NWT Scripture perversions?

Question

The New World Translation renders the Greek word staurós ("cross") as "torture stake" because Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe that Jesus was crucified on a cross. There are first century drawings of Jesus on the cross in the catacombs.

The NWT does not translate the Greek words sheol, hades, gehenna, and tartarus as "hell” because Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe in hell. 

The NWT gives the translation "presence" instead of “coming” for the Greek word 'parousia' because Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Christ has already returned in the early 1900s. 

In Colossians 1:16, the NWT inserts the word “other” despite its being completely absent from the original Greek text. It does this to give the view that “all other things” were created by Christ, instead of what the text says, ��all things were created by Christ.” They believe that Christ is a created being, which they believe because they deny the Trinity.

The most well-known of all the NWT perversions is John 1:1. The original Greek text reads, “the Word was God.” The NWT renders it as “the word was a god.” This is not a matter of correct translation, but of reading one's preconceived theology into the text, rather than allowing the text to speak for itself. There is no indefinite article in Greek (in English, "a" or "an"), so any use of an indefinite article in English must be added by the translator. This is grammatically acceptable, so long as it does not change the meaning of the text.

There is a good reason why theos has no definite article in John 1:1 and why the New World Translation rendering is in error. There are three general rules we need to understand to see why.

1. In Greek, word order does not determine word usage like it does in English. In English, a sentence is structured according to word order: Subject - Verb - Object. Thus, "Harry called the dog" is not equivalent to "the dog called Harry." But in Greek, a word's function is determined by the case ending found attached to the word's root. There are two case endings for the root theo: one is -s (theos), the other is -n (theon). The -s ending normally identifies a noun as being the subject of a sentence, while the -n ending normally identifies a noun as the direct object.

2. When a noun functions as a predicate nominative (in English, a noun that follows a being verb such as "is"), its case ending must match the noun's case that it renames, so that the reader will know which noun it is defining. Therefore, theo must take the -s ending because it is renaming logos. Therefore, John 1:1 transliterates to "kai theos en ho logos." Is theos the subject, or is logos? Both have the -s ending. The answer is found in the next rule.

3. In cases where two nouns appear, and both take the same case ending, the author will often add the definite article to the word that is the subject in order to avoid confusion. John put the definite article on logos (“the Word”) instead of on theos. So, logos is the subject, and theos is the predicate nominative. In English, this results in John 1:1 being read as "and the Word was God" (instead of "and God was the word").

The most revealing evidence of the Watchtower's bias is their inconsistent translation technique. Throughout the Gospel of John, the Greek word theon occurs without a definite article. The New World Translation renders none of these as “a god.” Just three verses after John 1:1, the New World Translation translates another case of theos without the indefinite article as "God." Even more inconsistent, in John 1:18, the NWT translates the same term as both "God" and "god" in the very same sentence.

The Watchtower has no hard textual grounds for their translation—only their own theological bias. While NWT defenders might succeed in showing that John 1:1 can be translated as they have done, they cannot show that it is the proper translation. Nor can they explain the fact that that the NWT does not translate the same Greek phrases elsewhere in the Gospel of John the same way. It is only the pre-conceived heretical rejection of the deity of Christ that forces the Watchtower Society to inconsistently translate the Greek text, thus allowing their error to gain some semblance of legitimacy in the minds of those ignorant of the facts.

It is only the Watchtower's pre-conceived heretical beliefs that are behind the dishonest and inconsistent translation that is the New World Translation. The NWT is most definitely not a valid version of God’s Word. There are minor differences among all the major English translations of the Bible. No English translation is perfect. However, while other Bible translators make minor mistakes in the rendering of the Hebrew and Greek text into English, the NWT intentionally changes the rendering of the text to conform to Jeho

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

David Reed, an ex-Witness, says in his book, Jehovah's Witnesses Answered Verse by Verse that basically the New World Translation came into being for the sole purpose of supporting Watchtower doctrines showing their own bias (pp.17-18). Reed says, "So, during the 1950's, Watchtower leaders went beyond interpretation by producing their own version of the Bible, with hundreds of verses changed to fit Watchtower doctrine. And, their New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures continues to be rewritten every few years, with additional changse made to bring God's Word into closer agreement with what the organization teaches."

The Watchtower Society presents the New World Translation as the anonymous work of the New World Bible Translation Committee and resists all efforts to identify the members of the committee. They claim this is in order that all credit for the work will go to God. However, Reed points out, "an unbiased observer will quickly note that such anonymity also shields the translators from any blame for errors or distortions in their renderings. And it prevents scholars from checking their credentials.

"In fact, defectors who have quit Watchtower headquarters in recent years have identified the alleged members of the committee, revealing that none of them was expert in Hebrew, Greek, or Aramaic - the original languages from which the Bible was translated."

