Matthew 27:55 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 many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him:
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 many women were there beholding from afar, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him:
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
And there were there many women beholding from afar off, who had followed Jesus from Galilee ministering to 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 there were there many women beholding from afar, who did follow Jesus from Galilee, ministering to 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.
Many women were there watching from afar, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, serving 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.
There were many women there, watching from a distance, who had accompanied Jesus from Galilee and had been attending on 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 a number of women were there, watching from a distance, who had come with Jesus from Galilee, waiting on his needs.
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.
many women were there watching from afar who had followed Jesus from Galilee, serving him:
Word-for-word swaps
- beholding→watching
- which→who
- unto→serving
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.