Textorah

I Kings 20

1
וּבֶן־הֲדַד מֶלֶךְ־אֲרָם קָבַץ אֶת־כָּל־חֵילוֹ וּשְׁלֹשִׁים וּשְׁנַיִם מֶלֶךְ אִתּוֹ וְסוּס וָרָכֶב וַיַּעַל וַיָּצַר עַל־שֹׁמְרוֹן וַיִּלָּחֶם בָּהּ
And Ben-hadad the king of Aram gathered all his host together; and there were thirty and two kings with him, and horses and chariots; and he went up and besieged Samaria, and fought against it.
Καὶ συνήθροισεν υἱὸς Ἄδερ πᾶσαν τὴν δύναμιν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀνέβη καὶ περιεκάθισεν ἐπὶ Σαμάρειαν, καὶ τριακονταδύο βασιλεῖς μετʼ αὐτοῦ, καὶ πᾶς ἵππος καὶ ἅρμα· καὶ ἀνέβησαν καὶ περιεκάθισαν ἐπὶ Σαμάρειαν, καὶ ἐπολέμησαν ἐπʼ αὐτήν.
And the son of Hadad gathered all his forces, and went up and besieged Samaria, [he] and thirty-two kings with him, and all [his] horse and chariots: and they went up and besieged Samaria, and fought against it.
2
וַיִּשְׁלַח מַלְאָכִים אֶל־אַחְאָב מֶלֶךְ־יִשְׂרָאֵל הָעִירָה
And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel, into the city,
Καὶ ἀπέστειλε πρὸς Ἀχαὰβ βασιλέα Ἰσραὴλ εἰς τὴν πόλιν, καὶ εἶπε πρὸς αὐτὸν, τάδε λέγει υἱὸς Ἄδερ,
And he sent into the city to Ahab king of Israel, and said to him, Thus says the son of Hadad,
3
וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ כֹּה אָמַר בֶּן־הֲדַד כַּסְפְּךָ וּזְהָבְךָ לִי־הוּא וְנָשֶׁיךָ וּבָנֶיךָ הַטּוֹבִים לִי־הֵם
and said unto him: 'Thus saith Ben-hadad: Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine.'
τὸ ἀργύριόν σου καὶ τὸ χρυσίον σου ἐμόν ἐστι, καὶ αἱ γυναῖκές σου καὶ τὰ τέκνα σου ἐμά ἐστι.
Thy silver and thy gold are mine, and thy wives and thy children are mine.
4
וַיַּעַן מֶלֶךְ־יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֹּאמֶר כִּדְבָרְךָ אֲדֹנִי הַמֶּלֶךְ לְךָ אֲנִי וְכָל־אֲשֶׁר־לִי
And the king of Israel answered and said: 'It is according to thy saying, my lord, O king: I am thine, and all that I have.'
Καὶ ἀπεκρίθη βασιλεὺς Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ εἶπε, καθὼς ἐλάλησας κύριέ μου βασιλεῦ, σὸς ἐγώ εἰμι καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐμά.
And the king of Israel answered and said, As thou hast said, my lord, O king, I am thine, and all mine [also].
5
וַיָּשֻׁבוּ הַמַּלְאָכִים וַיֹּאמְרוּ כֹּה־אָמַר בֶּן־הֲדַד לֵאמֹר כִּי־שָׁלַחְתִּי אֵלֶיךָ לֵאמֹר כַּסְפְּךָ וּזְהָבְךָ וְנָשֶׁיךָ וּבָנֶיךָ לִי תִתֵּן
And the messengers came again, and said: 'Thus speaketh Ben-hadad, saying: I sent indeed unto thee, saying: Thou shalt deliver me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children;
Καὶ ἀνέστρεψαν οἱ ἄγγελοι, καὶ εἶπαν, τάδε λέγει ὁ υἱὸς Ἄδερ, ἐγὼ ἀπέστειλα πρὸς σὲ, λέγων, τὸ ἀργύριόν σου καὶ τὸ χρυσίον σου καὶ τὰς γυναῖκας καὶ τὰ τέκνα σου δώσεις ἐμοὶ,
And the messengers came again, and said, Thus says the son of Hadad, I sent to thee, saying, Thou shalt give me thy silver and thy gold, and thy wives and thy children.
6
כִּי אִם־כָּעֵת מָחָר אֶשְׁלַח אֶת־עֲבָדַי אֵלֶיךָ וְחִפְּשׂוּ אֶת־בֵּיתְךָ וְאֵת בָּתֵּי עֲבָדֶיךָ וְהָיָה כָּל־מַחְמַד עֵינֶיךָ יָשִׂימוּ בְיָדָם וְלָקָחוּ
but I will send my servants unto thee tomorrow about this time, and they shall search thy house, and the houses of thy servants; and it shall be, that whatsoever is pleasant in thine eyes, they shall put it in their hand, and take it away.'
ὅτι ταύτην τὴν ὥραν αὔριον ἀποστελῶ τοὺς παῖδάς μου πρὸς σὲ, καὶ ἐρευνήσουσι τὸν οἶκόν σου καὶ τοὺς οἴκους τῶν παίδων σου, καὶ ἔσται πάντα τὰ ἐπιθυμήματα τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτῶν ἐφʼ ἃ ἂν ἐπιβάλωσι τὰς χεῖρας αὐτῶν, καὶ λήψονται.
For at this time tomorrow I will send my servants to thee, and they shall search thy house, and the houses of thy servants, and it shall be that all the desirable objects of their eyes on which they shall lay their hands, they shall even take [them].
7
וַיִּקְרָא מֶלֶךְ־יִשְׂרָאֵל לְכָל־זִקְנֵי הָאָרֶץ וַיֹּאמֶר דְּעוּ־נָא וּרְאוּ כִּי רָעָה זֶה מְבַקֵּשׁ כִּי־שָׁלַח אֵלַי לְנָשַׁי וּלְבָנַי וּלְכַסְפִּי וְלִזְהָבִי וְלֹא מָנַעְתִּי מִמֶּנּוּ
Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said: 'Mark, I pray you, and see how this man seeketh mischief; for he sent unto me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I denied him not.'
Καὶ ἐκάλεσεν ὁ βασιλεὺς Ἰσραὴλ πάντας τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους τῆς γῆς, καὶ εἶπε, γνῶτε δὴ καὶ ἴδετε ὅτι κακίαν οὗτος ζητεῖ, ὅτι ἀπέσταλκε πρὸς μὲ περὶ τῶν γυναικῶν μου, καὶ περὶ τῶν υἱῶν μου, καὶ περὶ τῶν θυγατέρων μου· τὸ ἀργύριόν μου καὶ τὸ χρυσίον μου οὐκ ἀπεκώλυσα ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ.
And the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Take notice now and consider, that this man seeks mischief: for he has sent to me concerning my wives, and concerning my sons, and concerning my daughters: I have not kept back from him my silver and my gold.
8
וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֵלָיו כָּל־הַזְּקֵנִים וְכָל־הָעָם אַל־תִּשְׁמַע וְלוֹא תֹאבֶה
And all the elders and all the people said unto him: 'Hearken thou not, neither consent.'
Καὶ εἶπαν αὐτῷ οἱ πρεσβύτεροι καὶ πᾶς ὁ λαὸς, μὴ ἀκούσῃς, καὶ μὴ θελήσῃς.
And the elders and all the people said to him, Hearken not, and consent not.
9
וַיֹּאמֶר לְמַלְאֲכֵי בֶן־הֲדַד אִמְרוּ לַאדֹנִי הַמֶּלֶךְ כֹּל אֲשֶׁר־שָׁלַחְתָּ אֶל־עַבְדְּךָ בָרִאשֹׁנָה אֶעֱשֶׂה וְהַדָּבָר הַזֶּה לֹא אוּכַל לַעֲשׂוֹת וַיֵּלְכוּ הַמַּלְאָכִים וַיְשִׁבֻהוּ דָּבָר
Wherefore he said unto the messengers of Ben-hadad: 'Tell my lord the king: All that thou didst send for to thy servant at the first I will do; but this thing I may not do.' And the messengers departed, and brought him back word.
Καὶ εἶπε τοῖς ἀγγέλοις υἱοῦ Ἄδερ, λέγετε τῷ κυρίῳ ὑμῶν, πάντα ὅσα ἀπέσταλκας πρὸς τὸν δοῦλόν σου ἐν πρώτοις ποιήσω, τὸ δὲ ῥῆμα τοῦτο οὐ δυνήσομαι ποιῆσαι· καὶ ἀπῇραν οἱ ἄνδρες, καὶ ἐπέστρεψαν αὐτῷ λόγον.
And he said to the messengers of the son of Hadad, Say to your master, All things that thou hast sent to thy servant about at first I will do; but this thing I shall not be able to do. And the men departed, and carried back the answer to him.
10
וַיִּשְׁלַח אֵלָיו בֶּן־הֲדַד וַיֹּאמֶר כֹּה־יַעֲשׂוּן לִי אֱלֹהִים וְכֹה יוֹסִפוּ אִם־יִשְׂפֹּק עֲפַר שֹׁמְרוֹן לִשְׁעָלִים לְכָל־הָעָם אֲשֶׁר בְּרַגְלָי
