by MrsQ 41 Replies latest jw friends
Can anyone give me an explanation of how the NW Translation came about? Who, exactly, were on this bible translation committee, and what were their qualifications? When was it first published?
Any info you have would be great. I don't have one any more that I can even refer to...
ADQ
Mrs Q,
If you did a search on this Web Site using the tools that Simon has provided you'd find more than one thread on this issue.
Membership of the committee is discussed in Ray Franz book, Crisis of Conscience. They were Nathan Knorr, Albert Schroeder, Gorge Gangas, and Fred Franz.
No one on the committee was educated enough to be a translator. Fred Franz had the best credentials, and those don't meet muster for translation work. He had two years of Greek from the University of Cincinatti, and was "self taught" in Hebrew.
The NWT, far from being "scholarly" as the society claims, is a biased work translate in favor of the unique doctrines of the WTBTS.
Yeru
Hi Mrs Q.
Yeru filled you in quite nicely, but also the NWT was first released in 1951 in a series of six volumes. In 1961, it was realesed fully, but without footnotes, so the Society then released a second revision early 1970's.
It has come under scrutiny from most Biblical scholars. Speak to Undisfellowshipped, he has some great info on this.
"Who Translated the New World Translation Bible?"
| *** Watchtower 1955 October 1 p.603 Part 3: What Do the Scriptures Say About "Survival After Death"? *** (Johannes Greber identified as Spiritist) It comes as no surprise that one Johannes Greber, a former Catholic clergyman, has become a spiritualist and has published the book entitled "Communication with the Spirit World, Its laws and Its Purpose." (1932, Macoy Publishing Company, New York) In its Foreword he makes the typical misstatement: "The most significant spiritualistic book is the Bible; for its principal contents hinge upon the messages of the beyond to those existing in the present. *** Watchtower 1956 February 15 pp.110-1 Triumphing over Wicked Spirit Forces *** (Johannes Greber identified as Spiritist) 10 Says Johannes Greber in the introduction of his translation of The New Testament, copyrighted in 1937: "I myself was a Catholic priest, and until I was forty-eight years old had never as much as believed in the possibility of communicating with the world of God's spirits. The day came, however, when I involuntarily took my first step toward such communication, and experienced things that shook me to the depths of my soul. . . . My experiences are related in a book that has appeared in both German and English and bears the title, Communication with the Spirit-World: Its Laws and Its Purpose." (Page 15, 2, 3) In keeping with his Roman Catholic extraction Greber's translation is bound with a gold-leaf cross on its stiff front cover. In the Foreword of his aforementioned book ex-priest Greber says: "The most significant spiritualistic book is the Bible." Under this impression Greber endeavors to make his New Testament translation read very spiritualistic. 11 Spiritualism claims that there are good spirits and bad spirits and that it does not want to have anything to do with the bad spirits but tries to communicate only with the good spirits. At 1 John 4:1-3 the Bible says: "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world." Greber's translation of these verses reads: "My dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to learn whether they come from God. For many false spirits have emerged from the abyss and gone out into the world, and are speaking through human mediums. This is how you can find out whether a spirit comes from God: every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ appeared on earth as a man, comes from God. While every spirit who seeks to destroy belief in Jesus as our Lord incarnated does not come from God, but is sent by the adversary of Christ. You have been told that such spirits would come, and they are already appearing in the world." Very plainly the spirits in which ex-priest Greber believes helped him in his translation. *** Watchtower 1961 January 1 p.30 Was There a Resurrection? *** (Johannes Greber cited for support for Matthew 27:52-53.) Nor is the New World Translation alone in rendering these verses thus. A modern German translation reads quite similarly: "Tombs were laid open, and many bodies of those buried were tossed upright. In this posture they projected from the graves and were seen by many who passed by the place on their way back to the city."-Matt. 27:52, 53. *** "The Word" -- Who Is He? According to John (1962) p.5 *** (Note: not available on 1993/1995/1999 CD-ROM) (This is a summary, not a quote) (Johannes Greber cited for support for John 1:1.) *** Watchtower 1962 September 15 p.554 "The Word"-Who Is He? According to John *** (Johannes Greber cited for support for John 1:1.) 