Do the people from the Jehovah Witnesses Church have their own version of the Bible?

Question

With much respect I ask this, because I have this book made by Jehovah Witnesses were they cite verses from the Bible but they are kind of different, the verses and chapters are the same but they changed the verses and like explain it in their own words. Did they made like their own version of the Bible? Or am I wrong and confused it with something else?

Answer 1

Ok first there are no windows because they do not get broke into that way and also because they have "quick builds" where they build Kingdom Halls (that is what they call there churches) in a weekend and it goes faster without the windows. They are definitely not a cult!!!!
The New World Translation is just an easier to read translation without all the thees and thous and as mentioned by someone else they included Gods name as it was originally used.
Some KJV have Jehovah at Psalms 83:18 where it says "you whose name is Jehovah you alone are the most high over all the earth" and some don't but does that mean the KJV is wrong. After all it is just another mans version of the Bible, is it possible he made errors in translation? Either way the message is the same if you are willing to hear it. Every Bible translation is different to some degree.
Next time a witness comes to your door tell him you will listen only if he shows you from your KJV. The message will be the same.
By the way the person that commmented that they come to your house asking for money, wrong, there literature is free of charge and it is truly ridiculous to hide, just tell them you want to be put on record as a do not call and they will not visit your house again.
If anyone is interested the reason they come to your house in the first place is not to convert you as some believe it is simply because they are trying to share Bible truths as Jesus instructed all his followers to do at Matthew 28:19. In the first say 15 verses of Matthew 10 it names the 12 apostles the says Jesus sent them forth to preach, 12 and 13 talk about entering into the house and greeting the householder.
They do their work because they feel that Jesus comissioned this work to be done back then and to continue down till this day. I assure you they do not enjoy doors being slammed in their faces, being cussed out, their lives being threatened etc. but they feel that the work they do for Jesus and his heavenly Father is worth all that.
Talk to one the next time they come by and don't be quick to believe everything bad you hear. I will say one thing about them. They never call other religions cults or say they are being secretive. They just show you what the Bible says be it the KJV or the New World. If anyone wants to know what the inside of the Kingdom hall looks like walk in one.
Don't hate something or someone just because they live their life different from yours. Whatever version of the Bible you use I'm sure you will remember "do unto others as you would have others do unto you".

Answer 2

Jehovah's Witnesses use dozens of different bible translations, and attach no special inspiration to their New World Translation over other translations. They are happy to utilize whatever translation a householder may prefer.
http://watchtower.org/bible/

NWT uses the same book, chapter, and verse differentiations that have been standard across the vast majority of translations for a century or more. When a word is used for clarity that is not in the original Hebrew or Greek text, it is clearly bracketed (like "[this]").

The New World Translation was not completed until 1960. For decades before that, Jehovah's Witnesses primarily used both the KJV and the American Standard. They distributed AS until that publisher discontinued the agreement, and they continue to distribute the KJV.

Incidentally, NWT is well-recognized by secular scholars of Greek and Hebrew, even while its precision frustrates the closed-minded prejudice of theologians among Christendom.

Learn more:
http://watchtower.org/library/jt/index.htm

Answer 3

They use the New World Translation which was translated from the same Hebrew and Greek manuscripts that all other Bibles are translated from.

In many ways, it's very good and accurate. In other ways, however, it reflects the bias of the Jehovah's Witnesses who translated it.

The first thing most people notice about the NWT is that the name Jehovah is everywhere. As already stated, the NWT replaced it in scriptures where it (YHWH, actually) had appeared in the original Hebrew language. So that should not actually be objectionable to anyone, unless they object to "Jehovah" being used instead of YHWH.

However, the NWT then went beyond that and ADDED it to over 200 verses in the New Testament where the name did NOT appear in any of the original language manuscripts.

One example of this is Romans 13:10 which reads in the Greek that "he who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." It is obvious from the context that the Lord in this case is Jesus. However, the NWT translates it as "Jehovah" even though virtually ALL the Greek manuscripts ever known to exist, plainly say 'lord', and not 'Jehovah'.

One of its good points is that it translates "cross" as "torture stake" which is good because the original word is "stauros" and it refers to all kinds of torture stakes, not only those that had crosspieces. So 'torture stake' is a better translation in that regard. (The basic meaning of the word 'stauros' is not 'torture stake', but 'stake'. But the secondary meaning of 'stauros' is a stake that is used for punishment or torture, and that includes crosses as well as simple stakes, trees, or any other wooden instrument with a frame or not, on which people were hung.)

So it has good features and bad features. That's just one of each.

