Textorah

I Samuel 16

1
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל־שְׁמוּאֵל עַד־מָתַי אַתָּה מִתְאַבֵּל אֶל־שָׁאוּל וַאֲנִי מְאַסְתִּיו מִמְּלֹךְ עַל־יִשְׂרָאֵל מַלֵּא קַרְנְךָ שֶׁמֶן וְלֵךְ אֶשְׁלָחֲךָ אֶל־יִשַׁי בֵּית־הַלַּחְמִי כִּי־רָאִיתִי בְּבָנָיו לִי מֶלֶךְ
And HaShem said unto Samuel: 'How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from being king over Israel? fill thy horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Beth-lehemite; for I have provided Me a king among his sons.'
Καὶ εἶπε Κύριος πρὸς Σαμουήλ, ἕως πότε σὺ πενθεῖς ἐπὶ Σαοὺλ, κᾀγω ἐξουδένωκα αὐτὸν, μὴ βασιλεύειν ἐπὶ Ἰσραήλ; πλῆσον τὸ κέρας σου ἐλαίου, καὶ δεῦρο ἀποστείλω σε πρὸς Ἰεσσαὶ ἕως Βηθλεὲμ, ὅτι ἑώρακα ἐν τοῖς υἱοῖς αὐτοῦ ἐμοὶ βασιλέα.
And the Lord said to Samuel, How long dost thou mourn for Saul, whereas I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill thy horn with oil, and come, I will send thee to Jesse, to Bethlehem; for I have seen among his sons a king for me.
2
וַיֹּאמֶר שְׁמוּאֵל אֵיךְ אֵלֵךְ וְשָׁמַע שָׁאוּל וַהֲרָגָנִי וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה עֶגְלַת בָּקָר תִּקַּח בְּיָדֶךָ וְאָמַרְתָּ לִזְבֹּחַ לַיהוָה בָּאתִי
And Samuel said: 'How can I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me.' And HaShem said: 'Take a heifer with thee, and say: I am come to sacrifice to HaShem.
Καὶ εἶπε Σαμουὴλ πῶς πορευθῶ; καὶ ἀκούσεται Σαοὺλ, καὶ ἀποκτενεῖ με· καὶ εἶπε Κύριος, δάμαλιν βοῶν λάβε ἐν τῇ χειρί σου, καὶ ἐρεῖς, θῦσαι τῷ Κυρίῳ ἥκω.
And Samuel said, How can I go? whereas Saul will hear of it, and slay me: and the Lord said, Take a heifer in thy hand and thou shalt say, I am come to sacrifice to the Lord.
3
וְקָרָאתָ לְיִשַׁי בַּזָּבַח וְאָנֹכִי אוֹדִיעֲךָ אֵת אֲשֶׁר־תַּעֲשֶׂה וּמָשַׁחְתָּ לִי אֵת אֲשֶׁר־אֹמַר אֵלֶיךָ
And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will tell thee what thou shalt do; and thou shalt anoint unto Me him whom I name unto thee.'
Καὶ καλέσεις τὸν Ἰεσσαὶ εἰς τὴν θυσίαν, καὶ γνωριῶ σοι ἃ ποιήσεις· καὶ χρίσεις ὃν ἂν εἴπω πρὸς σέ.
And thou shalt call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will make known to thee what thou shalt do; and thou shalt anoint him whom I shall mention to thee.
4
וַיַּעַשׂ שְׁמוּאֵל אֵת אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר יְהוָה וַיָּבֹא בֵּית לָחֶם וַיֶּחֶרְדוּ זִקְנֵי הָעִיר לִקְרָאתוֹ וַיֹּאמֶר שָׁלֹם בּוֹאֶךָ
And Samuel did that which HaShem spoke, and came to Beth-lehem. And the elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said: 'Comest thou peaceably?'
Καὶ ἐποίησε Σαμουὴλ πάντα ἃ ἐλάλησεν αὐτῷ Κύριος· καὶ ἦλθεν εἰς Βηθλεὲμ, καὶ ἐξέστησαν οἱ πρεσβύτεροι τῆς πόλεως τῇ ἀπαντήσει αὐτοῦ, καὶ εἶπαν, ἢ εἰρήνη ἡ εἴσοδός σου ὁ βλέπων;
And Samuel did all that the Lord told him; and he came to Bethlehem: and the elders of the city were amazed at meeting him, and said, Dost thou come peaceably, thou Seer?
