“He has risen” is the grammatically correct form in modern English. “He is risen” is an archaic construction, standard in Early Modern English but long replaced by “he has risen” in everyday use. Both phrases use the present perfect tense to say that someone has risen, but they use different auxiliary verbs to do so. Modern English forms the present perfect with “have.” So the correct pattern is “he has risen,” just as you would say “he has left” or “he has returned.” The older form “he is risen” used “to be” as the auxiliary verb instead. That pattern survives today mostly in fixed religious phrases and formal quotations. Outside those specific contexts, “he has risen” is always the right choice. If you are writing anything other than a direct quotation of archaic text, use “he has risen.”
“He Is Risen” and “He Has Risen”: What the Grammar Actually Shows
TL;DR: “He has risen” is the modern standard. “He is risen” is an archaic form that used “to be” as the auxiliary verb instead of “to have.” Both mean the same thing, but only one follows current English grammar rules.
The present perfect tense in modern English is formed with “have” or “has” plus a past participle. “Risen” is the past participle of “rise.” So the correct modern form is “he has risen” — full stop.
“He is risen” follows an older pattern. In Early Modern English, verbs of motion and change of state sometimes took “to be” rather than “to have” in their perfect forms. “Rise,” “go,” “come,” and “fall” were among them. “He is risen,” “he is gone,” “the sun is set,” and “winter is come” all use this old structure. By the 18th century, “to have” had replaced “to be” in almost all of these constructions. The pattern survived mainly in formal, literary, and religious writing.
So “he is risen” is not a grammatical error in context. It is simply old. The same way “thou art” is not wrong in Shakespeare, it is just not modern English. In everyday writing and speech today, “he has risen” is the correct and natural choice.
When I review manuscripts that mix registers, as often happens in religious publications updating older texts, this is one of the first constructions editors flag. The choice between the two forms signals immediately whether the writer is working in modern English or quoting an older source.
Golden Rule: Use "he has risen" in modern writing. Use "he is risen" only when quoting or deliberately echoing archaic English.
“He Is Risen” and “He Has Risen” Examples
Seeing both forms in context makes the distinction clear.
Correct Usage Examples
“He has risen from his position at the company after thirty years.” Standard modern usage: “has risen” is the natural choice.
“After weeks of recovery, he has risen to the challenge and returned stronger.” “Has risen” works perfectly in any modern context.
“He has risen through the ranks quickly.” In business or professional writing, “has risen” is the only correct option.
“The sun has risen earlier each morning this week.” Even for natural phenomena, modern English uses “has risen.”
“He is risen!” A direct quotation from the King James Bible or a fixed liturgical phrase. The archaic form is correct here because it is a deliberate quotation, not original writing.
Incorrect Usage Examples
- Incorrect: He is risen to the top of his field after years of hard work.
- Correct: He has risen to the top of his field after years of hard work.
Why: No archaic or religious context here. “Has risen” is the modern standard, and “is risen” reads as a grammar error.
- Incorrect: The water level is risen significantly since last week.
- Correct: The water level has risen significantly since last week.
Why: “Is risen” sounds wrong in any factual, modern sentence. The auxiliary verb must be “has.”
- Incorrect: He has risen, as we read in the King James Bible.
- Correct: “He is risen,” as the King James Bible reads.
Why: When quoting the specific archaic phrase, use the archaic form. Modernising a direct quotation misrepresents the source.
Context Variations
In everyday speech and modern writing (news articles, business documents, academic papers, personal essays), “he has risen” is always correct. There are no exceptions outside of quotation.
In formal religious services or when quoting traditional texts directly, “he is risen” appears as a fixed phrase. It is preserved exactly as written in those sources, the same way any historic quotation is preserved.
In formal writing that references older texts, both forms may appear. “He is risen” goes in quotation marks; “he has risen” is the writer’s own words. That is the correct approach.
Common “He Is Risen” vs “He Has Risen” Mistakes
TL;DR: The most common mistake is using “is risen” in modern sentences where no archaic or religious context exists. The second is over-correcting in the opposite direction — modernising a direct quotation that should keep the archaic form.
| Error Pattern | Incorrect | Correct |
| Modern sentence, wrong auxiliary | He is risen through the ranks | He has risen through the ranks |
| Nature or events | The tide is risen overnight | The tide has risen overnight |
| Over-correcting a quotation | He has risen, said the KJV | “He is risen,” the KJV reads |
| Mixing registers mid-sentence | He is risen to fame recently | He has risen to fame recently |
| Passive voice confusion | He is risen by his team’s support | He has been lifted by his team’s support |
The most common error by far is using “is risen” in a plain modern sentence with no archaic context. In general writing I review, this mistake clusters most in religious or inspirational writing. Writers have heard “he is risen” so often in one context that they start applying it more broadly. The fix is simple: if you wrote the sentence yourself in the present day, use “has risen.”
The passive voice confusion in the last row is worth noting. “He is risen” is sometimes misread as passive voice — meaning someone else caused him to rise. It is not passive. It is an archaic active perfect. But if you genuinely mean a passive construction, the correct form is “he has been raised” or “he was raised.”
How to Remember Which Form to Use
One test works every time: ask whether you are quoting an archaic source or writing your own modern sentence.
If you are writing your own sentence in modern English, use “he has risen.” The auxiliary verb in present perfect tense is always “has” or “have” in contemporary English. Think of parallel forms: “he has left,” “he has fallen,” “he has returned.” “He has risen” follows exactly the same pattern.
If you are directly quoting a fixed phrase from an older text, use the form that appears in that text. You would not modernise “to be or not to be.” The same principle applies to archaic grammar in fixed quotations.
A second anchor: think of similar relics. “He is gone,” “the sun is set,” “winter is come.” These all use the old “to be” pattern. They sound poetic and slightly formal because they are old. “He is risen” belongs in exactly that category. In writing workshops, I point to these examples when explaining that the form is a historical survival, not a current grammar rule.
Conclusion
“He has risen” is correct modern English. “He is risen” is an archaic form that belongs in direct quotation of older texts, not in original modern writing.
The grammar behind this is simple: present perfect tense uses “has” in modern English. “He has risen” follows the same pattern as “he has left,” “he has gone,” and every other present perfect construction in use today.
When in doubt, write “he has risen.” It is clear, correct, and natural in any context.
Frequently Asked Questions
“He has risen” is correct in modern English. “He is risen” is an archaic form that used “to be” as the auxiliary verb instead of “to have.” It survives today mainly in fixed religious phrases and direct quotations of older texts.
Because it appears as a fixed phrase in the King James Bible and in traditional religious services, where it has been repeated unchanged for centuries. Familiarity in one specific context does not make it correct in modern writing generally.
Only when directly quoting an archaic source that uses the phrase. In any sentence you write yourself in modern English, “he has risen” is the correct form.
No. It is an archaic active perfect construction, not passive voice. The subject performed the action. If you want a passive form, the correct options are “he was raised” or “he has been raised.”
The difference is the auxiliary verb and the era it comes from. “He has risen” uses modern English grammar. “He is risen” uses an older pattern where “to be” served as the auxiliary. Both mean the same thing — the act of rising is complete — but only “he has risen” is correct in contemporary writing.
Yes. “He is gone,” “the sun is set,” and “winter is come” all follow the same archaic pattern. They survive mostly in literary and poetic writing. They share the same quality as “he is risen” — old, not wrong, but not modern.
