Genesis 30 — Hebrew and Greek compared
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Same 18 Similar 6 Different 11 Divergent 6 Disparate 2
Disparate in this chapter: 30:8, 30:42
Each verse is rendered independently from the Hebrew (Rabbinic reading tradition) and from the Greek (Saints reading tradition). The badge classifies the relationship between the two readings; the note beneath records the source document’s comparison and attributed interpretation. Each column retains its own verse references where numbering differs.
Rachel’s Envy
30:1 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:1 Now Rachel, seeing that she bore no children to Jacob, envied her sister and said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I shall die.â€
Greek · Saints priority
30:1 Now Rachel, seeing that she bore no children to Jacob, envied her sister and said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I shall die.â€
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
30:2 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:2 And Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has deprived you of the fruit of the womb?â€
Greek · Saints priority
30:2 And Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has deprived you of the fruit of the womb?â€
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
30:3 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:3 She said, “Here is my slave woman Bilhah. Go in to her so she may bear on my knees, and I too may be built up through her.â€
Greek · Saints priority
30:3 Rachel said to Jacob, “Here is my slave woman Bilhah. Go in to her so she may bear on my knees, and I too may have children through her.â€
Hebrew uses the household-building image; Greek describes having children. The knees image is retained without asserting a specific legal ritual [G30].
30:4 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:4 So she gave him her slave woman Bilhah to be his wife, and Jacob went in to her.
Greek · Saints priority
30:4 So she gave him her slave woman Bilhah to be his wife, and Jacob went in to her.
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
30:5 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:5 And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son.
Greek · Saints priority
30:5 Bilhah, Rachel’s slave woman, conceived and bore Jacob a son.
Greek identifies Bilhah as Rachel’s slave woman [G30].
30:6 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:6 Rachel said, “God has vindicated me; He has heard my voice and given me a son.†Therefore she named him Dan.
Greek · Saints priority
30:6 Rachel said, “God has vindicated me; He has heard my voice and given me a son.†Therefore she named him Dan.
The judging verb is favorable in Rachel’s explanation and is rendered vindicated; this is her reported interpretation.
30:7 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:7 And Rachel’s slave woman Bilhah conceived again and bore a second son to Jacob.
Greek · Saints priority
30:7 And Rachel’s slave woman Bilhah conceived again and bore a second son to Jacob.
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
30:8 Disparate
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:8 Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and prevailed.†She named him Naphtali.
Greek · Saints priority
30:8 Rachel said, “God has helped me; I have contended with my sister and prevailed.†She named him Naphtali.
Hebrew wrestlings of God can express exceptional intensity. Greek has God’s help and a difficult interaction verb, rendered contended provisionally; no physical fight is required [H30; G30]. The attribution of help to God changes the expressed relationship in Rachel’s explanation.
30:9 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:9 Now when Leah saw that she had ceased bearing, she took her slave woman Zilpah and gave her to Jacob to be his wife.
Greek · Saints priority
30:9 Now when Leah saw that she had ceased bearing, she took her slave woman Zilpah and gave her to Jacob to be his wife.
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
30:10 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:10 Zilpah, Leah’s slave woman, bore Jacob a son.
Greek · Saints priority
30:10 Jacob went in to her, and Zilpah, Leah’s slave woman, conceived and bore Jacob a son.
Greek includes Jacob going in to Zilpah and her conception [G30].
30:11 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:11 Leah said, “Good fortune!†She named him Gad.
Greek · Saints priority
30:11 Leah said, “Good fortune!†She named him Gad.
Good fortune is a contextual Hebrew reading that agrees with Greek. V1’s a troop comes is not required; Hebrew written/read forms and the name-play need final lexical review [H30; G30].
30:12 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:12 And Zilpah, Leah’s slave woman, bore a second son to Jacob.
Greek · Saints priority
30:12 Zilpah, Leah’s slave woman, conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.
Greek includes another conception [G30].
30:13 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:13 Leah said, “Happy am I! Women will call me happy.†She named him Asher.
Greek · Saints priority
30:13 Leah said, “Blessed am I! Women will call me blessed.†She named him Asher.
Happy and blessed overlap in this naming explanation. Rahlfs–Hanhart does not include all before women; that addition is removed. The phrase is not made into a quotation of a later Christian text. [G30]
Leah’s Reward
30:14 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:14 Now Reuben went out in the days of the wheat harvest and found mandrakes in the field, and he brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.â€
Greek · Saints priority
30:14 Now Reuben went out in the days of the wheat harvest and found mandrake apples in the field, and he brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.â€
Greek specifies mandrake fruit. The narrative gives no medical guarantee of fertility.
