John 8:33 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.
They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
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 answered unto him, We are Abraham`s seed, and have never yet been in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
They answered him, We are Abraham's seed, and have never been under bondage to any one; how sayest thou, Ye shall become free?
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 answered him, `Seed of Abraham we are; and to no one have we been servants at any time; how dost thou say--Ye shall become free?'
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 answered him, “We are Abraham’s offspring, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How do you say, ‘You will be made free’?”
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
“We are descendants of Abraham,” was their answer, “and have never yet been in slavery to anyone. What do you mean by saying ‘you will be set free’?”
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
‘We are descendants of Abraham,’ was their answer, ‘and have never yet been in slavery to anyone. What do you mean by saying “you will be set free”?’
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.
They said to him in answer, We are Abraham's seed and have never been any man's servant: why do you say, You will become free?
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 answered him, We are Abraham’s offspring, and have never been in bondage to anyone. how do you say, ‘You will be made free’?”
Word-for-word swaps
- be→are
- seed→offspring
- were→have
- man→anyone
- shall→do
- free→free’
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.