John 11:56 in 8 translations
8 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.
Then sought they for Jesus, and spake among themselves, as they stood in the temple, What think ye, that he will not come to the feast?
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.
They sought therefore for Jesus, and spake one with another, as they stood in the temple, What think ye? That he will not come to the feast?
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
They sought therefore Jesus, and said among themselves, standing in the temple, What do ye think? that he will not come to the feast?
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
they were seeking, therefore, Jesus, and said one with another, standing in the temple, `What doth appear to you--that he may not come to the feast?'
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.
Then they sought for Jesus and spoke one with another, as they stood in the temple, “What do you think—that he isn’t coming to the feast at all?”
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
So they looked for Jesus there, and said to one another, as they stood in the Temple Courts, “What do you think? Do you think he will come to the Festival?”
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
So they looked for Jesus there, and said to one another, as they stood in the Temple Courts, ‘What do you think? Do you think he will come to the Festival?’
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · The Commonwealth spelling edition of the Open English Bible. Identical wording to the US edition apart from spelling.
Simplified English
Built from a deliberately small vocabulary so the sense stays reachable for new readers and non-native speakers. Trades nuance for clarity.
They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another while they were in the Temple, What is your opinion? Will he not come to the feast?
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.
Then they sought for Jesus, and spoke one with another, as they stood in the temple, What do you think—that he isn’t coming to the feast? at all?”
Word-for-word swaps
- themselves→spoke
- that→do
- come→isn’t
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.