That sounds biased to me. 'Yes, it is a good translation. What,
Jehovah's Witnesses produced it? No, it is a bad translation.'
If you want to use such type ones as a source, that is up to you. You
are getting your ears tickled.
Jason BeDuhn, associate professor of religious studies at Northern
Arizona University, who compared eight major Bible translations,
including the NWT. He said it was:
"remarkably good" and "better by far" and "consistently better".
He also said, "the greater accuracy of the NW as a literal,
conservative translation of the original expressions of the New
Testament writers."
And he concluded that the NWT (NT):
"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)
[info taken from the Watchtower magazine, 12/1/04, P. 30.]
"Dr. Benjamin Kedar, a Hebrew scholar in Israel, made a similar
comment concerning the New World Translation. In 1989 he said: “This
work reflects an honest endeavor to achieve an understanding of the
text that is as accurate as possible. . . . I have never discovered in
the New World Translation any biased intent to read something into the
text that it does not contain.”" (from
wol.jw.org)
"Millions of readers have done just that and have discovered the New
World Translation to be not only readable but scrupulously accurate.
Its translators worked from the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek
languages, using the best texts available....The Andover Newton
Quarterly of January 1963 said: “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.”" (W99,1015,p.29)
“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. (g87,3/22, p.14)
“I am interested in the mission work of your people, and its world
wide scope, and much pleased with the free, frank and vigorous
translation. It exhibits a vast array of sound serious learning, as I
can testify.”—Letter, December 8, 1950, from Edgar J. Goodspeed,
translator of the Greek “New Testament” in An American
Translation." (g87.3/22, p.14)
"New World Translation Impresses a Scholar
ACCORDING to classical Greek scholar Dr. Rijkel ten Kate, Dutch Bible
translations fail to render certain words accurately. For example, in
Luke chapter 2, we find three different Greek words (bre´phos, pai·di
´on, and pais) employed to describe the successive stages of Jesus’
growth. Each of these words has a different shade of meaning. However,
in many Bibles, two or all three of these words are vaguely rendered
“child.” What is the correct translation?
Dr. ten Kate explains that in verse 12 the Greek word bre´phos means
“a newborn, or baby.” Pai·di´on, used in verse 27, means “little boy
or child,” and pais, found in verse 43, should be rendered “boy.” “As
far as I know,” wrote Dr. ten Kate in the March 1993 issue of Bijbel
en Wetenschap (Bible and Science), “not one Dutch translation has
rendered this adequately, that is to say, completely in harmony with
the original text.”
Later, Dr. ten Kate was shown the New World Translation of the Holy
Scriptures, which is available in 12 languages, including Dutch. His
reaction? “I am very surprised,” he said, “that there is actually one
Dutch Bible in which the different use of the three Greek words bre
´phos, pai·di´on, and pais is rightly taken into account.” Does the
New World Translation translate these verses in harmony with the
original Greek text? “Completely in agreement,” responds Dr. ten
Kate." (W95,4/15, p.32)
“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." (g87,3/82, p. 14)
“This is no ordinary interlinear: the integrity of the text is
preserved, and the English which appears below it is simply the basic
meaning of the Greek word. . . . After examining a copy, I equipped
several interested second-year Greek students with it as an auxiliary
text. . . . The translation by the anonymous committee is thoroughly
up-to-date and consistently accurate. . . . In sum, when a Witness
comes to the door, the classicist, Greek student, or Bible student
alike would do well to bring him in and place an order.”—From a review
of The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures, by
Thomas N. Winter of the University of Nebraska, appearing in The
Classical Journal, April–May 1974.(g87,3/22, p. 14)
You were dishonest with your quotation of Jason DeDuhn.
