Matthew 15:11 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.
Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.
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.
Not that which entereth into the mouth defileth the man; but that which proceedeth out of the mouth, this defileth the man.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Not what enters into the mouth defiles the man; but what goes forth out of the mouth, this defiles the man.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
not that which is coming into the mouth doth defile the man, but that which is coming forth from the mouth, this defileth the man.'
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.
That which enters into the mouth doesn’t defile the man; but that which proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
It is not what enters a person’s mouth that defiles them, but what comes out from their mouth – that does defile them!”
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
It is not what enters a person’s mouth that defiles them, but what comes out from their mouth – that does defile them!’
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.
Not that which goes into the mouth makes a man unclean, but that which comes out of the mouth.
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.
that which enters into the mouth doesn’t defile the man; but that which proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.
Word-for-word swaps
- goeth→enters
- a→doesn’t
- cometh→proceeds
- a→defiles
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.