Psalm 118 — Hebrew and Greek compared
Disparate in this chapter: 118:12
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 118
The rejected stone
Verse 118:1 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[118:1] Give thanks to YHWH, for He is good,
for His steadfast love is forever.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[117:1] Hallelujah.
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good,
for His mercy is forever.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek adds Hallelujah; the recurring Hebrew steadfast love is Greek mercy.
Verse 118:2 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[118:2] Let Israel now say,
“For His steadfast love is forever.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[117:2] Let the house of Israel now say that He is good,
that His mercy is forever.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek adds house and that He is good, expanding the congregational refrain.
Verse 118:3 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[118:3] Let the house of Aaron now say,
“For His steadfast love is forever.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[117:3] Let the house of Aaron now say that He is good,
that His mercy is forever.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek again adds the affirmation that He is good.
Verse 118:4 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[118:4] Let those who fear YHWH now say,
“For His steadfast love is forever.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[117:4] Let all those who fear the Lord now say that He is good,
that His mercy is forever.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek adds all and that He is good.
Verse 118:5 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[118:5] From the narrow place I called to Yah;
Yah answered me in a broad place.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[117:5] In affliction I called upon the Lord,
and He answered me with room to breathe.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew contrasts constriction with a broad place; Greek names affliction and broadening. The second Hebrew Yah is a Greek pronoun; room to breathe renders broadening without a new concrete location.
Verse 118:6 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[118:6] YHWH is for me; I will not fear.
What can a human being do to me?
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[117:6] The Lord is my helper;
I will not fear what a human being will do to me.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek explicitly adds helper and makes human action the object of not fearing; Hebrew can be read as a separate rhetorical question.
Verse 118:7 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[118:7] YHWH is for me among my helpers,
and I will look upon those who hate me.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[117:7] The Lord is my helper,
and I will look upon my enemies.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew places YHWH among the speaker’s helpers; Greek calls Him the helper directly. Neither English column adds triumph to the verb look.
Verse 118:8 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[118:8] Better to take refuge in YHWH
than to trust in a human being.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[117:8] Better to trust in the Lord
than to trust in a human being.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Hebrew refuge becomes Greek trust; the preference is unchanged. Rabbinic reception: Rashi contrasts slight shelter in God with apparently firm human promises, preferring the former. [RASHI-PS118-FINISH]
Verse 118:9 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[118:9] Better to take refuge in YHWH
than to trust in nobles.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[117:9] Better to hope in the Lord
than to hope in rulers.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Refuge and trust become hope, and nobles become rulers.
Verse 118:10 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[118:10] All nations surrounded me;
in the name of YHWH I will surely cut them off.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[117:10] All nations surrounded me,
and in the name of the Lord I warded them off.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew amilam is rendered cut them off, a difficult martial usage of the root mul; Greek amynomai expresses defending against or repelling them. Hebrew prospective resolve becomes Greek past action. Rabbinic reception: Rashi interprets the surrounding nations as Gog and Magog and glosses the difficult verb as cutting off. [RASHI-PS118-FINISH]
Verse 118:11 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[118:11] They surrounded me, yes, surrounded me;
in the name of YHWH I will surely cut them off.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[117:11] Surrounding me, they surrounded me,
and in the name of the Lord I warded them off.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Both intensify the encirclement; the cut off versus ward off distinction repeats.
Verse 118:12 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[118:12] They surrounded me like bees;
they were quenched like a fire of thorns;
in the name of YHWH I will surely cut them off.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[117:12] They surrounded me like bees a honeycomb,
and they blazed up like fire among thorns,
and in the name of the Lord I warded them off.
Classification & Notes
Disparate. Text: Hebrew says they were extinguished; Greek says they blazed up and adds a honeycomb. This reverses the fire image rather than merely restating it. The military refrain also differs as at verses ten and eleven.
Verse 118:13 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[118:13] You pushed me hard to make me fall,
but YHWH helped me.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[117:13] Pushed, I was overturned so as to fall,
and the Lord took hold of me.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew addresses an unnamed attacker; Greek uses passive verbs and does not identify the attacker. God’s intervention is help versus taking hold.
Verse 118:14 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[118:14] Yah is my strength and song;
He has become my salvation.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[117:14] The Lord is my strength and my hymn,
and He has become my salvation.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Hebrew zimrat is rendered song, though its difficult form merits lexical review; Greek hymnesis explicitly denotes hymning or praise. Rabbinic reception: Rashi reads strength and cutting power belonging to God, explicitly rejecting my praise. This grammatical alternative remains distinct from the provisional song rendering. [RASHI-PS118-FINISH]
Verse 118:15 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[118:15] A voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents of the righteous:
“YHWH’s right hand does mighty deeds!
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[117:15] A voice of exultation and salvation is in the tents of the righteous:
“The Lord’s right hand has done a mighty work;
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Both announce victory in the righteous people’s tents; Greek presents the mighty action as accomplished. Quotation marks are editorial and close in the next unit.
