Psalm 104 — Creation sustained by the divine breath — 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 104 — Creation sustained by the divine breath
Verse 104:1 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[104:1] Bless YHWH, my soul.
YHWH my God, You are very great;
You have clothed Yourself in majesty and splendor.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[103:1] Of David.
Bless the Lord, my soul.
Lord my God, You have become very great;
You have clothed Yourself in praise and dignity,
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek adds the David heading and has praise/dignity rather than Hebrew majesty/splendor. The heading remains in its numbered source entry.
Verse 104:2 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[104:2] He wraps Himself in light like a garment,
stretching out the heavens like a tent curtain.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[103:2] wrapping Yourself in light like a garment,
stretching out heaven like a hide curtain;
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Greek continues the preceding direct address before returning to third-person descriptions; the light-garment and stretched-sky imagery corresponds. Greek derris specifies a hide covering.
Verse 104:3 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[104:3] He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters,
makes clouds His chariot,
and walks on the wings of the wind.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[103:3] He roofs His upper chambers in waters,
makes clouds His means of ascent,
and walks on the wings of winds.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek roofing and means of ascent differs from Hebrew beams and chariot; the water/cloud/wind imagery corresponds.
Verse 104:4 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[104:4] He makes His messengers winds,
His ministers a flaming fire.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[103:4] He makes His angels winds,
and His ministers a burning fire.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: The construction and fire image closely correspond. Hebrew can also be construed as making winds His messengers; Greek pneumata permits winds or spirits, and its angels are literally messengers. No later angelic ontology is made part of the translation. Reception — Hebrews 1:7 explicitly introduces this line as concerning angels, using spirits and flame of fire. The latter phrase differs from burning fire in the accessed Greek psalm. [NA28-HEB1-PSROOT]
Verse 104:5 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[104:5] He founded the earth on its bases;
it will never be moved, forever and ever.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[103:5] He founded the earth on its stability;
it will not be tilted for an age of ages.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: The image of enduring stability corresponds; Greek abstracts the Hebrew bases into stability.
Verse 104:6 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[104:6] You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
waters stood above the mountains.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[103:6] The abyss is His covering like a garment;
waters will stand upon the mountains.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek a nominal statement about His covering differs from Hebrew You covered it, and the water clause's tense differs. The masculine Greek possessive is retained rather than silently changed to earth's feminine pronoun.
Verse 104:7 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[104:7] At Your rebuke they flee;
at the voice of Your thunder they hurry away.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[103:7] At Your rebuke they will flee;
at the voice of Your thunder they will become afraid.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek fear differs from Hebrew hurried flight in the second clause.
Verse 104:8 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[104:8] Mountains rise, valleys descend,
to the place You established for them.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[103:8] Mountains rise and plains descend
to the place You founded for them.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Both printed constructions permit debate over whether mountains/valleys are subjects or routes taken by the waters. This draft retains the terrain-as-subject construal; it is not a geological reconstruction.
Verse 104:9 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[104:9] You set a boundary they will not cross;
they will not return to cover the earth.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[103:9] You set a boundary they will not pass,
nor will they return to cover the earth.
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: The water boundary and no-return clauses correspond.
Verse 104:10 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[104:10] He sends springs into the ravines;
they flow between the mountains.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[103:10] He sends springs into the ravines;
waters will pass between the mountains.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Greek explicitly names waters where Hebrew continues they.
Verse 104:11 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[104:11] They give drink to every beast of the field;
wild donkeys quench their thirst.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[103:11] They give drink to all the beasts of the field;
wild donkeys will receive it for their thirst.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek receiving for thirst differs from Hebrew quenching it; it supplies water as the English object's contextual antecedent.
Verse 104:12 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[104:12] Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;
from among the branches they give voice.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[103:12] Upon them the birds of heaven will nest;
from among the rocks they will give voice.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek rocks differs from Hebrew branches; the nesting location's relation is also expressed differently.
Verse 104:13 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[104:13] He waters mountains from His upper chambers;
the earth is satisfied with the fruit of Your works.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[103:13] He waters mountains from His upper chambers;
the earth will be filled with the fruit of Your works.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Both shift from His chambers to Your works; that address shift is retained.
Verse 104:14 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[104:14] He makes grass grow for livestock
and plants for human labor,
to bring bread out of the earth,
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[103:14] He makes grass spring up for livestock
and green plants for the service of humans,
to bring bread out of the earth;
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: The cultivation/service expression is kept open to plants serving people and people cultivating them; the provision corresponds.
Verse 104:15 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[104:15] and wine gladdens the human heart,
to make the face shine with oil,
and bread sustains the human heart.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[103:15] and wine gladdens the human heart,
to brighten the face with oil,
and bread makes the human heart firm.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: The wine/oil/bread provision corresponds. Hebrew min in the oil phrase also permits a comparative reading, more than oil; with oil is contextual and provisional.
Verse 104:16 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[104:16] YHWH's trees are satisfied,
the cedars of Lebanon that He planted,
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[103:16] The trees of the plain will be filled,
the cedars of Lebanon that He planted;
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek trees of the plain differs from Hebrew YHWH's trees.
