Question for JWs on the NW translation?

Question

The word "proskuneo" (worship in Greek) is used 55 times in the New Testament. Of those 55 uses, 15 times it is in reference to Jesus, while the rest (40) are for others (God, Satan, Peter, idols for ex.). Why then does the NWT translate it to 'obeisance' whenever it is in refrence to Jesus, but 'worship' for all other uses? What can possibly explain the double standard in translation? Did the watchtower specifically do this to push their agenda of disbelieving Jesus as God since God can only be worshiped? Does the watchtower association believe that the manuscripts are all wrong?

practicalthought - could you by any chance give me the info/publisher of your interlinear translation, because the 'The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures' (1969) is the one I refrenced.

How about this context?

Hebrews 1:6 "And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him."

or how about in Revelation 5:11-13 BOTH Jehovah and the Lamb receive "glory, honor and power." This is worship - the highest praise and deepest adoration that Heaven can give. Worship is given simultaneously to both the Father and the Lamb.

My issue is with the faulty NWT. The translators were: Nathan Knorr, Albert Schroeder, George Gangas, Fred Franz, M. Henschel. Four out of the five men on the committee had no Hebrew or Greek training at all, and only a high school education. Franz studied Greek for two years at the University of Cincinnati, but dropped out after his sophomore year. When asked in a Scotland courtroom if he could translate Genesis 2:4 into Hebrew, Franz replied that he could not. The truth is that Franz was unable to translate Hebrew or Greek. How do JWs have any confidence in this book?

Answer 1

Actually, it is rendered "Pro·sky·ne´o".

As with the Hebrew term, THE CONTEXT MUST BE CONSIDERED to determine whether pro·sky·ne´o refers to obeisance solely in the form of deep respect or obeisance in the form of religious worship. Where reference is directly to God (Joh 4:20-24; 1Co 14:25; Re 4:10) or to false gods and their idols (Ac 7:43; Re 9:20), it is evident that the obeisance goes beyond that acceptably or customarily rendered to men and enters the field of worship. So, too, where the object of the obeisance is left unstated, its being directed to God is understood. (Joh 12:20; Ac 8:27; 24:11; Heb 11:21; Re 11:1) On the other hand, the action of those of "the synagogue of Satan" who are made to "come and do obeisance" before the feet of Christians is clearly not worship.—Re 3:9.

Obeisance to a human king is found in Jesus’ illustration at Matthew 18:26. It is evident that this was the kind of obeisance that the astrologers rendered to the child Jesus, "born king of the Jews," that Herod professed interest in expressing, and that the soldiers mockingly rendered to Jesus before his impalement. They clearly did not view Jesus as God or as a deity. (Mt 2:2, 8; Mr 15:19) While some translators use the word "worship" in the majority of cases where pro·sky·ne´o describes persons’ actions toward Jesus, the evidence does not warrant one’s reading too much into this rendering. Rather, the circumstances that evoked the obeisance correspond very closely to those producing obeisance to the earlier prophets and kings. (Compare Mt 8:2; 9:18; 15:25; 20:20 with 1Sa 25:23, 24; 2Sa 14:4-7; 1Ki 1:16; 2Ki 4:36, 37.) The very expressions of those involved often reveal that, while they clearly recognized Jesus as God’s representative, they rendered obeisance to him, not as to God or a deity, but as "God’s Son," the foretold "Son of man," the Messiah with divine authority. On many occasions their obeisance expressed a gratitude for divine revelation or evidence of favor like that expressed in earlier times.—Mt 14:32, 33; 28:5-10, 16-18; Lu 24:50-52; Joh 9:35, 38.

Answer 2

The basic definition of 'proskuneo' is bow down, and not worship.

Even when the Jews are told to worship christians at

KJV:
Rev.3:9 behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.

YET notice what Strong's says:

1) to kiss the hand to (towards) one, in token of reverence

2) among the Orientals, esp. the Persians, to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead as an expression of profound reverence

3) in the NT by kneeling or prostration to do homage (to one) or make obeisance, whether in order to express respect or to make supplication

a) used of homage shown to men and beings of superior rank

We are commanded to Honor and glorify Jesus, but that is not worship anymore than honoring human judges are worshiping them.

We honor Jesus because Jehovah has commanded us to.

Why? because when we obey Jehovah we are honoring Him

Paul at Phil. ch. 2 states we honor Jesus to the glory of the Father.

Who is Jesus' God and Father.

Rev 1:6; 3:12; Eph 1:17; 1 Pet 1:3

Revelation is very clear all worship goes to the One seated on the throne, God the Almighty.


Edit ------

Quality of the NWT:

“It Is the Best Interlinear New Testament Available”
THAT is how Dr. Jason BeDuhn describes The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures. He explains:
“I have just completed teaching a course for the Religious Studies Department of Indiana University, Bloomington, [U.S.A.] . . . This is primarily a course in the Gospels. Your help came in the form of copies of The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures which my students used as one of the textbooks for the class. These small volumes were invaluable to the course and very popular with my students.”

your ‘New World Bible Translation Committee’ has done its job well. Your interlinear English rendering is accurate and consistent to an extreme that forces the reader to come to terms with the linguistic, cultural, and conceptual gaps between the Greek-speaking world and our own. Your ‘New World Translation’ is a high quality, literal translation that avoids traditional glosses in its faithfulness to the Greek. It is, in many ways, superior to the most successful translations in use today.”

