In what ways does the Jehovah's Witnesses bible (NWT) differ from other translations?

Question

Thank you

Answer 1

Sorry that this is so long, but you asked for differences.


The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (NWT) is the name of the Bible used worldwide by members of the Jehovah's Witness sect. The Watchtower Society claims this work to have been made directly into English from Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek languages.

This translation, they claim, was made by 'a committee of anointed witnesses of Jehovah,'but the Society refuses to divulge the names and credentials of the men who comprised this committee.

The work was originally released in six volumes starting in 1950. In 1961 the entire Bible had been completely 'translated' and thus released in a one volume publication. Since that time many additional editions of this Bible have rolled off the Watchtower's presses, complete with changes and alterations.

Who Were the translators?

The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society has failed both the public and its own followers at this most crucial point, as they refuse to give the names and credentials of the translators of The New World Translation. The Watchtower's Bible subject index handbook, Reasoning from the Scripture, states: 'When presenting as a gift the publishing rights to their translation, the New World Bible Translation Committee requested that its members remain anonymous. The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania has honored their request' .

The reason cited is because the 'translators were not seeking prominence for themselves.' However, the fact is that the men who comprised this committee had no adequate schooling or background to function as skilled critical Bible translators.

The translation committee was headed by (then vice -president of the Jehovah's Witnesses)Frederick W.Franz. Other members included Nathan H. Knorr (then president of the Jehovah's Witnesses),AlbertD. Schroeder, Ceorge D. Gangas and Milton Henschel.



In addition, former member of the Watchtower's Governing Body, Raymond V. Franz, in his book, Crisis of Conscience, lists the translators' names as Franz, Knorr, Schroeder and Cangas. His list omits Henschel. Franz further acknowledges his uncle Frederick Franz as the 'principal translator of the Society's New World Translation'

Yet, Frederick Franz's translation ability is open to serious question.

During a court trial held in Scotland in 1954 (during the same period that the New World Translation was being made) Franz was asked if he had made himself familiar with Hebrew. His reply was 'Yes.' He also acknowledged under oath that he could read and follow the Bible in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Spanish, Portuguese, German and French. The following day, during the same court trial, his linguistic abilities were put to the test.

He was asked to translate Genesis 2:4 into Hebrew. He failed the test as he was unable to do so. In fact he did not even try, but rather stated 'No, I wouldn't attempt to do that.'

Is It Really a Scholarly Translation?

To this question the Watchtower has led its followers to believe that although the backgrounds of its translators are not made known, the translation will stand on its own. It does not.

The translation committee is guilty of inventing non-existent Greek grammar (and then follows these made up rules only when necessary to support the theology of the Watchtower) and inserting words into Scripture that change the meaning of God's Word.

The 1985 edition of the Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures states for its readers the guidelines and goals endorsed by the translation committee. The Society claims that, 'We offer no paraphrase of Scripture. Our endeavor throughout has been to as literal a translation as possible where the modern English idiom allows for it or where the thought content is not hidden due to awkwardness in the literal rendition' and that' To each major word we have assigned one meaning and have held to that meaning as far as context permitted' .

However, based on these claims for its translation of the Bible, the committee has failed miserably.

Considering the Watchtower's first point, 'We offer no paraphrase of Scripture,' one need only examine the NWT renderings of John 15:4,5; John 17:26; Galatians 1:16; Romans 8:10; Colossians 1:27 and 2 Corinthians 13:5 to find that the translation committee has paraphrased Scripture to deny the indwelling of Christ in the believer.

Each of the aforementioned verses speaks of Christ living within the Christian ('in him' or 'in you'), yet these verses found in the NWT have been paraphrased to read in union with you (him)' (emphasis added).

Regarding the second point,'Our endeavor throughout has been to give as literal a translation as possible...,' this criterion likewise misses the mark of honest scholarship.

An examination of Colossians 1:16, 17 and Philippians 2:9 demonstrates through the addition of words that the committee has not presented 'as literal a translation as possible. '

In both verses cited one finds the word 'other' added. (Christ created all 'other' things, meaning he is also a creature, a created being.) Thus we find divine attributes of the Lord Jesus Christ removed, namely that He is the creator of all things and that He possesses the name that is above every name.

Finally, the third point, 'To each major word we have assigned one meaning and have held to that meaning as far as context permitted,' fairs no better than the previous statements. The translation committee has again let their theological bias bend their rules for translating.

