Psalm 116 — 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 116
The cup of salvation
Verse 116:1 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[116:1] I love, for YHWH hears
my voice, my pleas for favor.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[114:1] Hallelujah.
I loved, for the Lord will hear
the voice of my petition,
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek adds Hallelujah. Neither source explicitly supplies an object after love. Hebrew hears can also bear future force.
Verse 116:2 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[116:2] For He inclined His ear to me,
and in my days I will call.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[114:2] for He inclined His ear to me,
and in my days I will call upon Him.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: The Greek compound verb makes invocation explicit; Him supplies its understood object in English.
Verse 116:3 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[116:3] The cords of death surrounded me;
the straits of Sheol found me;
I found distress and sorrow.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[114:3] The pangs of death surrounded me;
the dangers of Hades found me;
I found affliction and pain.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew cords and constricted places become Greek birth pangs and dangers. Sheol and Hades are retained separately.
Verse 116:4 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[116:4] And I call on the name of YHWH:
“Please, YHWH, deliver my life!”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[114:4] And I called on the name of the Lord:
“O Lord, rescue my soul!”
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Hebrew imperfect invocation is presented as past in Greek; life and soul render the respective terms without imposing a body-soul division.
Verse 116:5 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[116:5] Gracious is YHWH, and righteous;
our God has compassion.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[114:5] Merciful is the Lord, and righteous;
and our God shows mercy.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Gracious and compassionate become the Greek vocabulary of mercy.
Verse 116:6 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[116:6] YHWH keeps the simple;
I was brought low, and He saved me.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[114:6] The Lord guards the little children;
I was humbled, and He saved me.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew petayim describes the simple or inexperienced; Greek nepia literally names little children and can figuratively describe the immature. Saints reception: Augustine links the little ones with children disciplined by a father for their good. [AUG-PS116-FINISH, §5]
Verse 116:7 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[116:7] Return, my soul, to your rest,
for YHWH has dealt bountifully with you.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[114:7] Return, my soul, to your rest,
for the Lord has benefited you,
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: Both address the soul and recall divine beneficence.
Verse 116:8 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[116:8] For You have freed my life from death,
my eye from tears,
my foot from stumbling.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[114:8] for He rescued my soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
and my feet from slipping.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew directly addresses God; Greek reports His action in the third person. Eye and foot are singular in Hebrew, plural in Greek.
Verse 116:9 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[116:9] I will walk before YHWH
in the lands of the living.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[114:9] I will be well pleasing before the Lord
in the land of the living.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew walking before God becomes explicitly pleasing Him in Greek; lands becomes singular land. Greek Psalm 114 ends here.
Verse 116:10 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[116:10] I believed, even when I spoke:
“I am greatly afflicted.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[115:1] Hallelujah.
I believed; therefore I spoke.
But I was greatly humbled.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek Psalm 115 opens here with Hallelujah and expressly makes speaking the consequence of belief. Hebrew ki is read provisionally as even when; because or for remain possible, and its relation to the next clause requires review. Early Christian reception: Paul quotes the Greek belief-to-speech clause in 2 Corinthians 4:13 as a model for his own believing proclamation amid suffering. This quotation does not decide the Hebrew conjunction. [NA28-2CO4-FINISH]
Verse 116:11 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[116:11] I said in my haste,
“Every human being is false.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[115:2] I said in my bewilderment,
“Every human being is a liar.”
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew haste or alarm becomes Greek ekstasis, here rendered bewilderment rather than a mystical trance. False or unreliable is sharpened to liar. Saints reception: Augustine explicitly distinguishes fearful bewilderment under persecution from revelatory ecstasy here. [AUG-PS116-FINISH, §8]
Verse 116:12 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[116:12] What shall I return to YHWH
for all His benefits toward me?
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[115:3] What shall I repay to the Lord
for everything He has repaid to me?
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Both ask how divine beneficence can be answered; Greek repeats the repayment verb.
Verse 116:13 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[116:13] I will lift the cup of salvations
and call on the name of YHWH.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[115:4] I will take the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the Lord.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew plural salvations and lifting become Greek singular salvation and taking. No sacramental interpretation is inserted into either base text. Saints reception: Augustine relates the cup to sharing Christ’s sufferings and the martyrs’ death. This is attributed Christian interpretation, not an added noun in the psalm. [AUG-PS116-FINISH, §10]
Verse 116:14 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[116:14] I will fulfill my vows to YHWH,
now in the presence of all His people.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[No corresponding verse in the displayed Greek main text.]
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: The publisher’s Greek Psalm 115 skips label five entirely. Hebrew’s first vow refrain is not supplied from a different Greek edition; the later Greek vow at 115:9 is aligned once with Hebrew 116:18. Augustine’s received text does contain this earlier vow refrain; his exposition therefore must not be used to fill the declared RH2006 main-text omission silently. [AUG-PS116-FINISH]
Verse 116:15 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[116:15] Costly in the eyes of YHWH
is the death of His faithful ones.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[115:6] Precious before the Lord
is the death of His holy ones.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew yaqar permits precious or costly; costly is chosen to preserve the possible sense of loss. Greek timios is precious or honored. Hebrew faithful ones and Greek holy ones retain their different emphases.
Verse 116:16 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[116:16] Please, YHWH, for I am Your servant;
I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant.
You have loosened my bonds.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[115:7] O Lord, I am Your slave;
I am Your slave and the son of Your slave woman.
You have torn apart my bonds.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek doulos and paidiske explicitly use slave vocabulary, while Hebrew service terms are rendered servant and maidservant. Loosening becomes tearing apart; both express belonging to God and release from bonds. Saints reception: Augustine interprets the handmaid as the heavenly Jerusalem and the faithful as her children. [AUG-PS116-FINISH, §11]
Verse 116:17 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[116:17] To You I will sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and I will call on the name of YHWH.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[115:8] To You I will sacrifice a sacrifice of praise.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek lacks the second Hebrew clause invoking the name. Thanksgiving becomes praise.
Verse 116:18 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[116:18] I will fulfill my vows to YHWH,
now in the presence of all His people,
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[115:9] I will repay my vows to the Lord
before all His people,
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: The vow refrain corresponds here; Hebrew’s appeal particle is rendered now. Greek euche can denote a vow or prayer; vow fits repaying.
Verse 116:19 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[116:19] in the courts of YHWH’s house,
in your midst, Jerusalem.
Praise Yah!
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[115:10] in the courts of the Lord’s house,
in your midst, Jerusalem.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: The closing Hebrew Praise Yah is absent in this Greek psalm.