Psalm 135 — 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.
Psalm 135
The living Lord and lifeless idols
Verse 135:1 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[135:1] Praise Yah!
Praise YHWH’s name;
praise, servants of YHWH,
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[134:1] Hallelujah!
Praise the Lord’s name;
praise the Lord, slaves,
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew servants of YHWH names those addressed; Greek slaves is the address and Lord the object of praise. The initial Hebrew praise call and Greek Hallelujah are retained.
Verse 135:2 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[135:2] you who stand in YHWH’s house,
in the courts of our God’s house.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[134:2] you who stand in the Lord’s house,
in the courts of our God’s house.
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: The same temple servants are addressed in the house and its courts.
Verse 135:3 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[135:3] Praise Yah, for YHWH is good;
make music to His name, for it is pleasant.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[134:3] Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
make music to His name, for it is beautiful.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Hebrew pleasant and Greek beautiful qualify the praise/name phrase. Hebrew may also mean for He is pleasant; the immediate musical context guides the provisional it rendering.
Verse 135:4 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[135:4] For Yah chose Jacob for Himself,
Israel as His treasured possession.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[134:4] For the Lord chose Jacob for Himself,
Israel as His special possession.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: The election and special possession correspond; Yah is the short Hebrew divine name.
Verse 135:5 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[135:5] For I know that YHWH is great,
and our Lord is above all gods.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[134:5] For I knew that the Lord is great,
and our Lord is above all the gods.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Hebrew knowing has present force here; Greek is completed knowing. Both retain the comparative language about the gods without silently resolving its theological implications.
Verse 135:6 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[135:6] Whatever YHWH desired, He did,
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all the depths.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[134:6] Everything the Lord willed, He did,
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all the abysses.
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: Divine action across heaven, earth, seas, and depths corresponds.
Verse 135:7 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[135:7] He brings clouds up from the earth’s end;
He made lightning for the rain;
He brings wind out of His storehouses.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[134:7] He brings clouds up from the earth’s extremity;
He made lightning for rain;
He brings winds out of His treasuries.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Hebrew wind is singular, Greek winds plural. The storage image is retained without adding a meteorological mechanism.
Verse 135:8 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[135:8] He struck Egypt’s firstborn,
from human to beast.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[134:8] He struck Egypt’s firstborn,
from human to beast.
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: The same historical judgment includes human and animal firstborn.
Verse 135:9 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[135:9] He sent signs and wonders into your midst, Egypt,
upon Pharaoh and all his servants.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[134:9] He sent out signs and wonders into your midst, Egypt,
upon Pharaoh and all his slaves.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: The same address to Egypt and judgment on Pharaoh’s dependents appears; Greek doulos is explicit slave language.
Verse 135:10 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[135:10] He struck many nations
and killed mighty kings,
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[134:10] He struck many nations
and killed powerful kings,
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: The military judgment on nations and kings is equivalent and remains explicit.
Verse 135:11 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[135:11] Sihon king of the Amorites,
Og king of Bashan,
and all Canaan’s kingdoms.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[134:11] Sihon king of the Amorites,
Og king of Bashan,
and all Canaan’s kingdoms.
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: The same named kings and territories occur, using familiar English names where identities agree.
Verse 135:12 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[135:12] He gave their land as an inheritance,
an inheritance to Israel His people.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[134:12] He gave their land as an inheritance,
an inheritance to Israel His people.
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: The repeated inheritance formula and Israel’s designation correspond.
Verse 135:13 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[135:13] YHWH, Your name is forever;
YHWH, Your remembrance is from generation to generation.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[134:13] Lord, Your name is forever;
Lord, Your memorial is from generation to generation.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Remembrance/memorial reflects the respective nouns; the duration and repeated address correspond.
Verse 135:14 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[135:14] For YHWH will judge His people
and relent concerning His servants.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[134:14] For the Lord will judge His people
and be comforted concerning His slaves.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew relenting differs from Greek being comforted. Vindicate is a contextual possibility for judge in both, but no missing object of consolation is supplied to Greek.
Verse 135:15 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[135:15] The nations’ idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[134:15] The nations’ idols are silver and gold,
works of human hands.
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: The idols’ materials and human manufacture correspond, with a minor grammatical number difference.
Verse 135:16 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[135:16] They have a mouth but do not speak;
they have eyes but do not see.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[134:16] They have a mouth but will not speak;
they have eyes but will not see.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: The same incapacity is expressed as general Hebrew description and Greek future forms.
Verse 135:17 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[135:17] They have ears but do not listen;
indeed, there is no breath in their mouth.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[134:17] They have ears but will not listen;
they have noses but will not smell;
they have hands but will not touch;
they have feet but will not walk;
they will not sound in their throat,
for there is no breath in their mouth.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek adds the noses, hands, feet, and voiceless-throat clauses between the ears and breath lines. All additional material is retained once within this actual Greek verse, without copying it into Hebrew.
Verse 135:18 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[135:18] May those who make them become like them,
everyone who trusts in them.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[134:18] May those who make them become like them,
and all who trust in them.
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: Both can be heard as a wish that makers and trusters share the idols’ condition; the Greek optative makes that force explicit.
Verse 135:19 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[135:19] House of Israel, bless YHWH;
house of Aaron, bless YHWH.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[134:19] House of Israel, bless the Lord;
house of Aaron, bless the Lord.
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: The same two houses receive the repeated summons.
Verse 135:20 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[135:20] House of Levi, bless YHWH;
you who fear YHWH, bless YHWH.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[134:20] House of Levi, bless the Lord;
you who fear the Lord, bless the Lord.
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: The Levitical house and all God-fearers receive the same summons.
Verse 135:21 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[135:21] Blessed be YHWH from Zion,
He who dwells in Jerusalem.
Praise Yah!
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[134:21] Blessed be the Lord from Zion,
He who dwells in Jerusalem.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: The accessed Greek ends after Jerusalem and lacks the final Hebrew Praise Yah. Both retain the initial praise call in verse one.