In Matthew 25:46, 2 Peter 2:9 and Acts 4:21 we find the Greek word kolaoontai that refers to punishment.

However, since the Watchtower denies the teaching of eternal punishment we find the committee rendering two of the passages, those in Matthew and 2 Peter (which refer to eternal punishment) as 'cutting off' and the Scripture found in Acts (which refers to physical punishment) as 'punish.'


Why is the Name ']ehovah ' Used in the Christian Greek Scriptures?

The Watchtower Society leads its followers to believe that its translation is also superior on the basis that it has restored the divine name ]ehovah (Yahweh) to the pages of the Bible. The Watchtower's publication, 'The Divine Name That Will Endure Forever' announces that it was a 'apostate' Christian church that removed the divine name and has substituted ' Lord' in its place.

However, they have based, in part, this erroneous idea on some guesswork published by Professor George Howard in an article in the March 1978 issue of Biblical Archaeological Review. Howard's evidence was slim and in a more detailed article published the previous year in The Journal of Biblical Literature he sets forth what he proposes as 'a theory.' The question that the Watchtower leaders never considered is whether Howard's guesses are supported by the evidence.

This question was addressed by Dr. Albert Pietersma of the University of Toronto. Writing in De Sepuaginta, a collection of scholarly articles, by experts in Septuagint studies, Piertersma carefully reviews Howard's use of the three Old Testament manuscript fragments. He finds that a careful examination does not support Howard's theory.

Further the Watchtower's Reasoning book announces, '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. This is merely a rephrasing of the 'Restoring the Divine Name' concept found in the Forward of the Kingdom Interlinear Translation .

The translation committee has set forth the proposition that a modern translator may render the Greek words Kyrios and Theos as the divine name Jehovah (Yahweh) when the inspired Christian writers have quoted from the Hebrew Scriptures where the divine name appears.

Regrettably, once again the translation committee has followed this rule only when it does not contradicttheir theology. Philippians 2:10,11 serves as a perfect example. Scripture is clear that one day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that 'Jesus Christ is Lord.' However the Philippians passage is quoted from Isaiah 45:23 and here we are told that to Jehovah every knee will bow.

Therefore based on the Watchtower's own translation rule, the Lord spoken of in Philippians is none other than Jehovah. Further it is of interest to note that the 1950 edition of the New World Translation of the Christian Scriptures, which contained marginal cross references, cited Isaiah 45:23 as a cross reference to the Philippians 2:11 passage.

Numerous scholars with true credentials in the Biblical languages have condemned the Watchtower's New World Translation as a fatal distortion of God's written Word.

Thus it has been demonstrated above that the Watchtower Society has, by its own standards, proven its Bible translation to be unreliable and untrustworthy. Those desiring a modern translation would do well to invest in either the New American Standard Version or the New international Version of Scripture to escape the theological prejudice and Biblical untruths found in the New World Translation.

Answer 2

The NWT acually agrees with other Bible translations in the majority of its readings. It is based on sound Biblical texts and on sound principles of translation. The NWT is an extremely faithful and accurate translation of the Bible, often bringing out the nuances of the original Hebrew and Greek original languages that are missed or glossed over by other translations.

Even where the NWT differs from some translations, it finds agreements with others. Not all reputable Bible translations render John 1:1 to say "The Word was God," for example.

I usually do not like to mention the replies of other people, but I have to say that Balaam's post is an example of totally incorrect information.

The Pyramid concept was abandoned many decades before the NWT was produced, and has nothing whatsoever to do with its translation. There is no alteration of Jesus's prophecies in the NWT.

Dr. Walter Martin's theological biases do not represent fact. He has no standing to comment on the translators of the NWT, and he is wrong in stating that they had no knowledge of biblical Greek.

All the other stuff Balaam says that Jehovah's Witnesses teach and reflect in the NWT is also just plain wrong and misrepresentation. Maybe someone else Balaam knows believes those things, but I assure you that Jehovah's Witnesses do not.

All the ways in which the NWT differs from other translations should be checked, not just by other *translations*, but by the original Hebrew or Greek texts. The NWT is a faithful translation and an excellent study Bible.

I began my Bible study with the King James Version. Since that time, I have read and obtained more than 20 different English versions of the Bible, as well as Bibles in Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, Latin, and Coptic.

When I say that the NWT is an excellent translation of the Bible, I make that judgment after many years of reading and comparing it with other translations in several different languages.

