Romans 11:4 in 8 translations
8 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 what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal.
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 what saith the answer of God unto him? I have left for myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
But what says the divine answer to him? I have left to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed knee to Baal.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
but what saith the divine answer to him? `I left to Myself seven thousand men, who did not bow a knee to Baal.'
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 how does God answer him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
But what was the divine response? ‘I have kept for myself seven thousand who have never bowed the knee to Baal.’
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
But what was the divine response? “I have kept for myself seven thousand who have never bowed the knee to Baal.”
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · The Commonwealth spelling edition of the Open English Bible. Identical wording to the US edition apart from spelling.
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 what answer does God make to him? I have still seven thousand men whose knees have not been bent to Baal.
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 how does God answer him? I have reserved for myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal.
Word-for-word swaps
- of→how
- unto→answer
- to→for
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.