Romans 9:8 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.
That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
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.
That is, it is not the children of the flesh that are children of God; but the children of the promise are reckoned for a seed.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
That is, [they that are] the children of the flesh, these [are] not the children of God; but the children of the promise are reckoned as seed.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
that is, the children of the flesh--these are not children of God; but the children of the promise are reckoned for seed;
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.
That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as heirs.
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
This means that it is not the children born in the course of nature who are God’s children, but it is the children born in fulfillment of the Promise who are to be regarded as Abraham’s descendants.
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
This means that it is not the children born in the course of nature who are God’s children, but it is the children born in fulfilment of the Promise who are to be regarded as Abraham’s descendants.
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.
That is, it is not the children of the flesh, but the children of God's undertaking, who are named as the seed.
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.
That is, it is not the children of the flesh, who are children of God: but the children of the promise are counted as heirs.
Word-for-word swaps
- are→it
- the→who
- seed→as
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.