Jehovah Witnesses - Why did the Watchtower come up with the New World Translation of the scriptures?

Question

Were there errors in other bibles

Answer 1

NWT is a modern English, easy to understand Bible translated from the original languages.

It remains true to the original languages rather than inserting a trinitarian bias as do so many translations, including the KJV.

Also languages change, as well as the fact through the discovery of older manuscripts we have a better understanding of the original languages.

The most important thing about the NWT is that it has restored God's personal name, which is translated as Jehovah in English, to the texts where so many translations have removed it almost 7,000 times.

The KJV for one replaced it where Jehovah himself inspired it to be written almost 7,000 times with the word LORD or GOD (all capitals).

Answer 2

I never became a Witness, I only studied, but the New World Translation is probably my favorite Bible EXCEPT for one thing.

I have no problem with John 1:1, because there is justification for translating "a god" or "God" either way - it would have to be decision made by the translator because it isn't clear whether or not "a" should be there.

But there is no decision to be made when it comes to translating the name of God in the New Testament. The decision has already been made in the thousands of Greek manuscripts dating back to about the 2nd century. YHWH is not in them. So if a translator disregards what 100% of the Bible text says and substitutes a word he THINKS would be better, that is inexcusable, as far as I'm concerned.

I am incredulous when I read some of these comments from Witnesses who are outraged that earlier translators changed YHWH to "lord". If you think it's such a serious wrong, why would you think it's OK to change "lord" to "Jehovah"? How is that being "true to the original language"? (above) How is it "correcting that pattern" (above) of altering the text? The NWT is altering the New Testament, only in a different way.

To use the excuse "we're not the only ones" is about a weak an excuse as I've ever heard. Why would you copy other people's mistakes?

The Greek Septuagint contained YHWH, but that was the Old Testament. It's nice that the NWT put God's name back in the Old Testament, but it's not nice that they put it in the New Testament because 100% of the Greek manuscripts tell us that it wasn't there.

Professor Howard says it's "reasonable to believe" that it could have been there originally. Maybe it was. But maybe it's not there because of the same reason it doesn't appear anywhere else in the writings of that time - it just wasn't being used.

What kind of Bible would we have if every translator felt free to substitute words with ones that he liked better? Isn't that why this whole issue arose in the first place because the scribes thought YHWH would be better translated as lord?

I've said it before and I've said it again. It's really a shame that the translators of this Bible did this because it has made the Bible unacceptable to so many people. Not because they restored God's name in the Old Testament - that's a good thing - but because they added it where it didn't belong in the New Testament - and that has made people question the accuracy of the NWT and the motives of the translators.

I really hope they will revise it. Otherwise, I think it's a good translation and very easy to read. But whenever I read that Jesus or someone in the New Testament said "Jehovah" , I immediately correct it in my mind because I know that if I could read the oldest Greek manuscripts, I wouldn't be reading that they were saying God's personal name.

Answer 3

You've received some good answers here, but something should be cleared up. The Watchtower didn't do this, Jehovah's Witnesses, as a body, did. The governing board of the society is not like other churches, where there are elitists get paid to hold positions of power over everyone else. The governing board are servants, who receive no compensation for their work, nor do they hold the position for life. They are not elected to their positions and every JW can end up serving on the board, as well any other positions.

What is created by the Watchtower is the result of millions of JWs, reading the Bible, at first the King James for over 50 years, plus many other Bibles, than the NWT to address the problems found in the KJV. It should be noted that the KJV was created because the Geneva Bible was considered to be too strict. Even then, they revised it 4 times during a 150 year time period, before it sufficiently matched the teaching of the Church of England and became the "Authorized Version." Many people worked on the KJV during that 150 years, but all were elitists doing it for personal benefit.

Answer 4

Jehovah's Witnesses can and do use any other number of bible translations, while some, such as modern politically-correct bibles are a joke, most bibles contain the word of God in one way or another. The main purpose in TRANSLATING the New World Translation was to restore the divine name --- Jehovah.

