Matthew 14:35 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 when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased;
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 when the men of that place knew him, they sent into all that region round about, and brought unto him all that were sick,
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
And when the men of that place recognised him, they sent to that whole country around, and they brought to him all that were ill,
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 recognized him, the men of that place sent forth to all that region round about, and they brought to him all who were ill,
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.
When the people of that place recognized him, they sent into all that surrounding region, and brought to him all who were sick;
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
But the people of that place, recognizing Jesus, sent out to the whole country around, and brought to him all who were ill,
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
But the people of that place, recognising Jesus, sent out to the whole country round, and brought to him all who were ill,
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 when the men of that place had news of him, they sent into all the country round about, and took to him all who were ill,
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.
when the people of that place recognized him, they sent into all that surrounding region, and brought to him all who were sick;
Word-for-word swaps
- men→people
- of→recognized
- about→surrounding
- unto→to
- that→who
- diseased→sick
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.