And Ben-hadad sent unto him, and said: 'The gods do so unto me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me.'
Καὶ ἀπέστειλε πρὸς αὐτὸν υἱὸς Ἄδερ, λέγων, τάδε ποιήσαι μοι ὁ Θεὸς καὶ τάδε προσθείη, εἰ ἐκποιήσει ὁ χοῦς Σαμαρείας ταῖς ἀλώπεξι παντὶ τῷ λαῷ τοῖς πεζοῖς μου.
And the son of Hadad sent to him, saying, So do God to me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for foxes to all the people, even my infantry.
11
וַיַּעַן מֶלֶךְ־יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֹּאמֶר דַּבְּרוּ אַל־יִתְהַלֵּל חֹגֵר כִּמְפַתֵּחַ
And the king of Israel answered and said: 'Tell him: Let not him that girdeth on his armour boast himself as he that putteth it off.'
Καὶ ἀπεκρίθη ὁ βασιλεὺς Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ εἶπεν, ἱκανούσθω· μὴ καυχάσθω ὁ κυρτὸς, ὡς ὁ ὀρθός.
And the king of Israel answered and said, Let it be sufficient; let not the humpbacked boast as he that is upright.
12
וַיְהִי כִּשְׁמֹעַ אֶת־הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה וְהוּא שֹׁתֶה הוּא וְהַמְּלָכִים בַּסֻּכּוֹת וַיֹּאמֶר אֶל־עֲבָדָיו שִׂימוּ וַיָּשִׂימוּ עַל־הָעִיר
And it came to pass, when Ben-hadad heard this message, as he was drinking, he and the kings, in the booths, that he said unto his servants: 'Set yourselves in array.' And they set themselves in array against the city.
Καὶ ἐγένετο ὅτε ἀπεκρίθη αὐτῷ τὸν λόγον τοῦτον, πίνων ἦν αὐτὸς καὶ πάντες οἱ βασιλεῖς οἱ μετʼ αὐτοῦ ἐν σκηναῖς· καὶ εἶπε τοῖς παισὶν αὐτοῦ, οἰκοδομήσατε χάρακα· καὶ ἔθεντο χάρακα ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν.
And it came to pass when he returned him this answer, he and all the kings with him were drinking in tents: and he said to his servants, Form a trench. And they made a trench against the city.
13
וְהִנֵּה נָבִיא אֶחָד נִגַּשׁ אֶל־אַחְאָב מֶלֶךְ־יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֹּאמֶר כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה הְרָאִיתָ אֵת כָּל־הֶהָמוֹן הַגָּדוֹל הַזֶּה הִנְנִי נֹתְנוֹ בְיָדְךָ הַיּוֹם וְיָדַעְתָּ כִּי־אֲנִי יְהוָה
And, behold, a prophet came near unto Ahab king of Israel, and said: 'Thus saith HaShem: Hast thou seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into thy hand this day; and thou shalt know that I am HaShem.'
Καὶ ἰδοὺ προφήτης εἷς προσῆλθε τῷ Ἀχαὰβ βασιλεῖ Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ εἶπε, τάδε λέγει Κύριος, εἰ ἑώρακας τὸν ὄχλον τὸν μέγαν τοῦτον; ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ δίδωμι αὐτὸν σήμερον εἰς χεῖρας σὰς, καὶ γνώσῃ ὅτι ἐγὼ Κύριος.
And, behold, a prophet came to Ahab king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the Lord, Hast thou seen this great multitude? behold, I give it this day into thy hands; and thou shalt know that I [am] the Lord.
14
וַיֹּאמֶר אַחְאָב בְּמִי וַיֹּאמֶר כֹּה־אָמַר יְהוָה בְּנַעֲרֵי שָׂרֵי הַמְּדִינוֹת וַיֹּאמֶר מִי־יֶאְסֹר הַמִּלְחָמָה וַיֹּאמֶר אָתָּה
And Ahab said: 'By whom?' And he said: 'Thus saith HaShem: By the young men of the princes of the provinces.' Then he said: 'Who shall begin the battle?' And he answered: 'Thou.'
Καὶ εἶπεν Ἀχαὰβ, ἐν τίνι; καὶ εἶπε, τάδε λέγει Κύριος, ἐν τοῖς παιδαρίοις τῶν ἀρχόντων τῶν χωρῶν· καὶ εἶπεν Ἀχαὰβ, τίς συνάψει τὸν πόλεμον; καὶ εἶπε, σύ.
And Ahab said, Whereby? And he said, Thus saith the Lord, By the young men of the heads of the districts. And Ahab said, Who shall begin the battle? and he said, Thou.
15
וַיִּפְקֹד אֶת־נַעֲרֵי שָׂרֵי הַמְּדִינוֹת וַיִּהְיוּ מָאתַיִם שְׁנַיִם וּשְׁלֹשִׁים וְאַחֲרֵיהֶם פָּקַד אֶת־כָּל־הָעָם כָּל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל שִׁבְעַת אֲלָפִים
Then he numbered the young men of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty-two; and after them he numbered all the people, even all the children of Israel, being seven thousand.
Καὶ ἐπεσκέψατο Ἀχαὰβ τοὺς ἄρχοντας τὰ παιδάρια τῶν χωρῶν, καὶ ἐγένοντο διακόσια τριάκοντα· καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐπεσκέψατο τὸν λαὸν πάντα υἱὸν δυνάμεως, ἑπτὰ χιλιάδας.
And Ahab numbered the young men the heads of the districts, and they were two hundred and thirty: and afterward he numbered the people, [even] every man fit for war, seven thousand.
16
וַיֵּצְאוּ בַּצָּהֳרָיִם וּבֶן־הֲדַד שֹׁתֶה שִׁכּוֹר בַּסֻּכּוֹת הוּא וְהַמְּלָכִים שְׁלֹשִׁים־וּשְׁנַיִם מֶלֶךְ עֹזֵר אֹתוֹ
And they went out at noon. But Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the booths, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him.
Καὶ ἐξῆλθε μεσημβρίας, καὶ υἱὸς Ἄδερ πίνων μεθύων ἐν Σοκχὼθ αὐτὸς καὶ οἱ βασιλεῖς, τριάκοντα καὶ δύο βασιλεῖς συμβοηθοὶ αὐτοῦ.
And he went forth at noon, and the son of Hadad was drinking [and] getting drunk in Succoth, he and the kings, [even] thirty and two kings, his allies.
17
וַיֵּצְאוּ נַעֲרֵי שָׂרֵי הַמְּדִינוֹת בָּרִאשֹׁנָה וַיִּשְׁלַח בֶּן־הֲדַד וַיַּגִּידוּ לוֹ לֵאמֹר אֲנָשִׁים יָצְאוּ מִשֹּׁמְרוֹן
And the young men of the princes of the provinces went out first; and Ben-hadad sent out, and they told him, saying: 'There are men come out from Samaria.'
Καὶ ἐξῆλθον ἄρχοντες παιδάρια τῶν χωρῶν ἐν πρώτοις· καὶ ἀποστέλλουσι καὶ ἀπαγγέλλουσι τῷ βασιλεῖ Συρίας, λέγοντες, ἄνδρες ἐξεληλύθασιν ἐκ Σαμαρείας.
And the young men the heads of the districts went forth first; and they send and report to the king of Syria, saying, There are men come forth out of Samaria.
18
וַיֹּאמֶר אִם־לְשָׁלוֹם יָצָאוּ תִּפְשׂוּם חַיִּים וְאִם לְמִלְחָמָה יָצָאוּ חַיִּים תִּפְשׂוּם
And he said: 'Whether they are come out for peace, take them alive; or whether they are come out for war, take them alive.'
Καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, εἰ εἰς εἰρήνην ἐκπορεύονται, συλλαβεῖν αὐτοὺς ζῶντας· καὶ εἰ εἰς πόλεμον, ζῶντας συλλαβεῖν αὐτούς·
And he said to them, If they come forth peaceably, take them alive; and if they come forth to war, take them alive:
19
וְאֵלֶּה יָצְאוּ מִן־הָעִיר נַעֲרֵי שָׂרֵי הַמְּדִינוֹת וְהַחַיִל אֲשֶׁר אַחֲרֵיהֶם
So these went out of the city, the young men of the princes of the provinces, and the army which followed them.