It is interesting that so many will swear by the King James that they fail to realize that it is just a version, it is not a translation --- it was ripped off of something else. How can anyone be exactaly sure what it is? Although it is widespread and accepted, JW's use it quite frequently.

Most people point to John 1: 1 to try and prove that JW's have changed the bible, when in fact there are dozens of other bibles that have the same rendering and/or thoughts regarding the Word.

Answer 5

***On what is the “New World Translation” based?

As a basis for translating the Hebrew Scriptures, the text of Rudolf Kittel’s Biblia Hebraica, editions of 1951-1955, was used. The 1984 revision of the New World Translation benefited from updating in harmony with the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia of 1977. Additionally, the Dead Sea Scrolls and numerous early translations into other languages were consulted.

For the Christian Greek Scriptures, the master Greek text of 1881 as prepared by Westcott and Hort was used primarily, but several other master texts were consulted as well as numerous early versions in other languages.

***Is it really a scholarly translation?

Since the translators have chosen to remain anonymous, the question cannot here be answered in terms of their educational background. The translation must be appraised on its own merits.

It is an accurate, largely literal translation from the original languages. It is not a loose paraphrase, in which the translators leave out details that they consider unimportant and add ideas that they believe will be helpful. As an aid to students, a number of editions provide extensive footnotes showing variant readings where expressions can legitimately be rendered in more than one way, also a listing of the specific ancient manuscripts on which certain renderings are based.

Some verses may not read the same as what a person is accustomed to. Which rendering is right? Readers are invited to examine manuscript support cited in footnotes of the Reference edition of the New World Translation, read explanations given in the appendix, and compare the rendering with a variety of other translations. They will generally find that some other translators have also seen the need to express the matter in a similar manner.

***Why is the name Jehovah used in the Christian Greek Scriptures?

It should be noted that the New World Translation is not the only Bible that does this. The divine name appears in translations of the Christian Greek Scriptures into Hebrew, in passages where quotations are made directly from the inspired Hebrew Scriptures. The Emphatic Diaglott (1864) contains the name Jehovah 18 times. Versions of the Christian Greek Scriptures in at least 38 other languages also use a vernacular form of the divine name.

The emphasis that Jesus Christ put on the name of his Father indicates that he personally used it freely. (Matt. 6:9; John 17:6, 26) According to Jerome of the fourth century C.E., the apostle Matthew wrote his Gospel first in Hebrew, and that Gospel makes numerous quotations of passages from the Hebrew Scriptures that contain the divine name. Others of the Christian Greek Scripture writers quoted from the Greek Septuagint (a translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek, begun about 280 B.C.E.), early copies of which contained the divine name in Hebrew characters, as shown by actual fragments that have been preserved.

Professor George Howard of the University of Georgia wrote: “Since the Tetragram [four Hebrew letters for the divine name] was still written in the copies of the Greek Bible which made up the Scriptures of the early church, it is reasonable to believe that the N[ew] T[estament] writers, when quoting from Scripture, preserved the Tetragram within the biblical text.”—Journal of Biblical Literature, March 1977, p. 77.

Answer 6

One of the most major errors that was corrected was the removal of God's name from the Scriptures. It was removed nearly 7000 times. The tetragrammaton (the four Hebrew letters of God's name - in English they are JHVH / Jehovah) was replaced by titles such as God and Lord, but its very important to know God's name...it wouldn't have been there if it weren't. Consider the scripture that says everyone calling on the name of Jehovah will be saved. How could anyone call on that name without knowing it? So if such a liberty as removing God's name from the Bible was previously take doesn't it stand to reason that a new accurate translation would be helpful?

