Textorah

II Samuel 6

1
וַיֹּסֶף עוֹד דָּוִד אֶת־כָּל־בָּחוּר בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל שְׁלֹשִׁים אָלֶף
And David again gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand.
Καὶ συνήγαγεν ἔτι Δαυὶδ πάντα νεανίαν ἐξ Ἰσραὴλ, ὡς ἑβδομήκοντα χιλιάδας.
And David again gathered all the young men of Israel, about seventy thousand.
2
וַיָּקָם וַיֵּלֶךְ דָּוִד וְכָל־הָעָם אֲשֶׁר אִתּוֹ מִבַּעֲלֵי יְהוּדָה לְהַעֲלוֹת מִשָּׁם אֵת אֲרוֹן הָאֱלֹהִים אֲשֶׁר־נִקְרָא שֵׁם שֵׁם יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת יֹשֵׁב הַכְּרֻבִים עָלָיו
And David arose, and went with all the people that were with him, from Baale-judah, to bring up from thence the ark of G-d, whereupon is called the Name, even the name of HaShem of hosts that sitteth upon the cherubim.
Καὶ ἀνέστη καὶ ἐπορεύθη Δαυὶδ καὶ πᾶς ὁ λαὸς ὁ μετʼ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἀρχόντων Ἰούδα ἐν ἀναβάσει τοῦ ἀναγαγεῖν ἐκεῖθεν τὴν κιβωτὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἐφʼ ἣν ἐπεκλήθη τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Κυρίου τῶν δυνάμεων καθημένου ἐπὶ τῶν χερουβὶν ἐπʼ αὐτῆς.
And David arose, and went, he and all the people that were with him, and some of the rulers of Judah, on an expedition [to a distant place], to bring back thence the ark of God, on which the name of the Lord of Hosts who dwells between the cherubs upon it is called.
3
וַיַּרְכִּבוּ אֶת־אֲרוֹן הָאֱלֹהִים אֶל־עֲגָלָה חֲדָשָׁה וַיִּשָּׂאֻהוּ מִבֵּית אֲבִינָדָב אֲשֶׁר בַּגִּבְעָה וְעֻזָּא וְאַחְיוֹ בְּנֵי אֲבִינָדָב נֹהֲגִים אֶת־הָעֲגָלָה חֲדָשָׁה
And they set the ark of G-d upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in the hill; and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the new cart.
Καὶ ἐπεβίβασεν τὴν κιβωτὸν Κυρίου ἐφʼ ἅμαξαν καινὴν, καὶ ᾖραν αὐτὴν ἐξ οἴκου Ἀμιναδὰβ τοῦ ἐν τῷ βουνῷ· καὶ Ὀζὰ καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ αὐτοῦ υἱοὶ Ἀμιναδὰβ ἦγαν τὴν ἅμαξαν σὺν τῇ κιβωτῷ.
And they put the ark of the Lord on a new wagon, and took it out of the house of Abinadab who lived on the hill: and Uzzah and his brethren the sons of Abinadab drove the wagon with the ark.
4
וַיִּשָּׂאֻהוּ מִבֵּית אֲבִינָדָב אֲשֶׁר בַּגִּבְעָה עִם אֲרוֹן הָאֱלֹהִים וְאַחְיוֹ הֹלֵךְ לִפְנֵי הָאָרוֹן
And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was in the hill, with the ark of G-d, and Ahio went before the ark.
Καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ αὐτοῦ ἐπορεύοντο ἔμπροσθεν τῆς κιβωτοῦ.
And his brethren went before the ark.
5
וְדָוִד וְכָל־בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל מְשַׂחֲקִים לִפְנֵי יְהוָה בְּכֹל עֲצֵי בְרוֹשִׁים וּבְכִנֹּרוֹת וּבִנְבָלִים וּבְתֻפִּים וּבִמְנַעַנְעִים וּבְצֶלְצֶלִים
And David and all the house of Israel played before HaShem with all manner of instruments made of cypress-wood, and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with sistra, and with cymbals.