καὶ μὴ ἐξελθάτωσαν ἐκ τῆς πόλεως ἄρχοντα τὰ παιδάρια τῶν χωρῶν. Καὶ ἡ δύναμις ὀπίσω αὐτῶν
and let not the young men the heads of the districts go forth of the city. And the force that was behind them
20
וַיַּכּוּ אִישׁ אִישׁוֹ וַיָּנֻסוּ אֲרָם וַיִּרְדְּפֵם יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיִּמָּלֵט בֶּן־הֲדַד מֶלֶךְ אֲרָם עַל־סוּס וּפָרָשִׁים
And they slew every one his man; and the Arameans fled, and Israel pursued them; and Ben-hadad the king of Aram escaped on a horse with horsemen.
ἐπάταξεν ἕκαστος τὸν παρʼ αὐτοῦ· καὶ ἐδευτέρωσιν ἕκαστος τὸν παρʼ αὐτοῦ· καὶ ἔφυγε Συρία· καὶ κατεδίωξεν αὐτοὺς Ἰσραήλ· καὶ σώζεται υἱὸς Ἄδερ βασιλεὺς Συρίας ἐφʼ ἵππου ἱππέως.
smote each one the man next to him; and each one a second time smote the man next to him: and Syria fled, and Israel pursued them; and the son of Hadad, [even] the king of Syria, escapes on the horse of a horseman.
21
וַיֵּצֵא מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיַּךְ אֶת־הַסּוּס וְאֶת־הָרָכֶב וְהִכָּה בַאֲרָם מַכָּה גְדוֹלָה
And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Arameans with a great slaughter.
Καὶ ἐξῆλθεν βασιλεὺς Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ ἔλαβε πάντας τοὺς ἵππους καὶ τὰ ἅρματα, καὶ ἐπάταξε πληγὴν μεγάλην ἐν Συρίᾳ.
And the king of Israel went forth, and took all the horses and the chariots, and smote [the enemy] with a great slaughter in Syria.
22
וַיִּגַּשׁ הַנָּבִיא אֶל־מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ לֵךְ הִתְחַזַּק וְדַע וּרְאֵה אֵת אֲשֶׁר־תַּעֲשֶׂה כִּי לִתְשׁוּבַת הַשָּׁנָה מֶלֶךְ אֲרָם עֹלֶה עָלֶיךָ
And the prophet came near to the king of Israel, and said unto him: 'Go, strengthen thyself, and mark, and see what thou doest; for at the return of the year the king of Aram will come up against thee.'
Καὶ προσῆλθεν ὁ προφήτης πρὸς βασιλέα Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ εἶπε, κραταιοῦ καὶ γνῶθι καὶ ἴδε τί ποιήσεις, ὅτι ἐπιστρέφοντος τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ υἱὸς Ἄδερ βασιλεὺς Συρίας ἀναβαίνει ἐπὶ σὲ.
And the prophet came to the king of Israel, and said, Strengthen thyself, and observe, and see what thou shalt do; for at the return of the year the son of Hadad king of Syria comes up against thee.
23
וְעַבְדֵי מֶלֶךְ־אֲרָם אָמְרוּ אֵלָיו אֱלֹהֵי הָרִים אֱלֹהֵיהֶם עַל־כֵּן חָזְקוּ מִמֶּנּוּ וְאוּלָם נִלָּחֵם אִתָּם בַּמִּישׁוֹר אִם־לֹא נֶחֱזַק מֵהֶם
And the servants of the king of Aram said unto him: 'Their G-d is a G-d of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.
Καὶ οἱ παῖδες βασιλέως Συρίας· καὶ εἶπον, θεὸς ὀρέων Θεὸς Ἰσραὴλ καὶ οὐ θεὸς κοιλάδων, διὰ τοῦτο ἐκραταίωσεν ὑπὲρ ἡμᾶς· ἐὰν δὲ πολεμήσωμεν αὐτοὺς κατʼ εὐθὺ, εἰ μὴν κραταιώσωμεν ὑπὲρ αὐτούς.
And the servants of the king of Syria, even they said, The God of Israel [is] a God of mountains, and not a God of valleys; therefore has he prevailed against us: but if we should fight against them in the plain, verily we shall prevail against them.
24
וְאֶת־הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה עֲשֵׂה הָסֵר הַמְּלָכִים אִישׁ מִמְּקֹמוֹ וְשִׂים פַּחוֹת תַּחְתֵּיהֶם
And do this thing: take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put governors in their room:
Καὶ τὸ ῥῆμα τοῦτο ποίησον· ἀπόστησον τοὺς βασιλεῖς ἕκαστον εἰς τὸν τόπον αὐτῶν, καὶ θοῦ ἀντʼ αὐτῶν σατράπας,
And do thou this thing: Send away the kings, each one to his place, and set princes in their stead.
25
וְאַתָּה תִמְנֶה־לְךָ חַיִל כַּחַיִל הַנֹּפֵל מֵאוֹתָךְ וְסוּס כַּסּוּס וְרֶכֶב כָּרֶכֶב וְנִלָּחֲמָה אוֹתָם בַּמִּישׁוֹר אִם־לֹא נֶחֱזַק מֵהֶם וַיִּשְׁמַע לְקֹלָם וַיַּעַשׂ כֵּן
and number thee an army, like the army that thou hast lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot; and we will fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.' And he hearkened unto their voice, and did so.
καὶ ἀλλάξομέν σοι δύναμιν κατὰ τὴν δύναμιν τὴν πεσοῦσαν, καὶ ἵππον κατὰ τὴν ἵππον, καὶ ἅρματα κατὰ τὰ ἅρματα, καὶ πολεμήσομεν πρὸς αὐτοὺς κατʼ εὐθὺ, καὶ κραταιώσομεν ὑπὲρ αὐτούς· καὶ ἤκουσε τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐποίησεν οὕτως.
And we will give thee [another] army according to the army that was destroyed, and cavalry according to the cavalry, and chariots according to the chariots, and we will fight against them in the plain, and we shall prevail against them. And he hearkened to their voice, and did so.
26
וַיְהִי לִתְשׁוּבַת הַשָּׁנָה וַיִּפְקֹד בֶּן־הֲדַד אֶת־אֲרָם וַיַּעַל אֲפֵקָה לַמִּלְחָמָה עִם־יִשְׂרָאֵל
And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Ben-hadad mustered the Arameans, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel.
Καὶ ἐγένετο ἐπιστρέψαντος τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ, καὶ ἐπεσκέψατο υἱὸς Ἄδερ τὴν Συρίαν, καὶ ἀνέβη εἰς Ἀφεκὰ εἰς πόλεμον ἐπὶ Ἰσραήλ.
And it came to pass at the return of the year, that the son of Hadad reviewed Syria, and went up to Aphek to war against Israel.
27
וּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל הָתְפָּקְדוּ וְכָלְכְּלוּ וַיֵּלְכוּ לִקְרָאתָם וַיַּחֲנוּ בְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל נֶגְדָּם כִּשְׁנֵי חֲשִׂפֵי עִזִּים וַאֲרָם מִלְאוּ אֶת־הָאָרֶץ
And the children of Israel were mustered, and were victualled, and went against them; and the children of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Arameans filled the country.
Καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ ἐπεσκέπησαν, καὶ παρεγένοντο εἰς ἀπαντὴν αὐτῶν· καὶ παρενέβαλεν Ἰσραὴλ ἐξεναντίας αὐτῶν ὡσεὶ δύο ποίμνια αἰγῶν· καὶ Συρία ἔπλησε τὴν γῆν.
And the children of Israel were numbered, and came to meet them: and Israel encamped before them as two little flocks of goats, but Syria filled the land.
28
וַיִּגַּשׁ אִישׁ הָאֱלֹהִים וַיֹּאמֶר אֶל־מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֹּאמֶר כֹּה־אָמַר יְהוָה יַעַן אֲשֶׁר אָמְרוּ אֲרָם אֱלֹהֵי הָרִים יְהוָה וְלֹא־אֱלֹהֵי עֲמָקִים הוּא וְנָתַתִּי אֶת־כָּל־הֶהָמוֹן הַגָּדוֹל הַזֶּה בְּיָדֶךָ וִידַעְתֶּם כִּי־אֲנִי יְהוָה
And a man of G-d came near and spoke unto the king of Israel, and said: 'Thus saith HaShem: Because the Arameans have said: HaShem is a G-d of the hills, but he is not a G-d of the valleys; therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thy hand, and ye shall know that I am HaShem.'