I have no problem with *honest* criticism of the NWT. But just about everything I have read against it is so obviously biased and ignorant.

Answer 3

As one of Jehovah's Witnesses I have many different copies of the bible. Use to have one with direct translation from Greek. I love to read and study the bible and I want to be sure I have the best material to help me do that.
I have had friends who spoke other languages one was German and had a German bible. Also, Catholic Douay version. When we did research on the computer and other ways we found it was a very good translation and very accurate. In the Spanish Catholic Bible God's name is in there. DAHOVA. Also, in the German bible.
English is just one language out of many different languages.
John 1:1 is very different in the German bible and also in French bible. She told me that the New World Translation was closer than other English versions.
We can't be short sighted and say well an ancient King James wrote something 200 years ago and says that is right, therefore we all believe it. They were hardly an authority on ancient manuscripts.
Everyone agreed that the German translation of the bible was much more accurate. Using that and ancient manuscripts we today have a much more accurate translation of the bible then King James had.
Many learned men have devoted their life to bringing us the most accurate English translation, some who know Hebrew from which these words were taken orginally.
They can and do read them in its original form and also knowing English they can translate for us.
would you accept a medical opinion from a Doctor from the 1500's? They use these manuscripts to translate the bible into little known African languages and hundreds of other languages. Do you think they are incapable of translateing into English?

Answer 4

Most people who hate the NWT do so because it goes against the lies they have been taught in church by their pastors. The biggest lie is...:

The trinity. Most church goers have been taught that God is composed of 3 co-equal, co-eternal persons (the Father, Son, and holy spirit). Those people have been taught to believe that Jesus is God (which is NOT the trinity) and that their Bibles support that, such as at John 1:1 ("the Word was God.). But what they don't seem to understand is how can the Word be WITH God and BE God at the same time? And since John 1:1 does NOT mention a third "person," this verse can NOT support the trinity. Misinformed church people who use the KJB, while accusing the NWT of tampering, have NO CLUE that their own Bible has been altered. Not only has God's name Jehovah been removed, except for four places, but trinitarian slants have been added. One is found at 1 Tim. 3:16, where it says: "God manifest in the flesh." The other altered text is found at 1 John 5:7: "And there are three who give testimony in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one." Such false additions have since been exposed and removed from modern Bibles. DID YOU KNOW THAT?

Egged on by their clergymen, church people have formed a prejudiced view of the NWT, which is an excellent Bible version. On a recent game of the TV "Jeopardy," it was said that the NWT was the best Bible in circulation.

Answer 5

Get your hands on an old copy of the KJV, if you look in there you'll see the name Jehovah written for all to see in several places. Oddly enough, if you then look at a new KJV, you'll see they've taken the divine name out. If you look in an older Websters dictionary, you'll see Jehovah's name as well, and then you'll see Jesus or Ye·shu´a', translated as 'help of Jehovah'. We also know that no one today knows the correct pronunciation of the divine name, you can say Jehovah, known world over for hundreds of years, or you can go with Yahweh.

The New World Translation has restored Jehovah's name where it rightly belongs according to ancient text.

The King James Bible is a VERSION, written to satisfy the edicts of a King. Which is, oddly enough, why it's called the King James Version of the Bible.

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.

What kind of translation is this? For one thing, 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.

Answer 6

Here are some features of the New World Translation that I appreciate. First, the translators felt a special responsibility toward the Creator to accurately convey his words and thoughts. They were not beholden to any political or academic body as many translations have been, including the King James version. Next, they have restored the Name of God to it's rightful place and prominence. The map of Bible lands helps to envision and follow the geographic areas discussed and lends credibility to the Bible to those who doubt it's authenticity.Thers is also a map that shows the apostle Pauls travels on his various missionary journeys. There is a map for Genesis that shows area of Canaan and another that shows the territory of the tribes of Israel. The concordance helps me to find verses that I have trouble locating. I love the references. They help me to get a fuller understanding of the verse or verses under consideration. The appendix explains Jehovah's name and it's use in the Hebrew and Greek scriptures. (Old and new testaments) To quote one paragraph there "To avoid overstepping the bounds of a translator into the field of exegesis, we have been most cautious about rendering the divine name in the Christian Greek Scriptures, always carefully considering the Hebrew Scriptures as a background. We have looked for agreement from the Hebrew versions to confirm our rendering.." The appendix also discusses Gehenna, soul, Sheol, Hades and the grave. There is also a list of 44 Bible topics for discussion outlined with supporting scriptures. This is just the small Bible that I carry with me from day to day in my ministry. The one I use for in-depth study has even more features like further references and footnotes that explain or give alternative renderings for certain words

Answer 7

Well, Will J, we all know you just like to ask questions about Jehovah's Witnesses, I'm sure you've asked this before and already know the answer. Of course, you don't believe anything a Witness tells you, so get someone else non-biased opinion. "Truth in Translation" by Jason David BeDuhn. He compares nine translations.

