John 11:57 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.
Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a commandment, that, if any man knew where he were, he should shew that they might take him.
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.
Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given commandment, that, if any man knew where he was, he should show it, that they might take him.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given commandment that if any one knew where he was, he should make it known, that they might take him.
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 both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command, that if any one may know where he is, he may shew it, so that they may seize him.
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.
Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had commanded that if anyone knew where he was, he should report it, that they might seize him.
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 chief priests and the Pharisees had already issued orders that, if anyone learned where Jesus was, he should give information, so that they might arrest him.
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.
Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone had knowledge where he was, he was to give them word, so that they might take him.
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.
Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had commanded that, if anyone knew where he was, he should report it, that they might seize him.
Word-for-word swaps
- commandment→commanded
- man→anyone
- were→was
- shew→report
- take→seize
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.