The Jehovah's Witnesses DO NOT following the rules of exegesis correctly. They DO NOT examine thoroughly the immediate and greater context, the definitions and usage of words, and the original grammar. What they do, in fact, is make it all fit to their liking which is quite bias.

TeeM · Answer

Recommend you read "Truth in Translation" by Dr. BeDuhn.

Even Vine's Bible Dictionary states:  "The literal translation, 'a god was the Word' is misleading."

Please understand it is only misleading if like Vine you believe in the trinity.

Your example of ""Harry called the dog" doesn't represent the sentence of John 1:1c.

"Snoopy was dog" is wrong in English (as per most bibles at John 1:1c), because correct English requires:  
"Snoopy was a dog."  or in Greek word order:  "a dog was Snoopy".  

Context of John 1:18 denotes God the Father. Context of John 1:1 tells us that the Word is with God.

If Fred is with John, John cannot be Fred, no matter how you want to twist the sentence.

Read the footnote of John 1:1c in the NAB.  It shows that God(2) is not an identification but a quality.

John is not identifying Jesus (the Word) as God, but that the Word has the qualities of God whom he is with.

Actually I've found the NWT to be more honest and accurate of all other translations.  And I've done my own research.

.

Anonymous · Answer

In the Bible, it would be Psalms 139:14. In the Book of Mormon, it's the 32nd chapter of Alma. And the 121st section of the D&C. BTW, Alma 7:10 says Jesus was born AT Jerusalem, which is basically what you said.

troll to troll · Answer

According to the Watch Tower the cross is attacked as an old pagan symbol and should not be used. The Watch Tower paints a picture of Christians worshiping the cross as an idol. Watch Tower apologists try to apply the "ankh" and the "tau" and other Egyptian or Zoroastrian symbols as the cross. There have been many similar in shape symbols and idols in pagan religion but none of these were a small "t" shaped cross. The cross was never a pagan idol.

Since the Crucifixion of Jesus many different variations have been added as further pollution and these are not the cross either. Christians are told in the bible to brag on the cross. Wearing a cross or hanging a cross is a sign to all of a person's Christianity. The cross is not worshiped. The cross shows not only other Christians of our faith but to the whole world of our Christianity. (John 3:13-18)

The Watch Tower wants their followers to believe Jesus died on an upright pole which is most certainly very old fertility rite symbol even to this day represented by maypoles, obelisks, and steeples. The Watch Tower has even used the words: "Jesus was impaled on a stake" which is quite a vile crudity and different than "being nailed to a cross". Satan and his devils certainly want to remove the cross by any means possible.

Anonymous · Answer

Since you have a good background in the Greek, it would be useful to see where
the NWT is inconsistent in translating subject/object with the predicate nominative situations,
ie. where  the verb 'to be' is used.  If you had an example showing how this is 
inconsistent, that what they did here in John 1:1 is not the norm, it would be
very useful in seeing just how corrupted this material is.

I also find the fact that 'Theos(ie. theo)' being in the subject position removes
nevertheless the possibility of being able to assume the lack of an article,
because it is put first.

Also, showing that nowns put first like this have the assumption of the
definite article, would be also interesting if you have the resources/
and alas, the TIME, for this.

We see what the Lord did, though, don't we?  He allowed many
loopholes, escape holes for those who didn't want to worship Him,
because it was better they went.

BJ · Answer

If you use the King James Bible, well, it says at Acts 5:30:  (30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.)

Also at Gal. 3:13:  (13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.)

Acts 10:39:  ( And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree)

Acts 13:29:  (29 And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre.)

1 peter 2:24:  (24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed)

It says the very samething in the Catholic Bible, it seems most of you that give thumbs down do not even take the time to look up scriptures in your own Bible to see if what is stated is true or not.

So here we are, your own Bible the King James says Jesus was put to death on a tree, not a cross.

The Greek word rendered “cross” in many modern Bible versions (“torture stake” in NW) is stau·ros′. In classical Greek, this word meant merely an upright stake, or pale. Later it also came to be used for an execution stake having a crosspiece. The Imperial Bible-Dictionary acknowledges this, saying: “The Greek word for cross, [stau·ros′], properly signified a stake, an upright pole, or piece of paling, on which anything might be hung, or which might be used in impaling [fencing in] a piece of ground. . . . Even amongst the Romans the crux (from which our cross is derived) appears to have been originally an upright pole.”