Verse 104:17 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[104:17] where birds make their nests;
as for the stork, cypresses are her home.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[103:17] there sparrows will nest;
the heron's house leads them.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek heron and its house leading them differs from Hebrew stork and cypresses as home. Greek's terse leadership/precedence statement remains provisional; it is not recast as a nest in fir trees.
Verse 104:18 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[104:18] The high mountains are for wild goats;
the rocks are a refuge for hyraxes.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[103:18] The high mountains are for deer;
a rock is a refuge for rock rabbits.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek deer differs from Hebrew wild goats. Hyraxes/rock rabbits are provisional conventional equivalents for the two small-animal terms, not a claim that the Greek names a modern rabbit species.
Verse 104:19 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[104:19] He made the moon for appointed times;
the sun knows its setting.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[103:19] He made the moon for seasons;
the sun knew its setting.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: The ordering of lunar times and sunset corresponds.
Verse 104:20 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[104:20] You set darkness, and it becomes night;
in it every beast of the forest creeps about.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[103:20] You set darkness, and night came to be;
in it all the beasts of the forest will pass,
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: The night and animal movement correspond, with the tense sequence retained.
Verse 104:21 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[104:21] the young lions roaring for prey
and seeking their food from God.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[103:21] young lions roaring to seize prey
and to seek food for themselves from God.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: The lions' dependent hunting corresponds.
Verse 104:22 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[104:22] The sun rises; they gather away
and lie down in their dens.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[103:22] The sun rose, and they gathered,
and they will lie down in their enclosures.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: The animals' daylight withdrawal corresponds; Greek enclosures differs from the general Hebrew dwelling places.
Verse 104:23 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[104:23] A human goes out to his work
and to his labor until evening.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[103:23] A human will go out to his work
and to his labor until evening.
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: The human working day corresponds.
Verse 104:24 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[104:24] How many are Your works, YHWH!
You made them all in wisdom;
the earth is full of Your possessions.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[103:24] How great Your works have become, Lord!
You made all things in wisdom;
the earth was filled with Your possession.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek greatness differs from Hebrew multiplicity; possession retains the acquisition/ownership vocabulary rather than silently replacing it with creatures.
Verse 104:25 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[104:25] Here is the sea, great and broad on both sides;
there are creeping things without number,
living creatures small and great.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[103:25] Here is the sea, great and spacious;
there are creeping things without number,
living creatures small with great.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: The sea's extent and innumerable creatures correspond.
Verse 104:26 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[104:26] There ships travel,
and Leviathan, which You formed to play in it.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[103:26] There ships pass,
and this dragon, which You formed to play with it.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek dragon differs from Hebrew Leviathan. The play clause is ambiguous in both: the creature playing in the sea and God playing with the creature are possible construals. The Greek masculine it points differently from the preceding feminine sea; the provisional English does not settle the implied player's identity.
Verse 104:27 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[104:27] All of them wait for You
to give their food in its time.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[103:27] All wait for You
to give them food at the right time.
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: The creatures' dependence and timely food correspond.
Verse 104:28 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[104:28] You give to them; they gather.
You open Your hand; they are satisfied with good.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[103:28] When You give to them, they will gather;
when You open Your hand, all things will be filled with goodness.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Greek explicitly includes all things; the giving, gathering, and open hand correspond.
Verse 104:29 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[104:29] You hide Your face; they are terrified.
You gather their breath; they expire
and return to their dust.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[103:29] When You turn Your face away, they will be troubled.
You will take back their breath, and they will fail
and return to their dust.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: The withdrawal of life-breath and return to dust correspond. Breath is contextual for ruach/pneuma, without denying their wind/spirit range.
Verse 104:30 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[104:30] You send Your spirit; they are created,
and You renew the face of the ground.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[103:30] You will send Your Spirit, and they will be created,
and You will renew the face of the earth.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: The divine life-giving Spirit and renewal correspond. Capitalization marks divine agency, consistently with Genesis 1:2; it does not itself decide personal or Trinitarian interpretation.
Verse 104:31 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[104:31] May YHWH's glory be forever;
may YHWH rejoice in His works.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[103:31] Let the Lord's glory be forever;
the Lord will rejoice in His works.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Hebrew the second wish is rendered as a wish; Greek expresses future rejoicing.
Verse 104:32 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[104:32] He looks at the earth, and it trembles;
He touches mountains, and they smoke.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[103:32] He looks upon the earth and makes it tremble;
He touches the mountains, and they smoke.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Greek explicitly makes the trembling causative; the divine earth/mountain response corresponds.
Verse 104:33 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[104:33] I will sing to YHWH throughout my life;
I will make music to my God as long as I exist.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[103:33] I will sing to the Lord in my life;
I will make music to my God as long as I exist.
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: The lifelong praise commitment corresponds.
Verse 104:34 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[104:34] May my meditation be pleasing to Him;
I will rejoice in YHWH.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[103:34] May my meditation be sweet to Him;
as for me, I will rejoice in the Lord.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: The pleasing meditation and rejoicing correspond.
Verse 104:35 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[104:35] May sinners come to an end from the earth,
and may the wicked be no more.
Bless YHWH, my soul.
Praise Yah!
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[103:35] May sinners vanish from the earth,
and lawless people, so that they no longer exist.
Bless the Lord, my soul.
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek lacks the concluding Praise Yah here. Both printed texts name sinners, not merely sins; any reception that reads the petition as ending sins must remain distinct from the base wording.