5
וַיֹּאמֶר שָׁלוֹם לִזְבֹּחַ לַיהוָה בָּאתִי הִתְקַדְּשׁוּ וּבָאתֶם אִתִּי בַּזָּבַח וַיְקַדֵּשׁ אֶת־יִשַׁי וְאֶת־בָּנָיו וַיִּקְרָא לָהֶם לַזָּבַח
And he said: 'Peaceably; I am come to sacrifice unto HaShem; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.' And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice.
Καὶ εἶπεν, εἰρήνη· θῦσαι τῷ Κυρίῳ ἥκω· ἁγιάσθητε καὶ εὐφράνθητε μετʼ ἐμοῦ σήμερον· καὶ ἡγίασε τὸν Ἰεσσαὶ καὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐκάλεσεν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν θυσίαν.
And he said, Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice to the Lord. Sanctify yourselves, and rejoice with me this day: and he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and he called them to the sacrifice.
6
וַיְהִי בְּבוֹאָם וַיַּרְא אֶת־אֱלִיאָב וַיֹּאמֶר אַךְ נֶגֶד יְהוָה מְשִׁיחוֹ
And it came to pass, when they were come, that he beheld Eliab, and said: 'Surely HaShem'S anointed is before Him.'
Καὶ ἐγενήθη ἐν τῷ εἰσιέναι αὐτοὺς, καὶ εἶδε τὸν Ἑλιάβ, καὶ εἶπεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐνώπιον Κυρίου χριστὸς αὐτοῦ.
And it came to pass when they came in, that he saw Eliab, and said, Surely the Lord’s anointed [is] before him.
7
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל־שְׁמוּאֵל אַל־תַּבֵּט אֶל־מַרְאֵהוּ וְאֶל־גְּבֹהַּ קוֹמָתוֹ כִּי מְאַסְתִּיהוּ כִּי לֹא אֲשֶׁר יִרְאֶה הָאָדָם כִּי הָאָדָם יִרְאֶה לַעֵינַיִם וַיהוָה יִרְאֶה לַלֵּבָב
But HaShem said unto Samuel: 'Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have rejected him; for it is not as man seeth: for man looketh on the outward appearance, but HaShem looketh on the heart.'
Καὶ εἶπε Κύριος πρὸς Σαμουὴλ, μὴ ἐπιβλέψῃς ἐπὶ τὴν ὄψιν αὐτοῦ, μηδὲ εἰς τὴν ἕξιν μεγέθους αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ἐξουδένωκα αὐτόν· ὅτι οὐχ ὡς ἐμβλέψεται ἄνθρωπος, ὄψεται ὁ Θεός· ὅτι ἄνθρωπος ὅψεται εἰς πρόσωπον, ὁ δὲ Θεὸς ὄψεται εἰς καρδίαν.
But the Lord said to Samuel, Look not on his appearance, nor on his stature, for I have rejected him; for God sees not as a man looks; for man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.
8
וַיִּקְרָא יִשַׁי אֶל־אֲבִינָדָב וַיַּעֲבִרֵהוּ לִפְנֵי שְׁמוּאֵל וַיֹּאמֶר גַּם־בָּזֶה לֹא־בָחַר יְהוָה
Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said: 'Neither hath HaShem chosen this.'
Καὶ ἐκάλεσεν Ἰεσσαὶ τὸν ʼΑμιναδὰβ, καὶ παρῆλθε κατὰ πρόσωπον Σαμουήλ. καὶ εἶπεν οὐδὲ τοῦτον ἐξελέξατο ὁ Θεός.
And Jesse called Abinadab, and he passed before Samuel: and he said, Neither has God chosen this one.
9
וַיַּעֲבֵר יִשַׁי שַׁמָּה וַיֹּאמֶר גַּם־בָּזֶה לֹא־בָחַר יְהוָה
Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said: 'Neither hath HaShem chosen this.'
Καὶ παρήγαγεν Ἰεσσαὶ τὸν Σαμά· καὶ εἶπε, καὶ ἐν τούτῳ οὐκ ἐξελέξατο Κύριος.
And Jesse caused Shammah to pass by: and he said, Neither has God chosen this one.