“The translation is evidently the work of skilled and clever scholars, who have sought to bring out as much of the true sense of the Greek text as the English language is capable of expressing.”—Hebrew and Greek scholar Alexander Thomson, in The Differentiator, April 1952, pages 52-7.

“The translation of the New Testament is evidence of the presence in the movement of scholars qualified to deal intelligently with the many problems of Biblical translation.”—Andover Newton Quarterly, January 1963.

“The New Testament translation was made by a committee whose membership has never been revealed—a committee that possessed an unusual competence in Greek.”—Andover Newton Quarterly, September 1966.

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As to Bro. Franz, the question put to him in the trial was

"Will you translate" not "Can you translate"

There is a big difference between the questions actually asked and the question people accuse him of.

He didn't say he couldn't translate,

he said he wouldn't.


Please get all your facts straight.

.

Answer 3

Hi 87 GN, I have an 87 Gn myself been rebuilt once low 12sec.with alky injection my favorite.. any way to help with the question, alot of times people bow to show deference, or reverence, which is the same as to prostrate, or do obesience to, theres many translation of bibles as you know Good News Bible, Jerusalem bible New English bible King James which has been rivised or changes somewhat at least 4 times (?) i dont know why, the original 1611 kjv could be very difficult to read in our day, at least 4 of the translations use the word "worship" in the Heb 1 scripture but does that make it correct? well they say dont add to or take away, well Gods name was taken out in a lot of translations but left in a few places. Thats why its vital to know the true God & the one whom he sent forth Jesus Christ for this is what means everlasting life John 17:3 which is what i see your trying to do. Matt 14:33 Jesus disciples are said to have worshiped him in some translations but in other translations besides the NWT like Jerusalem bible it says" bowed before him", another "showed reverence" the New English bible says "fell at his feet" the NWT says "did obesience to him which means the same thing as the last 4 translations. This worship which the GREEK-ENGLISH LEXICON says was also used to designate the custom of protrating oneself before a person & kissing his feet, the hem of his garment or ground, what the angels did toward Jesus is the same as what Abraham did toward the natives at Gen 23:7 for it was a custom for some people (even today in the orient they are customed to bow) remember Phillip 2:10 says that every knee should bend. shows this obesience from every one on earth in heaven even under the ground. to prove the NWT is the proper translation of this see for yourself that even Jesus himself said so at Matt 4:10 Go away Satan! For it is written, "(Deut 5:9) It is Jehovah(the LORD) your God you must worship, and him alone you must render sacred service. Notice he did NOT say it is" me and my father you must worship" or "it is I you must worship". So when bowing you have to understand & determine whether its for the custom of a land or an act of worship they may look the same but is a BIG Difference.

Answer 4

The Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures that I have does not use that particular word in all places where Obeisance, worshiped, worship, or worships is used. the word in Greek looks similar in spelling, BUT, there are minor differences in letters used and that makes the difference in which word it translates into and how it's used in verse.

Answer 5

Christ Jesus personally taught that Jehovah deserves a unique form of "sacred service". Other Scriptures plainly support that idea.

(Matthew 4:10) Jesus said... ‘It is Jehovah your God you must worship, and it is to him alone you must render sacred service.’

(Luke 4:8) Jesus said... ‘It is Jehovah your God you must worship, and it is to him alone you must render sacred service.’

(Exodus 20:5) I Jehovah your God am a God exacting exclusive devotion


As a semantic matter, Jehovah's Witnesses thus choose to reserve the English word "worship" only to refer to the "exclusive devotion" which is due only to Jehovah. Of course, the bible teaches that Jehovah has given Jesus extraordinary authority, and so true Christians (such as Jehovah's Witnesses) work to demonstrate their devotion, love, obedience, and obeisance to Jesus.

(Hebrews 1:3-4) [Jesus] sat down on the right hand of the Majesty in lofty places. So he has become better than the angels

(Matthew 28:18) And Jesus approached and spoke to them, saying: "All authority has been given me in heaven and on the earth [by God the Father]

(Acts 2:36) God made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you impaled.

(John 3:35) The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.

(Acts 5:31) God exalted this one as Chief Agent and Savior to his right hand

(Psalm 2:2-6) The kings of earth take their stand And high officials themselves have massed together as one Against Jehovah and against his anointed one... Jehovah himself will hold them in derision..., Saying: "I, even I, have installed my king [Jesus]

(Hebrews 1:6) When [God] again brings his Firstborn [Jesus] into the inhabited earth, he says: “And let all God’s angels do obeisance to him.”


Thanks for another opportunity to effectively demonstrate that Jehovah God the Father is a distinct person from Jesus Christ the Son!

Learn more:
http://watchtower.org/e/ti/index.htm?article=article_05.htm

Answer 6

Joshua 5:14 (KJV) So He said, “No, but as Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.”
And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, “What does my Lord say to His servant?

so according to this bible and angel can receive worship.

Joshua 5:14 (NWT) "To this he said: “No, but I—as prince of the army of Jehovah I have now come.” With that Joshua fell on his face to the earth and prostrated himself and said to him: “What is my lord saying to his servant?


Which one is the correct, KJV or NWT?