Καὶ Δαυὶδ καὶ υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ παίζοντες ἐνώπιον Κυρίου ἐν ὀργάνοις ἡρμοσμένοις ἐν ἰσχύϊ, καὶ ἐν ᾠδαῖς, καὶ ἐν κινύραις, καὶ ἐν νάβλαις, καὶ ἐν τυμπάνοις, καὶ ἐν κυμβάλοις, καὶ ἐν αὐλοῖς.
And David and the children of Israel [were] playing before the Lord on well-tuned instruments mightily, and with songs, and with harps, and with lutes, and with drums, and with cymbals, and with pipes.
6
וַיָּבֹאוּ עַד־גֹּרֶן נָכוֹן וַיִּשְׁלַח עֻזָּא אֶל־אֲרוֹן הָאֱלֹהִים וַיֹּאחֶז בּוֹ כִּי שָׁמְטוּ הַבָּקָר
And when they came to the threshing-floor of Nacon, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of G-d, and took hold of it; for the oxen stumbled.
Καὶ παραγίνονται ἕως ἅλω Ναχώρ· καὶ ἐξέτεινεν Ὀζὰ τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν κιβωτὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ κατασχεῖν αὐτὴν, καὶ ἐκράτησεν αὐτὴν, ὅτι περιέσπασεν αὐτὴν ὁ μόσχος.
And they come as far as the threshing floor of Nacon: and Uzzah reached forth his hand to the ark of God to keep it steady, and took hold of it; for the ox shook it out of its place.
7
וַיִּחַר־אַף יְהוָה בְּעֻזָּה וַיַּכֵּהוּ שָׁם הָאֱלֹהִים עַל־הַשַּׁל וַיָּמָת שָׁם עִם אֲרוֹן הָאֱלֹהִים
And the anger of HaShem was kindled against Uzzah; and G-d smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of G-d.
Καὶ ἐθυμώθη ὀργῇ Κύριος τῷ Ὀζᾷ, καὶ ἔπαισεν αὐτὸν ἐκεῖ ὁ Θεός, καὶ ἀπέθανεν ἐκεῖ παρὰ τὴν κιβωτὸν τοῦ Κυρίου ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ.
And the Lord was very angry with Uzzah; and God smote him there: and he died there by the ark of the Lord before God.
8
וַיִּחַר לְדָוִד עַל אֲשֶׁר פָּרַץ יְהוָה פֶּרֶץ בְּעֻזָּה וַיִּקְרָא לַמָּקוֹם הַהוּא פֶּרֶץ עֻזָּה עַד הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה
And David was displeased, because HaShem had broken forth upon Uzzah; and that place was called Perez-uzzah, unto this day.
Καὶ ἠθύμησε Δαυὶδ ὑπὲρ οὗ διέκοψε Κύριος διακοπὴν ἐν τῷ Ὀζᾷ, καὶ ἐκλήθη ὁ τόπος ἐκεῖνος, διακοπὴ Ὀζᾶ, ἕως τῆς ἡμέρας ταύτης.
And David was dispirited because the Lord made a breach upon Uzzah; and that place was called the breach of Uzzah until this day.
9
וַיִּרָא דָוִד אֶת־יְהוָה בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא וַיֹּאמֶר אֵיךְ יָבוֹא אֵלַי אֲרוֹן יְהוָה
And David was afraid of HaShem that day; and he said: 'How shall the ark of HaShem come unto me?'
Καὶ ἐφοβήθη Δαυὶδ τὸν Κύριον ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ, λέγων, πῶς εἰσελεύσεται πρὸς μὲ ἡ κιβωτὸς Κυρίου;
And David feared the Lord in that day, saying, How shall the ark of the Lord come in to me?
10
וְלֹא־אָבָה דָוִד לְהָסִיר אֵלָיו אֶת־אֲרוֹן יְהוָה עַל־עִיר דָּוִד וַיַּטֵּהוּ דָוִד בֵּית עֹבֵד־אֱדוֹם הַגִּתִּי
So David would not remove the ark of HaShem unto him into the city of David; but David carried it aside into the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.
Καὶ οὐκ ἐβούλετο Δαυὶδ τοῦ ἐκκλῖναι πρὸς αὐτὸν τὴν κιβωτὸν διαθήκης Κυρίου εἰς τὴν πόλιν Δαυίδ· καὶ ἀπέκλινεν αὐτὴν Δαυὶδ εἰς οἶκον Ἀβεδδαρὰ τοῦ Γεθαίου.