Answer 7

Obviously the better the translation,the more it honours God.What a weighty responsibility this places upon all who share in Bible translation!Unfortunately not all Bible translation is done with appreciation of this fact.For example,the most popular Bible version honours King James.It is popularly known as the King James Version,while its translators elimanated from its text the name of God in all but a few verses.
What is required of a Bible translation for it to honour God?For one thing it must be scrupulously honest.Second,it must be free from religious bias.Third,those doing the translation must have access to the best possible sources and be qualified as to both the language of the Bible manuscript and the one into which they are translating.Fourth such translation must also be harmonious and consistent throughout.Fifth,since it is impossible for imperfect humans to be wholly objective,it follows that BIble translation,that accepts the claims of the BIble to be God's Word is far more likely to be correct than that which is based on the view that much of the Bible is pia fraus,that is "a pios fraud".
To the extent that Bible translation,because of religious bias unduly exalts creatures,to that extent it does not honour God.Bible translation that lays itself open to this charge is found in both the Douay (1610) and the Knox(1948),translations at Genesis 3:15 where the masculine pronouns have been rendered with the view of exalting the "Virgin Mary".
There are many,many more.The aim of the New World Translation however,is to give honour and praise to Jehovah God.

Answer 8

The "Introduction" to "New World Translation" actually discusses the primary reason this bible was commissioned in the 1950's:

[begin quote]
the foremost feature of this translation is the restoration of the divine name to its rightful place in the English text. It has been done, using the commonly accepted English form “Jehovah” 6,973 times in the Hebrew Scriptures and 237 times in the Christian Greek Scriptures.
[end quote]

The shortest answer to the questioner's second question is:
"Yes"
Yes, other bibles erroneously (and superstitiously) mistranslated the divine personal name ("YHWH") as though it were the impersonal title "LORD". New World Translation restores the divine name in every one of the nearly SEVEN THOUSAND places where the Tetragrammaton appears or should appear.


Jehovah's Witnesses attach no particular infallibility or inspiration to NWT; Witnesses actually use many different translations in their personal bible reading and research. As many householders are well-aware, Jehovah's Witnesses are happy to use any translation which an interested person may prefer, and in fact Jehovah's Witnesses themselves distribute other translations besides NWT.

Incidentally, there are about 6.5 million active Jehovah's Witnesses around the globe. By comparison there are over 130 million copies of NWT in print. Even if every Witness has four bibles, that still implies that 80% of these bibles are being used by non-Witnesses. A printed copy can be requested using the online form or by writing to a local branch address:
https://watch002.securesites.net/contact/submit.htm
http://watchtower.org/how_to_contact_us.htm

The entire text of NWT is freely available at the official website of Jehovah's Witnesses:
http://watchtower.org/bible/

The NWT easily stands on its own merits, and is actually recognized and appreciated by secular scholars of biblical Hebrew and Greek. Since the same manuscripts used by the NWT translators are still widely available for study, and since there are dozens of alternate translations for comparison, anyone who chooses to use NWT does so informedly.

When critics of Jehovah's Witnesses extend their criticism to the New World Translation, their blind hatred for this Christian religion is exposed. Since its publishing, secular experts of Hebrew and Greek have consistently refused to condemn any particular verse or phrase as an unacceptable translation. Instead, it is religionists with preconceived theologies who bigotedly insist upon particular wordings, since these are necessary to prop up the shakey tenets of their false worship.

(2 Timothy 4:3-5) For there will be a period of time when they will not put up with the healthful teaching, but, in accord with their own desires, they will accumulate teachers for themselves to have their ears tickled; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, whereas they will be turned aside to false stories. You, though, keep your senses in all things, suffer evil, do the work of an evangelizer, fully accomplish your ministry.

It seems signficant that the relatively small religion of Jehovah's Witnesses are the ones best known for their worldwide preaching work. Yet Jesus commanded that ALL who would call themselves "Christian" perform this public work:

(Matthew 28:19,20) Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit, teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you. And, look! I am with you all the days until the conclusion of the system of things.