10
וַיַּעֲבֵר יִשַׁי שִׁבְעַת בָּנָיו לִפְנֵי שְׁמוּאֵל וַיֹּאמֶר שְׁמוּאֵל אֶל־יִשַׁי לֹא־בָחַר יְהוָה בָּאֵלֶּה
And Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse: 'The HaShem hath not chosen these.'
Καὶ παρήγαγεν Ἰεσσαὶ τοὺς ἑπτὰ υἱοὺς αὐτοῦ ἐνώπιον Σαμουήλ· καὶ εἶπε Σαμουὴλ, οὐκ ἐξελέξατο Κύριος ἐν τούτοις.
And Jesse caused his seven sons to pass before Samuel: and Samuel said, The Lord has not chosen these.
11
וַיֹּאמֶר שְׁמוּאֵל אֶל־יִשַׁי הֲתַמּוּ הַנְּעָרִים וַיֹּאמֶר עוֹד שָׁאַר הַקָּטָן וְהִנֵּה רֹעֶה בַּצֹּאן וַיֹּאמֶר שְׁמוּאֵל אֶל־יִשַׁי שִׁלְחָה וְקָחֶנּוּ כִּי לֹא־נָסֹב עַד־בֹּאוֹ פֹה
And Samuel said unto Jesse: 'Are here all thy children?' And he said: 'There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep.' And Samuel said unto Jesse: 'Send and fetch him; for we will not sit down till he come hither.'
Καὶ εἶπε Σαμουὴλ πρὸς Ἰεσσαὶ, ἐκλελοίπασι τὰ παιδάρια; καὶ εἶπεν, ἔτι ὁ μικρὸς ἰδοὺ ποιμαίνει ἐν τῷ ποιμνίῳ· καὶ εἶπε Σαμουὴλ πρὸς Ἰεσσαὶ, ἀπόστειλον καὶ λάβε αὐτὸν, ὅτι οὐ μὴ κατακλιθῶμεν ἕως τοῦ ἐλθεῖν αὐτόν.
And Samuel said to Jesse, Hast thou no more sons? And Jesse said, [There is] yet a little one; behold, he tends the flock. And Samuel said to Jesse, Send and fetch him, for we may not sit down till he comes.
12
וַיִּשְׁלַח וַיְבִיאֵהוּ וְהוּא אַדְמוֹנִי עִם־יְפֵה עֵינַיִם וְטוֹב רֹאִי וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה קוּם מְשָׁחֵהוּ כִּי־זֶה הוּא
And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of beautiful eyes, and goodly to look upon. And HaShem said: 'Arise, anoint him; for this is he.'
Καὶ ἀπέστειλε καὶ εἰσήγαγεν αὐτόν· καὶ αὐτὸς πυῤῥάκης μετὰ κάλλους ὀφθαλμῶν, καὶ ἀγαθὸς ὁράσει Κυρίῳ· καὶ εἶπε Κύριος πρὸς Σαμουὴλ, ἀνάστα καὶ χρίσον τὸν Δαυείδ, ὅτι οὗτός ἐστιν ἀγαθός.
And he sent and fetched him: and he was ruddy, with beauty of eyes, and very goodly to behold. And the Lord said to Samuel, Arise, and anoint David, for he is good.
13
וַיִּקַּח שְׁמוּאֵל אֶת־קֶרֶן הַשֶּׁמֶן וַיִּמְשַׁח אֹתוֹ בְּקֶרֶב אֶחָיו וַתִּצְלַח רוּחַ־יְהוָה אֶל־דָּוִד מֵהַיּוֹם הַהוּא וָמָעְלָה וַיָּקָם שְׁמוּאֵל וַיֵּלֶךְ הָרָמָתָה
Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren; and the spirit of HaShem came mightily upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.
Καὶ ἔλαβε Σαμουὴλ τὸ κέρας τοῦ ἐλαίου, καὶ ἔχρισεν αὐτὸν ἐν μέσῳ τῶν ἀδελφῶν αὐτοῦ· καὶ ἐφήλατο πνεῦμα Κυρίου ἐπὶ Δαυὶδ ἀπὸ τῆς ἡμέρας ἐκείνης καὶ ἐπάνω· καὶ ἀνέστη Σαμουὴλ, καὶ ἀπῆλθεν εἰς ʼΑρμαθαίμ.
And Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward: and Samuel arose, and departed to Ramah.
14
וְרוּחַ יְהוָה סָרָה מֵעִם שָׁאוּל וּבִעֲתַתּוּ רוּחַ־רָעָה מֵאֵת יְהוָה
Now the spirit of HaShem had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from HaShem terrified him.
Καὶ πνεῦμα Κυρίου ἀπέστη ἀπὸ Σαοὺλ, καὶ ἔπνιγεν αὐτὸν πνεῦμα πονηρὸν παρὰ Κυρίου.
And the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him.
15
וַיֹּאמְרוּ עַבְדֵי־שָׁאוּל אֵלָיו הִנֵּה־נָא רוּחַ־אֱלֹהִים רָעָה מְבַעִתֶּךָ
And Saul's servants said unto him: 'Behold now, an evil spirit from G-d terrifieth thee.
Καὶ εἶπαν οἱ παῖδες Σαοὺλ πρὸς αὐτόν, ἰδοὺ δὴ, πνεῦμα Κυρίου πονηρὸν πνίγει σε·
And Saul’s servants said to him, Behold now, an evil spirit from the Lord torments thee.
16
יֹאמַר־נָא אֲדֹנֵנוּ עֲבָדֶיךָ לְפָנֶיךָ יְבַקְשׁוּ אִישׁ יֹדֵעַ מְנַגֵּן בַּכִּנּוֹר וְהָיָה בִּהְיוֹת עָלֶיךָ רוּחַ־אֱלֹהִים רָעָה וְנִגֵּן בְּיָדוֹ וְטוֹב לָךְ
Let our lord now command thy servants, that are before thee, to seek out a man who is a skilful player on the harp; and it shall be, when the evil spirit from G-d cometh upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well.'
Εἰπάτωσαν δὴ οἱ δοῦλοί σου ἐνώπιόν σου, καὶ ζητησάτωσαν τῷ κυρίῳ ἡμῶν ἄνδρα εἰδότα ψάλλειν ἐν κινύρᾳ· καὶ ἔσται ἐν τῷ εἶναι πνεῦμα πονηρὸν ἐπὶ σοὶ, καὶ ψαλῇ ἐν τῇ κινύρᾳ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀγαθόν σοι ἔσται καὶ ἀναπαύσει σε.
Let now thy servants speak before thee, and let them seek for our lord a man skilled to play on the harp; and it shall come to pass when an evil spirit comes upon thee and he shall play on his harp, that thou shalt be well, and he shall refresh thee.
17
וַיֹּאמֶר שָׁאוּל אֶל־עֲבָדָיו רְאוּ־נָא לִי אִישׁ מֵיטִיב לְנַגֵּן וַהֲבִיאוֹתֶם אֵלָי
And Saul said unto his servants: 'Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me.'
Καὶ εἶπε Σαοὺλ πρὸς τοὺς παῖδας αὐτοῦ, ἴδετε δή μοι ἄνδρα ὀρθῶς ψάλλοντα, καὶ εἰσαγάγετε αὐτὸν πρὸς μέ.
And Saul said to his servants, Look now out for me a skillful player, and bring him to me.
18
וַיַּעַן אֶחָד מֵהַנְּעָרִים וַיֹּאמֶר הִנֵּה רָאִיתִי בֵּן לְיִשַׁי בֵּית הַלַּחְמִי יֹדֵעַ נַגֵּן וְגִבּוֹר חַיִל וְאִישׁ מִלְחָמָה וּנְבוֹן דָּבָר וְאִישׁ תֹּאַר וַיהוָה עִמּוֹ
Then answered one of the young men, and said: 'Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Beth-lehemite, that is skilful in playing, and a mighty man of valour, and a man of war, and prudent in affairs, and a comely person, and HaShem is with him.'
Καὶ ἀπεκρίθη εἷς τῶν παιδαρίων αὐτοῦ, καὶ εἶπεν, ἰδοὺ ἑώρακα υἱὸν τῷ Ἰεσσαὶ Βηθλεεμίτην, καὶ αὐτὸν εἰδότα ψαλμὸν, καὶ ὁ ἀνὴρ συνετὸς, καὶ πολεμιστὴς, καὶ σοφὸς λόγῳ, καὶ ὁ ἀνὴρ ἀγαθὸς τῷ εἴδει, καὶ Κύριος μετʼ αὐτοῦ.