And David would not bring in the ark of the covenant of the Lord to himself into the city of David: and David turned it aside into the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.
11
וַיֵּשֶׁב אֲרוֹן יְהוָה בֵּית עֹבֵד אֱדֹם הַגִּתִּי שְׁלֹשָׁה חֳדָשִׁים וַיְבָרֶךְ יְהוָה אֶת־עֹבֵד אֱדֹם וְאֶת־כָּל־בֵּיתוֹ
And the ark of HaShem remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months; and HaShem blessed Obed-edom, and all his house.
Καὶ ἐκάθισεν ἡ κιβωτὸς τοῦ Κυρίου εἰς οἶκον Ἀβεδδαρὰ τοῦ Γεθαίου μῆνας τρεῖς· καὶ εὐλόγησε Κύριος ὅλον τὸν οἶκον Ἀβεδδαρὰ, καὶ πάντα τὰ αὐτοῦ.
And the ark of the Lord lodged in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months, and the Lord blessed all the house of Obed-edom, and all his possessions.
12
וַיֻּגַּד לַמֶּלֶךְ דָּוִד לֵאמֹר בֵּרַךְ יְהוָה אֶת־בֵּית עֹבֵד אֱדֹם וְאֶת־כָּל־אֲשֶׁר־לוֹ בַּעֲבוּר אֲרוֹן הָאֱלֹהִים וַיֵּלֶךְ דָּוִד וַיַּעַל אֶת־אֲרוֹן הָאֱלֹהִים מִבֵּית עֹבֵד אֱדֹם עִיר דָּוִד בְּשִׂמְחָה
And it was told king David, saying: 'The HaShem hath blessed the house of Obed-edom, and all that pertaineth unto him, because of the ark of G-d.' And David went and brought up the ark of G-d from the house of Obed-edom into the city of David with joy.
Καὶ ἀπηγγέλη τῷ βασιλεῖ Δαυὶδ, λέγοντες, εὐλόγησε Κύριος τὸν οἶκον Ἀβεδδαρὰ, καὶ πάντα τὰ αὐτοῦ, ἕνεκα τῆς κιβωτοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ· καὶ ἐπορεύθη Δαυὶδ, καὶ ἀνήγαγε τὴν κιβωτὸν τοῦ Κυρίου ἐκ τοῦ οἴκου Ἀβεδδαρὰ εἰς τὴν πόλιν Δαυὶδ ἐν εὐφροσύνῃ.
And it was reported to King David, saying, The Lord has blessed the house of Obed-edom, and all that he has, because of the ark of the Lord. And David went, and brought up the ark of the Lord from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with gladness.
13
וַיְהִי כִּי צָעֲדוּ נֹשְׂאֵי אֲרוֹן־יְהוָה שִׁשָּׁה צְעָדִים וַיִּזְבַּח שׁוֹר וּמְרִיא
And it was so, that when they that bore the ark of HaShem had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling.
Καὶ ἦσαν μετʼ αὐτοῦ αἴροντες τὴν κιβωτὸν ἑπτὰ χοροὶ, καὶ θύμα μόσχος καὶ ἄρνες.
And there were with him bearing the ark seven bands, and for a sacrifice a calf and lambs.
14
וְדָוִד מְכַרְכֵּר בְּכָל־עֹז לִפְנֵי יְהוָה וְדָוִד חָגוּר אֵפוֹד בָּד
And David danced before HaShem with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod.
Καὶ Δαυὶδ ἀνεκρούετο ἐν ὀργάνοις ἡρμοσμένοις ἐνώπιον Κυρίου, καὶ ὁ Δαυὶδ ἐνδεδυκὼς στολὴν ἔξαλλον.
And David sounded with well-tuned instruments before the Lord, and David [was] clothed with a fine long robe.
15
וְדָוִד וְכָל־בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל מַעֲלִים אֶת־אֲרוֹן יְהוָה בִּתְרוּעָה וּבְקוֹל שׁוֹפָר
So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of HaShem with shouting, and with the sound of the horn.
Καὶ Δαυὶδ καὶ πᾶς ὁ οἶκος Ἰσραὴλ ἀνήγαγον τὴν κιβωτὸν Κυρίου μετὰ κραυγῆς καὶ μετὰ φωνῆς σάλπιγγος.
