Hebrews 7:14 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.
For evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.
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.
For it is evident that our Lord hath sprung out of Judah; as to which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priests.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
For it is clear that our Lord has sprung out of Juda, as to which tribe Moses spake nothing as to priests.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
for it is evident that out of Judah hath arisen our Lord, in regard to which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.
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.
For it is evident that our Lord has sprung out of Judah, about which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood.
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.
For it is plain that our Lord had sprung from the tribe of Judah, though of that tribe Moses said nothing about their being priests.
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.
Because it is clear that our Lord comes out of Judah, and Moses said nothing about priests from that tribe.
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.
For it is evident that our Lord has sprung out of Judah, about which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood.
Word-for-word swaps
- sprang→has
- of→Judah
- spake→spoke
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.