5 But most controversial of all is the following reading of John 1:1, 2: "The Word was in the beginning, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god. This Word was in the beginning with God." This reading is found in The New Testament in An Improved Version, published in London, England, in 1808. Similar is the reading by a former Roman Catholic priest: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god. This was with God in the beginning. Everything came into being through the Word, and without it nothing created sprang into existence." (John 1:1-3)* * (Footnote to page 554) The New Testament-A New Translation and Explanation Based on the Oldest Manuscripts, by Johannes Greber (a translation from German into English), edition of 1937, the front cover of this bound translation being stamped with a golden cross. *** Make Sure of All Things: Hold Fast to What is Fine (1965) page 489 *** (Note: not available on 1993/1995/1999 CD-ROM) (This is a summary, not a quote) (Johannes Greber cited for support.) *** Aid to Bible Understanding (1969) p.1134 *** (Note: not available on 1993/1995/1999 CD-ROM) (This is a summary, not a quote) (Johannes Greber cited for support for Matthew 27:52-53.) *** Aid to Bible Understanding (1969) p.1669 &*** (Note: not available on 1993/1995/1999 CD-ROM) (This is a summary, not a quote) (Johannes Greber cited for support for John 1:1.) *** Watchtower 1975 October 15 p.640 Questions from Readers *** (Johannes Greber cited for support for Matthew 27:52-53.) Without wresting the Greek grammar, a translator can render Matthew 27:52, 53 in a way that suggests that a similar exposing of corpses resulted from the earthquake occurring at Jesus' death. Thus the translation by Johannes Greber (1937) renders these verses: "Tombs were laid open, and many bodies of those buried there were tossed upright. In this posture they projected from the graves and were seen by many who passed by the place on their way back to the city."-Compare the New World Translation. *** Watchtower 1976 April 15 p.231 Insight on the News *** (Johannes Greber cited for support for Matthew 27:52-53.) Event Clarifies Bible • The recent Guatemalan earthquake affected even some of those already dead. "Time" magazine reports that "several mourners who went to bury their dead in family plots found that the coffins of long-dead relatives had been uncovered by the quake." Something similar occurred during an earthquake in the Jerusalem area at Jesus' death. At that time, dead bodies were customarily placed in vaults or chambers cut from Palestine's soft limestone rock, often in hillsides. A report in the Bible, as translated by Johannes Greber, says that when Jesus died, "the earth quaked, and the rocks were shattered. Tombs were laid open, and many bodies of those buried there were tossed upright. In this posture they projected from the graves and were seen by many who passed by the place on their way back to the city." Hence, rather than a resurrection, as some Bible translations imply, there appears to have been merely an exposure of the dead to observers, as in Guatemala.-Matt. 27:51-53. *** Watchtower 1983 April 1 p.31 Questions From Readers *** (Johannes Greber identified as Spiritist, just like in w55 10/1 603) Questions From Readers • Why, in recent years, has The Watchtower not made use of the translation by the former Catholic priest, Johannes Greber? This translation was used occasionally in support of renderings of Matthew 27:52, 53 and John 1:1, as given in the New World Translation and other authoritative Bible versions. But as indicated in a foreword to the 1980 edition of The New Testament by Johannes Greber, this translator relied on "God's Spirit World" to clarify for him how he should translate difficult passages. It is stated: "His wife, a medium of God's Spiritworld was often instrumental in conveying the correct answers from God's Messengers to Pastor Greber." The Watchtower has deemed it improper to make use of a translation that has such a close rapport with spiritism. (Deuteronomy 18:10-12) The scholarship that forms the basis for the rendering of the above-cited texts in the New World Translation is sound and for this reason does not depend at all on Greber's translation for authority. Nothing is lost, therefore, by ceasing to use his New Testament. *** Watchtower Publications Index 1930 - 1985 *** (Only these two references under the subject GREBER) Greber, Johannes w83 4/1 31 w62 554 *** Watchtower 1959 October 1 p.607 Questions from Readers *** The literature published by the Watch Tower Society is published in the name of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. Regardless of who may write certain articles, they are checked carefully by members of the governing body before they are published; so they are properly viewed as coming from the Society. |
Yiz
Interesting information on the New World Translation: http://hector3000.future.easyspace.com/50questions.htm
SoJ your bible was translated by a Spirit Medium and the WTS applauded it... what say you?
