Hebrews 9:10 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.
only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed until the time of reformation.
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.
[being] only (with meats and drinks and divers washings) carnal ordinances, imposed until a time of reformation.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
[consisting] only of meats and drinks and divers washings, ordinances of flesh, imposed until [the] time of setting things right.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
only in victuals, and drinks, and different baptisms, and fleshly ordinances--till the time of reformation imposed upon them.
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.
being only (with meats and drinks and various washings) fleshly ordinances, imposed until a time of reformation.
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.
the whole system being concerned only with food and drink and various ablutions – external ceremonials imposed until the coming of the new order.
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 they are only rules of the flesh, of meats and drinks and washings, which have their place till the time comes when things will be put right.
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.
being only (with meats and drinks, and various washings, fleshly ordinances, imposed until a time of reformation.
Word-for-word swaps
- in→with
- divers→various
- carnal→fleshly
- the→a
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.