Bible Verses
Translation comparison

2 Maccabees 12:30 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 when the Jews that dwelt there had testified that the Scythopolitans dealt lovingly with them, and entreated them kindly in the time of their adversity;

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

But when the Jews that were settled there testified of the good will that the Scythopolitans had shewn toward them, and of their kindly bearing toward them in the times of their misfortune,

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.

But when the Jews that were settled there testified of the good will that the Scythopolitans had shewn toward them, and of their kindly bearing toward them in the times of their misfortune,

Word-for-word swaps

  • dweltwere
  • withhad
  • themof
  • timetimes
  • adversitymisfortune

The verses either side

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

29From thence they departed to Scythopolis, which lieth six hundred furlongs from Jerusalem,
30But when the Jews that dwelt there had testified that the Scythopolitans dealt lovingly with them, and entreated them kindly in the time of their adversity;
31They gave them thanks, desiring them to be friendly still unto them: and so they came to Jerusalem, the feast of the weeks approaching.

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.