Philippians 2:8 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 being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
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 being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient [even] unto death, yea, the death of the cross.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
and having been found in figure as a man, humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, and [that the] death of [the] cross.
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 in fashion having been found as a man, he humbled himself, having become obedient unto death--death even of a cross,
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.
And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross.
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.
he appeared among us as a man, and still further humbled himself by submitting even to death – to death on a cross!
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 being seen in form as a man, he took the lowest place, and let himself be put to death, even the death of the cross.
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.
And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross.
Word-for-word swaps
- man→human
- became→becoming
- unto→to
- even→yes
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.