Hebrews 6:2 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.
Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
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.
of the teaching of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
of [the] doctrine of washings, and of imposition of hands, and of resurrection of [the] dead, and of eternal judgment;
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
of the teaching of baptisms, of laying on also of hands, of rising again also of the dead, and of judgment age-during,
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.
of the teaching of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
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.
teaching concerning baptisms and the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead and a final judgment.
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.
The teaching of baptisms, and of the putting on of hands, and of the future life of the dead, and of the judging on the last day.
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.
Of the teaching of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
Word-for-word swaps
- doctrine→teaching
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.