Verse 118:16 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[118:16] YHWH’s right hand is exalted;
YHWH’s right hand does mighty deeds!”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[117:16] the Lord’s right hand lifted me high;
the Lord’s right hand has done a mighty work.”
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew describes the exalted right hand; Greek makes it the agent raising the speaker and explicitly adds me. Rabbinic reception: Rashi transmits an aggadic interpretation of God’s right hand creating heavenly beings and raising the righteous to enduring life. [RASHI-PS118-FINISH]
Verse 118:17 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[118:17] I will not die, but live,
and recount the deeds of Yah.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[117:17] I will not die, but live,
and tell in full the works of the Lord.
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: Both declare continued life for recounting God’s works.
Verse 118:18 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[118:18] Yah disciplined me severely,
but did not give me over to death.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[117:18] The Lord disciplined me with discipline,
and did not hand me over to death.
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: The doubled discipline expression is retained by different English constructions.
Verse 118:19 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[118:19] Open for me the gates of righteousness;
I will enter through them and give thanks to Yah.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[117:19] Open for me the gates of righteousness;
entering through them, I will give thanks to the Lord.
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: The entrance and thanksgiving correspond.
Verse 118:20 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[118:20] This is the gate of YHWH;
the righteous will enter through it.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[117:20] This is the gate of the Lord;
the righteous will enter through it.
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: The gate belongs to God and admits the righteous in both texts.
Verse 118:21 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[118:21] I will thank You, for You answered me
and became my salvation.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[117:21] I will thank You, for You heard me
and became my salvation.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Hebrew answered becomes Greek heard responsively.
Verse 118:22 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[118:22] The stone the builders rejected
has become the head of the corner.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[117:22] The stone the builders rejected—
this has become the head of the corner.
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: Both retain the architectural metaphor without identifying the stone as a person in the base text. Rabbinic reception: Rashi identifies the rejected stone as the people humbled among the nations. [RASHI-PS118-FINISH] Saints reception: Augustine identifies Christ as the corner joining circumcision and uncircumcision into one reconciled people. These interpretations differ while the base image corresponds. [AUG-PS118-FINISH, §16]
Verse 118:23 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[118:23] This has come from YHWH;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[117:23] This has come from the Lord,
and is marvelous in our eyes.
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: The demonstrative’s architectural context is retained without supplying a theological referent.
Verse 118:24 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[118:24] This is the day YHWH has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[117:24] This is the day the Lord has made;
let us exult and be glad in it.
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: Both invite communal rejoicing in the divinely made day.
Verse 118:25 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[118:25] Please, YHWH, save now!
Please, YHWH, grant success now!
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[117:25] O Lord, save now!
O Lord, prosper us now!
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Greek euodoo is rendered prosper, with us supplied as the natural petition’s object; Hebrew’s object is likewise unexpressed. The prayer is not reduced to material wealth.
Verse 118:26 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[118:26] Blessed is the one who comes in the name of YHWH.
We bless you from the house of YHWH.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[117:26] Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
We have blessed you from the house of the Lord.
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: The coming one is singular; the recipients of we bless you are plural in both sources. Rabbinic reception: Rashi applies the welcome to first-fruit bearers and festival pilgrims. [RASHI-PS118-FINISH]
Verse 118:27 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[118:27] YHWH is God, and He has given us light.
Bind the festival sacrifice with cords,
up to the horns of the altar.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[117:27] The Lord is God, and He has shone upon us.
Arrange a festival among the thickly covering boughs,
up to the horns of the altar.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Both festival clauses are difficult. Hebrew hag may denote a festival or its sacrifice; sacrifice is the contextual interpretation, not a separate Hebrew noun. Greek en tois pykazousin is rendered provisionally as among thickly covering boughs; those crowding or adorning and other construals remain possible. The Greek does not explicitly say bind a victim with cords. Specialist lexical and ritual review is outstanding. Rabbinic reception: Rashi describes inspected offerings bound until brought to the Temple court; he also permits a Davidic reading of the closing section. [RASHI-PS118-FINISH] Saints reception: Augustine reads a crowded holy festival and spiritual praise, with the righteous mind as altar. His received wording is not evidence that the Greek lexical uncertainty is settled. [AUG-PS118-FINISH, §21]
Verse 118:28 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[118:28] You are my God, and I will thank You;
my God, I will exalt You.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[117:28] You are my God, and I will thank You;
You are my God, and I will exalt You.
I will thank You, for You heard me
and became my salvation.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek adds the final two lines, repeating the thanksgiving of verse twenty-one. They remain within the displayed verse twenty-eight label.
Verse 118:29 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[118:29] Give thanks to YHWH, for He is good,
for His steadfast love is forever.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[117:29] Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good,
for His mercy is forever.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: The closing refrain corresponds with the established steadfast love and mercy distinction.