Romans 2:17 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.
Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God,
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 if thou bearest the name of a Jew, and restest upon the law, and gloriest in God,
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
But if *thou* art named a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast in God,
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
Lo, thou art named a Jew, and dost rest upon the law, and dost boast in God,
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.
Indeed you bear the name of a Jew, and rest on the law, and glory in God,
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, perhaps, you bear the name of ‘Jew,’ and are relying on Law, and boast of belonging to God, and understand his will,
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
But, perhaps, you bear the name of “Jew,” and are relying on Law, and boast of belonging to God, and understand his will,
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 as for you who have the name of Jew, and are resting on the law, and take pride in God,
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.
Indeed you bear the name of a Jew, and rest on the law, and glory in God,
Word-for-word swaps
- called→Indeed
- in→rest
- of→glory
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.