Bible Verses
Translation comparison

1 Maccabees 10:77 in 2 translations

2 distinct wordings, grouped by what each translation is trying to do. Differences from the King James text are marked below.

Early modern English

Seventeenth-century wording and sentence shape. Familiar, rhythmic, and the version most quotations you have heard are taken from.

King James Version
KJV

Whereof when Apollonius heard, he took three thousand horsemen, with a great host of footmen, and went to Azotus as one that journeyed, and therewithal drew him forth into the plain. because he had a great number of horsemen, in whom he put his trust.

1611 / 1769 · Public domain · The Authorised Version, revised to the 1769 Blayney text. Includes the Apocrypha as printed in 1611.

Modern English

Contemporary vocabulary and punctuation, aiming for the sentence a present-day reader would write while staying close to the source.

World English Bible
WEB

And Apollonius heard, and he gathered an army of three thousand horse, and a great army, and went to Azotus as though he were on a journey, and therewithal drew onward into the plain, because he had a multitude of horse, and trusted therein.

2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.

What changes between the King James and modern wording

The modern rendering is printed below with every word that differs from the King James text marked, so the actual divergence is visible rather than left for you to spot.

And Apollonius heard, and he gathered an army of three thousand horse, and a great army, and went to Azotus as though he were on a journey, and therewithal drew onward into the plain. because he had a multitude of horse, and trusted therein.

Word-for-word swaps

  • whenAnd
  • tookgathered
  • withhorse
  • footmenarmy
  • journeyedthough
  • forthonward

The verses either side

King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.

76Then Jonathan laid siege unto it: whereupon they of the city let him in for fear: and so Jonathan won Joppa.
77Whereof when Apollonius heard, he took three thousand horsemen, with a great host of footmen, and went to Azotus as one that journeyed, and therewithal drew him forth into the plain. because he had a great number of horsemen, in whom he put his trust.
78Then Jonathan followed after him to Azotus, where the armies joined battle.

Not shown for this verse: American Standard Version, Darby Bible, Young's Literal Translation, Open English Bible (US), Open English Bible (Commonwealth), Bible in Basic English. Most modern translations do not include the Apocrypha.