Luke 9:45 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.
But they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not: and they feared to ask him of that saying.
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 they understood not this saying, and it was concealed from them, that they should not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
But they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them that they should not perceive it. And they feared to ask him concerning this saying.
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 they were not knowing this saying, and it was veiled from them, that they might not perceive it, and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.
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 they didn’t understand this saying. It was concealed from them, that they should not perceive it, and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.
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 the disciples did not understand the meaning of this; it had been concealed from them so that they did not see it, and they were afraid to question him as to what he meant.
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.
But this saying was not clear to them and its sense was kept secret from them so that they were not able to see it: and they had fear of questioning him about it.
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 they didn’t understand this saying, it was concealed from them, that they should not: perceive it, and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.
Word-for-word swaps
- not→didn’t
- hid→concealed
- it→should
- feared→were
- that→about
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.