John 2:6 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.
And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.
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 there were six waterpots of stone set there after the Jews` manner of purifying, containing two or three firkins apiece.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Now there were standing there six stone water-vessels, according to the purification of the Jews, holding two or three measures each.
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 there were there six water-jugs of stone, placed according to the purifying of the Jews, holding each two or three measures.
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 there were six water pots of stone set there after the Jews’ way of purifying, containing two or three metretes apiece.
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.
There were standing there six stone water-jars, in accordance with the Jewish rule of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.
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 six pots of stone, every one taking two or three firkins of water, were placed there for the purpose of washing, as is the way of the Jews.
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 there were six water pots of stone, set there after the Jews’ way of purifying containing two or three metretes apiece.
Word-for-word swaps
- And→Now
- waterpots→water
- manner→Jews’
- firkins→metretes
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.