Καὶ προσῆλθεν ὁ ἄνθρωπος τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ εἶπε τῷ βασιλεῖ Ἰσραὴλ, τάδε λέγει Κύριος, ἀνθʼ ὧν εἶπε Συρία, θεὸς ὀρέων Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς Ἰσραὴλ καὶ οὐ θεὸς κοιλάδων αὐτὸς, καὶ δώσω τὴν δύναμιν τὴν μεγάλην ταύτην εἰς χεῖρα σὴν, καὶ γνώσῃ ὅτι ἐγὼ Κύριος.
And there came the man of God, and said to the king of Israel, Thus saith the Lord, Because Syria has said, The Lord God of Israel [is] a God of the hills, and he [is] not a God of the valleys, therefore will I give this great army into thy hand, and thou shalt know that I [am] the Lord.
29
וַיַּחֲנוּ אֵלֶּה נֹכַח אֵלֶּה שִׁבְעַת יָמִים וַיְהִי בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי וַתִּקְרַב הַמִּלְחָמָה וַיַּכּוּ בְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת־אֲרָם מֵאָה־אֶלֶף רַגְלִי בְּיוֹם אֶחָד
And they encamped one over against the other seven days. And so it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined; and the children of Israel slew of the Arameans a hundred thousand footmen in one day.
Καὶ παρεμβάλλουσιν οὗτοι ἀπέναντι τούτων ἑπτὰ ἡμέρας· καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ, καὶ προσήγαγεν ὁ πόλεμος, καὶ ἐπάταξεν Ἰσραὴλ τὴν Συρίαν ἑκατὸν χιλιάδας πεζῶν μιᾷ ἡμέρᾳ.
And they encamp one over against the other before them seven days. And it came to pass on the seventh day that the battle drew on, and Israel smote Syria, [even] a hundred thousand footmen in one day.
30
וַיָּנֻסוּ הַנּוֹתָרִים אֲפֵקָה אֶל־הָעִיר וַתִּפֹּל הַחוֹמָה עַל־עֶשְׂרִים וְשִׁבְעָה אֶלֶף אִישׁ הַנּוֹתָרִים וּבֶן־הֲדַד נָס וַיָּבֹא אֶל־הָעִיר חֶדֶר בְּחָדֶר
But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and the wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand men that were left. And Ben-hadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber.
Καὶ ἔφυγον οἱ κατάλοιποι εἰς Ἀφεκὰ εἰς τὴν πόλιν, καὶ ἔπεσε τὸ τεῖχος ἐπὶ εἴκοσι καὶ ἑπτὰ χιλιάδας ἀνδρῶν τῶν καταλοίπων· καὶ υἱὸς Ἄδερ ἔφυγε καὶ εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ κοιτῶνος, εἰς τὸ ταμιεῖον.
And the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and the wall fell upon twenty-seven thousand men that were left: and the son of Hadad fled, and entered into an inner chamber, into a closet.
31
וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֵלָיו עֲבָדָיו הִנֵּה־נָא שָׁמַעְנוּ כִּי מַלְכֵי בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל כִּי־מַלְכֵי חֶסֶד הֵם נָשִׂימָה נָּא שַׂקִּים בְּמָתְנֵינוּ וַחֲבָלִים בְּרֹאשֵׁנוּ וְנֵצֵא אֶל־מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל אוּלַי יְחַיֶּה אֶת־נַפְשֶׁךָ
And his servants said unto him: 'Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings; let us, we pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel; peradventure he will save thy life.'
Καὶ εἶπε τοῖς παισὶν αὐτοῦ, οἶδα ὅτι βασιλεῖς Ἰσραὴλ βασιλεῖς ἐλέους εἰσίν· ἐπιθώμεθα δὴ σάκκους ἐπὶ τὰς ὀσφύας ἡμῶν, καὶ σχοινία ἐπὶ τὰς κεφαλὰς ἡμῶν, καὶ ἐξέλθωμεν πρὸς βασιλεα Ἰσραὴλ, εἴπως ζωογονήσει τὰς ψυχὰς ἡμῶν.
And he said to his servants, I know that the kings of Israel are merciful kings: let us now put sackcloth upon our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and let us go forth to the king of Israel, if by any means he will save our souls alive.
32
וַיַּחְגְּרוּ שַׂקִּים בְּמָתְנֵיהֶם וַחֲבָלִים בְּרָאשֵׁיהֶם וַיָּבֹאוּ אֶל־מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֹּאמְרוּ עַבְדְּךָ בֶן־הֲדַד אָמַר תְּחִי־נָא נַפְשִׁי וַיֹּאמֶר הַעוֹדֶנּוּ חַי אָחִי הוּא
So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said: 'Thy servant Ben-hadad saith: I pray thee, let me live.' And he said: 'Is he yet alive? he is my brother.'
Καὶ περιεζώσαντο σάκκους ἐπὶ τὰς ὀσφύας αὐτῶν, καὶ ἔθεσαν σχοινία ἐπὶ τὰς κεφαλὰς αὐτῶν, καὶ εἶπον τῷ βασιλεῖ Ισραὴλ, δοῦλός σου υἱὸς Ἄδερ λέγει, ζησάτω δὴ ἡ ψυχὴ ἡμῶν· καὶ εἶπεν, εἰ ἔτι ζῇ, ἀδελφός μου ἐστί.
So they girded sackcloth upon their loins, and put ropes upon their heads, and said to the king of Israel, Thy servant the son of Hadad says, Let our souls live, I pray thee. And he said, Does he yet live? He is my brother.
33
Καὶ οἱ ἄνδρες οἰωνίσαντο, καὶ ἐσπείσαντο· καὶ ἀνελέξαντο τὸν λόγον ἐκ τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ, καὶ εἶπον, ἀδελφός σου υἱὸς Ἄδερ· καὶ εἶπεν, εἰσέλθατε καὶ λάβετε αὐτόν· καὶ ἐξῆλθε πρὸς αὐτὸν υἱὸς Ἄδερ, καὶ ἀναβιβάζουσιν αὐτὸν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὸ ἅρμα.
And the men divined, and offered drink offerings; and they caught the word out of his mouth, and said, Thy brother the son of Hadad. And he said, Go ye in and fetch him. And the son of Hadad went out to him, and they cause him to go up to him into the chariot.
33
וְהָאֲנָשִׁים יְנַחֲשׁוּ וַיְמַהֲרוּ וַיַּחְלְטוּ הֲמִמֶּנּוּ וַיֹּאמְרוּ אָחִיךָ בֶן־הֲדַד וַיֹּאמֶר בֹּאוּ קָחֻהוּ וַיֵּצֵא אֵלָיו בֶּן־הֲדַד ו͏ַיַּעֲלֵהוּ עַל־הַמֶּרְכָּבָה
Now the men took it for a sign, and hastened to catch it from him; and they said: 'Thy brother Ben-hadad.' Then he said: 'Go ye, bring him.' Then Ben-hadad came forth to him; and he caused him to come up into his chariot.
34
וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו הֶעָרִים אֲשֶׁר־לָקַח־אָבִי מֵאֵת אָבִיךָ אָשִׁיב וְחוּצוֹת תָּשִׂים לְךָ בְדַמֶּשֶׂק כַּאֲשֶׁר־שָׂם אָבִי בְּשֹׁמְרוֹן וַאֲנִי בַּבְּרִית אֲשַׁלְּחֶךָּ וַיִּכְרָת־לוֹ בְרִית וַיְשַׁלְּחֵהוּ
And Ben-hadad said unto him: 'The cities which my father took from thy father I will restore; and thou shalt make streets for thee in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria.' 'And I,said Ahab, will let thee go with this covenant.' So he made a covenant with him, and let him go.
Καὶ εἶπε πρὸς αὐτὸν, τὰς πόλεις ἃς ἔλαβεν ὁ πατήρ μου παρὰ τοῦ πατρός σου ἀποδώσω σοι· καὶ ἐξόδους θήσεις σεαυτῷ ἐν Δαμασκῷ, καθὼς ἔθετο ὁ πατήρ μου ἐν Σαμαρείᾳ· καὶ ἐγὼ ἐν διαθήκῃ ἐξαποστελῶ σε. Καὶ διέθετο αὐτῷ διαθήκην, καὶ ἐξαπέστειλεν αὐτόν.