BeDuhn said the introduction of the name "Jehovah" into the New
Testament 237 times was "not accurate translation by the most basic
principle of accuracy", and that it "violate[s] accuracy in favor of
denominationally preferred expressions for God", adding that for the
NWT to gain wider acceptance and prove its worth its translators might
have to abandon the use of "Jehovah" in the New Testament.[64]
Theologian and televangelist John Ankerberg accused the NWT's
translators of renderings that conform "to their own preconceived and
unbiblical theology."[65] Dr. John Weldon and Ankerberg cite several
examples wherein they consider the NWT to support theological views
overriding appropriate translation. Ankerberg and Weldon cite Dr.
Julius R. Mantey, co-author of A Manual Grammar of the Greek New
Testament and A Hellenistic Greek Reader, who also criticized the NWT,
calling it "a shocking mistranslation."[65][66]
Dr. William Barclay, Professor of Divinity and Biblical Criticism,
concluded that "the deliberate distortion of truth by this sect is
seen in the New Testament translation. ... It is abundantly clear that
a sect which can translate the New Testament like that is
intellectually dishonest."[67]
The New World Translation
New Testament, 1950. Frederick W. Franz, ed., New World Translation of
the Christian Greek Scriptures Rendered from the Original Language by
the New World Translation Committee. Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and
Tract Society, 1950.
Bible, 1961. Frederick W. Franz, ed., The New World Translation of the
Holy Scriptures, rendered from the Original Languages by the New World
Bible Translation Committee. Revised A.D. 1961. Brooklyn: Watchtower
Bible and Tract Society of New York, 1961. The Old Testament was
originally published in parts from 1953 to 1960. The whole was revised
for the one-volume edition in 1961, and subsequently revised in 1970
and 1984.
The publisher of this version has never made public the names of the
translators. But former members of the Governing Body of the Jehovah's
Witnesses organization have identified the members of the committee as
Nathan H. Knorr (President of the organization), Frederick W. Franz
(Vice-President), George D. Gangas, and Albert D. Schroeder. According
to Raymond V. Franz, the "principal translator of the Society's New
World Translation" was Frederick W. Franz. (1) According to M. James
Penton, "to all intents and purposes the New World Translation is the
work of one man, Frederick Franz." (2) Franz afterwards became the
President of the organization, from 1977 to 1992, and was responsible
for the revisions.
The Forward to the first edition of the New Testament (1950) explained
the need for the version, and also indicated the reason for its name:
"It befits the significant time of transition from the old world to
the righteous new world that translations of the Scriptures today
should as far as possible eliminate the misleading influence of
religious traditions which have their roots in paganism." (p.7,
emphasis added.)
The New Testament adheres to the text of Westcott & Hort. It is a
fairly literal translation, for the most part, but it does have some
peculiar non-literal renderings. These are the result of the
committee's efforts to conform the version to the doctrines of the
Jehovah's Witnesses. "Jehovah" is given as a translation for kurios
(Lord) in the New Testament whenever the Father is meant, but not when
it refers to Christ, the Son. "Torture stake" is put instead of
"cross" because the Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the cross is an
idolatrous symbol introduced by the Roman Catholic Church. And because
this sect teaches that Jesus Christ was merely an angel, the version
shows an anti-trinitarian bias in several places.
Examples of Anti-Trinitarian bias:
• Gen. 1:1-2. "In [the] beginning God created the heavens and the
earth. Now the earth proved to be formless and waste and there was
darkness upon the surface of [the] watery deep; and God's active force
was moving to and fro over the surface of the waters." The ruach
elohim ("Spirit of God") of the Hebrew is interpreted "God's active
force" in order to avoid the Trinitarian understanding of the
"Spirit."
• Zech. 12:10. "...they will look upon the one whom they have
pierced..." Here the Hebrew "look upon me whom they have pierced," in
which God is the speaker, has been altered in order to avoid the
implication that the one who is to be pierced (on the cross) is God.
• John 1:1. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was a god." Instead of the literal "the Word was
God," we have "a god," which the sect interprets as "an angelic
being."
• Col. 1:15-17. "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn
of all creation; because by means of him all [other] things were
created in the heavens and upon the earth, the things visible and the
things invisible, no matter whether they are thrones or lordships or
governments or authorities. All [other] things have been created
through him and for him. Also, he is before all [other] things and by
means of him all [other] things were made to exist." Because the sect
teaches that Christ was a created being rather than eternal God, the
word "other" is inserted several times. The first edition of the
translation did this without brackets.
