Matthew 21:34 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 the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.
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 season of the fruits drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, to receive his fruits.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
But when the time of fruit drew near, he sent his bondmen to the husbandmen to receive his fruits.
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 when the season of the fruits came nigh, he sent his servants unto the husbandmen, to receive the fruits of it,
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 season for the fruit came near, he sent his servants to the farmers, to receive his fruit.
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.
When the time for the grape harvest drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants, to receive his share of the produce.
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 when the time for the fruit came near, he sent his servants to the workmen, to get the fruit.
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 season for the fruit came near, he sent his servants to the farmers, to receive his fruit.
Word-for-word swaps
- of→season
- drew→came
- might→farmers
- it→his
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.