And David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of a trumpet.
16
וְהָיָה אֲרוֹן יְהוָה בָּא עִיר דָּוִד וּמִיכַל בַּת־שָׁאוּל נִשְׁקְפָה בְּעַד הַחַלּוֹן וַתֵּרֶא אֶת־הַמֶּלֶךְ דָּוִד מְפַזֵּז וּמְכַרְכֵּר לִפְנֵי יְהוָה וַתִּבֶז לוֹ בְּלִבָּהּ
And it was so, as the ark of HaShem came into the city of David, that Michal the daughter of Saul looked out at the window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before HaShem; and she despised him in her heart.
Καὶ ἐγένετο τῆς κιβωτοῦ παραγινομένης ἕως πόλεως Δαυίδ, καὶ Μελχὸλ ἡ θυγάτηρ Σαοὺλ διέκυπτε διὰ τῆς θυρίδος, καὶ εἶδε τὸν βασιλέα Δαυὶδ ὀρχούμενον, καὶ ἀνακρουόμενον ἐνώπιον Κυρίου, καὶ ἐξουδένωσεν αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτῆς.
And it came to pass as the ark arrived at the city of David, that Michal the daughter of Saul looked through the window, and saw King David dancing and playing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.
17
וַיָּבִאוּ אֶת־אֲרוֹן יְהוָה וַיַּצִּגוּ אֹתוֹ בִּמְקוֹמוֹ בְּתוֹךְ הָאֹהֶל אֲשֶׁר נָטָה־לוֹ דָּוִד וַיַּעַל דָּוִד עֹלוֹת לִפְנֵי יְהוָה וּשְׁלָמִים
And they brought in the ark of HaShem, and set it in its place, in the midst of the tent that David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before HaShem.
Καὶ φέρουσι τὴν κιβωτὸν τοῦ Κυρίου, καὶ ἀνέθηκαν αὐτὴν εἰς τὸν τόπον αὐτῆς εἰς μέσον τῆς σκηνῆς, ἧς ἔπηξεν αὐτῇ Δαυὶδ· καὶ ἀνήνεγκε Δαυιδ ὁλοκαυτώματα ἐνώπιον Κυρίου, εἰρηνικάς.
And they bring the ark of the Lord, and set it in its place in the midst of the tabernacle which David pitched for it: and David offered whole burnt offerings before the Lord, [and] peace offerings.
18
וַיְכַל דָּוִד מֵהַעֲלוֹת הָעוֹלָה וְהַשְּׁלָמִים וַיְבָרֶךְ אֶת־הָעָם בְּשֵׁם יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת
And when David had made an end of offering the burnt-offering and the peace-offerings, he blessed the people in the name of HaShem of hosts.
Καὶ συνετέλεσε Δαυὶδ συναναφέρων τὰς ὁλοκαυτώσεις καὶ τὰς εἰρηνικὰς, καὶ εὐλόγησε τὸν λαὸν ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου τῶν δυνάμεων.
And David made an end of offering the whole burnt offerings and peace offerings, and blessed the people in the name of the Lord of Hosts.
19
וַיְחַלֵּק לְכָל־הָעָם לְכָל־הֲמוֹן יִשְׂרָאֵל לְמֵאִישׁ וְעַד־אִשָּׁה לְאִישׁ חַלַּת לֶחֶם אַחַת וְאֶשְׁפָּר אֶחָד וַאֲשִׁישָׁה אֶחָת וַיֵּלֶךְ כָּל־הָעָם אִישׁ לְבֵיתוֹ
And he dealt among all the people, even among the whole multitude of Israel, both to men and women, to every one a cake of bread, and a cake made in a pan, and a sweet cake. So all the people departed every one to his house.
Καὶ διεμέρισε παντὶ τῷ λαῷ εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ἀπὸ Δὰν ἕως Βηρσαβεὲ, καὶ ἀπὸ ἀνδρὸς ἕως γυναικὸς, ἑκάστῳ κολλυρίδα ἄρτου, καὶ ἐσχαρίτην, καὶ λάγανον ἀπὸ τηγάνου· καὶ ἀπῆλθε πᾶς ὁ λαὸς ἕκαστος εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ.