Answer 4

Hi Candy. I like to answer your question. Not only you who ask those question.
The answer is No .... Jehovah Witnesses dont make their own version for the bible .... coz the bible that JW's use is the Holy Scriptures which is translated directly from their own original languages of Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek into Modern speech (rendered from the Original Languages) and Its a very big responsible that translate the Holy Scriptures means rendering into another language the thoughts of Jehovah God, the heavenly Author of this sacred library of 66 books that holy men of long ago were inspired to write down for our benefit today. and we dont use to our own thought and change the bible because thats wrong just like what is written on Revelation 22:18,19
......
But You have to know that there are many version of the Bible which lots of people use such as ... King James Version, Standard Version, Bible Gateway, The New American Bible, New International Version, American and Anglicized versions ... and many more version that you can seek in the internet.

So for us, its better to have a Holy Scriptures which translate directly from Original Languages. I hope this will answer your question.
^_^

Answer 5

Yes they have their own translation, doesn't everyone. JW's put the name of Jehovah back into it's original place to where as KJV took it out. They don't have the word cross in their bible because it is a mistranslation. The actual word being stake or tree. It's just little things like this and people have a cow. Yes they have a watchtower study guide, so do Baptist, and Methodist just to name a few. So what's the big fuss?
And to answer every ones curious mind.......No I am not a JW. I am someone who has studied the bible for 18 years now, off and on.

Answer 6

As to the honesty and un bias of the NWT
Please read these comments:

Old Testament:
In fact, the New World Translation is a scholarly work. In 1989, Professor Benjamin Kedar of Israel said:
"In my linguistic research in connection with the Hebrew Bible and translation, I often refer to the English edition as what is known as the New World Translation. In doing so, I find my feeling repeatedly confirmed that this kind of work reflects an honest endeavor to achieve an understanding of the text that is as accurate as possible. Giving evidence of a broad command of the original language, it renders the original words into a second language understandably without deviating unnecessarily from the specific structure of the Hebrew....Every statement of language allows for a certain latitude in interpreting or translating. So the linguistic solution in any given case may be open to debate. But I have never discovered in the New World Translation any biased intent to read something into the text that it does not contain."

New Testament:

While critical of some of its translation choices, BeDuhn called the New World Translation a “remarkably good” translation, “better by far” and “consistently better” than some of the others considered. Overall, concluded BeDuhn, the New World Translation “is one of the most accurate English translations of the New Testament currently available” and “the most accurate of the translations compared.”—Truth in Translation: Accuracy and Bias in English Translations of the New Testament.

“Here at last is a comprehensive comparison of nine major translations of the Bible:
King James Version,
New American Standard Bible,
New International Version,
New Revised Standard Version,
New American Bible,
Amplified Bible,
Today's English Version (Good News Bible),
Living Bible,
and the New World Translation.
The book provides a general introduction to the history and methods of Bible translation, and gives background on each of these versions. Then it compares them on key passages of the New Testament to determine their accuracy and identify their bias. Passages looked at include:
John 1:1; John 8:58; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:15-20; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 1:8; 2 Peter 1:1

Also explored are passages involving "prostration" or "worship," gendered language, the "holy spirit," and the use of "Jehovah." Two hundred pages in all offering my most detailed examination of the issues and pressures involved in Bible translation. If you've found my comments, observations, and answers instructive or challenging in the past, now's your chance to get the complete picture.”
Thank you, and happy reading!
Jason BeDuhn
Associate Professor of Religious Studies, and Chair
Department of Humanities, Arts, and Religion
Northern Arizona University

Answer 7

They have a book they go by but it isn't the bible. I don't know if they go by the verses from the bible or not I have never been interested or bored enough to read their pamphlets. I have crawled on the floor to hide from them when they came to my house asking for money...I wouldn't have but they came two days in a row. I do know that the Jehovah Witness church in my town doesn't have any windows. I find that strange and maybe a bit cultish. Like they don't want people to see what is going on inside.

Answer 8

no their bible is the same as the old holy scriptures. back then the holy scriputres was translated in hebrew letters. so some of the words didn`t have a o u i e in them.like the name jehovah its spelled yhwh in hebrew well that god`s name. just get your bible and a jehovah witnesses bible look in psalms 83:18 for yourself and u will see its almost the same.

Answer 9

You probably have one of their books that they use to help people understand their view of the bible. Their bible is called the New World Translation. All bibles are pretty similar. I think you are confused with another book of theirs.

Answer 10

The New World Edition of the Bible is based on either purposely, negligently, or ineptly mistranslated Greek, and conveniently changes the meaning of critical scripture passages to reflect the beliefs of the "boys from Brooklyn" and their dead, false prophet founders.