John 7:31 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.
And many of the people believed on him, and said, When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than these which this hath done?
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.
But of the multitude many believed on him; and they said, When the Christ shall come, will he do more signs than those which this man hath done?
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
But many of the crowd believed on him, and said, Will the Christ, when he comes, do more signs than those which this [man] has done?
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 many out of the multitude did believe in him, and said--`The Christ--when he may come--will he do more signs than these that this one did?'
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.
But of the multitude, many believed in him. They said, “When the Christ comes, he won’t do more signs than those which this man has done, will he?”
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
Many of the people, however, believed in him. “When the Christ comes,” they said, “will he give more signs of his mission than this man has given?”
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
Many of the people, however, believed in him. ‘When the Christ comes,’ they said, ‘will he give more signs of his mission than this man has given?’
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.
And numbers of the people had belief in him, and they said, When the Christ comes will he do more signs than this man has done?
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.
But of the multitude, many believed in him, They said, When the Christ comes, he won’t do more signs than those which this man has done? will he?”
Word-for-word swaps
- many→But
- people→multitude
- on→in
- and→They
- will→comes
- miracles→signs
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.