And one of his servants answered and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, and he understands playing [on the harp], and the man [is] prudent, and a warrior, and wise in speech, and the man [is] handsome, and the Lord [is] with him.
19
וַיִּשְׁלַח שָׁאוּל מַלְאָכִים אֶל־יִשָׁי וַיֹּאמֶר שִׁלְחָה אֵלַי אֶת־דָּוִד בִּנְךָ אֲשֶׁר בַּצֹּאן
Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said: 'Send me David thy son, who is with the sheep.'
Καὶ ἀπέστειλε Σαοὺλ ἀγγέλους πρὸς Ἰεσσαὶ, λέγων, ἀπόστειλον πρὸς μὲ τὸν υἱόν σου Δαυὶδ τὸν ἐν τῷ ποιμνίῳ σου.
And Saul sent messengers to Jesse, saying, Send to me thy son David who is with thy flock.
20
וַיִּקַּח יִשַׁי חֲמוֹר לֶחֶם וְנֹאד יַיִן וּגְדִי עִזִּים אֶחָד וַיִּשְׁלַח בְּיַד־דָּוִד בְּנוֹ אֶל־שָׁאוּל
And Jesse took an ass laden with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David his son unto Saul.
Καὶ ἔλαβεν Ἰεσσαὶ γόμορ ἄρτων, καὶ ἀσκὸν οἴνου, καὶ ἔριφον αἰγῶν ἕνα, καὶ ἐξαπέστειλεν ἐι· χειρὶ Δαυὶδ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ πρὸς Σαούλ.
And Jesse took a homer of bread, and a bottle of wine, and one kid of the goats, and sent them by the hand of his son David to Saul.
21
וַיָּבֹא דָוִד אֶל־שָׁאוּל וַיַּעֲמֹד לְפָנָיו וַיֶּאֱהָבֵהוּ מְאֹד וַיְהִי־לוֹ נֹשֵׂא כֵלִים
And David came to Saul, and stood before him; and he loved him greatly; and he became his armour-bearer.
Καὶ εἰσῆλθε Δαυὶδ πρὸς Σαοὺλ, καὶ παρειστήκει ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἠγάπησεν αὐτὸν σφόδρα· καὶ ἐγενήθη αὐτῷ αἴρων τὰ σκεύη αὐτοῦ.
And David went in to Saul, and stood before him; and he loved him greatly; and he became his armor bearer.
22
וַיִּשְׁלַח שָׁאוּל אֶל־יִשַׁי לֵאמֹר יַעֲמָד־נָא דָוִד לְפָנַי כִּי־מָצָא חֵן בְּעֵינָי
And Saul sent to Jesse, saying: 'Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for he hath found favour in my sight.'
Καὶ ἀπέστειλε Σαοὺλ πρὸς Ἰεσσαὶ, λέγων, παριστάσθω δὴ Δαυὶδ ἐνώπιον ἐμοῦ, ὅτι εὗρε χάριν ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς μου.
And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, stand before me, for he has found grace in my eyes.
23
וְהָיָה בִּהְיוֹת רוּחַ־אֱלֹהִים אֶל־שָׁאוּל וְלָקַח דָּוִד אֶת־הַכִּנּוֹר וְנִגֵּן בְּיָדוֹ וְרָוַח לְשָׁאוּל וְטוֹב לוֹ וְסָרָה מֵעָלָיו רוּחַ הָרָעָה
And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from G-d was upon Saul, that David took the harp, and played with his hand; so Saul found relief, and it was well with him, and the evil spirit departed from him.
Καὶ ἐγενήθη ἐν τῷ εἶναι πνεῦμα πονηρὸν ἐπὶ Σαοὺλ, καὶ ἐλάμβανε Δαυὶδ τὴν κινύραν, καὶ ἔψαλλεν ἐν χειρὶ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀνέψυχε Σαοὺλ, καὶ ἀγαθὸν αὐτῷ, καὶ ἀφίστατο ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ πονηρόν.
And it came to pass when the evil spirit was upon Saul, that David took his harp, and played with his hand: and Saul was refreshed, and [it was] well with him, and the evil spirit departed from him.

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.