30:15 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:15 But Leah said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken my husband? Would you take my son’s mandrakes also?†And Rachel said, “Therefore he shall sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.â€
Greek · Saints priority
30:15 But Leah said to her, “Is it not enough for you that you have taken my husband? Will you take my son’s mandrakes also?†Rachel said, “Not so; let him sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.â€
Greek begins Rachel’s reply Not so; Hebrew has Therefore. Both continue with the same exchange agreement. [G30]
30:16 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:16 And when Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have surely hired you with my son’s mandrakes.†So he lay with her that night.
Greek · Saints priority
30:16 And when Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me today, for I have surely hired you with my son’s mandrakes.†So he lay with her that night.
Greek includes today and reads my son’s mandrakes, correcting V1’s Greek-English your son [G30].
30:17 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:17 And God heard Leah, and she conceived and bore a fifth son to Jacob.
Greek · Saints priority
30:17 And God heard Leah, and she conceived and bore a fifth son to Jacob.
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
30:18 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:18 Then Leah said, “God has given me my reward, because I gave my slave woman to my husband.†So she called his name Issachar.
Greek · Saints priority
30:18 Then Leah said, “God has given me my reward, because I gave my slave woman to my husband.†So she called his name Issachar, which means Reward.
The consulted Greek includes the name’s interpretation, Reward [G30]. Leah’s explanation remains attributed to her.
30:19 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:19 And Leah conceived again and bore a sixth son to Jacob.
Greek · Saints priority
30:19 And Leah conceived again and bore a sixth son to Jacob.
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
30:20 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:20 Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good gift. Now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.†She named him Zebulun.
Greek · Saints priority
30:20 Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good gift; in the present time my husband will choose me, because I have borne him six sons.†So she called his name Zebulun.
The difficult Hebrew verb is rendered honor provisionally, with dwell with as an older alternative. Greek has choose [H30; G30].
30:21 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:21 Afterward she bore a daughter, and she called her name Dinah.
Greek · Saints priority
30:21 Afterward she bore a daughter and named her Dinah.
Rahlfs–Hanhart ends with Dinah’s naming and does not add a cessation of childbearing. The earlier addition and Divergent classification are removed. [G30]
30:22 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:22 Then God remembered Rachel, and God heard her and opened her womb.
Greek · Saints priority
30:22 Then God remembered Rachel, and God heard her and opened her womb.
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
30:23 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:23 And she conceived and bore a son, and she said, “God has taken away my reproach.â€
Greek · Saints priority
30:23 And she conceived and bore a son to Jacob, and she said, “God has taken away my reproach.â€
Greek explicitly names Jacob [G30].
30:24 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:24 So she called his name Joseph, saying, “May YHWH add to me another son.â€
Greek · Saints priority
30:24 So she called his name Joseph, saying, “May God add to me another son.â€
The divine designation is YHWH in Hebrew and God in Greek [G30].
Jacob’s New Wage
30:25 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:25 And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own place and to my own country.â€
Greek · Saints priority
30:25 And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own place and to my own country.â€
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
30:26 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:26 “Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me depart; for you know the service which I have rendered you.â€
Greek · Saints priority
30:26 “Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me depart; for you know the service which I have rendered you.â€
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
30:27 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:27 Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight— I have learned by divination that YHWH has blessed me because of you.â€
Greek · Saints priority
30:27 Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight— I would divine by signs, for God has blessed me at your arrival.â€
Greek’s divination expression and its conditional force are difficult; this close rendering remains provisional. The text reports Laban’s words without endorsing divination [G30].
30:28 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:28 He said, “Name your wages, and I will pay them.â€
Greek · Saints priority
30:28 He said, “Name your wages, and I will pay them.â€
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
30:29 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:29 But Jacob said to him, “You know how I have served you, and how your cattle have fared with me.â€
Greek · Saints priority
30:29 But Jacob said to him, “You know how I have served you, and how your livestock have fared with me.â€
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
30:30 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:30 “For it was little that you had before I came, and it has increased to an abundance; and YHWH blessed you at my entering. Now therefore, when shall I also provide for my own house?â€
Greek · Saints priority
30:30 “For it was little that you had before I came, and it has increased to an abundance; and the Lord blessed you at my entering. Now therefore, when shall I also provide for my own house?â€
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
30:31 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:31 And Laban said, “What shall I give you?†And Jacob said, “You shall give me nothing at all. If you will do this thing for me, I will again tend and guard your flock:â€
Greek · Saints priority
30:31 And Laban said, “What shall I give you?†And Jacob said, “You shall give me nothing at all. If you will do this thing for me, I will again tend and guard your flock:â€
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
30:32 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:32 “I will pass through all your flock today, removing every speckled or spotted animal, every dark sheep, and every spotted or speckled goat. These shall be my wages.â€
Greek · Saints priority
30:32 “Let all your sheep pass through today, and separate from them every gray animal among the lambs and every white-marked and spotted animal among the goats. These shall be my wages.â€
The instructions and pattern terms differ. Greek phaios is rendered gray, dialeukos white-marked, and rhantos spotted, consistently within this description. Their exact ancient color ranges remain open; the Hebrew patterns are not substituted for them. [H30; G30]
30:33 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:33 “My righteousness will answer for me in time to come, when you inspect my wages. Every goat with me that is not speckled or spotted, and every sheep that is not dark, shall be counted stolen.â€
Greek · Saints priority
30:33 “My righteousness will answer for me tomorrow, for my wages are before you. Every goat with me that is not spotted or white-marked, and every lamb that is not gray, shall be counted stolen.â€
The timing and inspection expressions differ, as do the color terms. Righteousness here concerns honest dealing, not a new theory of salvation [G30].