And he distributed to all the people, even to all the host of Israel from Dan to Beersheba, both men and women, to everyone a cake of bread, and a joint of meat, and a cake from the frying pan: and all the people departed every one to his home.
20
וַיָּשָׁב דָּוִד לְבָרֵךְ אֶת־בֵּיתוֹ וַתֵּצֵא מִיכַל בַּת־שָׁאוּל לִקְרַאת דָּוִד וַתֹּאמֶר מַה־נִּכְבַּד הַיּוֹם מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר נִגְלָה הַיּוֹם לְעֵינֵי אַמְהוֹת עֲבָדָיו כְּהִגָּלוֹת נִגְלוֹת אַחַד הָרֵקִים
Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said: 'How did the king of Israel get him honour to-day, who uncovered himself to-day in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself!'
Καὶ ἐπέστρεψε Δαυὶδ εὐλογῆσαι τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ· καὶ ἐξῆλθε Μελχὸλ ἡ θυγάτηρ Σαοὺλ εἰς ἀπάντησιν Δαυὶδ, καὶ εὐλόγησεν αὐτὸν, καὶ εἶπε, τί δεδόξασται σήμερον ὁ βασιλεὺς Ἰσραὴλ, ὃς ἀπεκαλύφθη σήμερον ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς παιδισκῶν τῶν δούλων ἑαυτοῦ, καθὼς ἀποκαλύπτεται ἀποκαλυφθεὶς εἷς τῶν ὀρχουμένων;
And David returned to bless his house. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and saluted him, and said, How was the king of Israel glorified today, who was today uncovered in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the dancers wantonly uncovers himself!
21
וַיֹּאמֶר דָּוִד אֶל־מִיכַל לִפְנֵי יְהוָה אֲשֶׁר בָּחַר־בִּי מֵאָבִיךְ וּמִכָּל־בֵּיתוֹ לְצַוֺּת אֹתִי נָגִיד עַל־עַם יְהוָה עַל־יִשְׂרָאֵל וְשִׂחַקְתִּי לִפְנֵי יְהוָה
And David said unto Michal: 'Before HaShem, who chose me above thy father, and above all his house, to appoint me prince over the people of HaShem, over Israel, before HaShem will I make merry.
Καὶ εἶπε Δαυὶδ πρὸς Μελχόλ, ἐνώπιον Κυρίου ὀρχήσομαι· εὐλογητὸς Κύριος ὃς ἐξελέξατό με ὑπὲρ τὸν πατέρα σου καὶ ὑπὲρ πάντα τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ, του καταστῆσαί με εἰς ἡγούμενον ἐπὶ τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰσραὴλ·
And David said to Michal, I will dance before the Lord. Blessed [be] the Lord who chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to make me head over his people, even over Israel: therefore I will play, and dance before the Lord.
22
וּנְקַלֹּתִי עוֹד מִזֹּאת וְהָיִיתִי שָׁפָל בְּעֵינָי וְעִם־הָאֲמָהוֹת אֲשֶׁר אָמַרְתְּ עִמָּם אִכָּבֵדָה
And I will be yet more vile than thus, and will be base in mine own sight; and with the handmaids whom thou hast spoken of, with them will I get me honour.'
καὶ παίξομαι καὶ ὀρχήσομαι ἐνώπιον Κυρίου, καὶ ἀποκαλυφθήσομαι ἔτι οὕτως, καὶ ἔσομαι ἀχρεῖος ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς σου, καὶ μετὰ τῶν παιδισκῶν, ὧν εἶπάς με μὴ δοξασθῆναι.
And I will again uncover myself thus, and I will be vile in thine eyes, and with the maidservants by whom thou saidst that I was not had in honor.
23
וּלְמִיכַל בַּת־שָׁאוּל לֹא־הָיָה לָהּ יָלֶד עַד יוֹם מוֹתָהּ
And Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death.
Καὶ τῇ Μελχὸλ θυγατρὶ Σαοὺλ οὐκ ἐγένετο παιδίον ἕως τῆς ἡμέρας τοῦ ἀποθανεῖν αὐτήν.
And Michal the daughter of Saul had no child till the day of her death.

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.