Matthew 23:5 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 all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
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 all their works they do to be seen of men: for they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders [of their garments],
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
And all their works they do to be seen of men: for they make broad their phylacteries and enlarge the borders [of their garments],
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 all their works they do to be seen by men, and they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the fringes of their garments,
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 all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad, enlarge the fringes of their garments,
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.
All their actions are done to attract attention. They widen their phylacteries, and increase the size of their tassels,
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 all their works they do so as to be seen by men: for they make wide their phylacteries, and the edges of their robes,
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 all their works they do to be seen by men: they make their phylacteries, broad, enlarge the fringes of their garments,
Word-for-word swaps
- of→by
- and→broad
- borders→fringes
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.