Revelation 19:12 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.
His eyes as a flame of fire, and on his head many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
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 his eyes [are] a flame of fire, and upon his head [are] many diadems; and he hath a name written which no one knoweth but he himself.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
And his eyes are a flame of fire, and upon his head many diadems, having a name written which no one knows but himself;
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 his eyes are as a flame of fire, and upon his head are many diadems--having a name written that no one hath known, except himself,
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.
His eyes are a flame of fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has names written and a name written which no one knows but he himself.
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.
His eyes are flaming fires; on his head there are many diadems, and he bears a name, written, which no one knows but himself;
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 his eyes are a flame of fire, and crowns are on his head; and he has a name in writing, of which no man has knowledge but himself.
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.
His eyes are a flame of fire, and on his head are many crowns; he has names written and a name written, which no one knows but he himself.
Word-for-word swaps
- as→are
- had→has
- that→which
- knew→one
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.