And he said to him, The cities which my father took from thy father I will restore to thee; and thou shalt make streets for thyself in Damascus, as my father made streets in Samaria; and I will let thee go with a covenant. And he made a covenant with him, and let him go.
35
וְאִישׁ אֶחָד מִבְּנֵי הַנְּבִיאִים אָמַר אֶל־רֵעֵהוּ בִּדְבַר יְהוָה הַכֵּינִי נָא וַיְמָאֵן הָאִישׁ לְהַכֹּתוֹ
And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his fellow by the word of HaShem: 'Smite me, I pray thee.' And the man refused to smite him.
Καὶ ἄνθρωπος εἷς ἐκ τῶν υἱῶν τῶν προφητῶν εἶπε πρὸς τὸν πλησίον αὐτοῦ ἐν λόγῳ Κυρίου, πάταξον δή με· καὶ οὐκ ἠθέλησεν ὁ ἄνθρωπος πατάξαι αὐτόν.
And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his neighbor by the word of the Lord, Smite me, I pray. And the man would not smite him.
36
וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ יַעַן אֲשֶׁר לֹא־שָׁמַעְתָּ בְּקוֹל יְהוָה הִנְּךָ הוֹלֵךְ מֵאִתִּי וְהִכְּךָ הָאַרְיֵה וַיֵּלֶךְ מֵאֶצְלוֹ וַיִּמְצָאֵהוּ הָאַרְיֵה וַיַּכֵּהוּ
Then said he unto him: 'Because thou hast not heartened to the voice of HaShem, behold, as soon as thou art departed from me, a lion shall slay thee.' And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him; and slew him.
Καὶ εἶπε πρὸς αὐτὸν, ἀνθʼ ὧν οὐκ ἤκουσας τῆς φωνῆς Κυρίου, καὶ ἰδοὺ σὺ ἀποτρέχεις ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ, καὶ πατάξει σε λέων· καὶ ἀπῆλθεν ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ, καὶ εὑρίσκει αὐτὸν λέων, καὶ ἐπάταξεν αὐτόν.
And he said to him, Because thou hast not hearkened to the voice of the Lord, therefore, behold, as thou departest from me, a lion shall smite thee: and he departed from him, and a lion found him, and smote him.
37
וַיִּמְצָא אִישׁ אַחֵר וַיֹּאמֶר הַכֵּינִי נָא וַיַּכֵּהוּ הָאִישׁ הַכֵּה וּפָצֹעַ
Then he found another man, and said: 'Smite me, I pray thee.' And the man smote him, smiting and wounding him.
Καὶ εὑρίσκει ἄνθρωπον ἄλλον, καὶ εἶπε, πάταξόν με δή· καὶ ἐπάταξεν αὐτὸν ὁ ἄνθρωπος, πατάξας καὶ συνέτριψε.
And he finds another man, and says, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him, and in smiting wounded [him].
38
Καὶ ἐπορεύθη ὁ προφήτης καὶ ἔστη τῷ βασιλεῖ Ἰσραὴλ ἐπὶ τῆς ὁδοῦ, καὶ κατεδήσατο ἐν τελαμῶνι τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτοῦ.
And the prophet went and stood before the king of Israel by the way, and bound his eyes with a bandage.
38
וַיֵּלֶךְ הַנָּבִיא וַיַּעֲמֹד לַמֶּלֶךְ עַל־הַדָּרֶךְ וַיִּתְחַפֵּשׂ בָּאֲפֵר עַל־עֵינָיו
So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with his headband over his eyes.
39
וַיְהִי הַמֶּלֶךְ עֹבֵר וְהוּא צָעַק אֶל־הַמֶּלֶךְ וַיֹּאמֶר עַבְדְּךָ יָצָא בְקֶרֶב־הַמִּלְחָמָה וְהִנֵּה־אִישׁ סָר וַיָּבֵא אֵלַי אִישׁ וַיֹּאמֶר שְׁמֹר אֶת־הָאִישׁ הַזֶּה אִם־הִפָּקֵד יִפָּקֵד וְהָיְתָה נַפְשְׁךָ תַּחַת נַפְשׁוֹ אוֹ כִכַּר־כֶּסֶף תִּשְׁקוֹל
And as the king passed by, he cried unto the king; and he said: 'Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man unto me, and said: Keep this man; if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life, or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver.
Καὶ ἐγένετο ὡς παρεπορεύετο ὁ βασιλεὺς, καὶ οὗτος ἐβόα πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα, καὶ εἶπεν, ὁ δοῦλός σου ἐξῆλθεν ἐπὶ τὴν στρατιὰν τοῦ πολέμου, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἀνὴρ εἰσήγαγε πρὸς μὲ ἄνδρα, καὶ εἶπε πρὸς μὲ, φύλαξον τοῦτον τὸν ἄνδρα· ἐὰν δὲ ἐκπηδῶν ἐκπηδήσῃ, καὶ ἔσται ἡ ψυχή σου ἀντὶ τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ, ἢ τάλαντον ἀργυρίου στήσεις.
And it came to pass as the king passed by, that he cried aloud to the king, and said, Thy servant went out to war, and, behold, a man brought [another] man to me, and said to me, Keep this man; and if he should by any means escape, then thy life shall go for his life, or thou shalt pay a talent of silver.
40
Καὶ ἐγενήθη, περιεβλέψατο ὁ δοῦλός σου ὧδε καὶ ὧδε, καὶ οὗτος οὐκ ἦν· καὶ εἶπε πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ βασιλεὺς Ἰσραὴλ, ἰδοὺ καὶ τὰ ἔνεδρα παρʼ ἐμοὶ ἐφόνευσας·
And it came to pass, that thy servant looked round this way and that way, and the man was gone. And the king of Israel said to him, Behold, thou hast also destroyed snares [set] for me.
40
וַיְהִי עַבְדְּךָ עֹשֵׂה הֵנָּה וָהֵנָּה וְהוּא אֵינֶנּוּ וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו מֶלֶךְ־יִשְׂרָאֵל כֵּן מִשְׁפָּטֶךָ אַתָּה חָרָצְתָּ
And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone.' And the king of Israel said unto him: 'So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it.'
41
וַיְמַהֵר וַיָּסַר אֶת־הָאֲפֵר מעל מֵעֲלֵי עֵינָיו וַיַּכֵּר אֹתוֹ מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל כִּי מֵהַנְּבִאִים הוּא
And he hastened, and took the headband away from his eyes; and the king of Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets.
Καὶ ἔσπευσε καὶ ἀφεῖλε τὸν τελαμῶνα ἀπὸ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτοῦ· καὶ ἐπέγνω αὐτὸν ὁ βασιλεὺς Ἰσραὴλ, ὅτι ἐκ τῶν προφητῶν οὗτος.
And he hastened, and took away the bandage from his eyes; and the king of Israel recognized him, that he was one of the prophets.
42
וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה יַעַן שִׁלַּחְתָּ אֶת־אִישׁ־חֶרְמִי מִיָּד וְהָיְתָה נַפְשְׁךָ תַּחַת נַפְשׁוֹ וְעַמְּךָ תַּחַת עַמּוֹ
And he said unto him: 'Thus saith HaShem: Because thou hast let go out of thy hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people.'
Καὶ εἶπε πρὸς αὐτὸν, τάδε λέγει Κύριος, διότι ἐξήνεγκας σὺ ἄνδρα ὀλέθριον ἐκ τῆς χειρός σου, καὶ ἔσται ἡ ψυχή σου ἀντὶ τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ, καὶ ὁ λαός σου ἀντὶ τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτοῦ.
And he said to him, Thus saith the Lord, Because thou hast suffered to escape out of thy hand a man appointed to destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people.
43
וַיֵּלֶךְ מֶלֶךְ־יִשְׂרָאֵל עַל־בֵּיתוֹ סַר וְזָעֵף וַיָּבֹא שֹׁמְרוֹנָה
And the king of Israel went to his house sullen and displeased, and came to Samaria.
Καὶ ἀπῆλθεν ὁ βασιλεὺς Ἰσραὴλ συγκεχυμένος καὶ ἐκλελυμένος, καὶ ἔρχεται εἰς Σαμάρειαν.
And the king of Israel departed confounded and discouraged, and came to Samaria.

