John 6:15 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.
When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.
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.
Jesus therefore perceiving that they were about to come and take him by force, to make him king, withdrew again into the mountain himself alone.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Jesus therefore knowing that they were going to come and seize him, that they might make [him] king, departed again to the mountain himself alone.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
Jesus, therefore, having known that they are about to come, and to take him by force that they may make him king, retired again to the mountain himself alone.
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.
Jesus therefore, perceiving that they were about to come and take him by force, to make him king, withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
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.
But Jesus, having discovered that they were intending to come and carry him off to make him king, went again up the hill, quite alone.
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 when Jesus saw that the people were about to come and take him by force to make him a king, he went away again up the mountain by himself.
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.
Jesus therefore perceiving that they were about to come and take him by force, to make him king, withdrew again to the mountain by himself
Word-for-word swaps
- perceived→perceiving
- would→were
- departed→withdrew
- a→to
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.