text: Hebrew closes with the elevation of human vileness; Greek addresses God’s exalted regard for humankind. The final explanation changes substantially despite the common opening about the wicked.