Mark 4:36 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.
And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships.
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.
And leaving the multitude, they take him with them, even as he was, in the boat. And other boats were with him.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
and having sent away the crowd, they take him with [them], as he was, in the ship. But other ships also were with him.
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 having let away the multitude, they take him up as he was in the boat, and other little boats also were with him.
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.
Leaving the multitude, they took him with them, even as he was, in the boat. Other small boats were also with him.
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.
So, leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them, just as he was, in the boat; and there were other boats with him.
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.
And going away from the people, they took him with them, as he was, in the boat. And other boats were with him.
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.
Leaving the multitude, they took him with them, even as he was in the boat. Other small boats were also with him
Word-for-word swaps
- away→Leaving
- there→boat
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.