Learn more:
http://watchtower.org/e/pr/index.htm?article=article_04.htm
http://watchtower.org/e/na/
http://watchtower.org/e/20020915/article_01.htm
http://www.watchtower.org/e/20050715/article_02.htm

Answer 9

BIBLE REALITY CHECK

KJV Bible 1611 after Christ published at 303 years is 1914 after Christ an excepted translation by law of man and God. For WW1 and WW2 with holocaust, and world conflict since, what a thing for a world of 1000 religions to face.
The bible became a pick and choose as a formula for religions, except these verses and reject these verses.
It is hard to read in that same person's name can be different in same chapter or from O.T. to N.T. and errors are minor in most cases, easy to solve.
God's name at about seven times when Jesus speaks of him so much means one has got to know all these areas, but now excepted, some can put it in all the places it should be.
People have to read the KJV Bible 1611 published after Christ, [ others with a book at 1840 ], but students from 1870 to 1914, to 1950 to 1963, over and over and take all the other steps to be acquainted with it as the word of God, so much needed to translate a bible and publish their own into as many languages of the world as possible and not loose a proper meaning, as it is no used as a religious formula, but the whole book is used.
There are many translation since the KJV Bible 1611 published. Are they used as a whole or as a religious formula?
Dan.8:12-14 [ 2300 years ];
If truth in world 2300 years after Babylon Empire #3, at 300 years is 2600 years after, we are 2613 years after Babylon Empire #3 ended kings, THERE WILL BE NO KING UNTIL JESUS AND WE NEED A VERY GOOD BOOK TO TELL US THIS IS END TIME DAYS.

PEOPLE HAVE TO DO A THOROUGH STUDY OF HOW THE WORLD HAS BEEN

I do not have a desire to pick and choose, to accept some verses and reject others in order to have a religion, and that is what most of the world is all about.
It is one thing to know the bible an another to know one part of any of the 1000 world religions.

Religions reject the genealogy of Jesus and guess at the age of the world or earth, not knowing the difference and this does nothing to make an almighty God look special.

Knowing the bible as a whole, and all the time given in it, know the prophecy and how it is in harmony with the major parts of world history to keep up to date on where we are in the stream of time, and in fulfillment of prophecy as the bible is the word of God.

People can either witness for the author of the bible, a religion, or one's very own self.
The ones that comes the closest to giving witness for the author of the bible, the God and Father of Jesus the son of God is the kingdom people that he begins with to set them perfectly straight first, so they can help with setting all else straight as the earth is cleansed.
People are making all manner of errors on who is God, whos is Jesus, what is spirit, soul, hell, who does and who does not go to heaven, and when might any go to heaven, never a mention of the new heavens and the new earth. All the signs of the end times are present to see. People are not careful enough before the almight Father of Jesus.

WHAT IS GOD GOING TO THINK IS BEST SUITED FOR HIS NEEDS IS THE QUESTION?

Answer 10

According to Achtung, there were not only errors in other Bibles but in the Bible text itself.

That is why he says the NWT had to not only replace Jehovah in 6937 places where YHWH appeared, but they also had to CHANGE 237 scriptures where it SHOULD HAVE appeared.

Since YHWH didn't appear there, how do you suppose they knew where it SHOULD have been? Divine guidance? Some JW's who aren't very well read will say it's only in quotations from the OT but that's not true.

At least the translators of the King James had a good reason for translating YHWH as Lord. It's because they knew "Jehovah" was not really accurate so they decided to follow the "custom" of using "lord". If they had known the correct vowels, there is no reason to think that they wouldn't have translated the Name since they were not bound to the Jewish superstition of not using God's name. In fact they did use it in the King James a few times - they didn't hide it.

On the other hand, the NWT translators deliberately mistranslated theos and kyrios simply because it supported their theology. There was no mystery as to the spelling of "lord" or "god" and the Greek manuscripts were consistent in their use of the words. It's called
T A M P E R I N G