• Heb. 1:8. "God is your throne forever" (a nonsensical statement) is
put intead of "your throne, O God, is forever," because this statement
refers to Christ.
Because the Jehovah's Witnesses teach that men exercise "free will" in
accepting or rejecting Christ, the version also has such forced
interpretations as:
• Acts 13:48. "When those of the nations heard this, they began to
rejoice and to glorify the word of Jehovah, and all those who were
rightly disposed for everlasting life became believers." Here "rightly
disposed" (a human inclination) replaces "ordained" (a divine
appointment).
In his book Crisis of Conscience Raymond Franz, a former member of the
Governing Body of the Jehovah's Witnesses, describes some interesting
conversations that he had with the principal translator of the
version, who happened to be his uncle. He recounts that between 1965
and 1971, while engaged in preparing a Bible dictionary (published in
1971 under the title Aid to Bible Understanding), he sought guidance
on a number of questions from Frederick Franz, who "was acknowledged
as the organization's principal Bible scholar." We reproduce below
several paragraphs from Crisis of Conscience (pages 21-24) for the
light they shed upon the New World Translation and one of its
translators, and also for the wise observations of the author
concerning the interpretation of the Bible.
The Society's vice president, Fred Franz, was acknowledged as the
organization's principal Bible scholar. On a number of occasions I
went to his office to inquire about points. To my surprise he
frequently directed me to Bible commentaries, saying, "Why don't you
see what Adam Clarke says, or what Cooke says," or, if the subject
primarily related to the Hebrew Scriptures, "what the Soncino
commentaries say." Our Bethel Library contained shelf after shelf
after shelf filled with such commentaries. Since they were the product
of scholars of other religions, however, I had not given much
importance to them, and, along with others in the department, felt
some hesitancy, even distrust, as to using them. As Karl Klein, a
senior member of the Writing Department, sometimes very bluntly
expressed it, using these commentaries was "sucking at the t-ts of
Babylon the Great," the empire of false religion according to the
Society's interpretation of the great Harlot of Revelation.
The more I looked up information in these commentaries, however, the
more deeply impressed I was by the firm belief in the divine
inspiration of the Scriptures the vast majority expressed. I was
impressed even more so by the fact that, though some were written as
early as the eighteenth century, the information was generally very
worthwhile and accurate. I could not help but compare this with our
own publications which, often within a few years, became "out of date"
and ceased to be published. It was not that I felt these commentaries
to be without error by any means; but the good certainly seemed to
outweigh the occasional points I felt to be mistaken.
When the subjects of "Older Man [Elder]" and "Overseer" were assigned
to me, research into the Scriptures themselves soon made evident that
the congregational form of supervision employed by us did not conform
to the first-century arrangements. (We had no bodies of elders in our
congregations; one man in each congregation was the sole "overseer.")
Somewhat disturbed, I approached my uncle with the evidence. Again his
response took me by surprise. "Don't try to understand the Scriptures
on the basis of what you see today in the organization," he said, and
added, "Keep the Aid book pure." I had always looked upon the
organization as God's one channel for dispensing truth and so this
counsel sounded unusual to say the least. When I pointed out that the
Society's New World Translation rendering of Acts, chapter fourteen,
verse 23, evidently inserted the words "to office" in connection with
the appointment of elders and that this somewhat altered the sense, he
said, "Why don't you check it in some other translations that may not
be as biased." [Later editions of the New World Translation dropped
the added phrase. The first edition had read: "Moreover, they
appointed older men to office for them in the congregation and,
offering prayer with fastings, they committed them to Jehovah in whom
they had become believers."] I walked out of his office wondering if I
had actually heard what I had heard. In future days I was to remind
him of these statements on more than one occasion during Governing
Body sessions.