How it works

A parallel reader for the Hebrew Bible and its oldest witnesses: the Masoretic text, the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Septuagint, each with an English translation where one is available.

Reading a chapter

Choose a book and chapter at the top, or type a reference into Go to (Isa 53:11, 1 Sam 3, sam 3:4, ii kgs 2, ben sira 51). Book names can be abbreviated; a name shared by numbered books (sam, kings, chr, macc) opens the first of them unless you add the number. The arrow keys move between chapters, and the address bar keeps a link to the verse you clicked, so you can bookmark or share a place.

Each row is one verse. Rows follow the Masoretic verse numbering, so the Hebrew, JPS and Samaritan columns line up exactly. The Septuagint is numbered differently in many places (Psalms, Jeremiah, Exodus 35–40, parts of Kings, Proverbs, Daniel, and dozens of chapter boundaries). Its verses are placed against their Masoretic counterparts, and a small tag such as 50:3 shows the Septuagint's own number when it differs. Greek verses that have no Masoretic counterpart (for example the Prayer of Azariah in Daniel 3) appear in reading order as separate rows marked LXX.

Columns

The chips at the top switch columns on and off. Drag a chip (or a column heading) to reorder; with a chip focused, the ← → keys move it. Your choice is remembered. The Samaritan columns appear only in Genesis–Deuteronomy; the scrolls column appears wherever a manuscript survives, including Ben Sira. Columns marked † are licensed for non-commercial use only.