Yiz
Don't throw your pearl to swine, Yiz.
Didn't Freddie-the-Frog-Franz say, under oath that Jehovah is the author of the NWT? Or was it the Watchtower that he's the author of?
In 1954, in a Scotland trial, Fred Franz, then head of the Watchtower Editorial Board, admitted that he himself was the one who had checked the accuracy of the translation and recommended its publication. (Douglas Walsh v. The Right Honorable James Latham Clyde, M.P., P.C., etc., Scotland, 1954, (1958 ed.).p.88.)
The following is from the trial transcript: -
(Q): Insofar as translation of the Bible itself is undertaken, are you responsible for that?
(A): I have been authorized to examine a translation and determine its accuracy and recommend its acceptance in the form in which it is submitted.
Later, Franz was asked about his own involvement in the translating(Douglas Walsh v. The Right Honorable James Latham
Clyde, M.P., P.C., etc., Scotland, 1954, (1958 ed.).p.92)
(Q) : Were you yourself responsible for the translation of the Old Testament?
( A ) : Again I cannot answer that question...
Here, under oath, Franz refused to confirm or deny he was the translator of the Hebrew text. Why wouldn't he say that he did not translate the Old Testament? The court also wondered "why" and asked (ibid)
(Q): Why the secrecy?
(A): Because the committee of translation wanted it to remain anonymous and not seek any glory or honour at the making of a translation, and having any names attached thereto.
As a Bible scholar Franz would have to know the Hebrew Language. Mr. MacMillan, a former leader of the Jehovah's Witnesses, said, "He is also a scholar of Hebrew ..."(FAITH ON THE MARCH, 1957, p. 182.)
Mr. Franz, under oath in a trial in Scotland, was asked: (Walsh Trial, P. 7).
Scottish Court of Sessions in November, 1954.
(Q): I think you are able to read and follow the Bible in Hebrew ....
(A). Yes.
The next day, he was put to the test. Could he really follow the Bible in Hebrew? Franz was asked to translate a simple Bible text at Genesis 2:4:6
(Q): I think we come to the name Jehovah in the forth verse, don't we, of the second chapter of Genesis ... [page 34]
(A). Yes.
(Q): You, yourself, read and speak Hebrew, do you?
(Remember, Franz had admitted to this the previous day)
(A): I do not speak Hebrew.
(The examiner was surprised to hear this)
(Q): You do not!
(A). No.
Q): Can you, yourself, translate that into Hebrew?
(A): Which?
(Q): That fourth verse of the second chapter of Genesis?
(A): You mean here?
(Q). Yes?
(A): No, I won't attempt to do that.
I used to be on the "NWT is biased" bandwagon. As noted above, none of the translators had the proper skills or credentials for the job. And so I figured... how on earth could they produce a correct translation?
However, I've recently been reading Jason BeDuhn's book "Truth in Translation." (Note: BeDuhn is not a witness.) While I'm sure that some instances of bias can be proven against the NWT, BeDuhn clearly shows that the most commonly used Protestant bible translations are actually more biased than the NWT, at least as far as the translation of individual verses.
The two system areas where the NWT shows unjustifiable bias are the translation of stauros as 'torture stake' (although 'stake' would be fine, and even 'execution stake' would probably pass) and of kurios as 'Jehovah'.
None of these are as theologically significant, however, as the explicit trinitarian manipulation of the text by the NIV, NRSV, and KJV.
I would add that the NW is still in many ways an incompetent translation, because it is hyper-literal. Even 'formal equivalence' translations, which stay as close to the Greek as possible, should alter the word-order and grammar so that the sentence will flow smoothly in English; the NWT does not do that, which makes it very hard to read.
But that's an issue of stylistics, not interpretation.