That conversation strongly affected my approach to Scripture. I deeply
appreciated the integrity toward Scriptural truth his remarks
indicated. I began to appreciate more than ever before how vitally
important context was in discerning the meaning of any part of
Scripture, and that realization seemed to be true of others of the
group who were working regularly on the Aid project. We also came to
realize the need to let the Bible define its own terms rather than
simply taking some previously held view or letting an English
dictionary definition control. We began to make greater use of the
Hebrew and Greek lexicons in the Bethel library, and concordances that
were based on the original language words rather than on English
translations.
It was an education and it was also very humbling, for we came to
appreciate that our understanding of Scripture was far less than we
had thought, that we were not the advanced Bible scholars we thought
we were. I personally had been on such a "treadmill" of activity over
the previous twenty-five years that, although reading through the
Bible several times, I had never been able to do such serious,
detailed research into the Scriptures, in fact never felt great need
to do so since it was assumed that others were doing it for me. The
two courses at Gilead School I had attended were so tightly programmed
that they gave little time for meditation, for unhurried investigation
and analysis.
Now having both time and access to the extra Bible helps, the
lexicons, commentaries, Hebrew and Greek concordances, and so forth,
was an aid. But above all it was seeing the need always to let the
context guide, always to let the Scriptures themselves control, that
made the major difference. There was no overnight change of viewpoint
but, over a period of years, a gradual deepening of appreciation of
the crucial need to let God's Word speak for itself to the fullest
extent possible. I could see why those one-hundred and two-hundred-
year-old commentaries in our Bethel library were comparatively
timeless in their value. The very fact of their verse-by-verse
approach more or less obligated them to stay within the contextual
meaning and thereby considerably restricted them from taking
excursions into sectarian views or interpretive flights of fancy.
Thus the material in the Aid book relating to elders and the
congregational direction in Bible times was very different from the
position then held by Jehovah's Witnesses, where a more or less
"monarchical" arrangement had prevailed. The Scriptural arrangement of
bodies of elders had been summarily ended in 1932 by Judge Rutherford
due to a lack of cooperation on the part of some elders with the
Society's programs and policies. His position as President gave
Rutherford the necesary authority to take such a stand and all
congregations were invited to vote for the disbanding of bodies of
elders and their replacement by a Society-appointed "Service
Director." For the next forty years there were no bodies of elders in
the congregations. That is why the New World Translation of the Bible
published by the Society in the 1950's regularly used the rendering
"older men" rather than "elders," a then officially discredited term.
Bibliography
• Robert H. Countess, The Jehovah's Witnesses' New Testament: a
Critical Analysis of the New World Translation of the Christian Greek
Scriptures (2nd ed. Phillipsburg, New Jersey: Presbyterian and
Reformed Pub. Co., 1987).
• Bruce M. Metzger, "The New World Translation of the Christian Greek
Scriptures." The Bible Translator 15/3 (July 1964), pp. 150-153.
• Bruce M. Metzger, "The Jehovah's Witnesses and Jesus Christ: A
Biblical and Theological Appraisal." Theology Today 10 (1953): 65-85.
• Raymond V. Franz, Crisis of Conscience (Atlanta: Commentary Press,
1983). Contains a number of interesting remarks on the New World
Translation.
1. Raymond V. Franz, Crisis of Conscience (Atlanta: Commentary Press,
1983), p. 50. The author, Raymond V. Franz, was from 1971 to 1980 a
member of the Governing Body of the Jehovah's Witnesses, and a nephew
of vice-president Frederick W. Franz. He wrote Crisis of Conscience
after being expelled from the organization. On page 50 of the book he
adds the following information in a footnote: "Other members of that
Committee were Nathan Knorr, Albert Schroeder and George Gangas; Fred
Franz, however, was the only one with sufficient knowledge of the
Bible languages to attempt translation of this kind. He had studied
Greek for two years in the University of Cincinnati but was only self-
taught in Hebrew."
2. M. James Penton, Apocalypse Delayed: The Story of Jehovah's
Witnesses (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1985), p. 174.
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