Words: lexicon and concordance

Hover over any Hebrew word (Masoretic, Samaritan or scroll) or any Greek word to see its dictionary form, Strong's number, a short gloss and its grammar. Click the word to open the concordance on the right: the full lexicon entry, then every occurrence, grouped by book — for Hebrew, separately for the Masoretic text, the Samaritan Pentateuch and the scrolls (with the manuscript named). Click a reference to go there; every form of the word in the chapter is highlighted. You can also type a word or a Strong's number into Lexicon at the top.

In the Masoretic text, a Ketiv (the written form, unpointed) is shown in grey immediately before its Qere (the form read aloud); both carry the Qere's dictionary entry.

Variants

The Samaritan Pentateuch and every scroll are compared word by word with the Masoretic text of the same verse:

In the scrolls, letters in brackets are a modern editor's reconstruction and are never counted as variants; letters with a dotted overline are uncertain; ◦ is a trace of an unreadable letter. Manuscripts written in paleo-Hebrew script, and divine names that square-script scrolls write in paleo-Hebrew, are shown in paleo-Hebrew letters (switchable under Display). Hover a manuscript to see its edition. Display → Dead Sea Scrolls can hide the manuscripts that agree with the Masoretic text, or strip the reconstructions to show only what survives.

The comparison is automatic. It aligns words by spelling, so a transposition or a long rewritten passage can be marked imperfectly, and the spelling rule cannot tell a suffix from a vowel letter. Treat the colours as a finding aid and check a critical edition before building an argument on a reading.

Books outside the Hebrew Bible

Besides the Septuagint-only books, the book list has 1 Enoch and Jubilees (“Other ancient books”), shown in R. H. Charles's English with the Qumran copies beside them, and Psalms has a chapter 151. Their scroll copies — like those of Tobit and Ben Sira — have no verse numbers in the data: each fragment is placed by its published identification, and its lines are spread over those verses, so treat the exact verse boundaries as approximate. Aramaic copies (Tobit 4Q196–199 and all of Enoch) are marked “Aramaic” and have no word lookups.

Rabbinic citations

The small ❝ under a verse number opens the passages of rabbinic literature that cite that verse — Mishnah, Tosefta, both Talmuds, Midrash, Targum and Kabbalah (and, if you tick the box, later halakhah, liturgy and thought) — fetched live from Sefaria, so it needs an internet connection. Each passage is listed with Sefaria's date for the work it comes from and a link to read it there. Sefaria's links include allusions and discussions as well as quotations; those it classes as quotations are marked. It works for the Hebrew Bible, Ben Sira (by Kahana's numbering, e.g. the Talmud's quotations of Ben Sira), Tobit and Jubilees. For 1 Enoch, which the rabbis do not quote, it lists instead the Zohar's passages about a “Book of Enoch”.

How the Septuagint is aligned

Each Greek verse is placed by combining three things: the standard table of Septuagint–Masoretic verse correspondences (SIL's lxx.vrs), the table of Masoretic–English numbering differences, and a comparison of the English of Brenton's Septuagint with the JPS English, which confirms each pairing and catches displaced verses. Where no Masoretic verse is similar enough, the Greek verse stands on its own row.

The Greek word data

No openly licensed word-by-word analysis of Brenton's Greek exists, so each Greek word is matched to the most frequent analysis of the same form in the openly licensed Swete Septuagint (Morpheus parser), then to a lexicon entry. About 95% of words are identified. Parses of ambiguous forms (e.g. αὐτοῦ, τοῦ) can be wrong; the card says "automatic parse" as a reminder.

About the texts

What each column is, where it comes from, and what to keep in mind when reading it.

Masoretic Text — Westminster Leningrad Codex

The Masoretic text is the Hebrew Bible as transmitted by the Masoretes, scribal scholars active in Tiberias and elsewhere roughly from the 7th to the 10th century, who fixed its vowel points, accents and marginal notes (the Masorah) around a consonantal text that was already essentially stable by the 1st–2nd century CE. The Leningrad Codex (St Petersburg, Firkovich I B 19 A), copied in 1008/1009 CE in the Ben Asher tradition, is the oldest complete manuscript of the Hebrew Bible; the slightly older Aleppo Codex lost most of the Torah in 1947. It is the base of the standard critical editions (BHK, BHS, BHQ).

The Westminster Leningrad Codex is the public-domain digital transcription of it maintained by the J. Alan Groves Center at Westminster Theological Seminary. In this edition a Ketiv appears as its own unpointed word before the pointed Qere.

JPS 1917 — The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text

The first English Bible translation produced by a committee of Jewish scholars for the Jewish Publication Society of America, under Max L. Margolis as editor-in-chief, published in 1917. Its language deliberately follows the cadence of the King James and Revised Versions, but its renderings follow the Masoretic text and Jewish exegetical tradition, and it keeps the Hebrew chapter and verse numbering. It is in the public domain; its successor, the New JPS (Tanakh, 1985), is not. The electronic edition used here writes the divine names as “HaShem” and “G-d”.

Septuagint — Brenton's Greek text and the Updated Brenton English

The Septuagint is the Jewish translation of the Hebrew scriptures into Greek. The Torah was translated in Alexandria in the 3rd century BCE (the Letter of Aristeas tells the legend of 72 translators under Ptolemy II); the other books followed over the next two centuries. Because it was made from Hebrew manuscripts older than the Masoretic text, it often preserves a different Hebrew text: Jeremiah is about one-seventh shorter and differently ordered (a shorter Hebrew text of this type survives at Qumran in 4QJerb,d), Job is about one-sixth shorter, and Esther and Daniel have long additions. It was the Bible of Philo, Josephus and the New Testament writers, and became the Old Testament of the Greek church, which in turn led Jewish translators (Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion) to produce closer revisions.

Sir Lancelot C. L. Brenton published an English translation in 1844 and a Greek–English edition in 1851. His Greek is essentially the Sixtine (Roman) edition of 1587, which follows the 4th-century Codex Vaticanus. It is older and less critical than the modern editions of Rahlfs (1935) and Göttingen, which are under copyright. The English column is the Updated Brenton (Adam Boyd, 2020), Brenton's translation with modernised spelling and wording, dedicated to the public domain.

Samaritan Pentateuch †

The Torah as preserved by the Samaritan community of Mount Gerizim (Nablus), written in the Samaritan script, a descendant of the paleo-Hebrew alphabet. It differs from the Masoretic text in about 6,000 places, most of them spelling or grammar; in about 1,900 of them it agrees with the Septuagint. Some readings are distinctively Samaritan, above all the commandment to build an altar on Mount Gerizim added after the Ten Commandments (Exod 20:17; Deut 5:21) and “Gerizim” for “Ebal” in Deut 27:4. Many others — harmonising expansions that copy one passage into its parallel — are shared with “pre-Samaritan” Qumran manuscripts such as 4QpaleoExodm and 4QNumb, showing that the text type is older than the Samaritan schism.

European scholars learned of it in 1616, when Pietro della Valle brought a manuscript from Damascus; it was printed in the Paris (1645) and London (1657) Polyglots, collated by Benjamin Kennicott (1776–80) and edited critically by August von Gall (1914–18). The Hebrew here is Aleksandr Sigalov's digital text, based on Kennicott and checked against von Gall; the English is Sigalov's adaptation of the King James Version to the Samaritan readings. For modern scholarship see Abraham Tal's edition of MS Shechem 6 and Stefan Schorch's critical editio maior.

