Hebrews 11:15 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.
And truly, if they had been mindful of that from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
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.
And if indeed they had been mindful of that [country] from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
And if they had called to mind that from whence they went out, they had had opportunity to have returned;
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
and if, indeed, they had been mindful of that from which they came forth, they might have had an opportunity to return,
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.
If indeed they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had enough time to return.
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.
If they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they could have found opportunities to return.
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.
And truly if they had kept in mind the country from which they went out, they would have had chances of turning back.
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.
if indeed they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had enough time to return.
Word-for-word swaps
- mindful→thinking
- whence→which
- came→went
- might→would
- opportunity→enough
- returned→return
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.