Ruth 2:16 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.
And let fall also of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave that she may glean and rebuke her not.
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 also pull out some for her from the bundles, and leave it, and let her glean, and rebuke her not.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
And ye shall also sometimes draw out for her [some ears] out of the handfuls, and leave them that she may glean, and rebuke her not.
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 also ye do surely cast to her of the handfuls--and have left, and she hath gleaned, and ye do not push against her.'
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.
Also pull out some for her from the bundles, and leave it. Let her glean, and don’t rebuke her.”
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
Also pull out some for her from the bundles and leave for her to glean, and do not find fault with her.”
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
Also pull out some for her from the bundles and leave for her to glean, and do not find fault with her.’
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.
And let some heads of grain be pulled out of what has been corded up, and dropped for her to take, and let no sharp word be said to her.
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.
also pull out some for her, from the bundles, and leave it. Let her glean and don’t rebuke her
Word-for-word swaps
- purpose→pull
- may→it
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.