What's wrong with the New World Translation?
Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2012 8:38 pm
I listened to Steve's broadcast recently (I think it was Thursday) where he stated that JWs in their translation added a lot to the Scriptures and subtracted a lot from them.
I hope Steve addresses this and tells us where they have added and where they have subtracted. I have a New World Translation and have checked out a fair amount of it (in the New Testament). I have not yet discovered additions and subtractions as such, that is in order to fit a particular theological systme. I have found a few additions for clarification. But virtually every translation with which I am familiar have added words for clarification, including the NKJV.
John 1:1 is faulty, or course. In the NWT it was rendered as "In the beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.". This translation would be correct if the Greek sentence were in natural order. For the word "theos" does not have an article. If John has meant to say that the Word was God the Father, then the article "ho" would have preceded "theos". Because there is no article preceding the second "theos", the NWT renders it as "a god". But but by placing "theos" BEFORE the verb, John indicates that he is saying that the Word was "God-stuff", that is divine essence. It's the same reversal construction as the sentence, "God is love." Love is the kind of thing that God is. Another one is "Your word is reality (or "truth"). This one is a reversal also. Reality (or "truth") is the kind of thing His word is. So in John 1:1 "God" (divine essence) is the kind of thing the Word is.
But the interesting thing is what we find in the Emphatic Diaglott, published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society in Brookyn, the 1942 edition, which consists of the Greek text of the Vatican manuscript with an interlinear in the left hand column, and a translation in the right-hand column. Whereas, the interlinear places "a god" beneath the second "theos" in John 1:1, the translation in the right-hand column renders John 1:1 as follows: "In the Beginning was the LOGOS, and the LOGOS was with God, and the LOGOS was God." I was surprised that the Watch Tower Society sanctioned this translation. Under PLAN OF THE WORK, the editors state that the right column is "a NEW VERSION for general reading."
In any case, I am curious to discover all these additions and subtractions in the NWT which Steve mentioned, and would be grateful if he were to specify a few of these so that I could be informed.
I hope Steve addresses this and tells us where they have added and where they have subtracted. I have a New World Translation and have checked out a fair amount of it (in the New Testament). I have not yet discovered additions and subtractions as such, that is in order to fit a particular theological systme. I have found a few additions for clarification. But virtually every translation with which I am familiar have added words for clarification, including the NKJV.
John 1:1 is faulty, or course. In the NWT it was rendered as "In the beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.". This translation would be correct if the Greek sentence were in natural order. For the word "theos" does not have an article. If John has meant to say that the Word was God the Father, then the article "ho" would have preceded "theos". Because there is no article preceding the second "theos", the NWT renders it as "a god". But but by placing "theos" BEFORE the verb, John indicates that he is saying that the Word was "God-stuff", that is divine essence. It's the same reversal construction as the sentence, "God is love." Love is the kind of thing that God is. Another one is "Your word is reality (or "truth"). This one is a reversal also. Reality (or "truth") is the kind of thing His word is. So in John 1:1 "God" (divine essence) is the kind of thing the Word is.
But the interesting thing is what we find in the Emphatic Diaglott, published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society in Brookyn, the 1942 edition, which consists of the Greek text of the Vatican manuscript with an interlinear in the left hand column, and a translation in the right-hand column. Whereas, the interlinear places "a god" beneath the second "theos" in John 1:1, the translation in the right-hand column renders John 1:1 as follows: "In the Beginning was the LOGOS, and the LOGOS was with God, and the LOGOS was God." I was surprised that the Watch Tower Society sanctioned this translation. Under PLAN OF THE WORK, the editors state that the right column is "a NEW VERSION for general reading."
In any case, I am curious to discover all these additions and subtractions in the NWT which Steve mentioned, and would be grateful if he were to specify a few of these so that I could be informed.