Anonymous · Answer

The Watchtower organization states that Jesus died on a stake, not a cross. The typical Watchtower representation of this is with Jesus on a single vertical stake, hands over his head with a single nail in his wrists. If Jesus were crucified on a cross, then two nails would be necessary, one in each hand. How then does the Watchtower organization handle the verse in the Bible that states that Jesus had nails (plural) in his hands: "Consequently the other disciples would say to him: 'We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them: "unless I see in his hands the print of the nails and stick my finger into the print of the nails and stick my hand into his side, I will certainly not believe,'" (John 20:25, NWT).
Jesus had one nail in each hand. This is made clear by the use of the word ‘nails’ not ‘nail.’ Jesus must have been crucified on a cross, and not a stake as the Watchtower organization teaches.  Why is it, then, that the Watchtower teaches something that is so clearly unbiblical?

Brad here · Answer

If a witness runs to the governing body for answers pertaining to these insights
the explanation that will be given will be that "christendom" deliberatly pervereted
the original to bury the truth of the kingdom."
This is the very same answer I got about the unpronouncable name of God YHWH
being absent from the masoretic text.

But where is the original-"original"?
see...strict obedience is the key NOT doctrine.

Anonymous · Answer

Jesus himself told us that he would die in a Pole.

Where??...in John 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3&version=KJV

And how was the serpent lifted up??....quiet simple...in a pole according to Numbers 21:7-8

Numbers 21:7-8 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.

8And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers+21&version=KJV

So...using your own KJV...we proved you that Jesus died in a Pole...not in a cross.

Why True Christians Do Not Use the Cross in Worship

An important reason is that Jesus Christ did not die on a cross. The Greek word generally translated “cross” is stau·ros′. It basically means “an upright pale or stake.” The Companion Bible points out: “[Stau·ros′] never means two pieces of timber placed across one another at any angle . . . There is nothing in the Greek of the [New Testament] even to imply two pieces of timber.”

In several texts, Bible writers use another word for the instrument of Jesus’ death. It is the Greek word xy′lon. (Acts 5:30; 10:39; 13:29; Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 2:24) This word simply means “timber” or “a stick, club, or tree.”

Explaining why a simple stake was often used for executions, the book Das Kreuz und die Kreuzigung (The Cross and the Crucifixion), by Hermann Fulda, states: “Trees were not everywhere available at the places chosen for public execution. So a simple beam was sunk into the ground. On this the outlaws, with hands raised upward and often also with their feet, were bound or nailed.”

http://www.watchtower.org/e/bh/appendix_05.htm

? · Answer

Yes the NWT is a perversion

The Jehovah Witness Watchtower Bible NWT is horrible.
Its full of errors. They changed the bible text to suit their own theological bias in many places.


Bad Translations of the Jehovah's Witness Bible, the New World Translation (NWT).
http://carm.org/religious-movements/jehovahs-witnesses/bad-translations-jehovahs-witness-bible-new-world-translation

    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," (New World Translation, emphasis added).
        The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society denies that the Holy Spirit is alive, the third person of the Trinity. Therefore, they have changed the correct translation of "...the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters," to say "...and God's active force was moving to and fro over the surface of the waters."
    Zech. 12:10 - In this verse God is speaking and says, "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son" (Zech. 12:10, NASB).
        The Jehovah's Witnesses change the word "me" to "the one" so that it says in their Bible, "...they will look upon the one whom they have pierced..."
        Since the Jehovah's Witnesses deny that Jesus is God in flesh, then Zech. 12:10 would present obvious problems--so they changed it.
    John 1:1 - They mistranslate the verse as "a god." Again it is because they deny who Jesus is and must change the Bible to make it agree with their theology. The Jehovah's Witness version is this: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god."
    Col. 1:15-17 - The word "other" is inserted 4 times. It is not in the original Greek, nor is it implied. This is a section where Jesus is described as being the creator of all things. Since the Jehovah's Witness organization believes that Jesus is created, they have inserted the word "other" to show that Jesus was before all "other" things, implying that He is created.
        There are two Greek words for "other": heteros, and allos. The first means another of a different kind, and the second means another of the same kind. Neither is used at all in this section of scripture. The Jehovah's Witness have changed the Bible to make it fit their aberrant theology.
    Heb. 1:6 - In this verse they translate the Greek word for worship, proskuneo, as "obeisance." Obeisance is a word that means to honor, show respect, even bow down before someone. Since Jesus, to them, is created, then he cannot be worshiped. They have also done this in other verses concerning Jesus, i.e., Matt. 2:2,11; 14:33; 28:9.
    Heb. 1:8 - This is a verse where God the Father is calling Jesus God: "But about the Son he says, 'Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.'" Since the Jehovah's Witnesses don't agree with that they have changed the Bible, yet again, to agree with their theology. They have translated the verse as "...God is your throne..." The problem with the Jehovah's Witness translation is that this verse is a quote from Psalm 45:6 which, from the Hebrew, can only be translated as "...Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom." To justify their New Testament translation they actually changed the OT verse to agree with their theology, too!

The NWT translation is not a good translation. It has changed the text to suit its own theological bias in many places.

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NWT Scripture perversions?

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