30:34 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:34 And Laban said, “Let it be according to your word.â€
Greek · Saints priority
30:34 And Laban said, “Let it be according to your word.â€
The corresponding meaning and content agree.
30:35 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:35 So that day Laban separated the striped and spotted male goats, and all the speckled and spotted female goats—everything that had white on it—and all the black lambs, and handed them into the hands of his sons.
Greek · Saints priority
30:35 That day he separated the spotted and white-marked male goats, all the spotted and white-marked female goats, everything with white on it, and every gray animal among the lambs, and handed them over to his sons.
Hebrew’s striped, speckled and spotted patterns are not identical to Greek’s spotted and white-marked terms; Hebrew dark contrasts with Greek gray. The subject who separates and hands over the animals is unexpressed in both texts, with Laban understood from context. [G30]
30:36 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:36 And he set a three days’ journey between himself and Jacob; and Jacob pastured the rest of Laban’s flocks.
Greek · Saints priority
30:36 He put a three-day journey between them and Jacob, and Jacob tended Laban’s remaining sheep.
Hebrew has between him and Jacob; Greek between them and Jacob [G30].
30:37 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:37 Then Jacob took green rods of poplar, almond, and plane trees, and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the rods.
Greek · Saints priority
30:37 Jacob took fresh rods of styrax, walnut, and plane tree. He peeled white strips in them, stripping away the green, so the exposed white made a variegated pattern on the rods.
The tree identifications differ; Greek karyinos is rendered walnut, with the precise ancient species still open. Greek also elaborates the peeling [G30].
30:38 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:38 He set the peeled rods in the channels of the watering troughs before the flock, where the animals came to drink. They mated when they came to drink.
Greek · Saints priority
30:38 He set the rods he had peeled in the channels of the watering troughs, so that, when the sheep came to drink before the rods—when they came to drink—
The Greek construction emphasizes the intended result. This narrative account is not a modern claim about genetic mechanisms [G30].
30:39 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:39 So the flocks bred before the rods, and the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted young.
Greek · Saints priority
30:39 the sheep might conceive facing the rods. The sheep bore young that were white-marked, variegated, and ash-gray with spots.
Read the Greek purpose clause with 30:38; Rahlfs–Hanhart places its final verb in this verse. The complete conception clause is retained, followed by the distinct Greek pattern list. This narrative is not a modern explanation of genetics. [G30]
30:40 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:40 Jacob separated the lambs and turned the flock toward the striped and all the dark animals in Laban’s flock. He kept his own droves apart and did not put them with Laban’s flock.
Greek · Saints priority
30:40 Jacob separated the lambs and set before the sheep a white-marked ram and every variegated animal among the lambs. He kept his own flocks apart and did not mix them with Laban’s sheep.
The consulted Greek names a ram and describes different visual markers; V1 had harmonized these details [G30].
30:41 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:41 Whenever the stronger animals mated, Jacob placed the rods before their eyes in the troughs, so they would mate among the rods.
Greek · Saints priority
30:41 When the sheep were mating and conceiving, Jacob placed the rods before them in the troughs, so they would mate facing the rods.
Hebrew distinguishes stronger animals. The consulted Greek does not expressly say strong or early here [G30].
30:42 Disparate
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:42 When the animals were weak, he did not put the rods there. So the weaker animals belonged to Laban, and the stronger to Jacob.
Greek · Saints priority
30:42 When the sheep gave birth, he did not put the rods there. The unmarked animals belonged to Laban, and the marked ones to Jacob.
Hebrew contrasts weaker and stronger animals, whereas Greek contrasts unmarked and marked animals and refers to giving birth in the opening clause. The resulting division of Laban’s and Jacob’s flocks is described by materially different criteria; no contradiction is required for this classification. [G30]
30:43 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
30:43 The man became exceedingly prosperous and had large flocks, female and male slaves, camels and donkeys.
Greek · Saints priority
30:43 The man became very, very wealthy and had much livestock, oxen, male and female slaves, camels and donkeys.
Greek explicitly includes oxen; that item is restored from the consulted reading [G30].
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Saints Translation · Companion comparison edition · working draft awaiting specialist review.