Why are you so obsessed with Jehovah's Witnesses???

Answer 8

--INVALIDATORS on this R & S site use what the author of "NASTY PEOPLE", **Jay Carter , says such an individual , practicing invalidating does with people who are telling the truth or giving accurate information-- a series of mind games, to lower the dignity of others, AND try to make them doubt themselves!
--THEY EASILY deny any sincere, honest , & accurate information or feelings, of people telling the truth!
--ONE MASTER INVALIDATOR was Adolf Hitler, who denied the sufferiing he caused by never going to the concentration ,camps, hospitals, & shutting his car shades when passiing through devastated cities he had bombed! IN OTHER WORDS he closed his eyes & mind !
--WHAT HE ALSO did in MY OPINION was to invalidate any good acts that the Jews, Polish & other nationalities did, along with gypsies, Jehovah's witnesses & others!
--OUR RESIDENT INVALIDATORS, who ignore any accurate information that is presented such as the scholars quoted on this question on the unique & accurate translation as the" NEW WORLD TRANSLATION OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES."
--ALSO THEY DO NOT USE noteworthy scholars who express WITHOUT PREDJUDICE by their own beliefs, as any criticism of the NWT. --EXCEPT so & so said or some expression OF THEIR OWN that people are to accept as authority!
--NOT ONLY DO THOSE who have their own religious agenda(because of their insistence on hellfire, the trinity, the immortal soul thing etc.) practice INVALIDATING
--BUT we also find EVOLUTIONISTS, ATHEISTS do their own INVALIDATING when accurate and timely information is supplied by quotes form Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Charles Dickens, Stephen Hawking , and many others!

--PLEASE KEEP IN MIND that the invalidator has no accurate support for his flim flaming or trickery --JUST MIND GAMES!

Answer 9

In the fact that it was translated by people with no formal translation training. Actually it's more like they took the KJV and changed what they wanted to fit with their doctrine, kind of like the RLDS "Inspired Version".

I am a professional translator with many years' experience in the Christian translation field but I certainly wouldn't go out and try to retranslate the Bible and say my version was better than what's already out there. The NIV, for example, was done over many, many years by a large group of highly trained professionals who checked, juried and rechecked before it was published.

Answer 10

Because the NWT accurately translates God's name where the original manuscripts have it, in this respect the question could also be: "Why are other Bibles NOT like the NWT?"

One of God’s Ten Commandments, for example commands:

"You shall not MISUSE the name of Yahweh your God, for Yahweh will not leave unpunished anyone who MISUSES his name." - Ex. 20:7, NJB [also NRSV, NIV, NEB, REB, GNB, CEV, NLV, ETRV].

Yet many other translations purposely omit God's name when translating from the original texts, substituting it with "LORD" or "GOD".

Answer 11

According to these scholars it is one of the most accurate and unbias translation available today.

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

Jason BeDuhn
Associate Professor of Religious Studies, and Chair
Department of Humanities, Arts, and Religion
Northern Arizona University

Jehovah's name:

Wolfgang Feneberg comments in the Jesuit magazine Entschluss/Offen (April 1985): “He [Jesus] did not withhold his father’s name YHWH from us, but he entrusted us with it. It is otherwise inexplicable why the first petition of the Lord’s Prayer should read: ‘May your name be sanctified!’” Feneberg further notes that “in pre-Christian manuscripts for Greek-speaking Jews, God’s name was not paraphrased with kýrios [Lord], but was written in the tetragram form [YHWH] in Hebrew or archaic Hebrew characters. . . . We find recollections of the name in the writings of the Church Fathers;

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.

The Jerusalem Bible, though preferring “Yahweh” to “Jehovah,” makes a strong point for using it instead of “Lord.” The preface of that translation states: “To say, ‘The Lord is God’ is surely a tautology [a needless repetition], as to say ‘Yahweh is God’ is not.”