Dead Sea Scrolls and other Judean Desert manuscripts †

Between 1947 and 1956 the remains of about 950 manuscripts were found in eleven caves near Khirbet Qumran. Some 230 are biblical — every book of the Hebrew Bible except Esther is represented, from tiny fragments to the complete Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsaa) — dating from about 250 BCE to 68 CE. They are a thousand years older than the Leningrad Codex. Most are close to the ancestor of the Masoretic text (“proto-Masoretic”), but others agree with the Septuagint (4QJerb, 4QSama in places), with the Samaritan text type, or with neither — evidence that several forms of the text circulated side by side before the Masoretic text prevailed.

Manuscripts from other sites fill out the picture: Masada (before its fall in 73/74 CE; excavated by Yigael Yadin, 1963–65) and the Bar Kokhba refuges of Wadi Murabba'at and Naḥal Ḥever (132–135 CE), whose biblical texts are already virtually identical with the Masoretic text, as well as Naḥal Ṣe'elim, Wadi Sdeir and Naḥal Arugot. The official publication is the Discoveries in the Judaean Desert series (Oxford, 1955–2010).

The transcriptions here are those of Martin G. Abegg Jr., James E. Bowley and Edward M. Cook, as converted by the Eep Talstra Centre for Bible and Computer (ETCBC). Each manuscript is labelled with its siglum (e.g. 4QIsad), its DJD number, its find-site and the column or fragment and line. Besides the biblical manuscripts, the copies of Ben Sira, Tobit, 1 Enoch, Jubilees and Psalm 151 are shown under those books. Not every manuscript is in the dataset — notably the Greek scrolls (such as the Greek Minor Prophets from Naḥal Ḥever) are absent, and the Masada Ben Sira scroll is added separately (see Ben Sira).

Ben Sira

The Wisdom of Yeshua ben Eleazar ben Sira, composed in Hebrew in Jerusalem around 190–180 BCE and translated into Greek by his grandson in Egypt after 132 BCE (his prologue explains the difficulty of rendering Hebrew into Greek). It belongs to the Septuagint and to the Catholic and Orthodox canons (Latin Ecclesiasticus) but not to the Jewish one, although the Talmud and midrash quote it. Its Hebrew text was lost to the West until 1896, when Solomon Schechter, Agnes Lewis and Margaret Gibson identified medieval copies in the Cairo Genizah; ancient Hebrew copies then emerged at Qumran and Masada.

About two-thirds of the Hebrew is now known, from six medieval Genizah manuscripts (A–F, 10th–12th century) and three ancient ones: 2QSir (2Q18; Sir 6:14–15, 20–32), the acrostic of Sir 51:13–20, 30 in the Psalms Scroll 11QPsa (columns 21–22), and the Masada scroll (Mas1h), found by Yigael Yadin in 1964 in a casemate room of the fortress and published in 1965: seven columns with Sir 39:27–44:17, copied in the early 1st century BCE, little more than a century after the author. Its agreement with Genizah manuscript B showed that the medieval copies descend from the ancient Hebrew rather than from a translation back from Greek or Syriac.

Here the book is shown in Brenton's Greek and English. The Hebrew column is the Kahana edition, as transcribed on Hebrew Wikisource and distributed by Sefaria (CC BY-SA): a running text built on the Genizah manuscripts, in which words in [brackets] are Kahana's restorations; chapters with no surviving Hebrew are empty. Kahana numbers the verses in the Hebrew order — in the Greek, two blocks of chapters 30–36 are transposed — so his verses have been matched to Brenton's by content for this site, with his own number shown as “Heb.” where it differs. The scrolls column has the three ancient witnesses; the Masada text is Eric Reymond's transcription from bensira.org. Their placement was made for this site by matching the text; there is no Masoretic text to compare them with, so no variants are marked.

Psalm 151

The Septuagint Psalter ends with a short psalm “outside the number”, in which David recalls tending his father's sheep, his anointing and his victory over Goliath. It belongs to the Greek, Syriac and Ethiopic Bibles but not to the Hebrew one, and was long thought to have been composed in Greek — until the Psalms Scroll from Qumran Cave 11 (11QPsa, published by James Sanders in 1965) turned out to contain a longer Hebrew original in its 28th column, as two poems (151A on David's music and anointing, 151B, broken off, on Goliath). The Greek is a condensed translation of them. The psalm is shown as chapter 151 of Psalms, with the scroll's lines under the Greek verses they correspond to.

Tobit

A Jewish novella of the Eastern diaspora (probably 3rd–2nd century BCE): the pious exile Tobit, blinded in Nineveh, sends his son Tobias to recover money in Media, guided by the angel Raphael in disguise; on the way Tobias marries Sarah and drives off the demon Asmodeus. It is in the Septuagint and the Catholic and Orthodox canons. It survives in two Greek forms — a shorter one (Codices Vaticanus and Alexandrinus, printed by Brenton) and a longer one (Codex Sinaiticus) — and the Qumran copies, four in Aramaic (4Q196–199) and one in Hebrew (4Q200), published by Joseph Fitzmyer in 1995, side with the longer form, which is now generally taken as nearer the original. Their verse placement here follows Fitzmyer's identifications.

1 Enoch

A collection of five works ascribed to Enoch, the seventh from Adam who “walked with God” (Gen 5:24): the Book of the Watchers (ch. 1–36, 3rd century BCE), on the angels who descended to the daughters of men; the Parables (37–71); the Astronomical Book (72–82); the Dream Visions (83–90), with the “Animal Apocalypse” of Israel's history; and the Epistle of Enoch (91–108). It is quoted in the Letter of Jude (1:14–15) and is canonical in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, whose Ge'ez version is the only complete text; Greek survives for about a third. Józef Milik published the Aramaic fragments from Qumran Cave 4 in 1976: eleven copies, covering every part except the Parables, the oldest from around 200 BCE. The English is R. H. Charles's 1917 translation from the Ethiopic (public domain). The Astronomical scrolls (4Q208–211) contain a much longer calendar than the Ethiopic; only their few passages that match chapters 76–82 are placed.

Jubilees

A retelling of Genesis and Exodus 1–14 as revealed to Moses on Sinai by an “angel of the presence”, dated by a calendar of 49-year jubilees and a 364-day solar year (mid-2nd century BCE). Like 1 Enoch it is canonical only in the Ethiopian church, whose Ge'ez version is the only complete text; parts survive in Latin, Syriac and Greek quotations. Fragments of about fifteen Hebrew copies were found at Qumran, more than of most biblical books, and are published in DJD 13 (VanderKam and Milik, 1994) and DJD 23. The English is R. H. Charles's 1917 translation (public domain).

Lexicon and concordance data

Hebrew words carry the analysis of STEPBible's Translators Amalgamated Hebrew OT (Tyndale House, Cambridge): extended Strong's numbers — James Strong's 1890 numbering, subdivided to follow the Brown–Driver–Briggs lexicon (1906) — with morphology from the ETCBC and an abridged BDB for definitions. Samaritan and scroll words take the analysis of the Masoretic word they correspond to, or, where they differ, of the same written form elsewhere in the Masoretic text. Greek words are matched through the Swete Septuagint and the Morpheus parser to STEPBible's Greek lexicon, which draws on Abbott-Smith (1922) and Liddell–Scott–Jones.

† Licensed for non-commercial use only. Full credits and licences: Credits and licences.