John 6:21 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.
Then they willingly received him into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went.
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 were willing therefore to receive him into the boat: and straightway the boat was at the land whither they were going.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
They were willing therefore to receive him into the ship; and immediately the ship was at the land to which they went.
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 willing then to receive him into the boat, and immediately the boat came unto the land to which they were going.
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.
They were willing therefore to receive him into the boat. Immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.
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.
And after this they were glad to take him into the boat; and the boat at once arrived off the shore, for which they had been making.
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.
Then they readily took him into the boat: and straight away the boat was at the land to which they were going.
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.
they were willing therefore to receive him into the boat. immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.
Word-for-word swaps
- received→were
- and→boat
- ship→boat
- whither→where
- went→were
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.