Bible Verses
Translation comparison

1 Maccabees 10:84 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

But Jonathan set fire on Azotus, and the cities round about it, and took their spoils; and the temple of Dagon, with them that were fled into it, he burned with fire.

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 Jonathan burned Azotus, and the cities round about it, and took their spoils; and the temple of Dagon, and those who fled into it, he burned with fire.

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 Jonathan burned Azotus, and the cities round about it, and took their spoils; and the temple of Dagon, and those who fled into it, he burned with fire.

Word-for-word swaps

  • ButAnd
  • onburned
  • wereand

The verses either side

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

83The horsemen also, being scattered in the field, fled to Azotus, and went into Bethdagon, their idol’s temple, for safety.
84But Jonathan set fire on Azotus, and the cities round about it, and took their spoils; and the temple of Dagon, with them that were fled into it, he burned with fire.
85Thus there were burned and slain with the sword well nigh eight thousand men.

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.