Hebrews 1:1 in 8 translations
7 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.
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
1611 / 1769 · Public domain · The Authorised Version, revised to the 1769 Blayney text. Includes the Apocrypha as printed in 1611.
Literal, word-for-word
Follows Hebrew and Greek word order and grammar closely, even where the English becomes stiff. Useful for seeing what the underlying sentence is doing.
God, having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners,
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
God having spoken in many parts and in many ways formerly to the fathers in the prophets,
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
In many parts, and many ways, God of old having spoken to the fathers in the prophets,
1898 · Public domain · The most extreme word-for-word rendering here, keeping Hebrew and Greek tense and word order at the cost of natural English.
Modern English
Contemporary vocabulary and punctuation, aiming for the sentence a present-day reader would write while staying close to the source.
God, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways,
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
These 2 editions word this verse identically.
God, who, of old, at many times and in many ways, spoke to our ancestors, by the prophets,
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
Simplified English
Built from a deliberately small vocabulary so the sense stays reachable for new readers and non-native speakers. Trades nuance for clarity.
In times past the word of God came to our fathers through the prophets, in different parts and in different ways;
1949 · Public domain · Written with roughly a thousand basic English words plus a small Bible vocabulary. The plainest reading available here.
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.
God, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets, at many times and in various ways,
Word-for-word swaps
- spake→having
- time→the
- unto→spoken
- by→through
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.