Where have the NWT Bible changed verses to fit their theology ?

by smiddy3 32 Replies latest watchtower bible

  • TD
    TD

    These threads (And we've had a lot of them) are invariably predicated upon three misconceptions about language and how language works.

    1. That there is a word for word equivalency between languages

    No. This isn't even true with closely related modern languages, like English and German, which share many cognates. Words have ranges of meanings. The range of a word in language A might overlap with a word in language B, but the overlap is never complete.

    In addition, the grammar and word order between language A can be very different than language B. Most translators don't even bother to bracket the words they insert to get smooth English. If they did, then half the words in the Bible would be bracketed

    2. That translation revolves entirely around dictionary definitions.

    Again, no. Groups of words combine to have meanings above and beyond the sum of their definitions. What does, "Um die Häuser ziehen" mean in German for example? You're welcome to go to Google Translate if you don't speak the language, but the phrase doesn't mean what Google's clumsy word for word rendering says.

    Another example that we're all familiar is the clumsy word for word rendering of ἀπέχεσθαι ...καὶ αἵματος, in the NWT, which the JW's have used for years and years to support the blood doctrine. The NWT is not wrong here, but the situationally specific meaning is lost in translation as the saying goes.

    3. That a poor translation is a mistranslation

    A translation is acceptable if it falls within the boundaries of grammar and word usage in the source language. You may not agree with the translation. You may think it's clumsy and awkward and you may be right. But that doesn't make it wrong in sense that it was changed from what the original text clearly says. Language is much more slippery than that.

    Many of the examples typically presented incorporate one or more of these ideas. Philippians 2:9? The NWT is not alone here in the use of the word, "other" and it is not inserted out of "thin air." The word "other" can be understood in the sense of every other name (with the exception of his own) and Bibles like The New Living Translation and the Contemporary English Version appear to use it in that sense.


  • JoenB75
    JoenB75

    I remember back in the day when I tried to get the Bible to agree with Russellism, it was very important what a handful of isolated verses were saying, especially in some less used translation or using the concordance to find some meaning hidden in the popular translations. I try to go with the general flow of what Bible scriptures say and not go too much into speculations 🤭. When it comes to John 1:1, notable scholars have supported that that the Word was divine or a God depending on your interpretation of that incarnate creative uttering. But a god seems to miss any reasonable interpretation of what the Word was in John's day ☺️

  • Mr.Finkelstein
    Mr.Finkelstein

    The WTS/JWS has been corrupt and dishonest as most religious charlatan organizations are or have been, this also involved removing sentences or changing words within the bible to suit and support their own unique doctrines.

  • Doug Mason
    Doug Mason

    The Watchtower are amateurs when it comes to changing texts to suit their conclusions.

    The text has undergone changes ever since the ink dried on the initial scroll. Scribes believed it was their duty to correct the text according to their current beliefs.

    "Evidence of Editing: Growth and Change of Texts in the Hebrew Bible" provides examples in the Hebrew Scriptures, as does "Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible". The Essenes had two versions of Jeremiah concurrently.

    There is no such thing as "THE" Bible. It is a library and there is a number of different collections. Just consider the number of books in the Ethiopian Bible and in the Orthodox Church's Bible.

    No one ever voted that the Protestant list is correct.

    Doug

  • Diogenesister
    Diogenesister

    This one really irritates me. They changed Ephesians 4:8 from “Gifts to men” or “gifts unto men” into “gifts in men”

    A way to give more power and awe around COs and elders.

  • Bobcat
    Bobcat
    This one really irritates me. They changed Ephesians 4:8 from “Gifts to men” or “gifts unto men” into “gifts in men”

    I have posted about this one here (another site) and in posts 9 & 10 in that same thread. It is one of my 'pet peeve' NWT verses also. I agree that the rendering seems to suit the WT's power structure needs.

    Another verse that could be claimed that was distorted by the WT for theological reasons is Rev 1:10. I have a post about it here.

  • LongHairGal
    LongHairGal

    DIOGENESISTER:

    Yeah, that changed scripture annoyed me to.

    In fact, in the later years I was in the JW religion right before I started my ‘Fade’, I noticed they were trying to ‘elevate’ the elders.

    Nobody in that religion got any ‘awe’ from me: whether it was some elder, pioneer or anybody who tried to pass themselves off as ‘anointed’.. Nothing I hate more than some fool trying to give themselves airs.

  • Steel
    Steel

    There is a quote in the book of Hebrews that is a direct quote from the Old Testament where is changes back to Lord or the verse would say Jesus is jehovah.

    From my minor studies on the subject if the New Testament is to be taken at face value , it appears the Tetragrammaton is applied both to god and Christ equally. The addition and subjecting of the word jehovah really changes things. It’s not a minor change. It basically creates a new religion.

    I am not really sure this is a rabbit hole I want to go down.

  • FedUpJW
    FedUpJW

    Nothing I hate more than some fool trying to give themselves airs.

    LHG - Agreed. I too have noticed that now they refer to ELDER this or ELDER that, or GOVERNING BODY this or GOVERNING BODY that. They bleat about how many years someone pioneered, or they are from THE BRANCH. Or they are a CIRCUIT OVERSEER. I am fed up with listening to their "humble brags" every time they try to impress some poor schmucks with how spiritual or important they are. Reminds me of what was written in Matthew 6: 2 and how they fit that description to a "Tee".

    "So when you make gifts of mercy, do not blow a trumpet ahead of you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be glorified by men."

  • smiddy3
    smiddy3

    There is no such thing as "THE" Bible. It is a library and there is a number of different collections. Just consider the number of books in the Ethiopian Bible and in the Orthodox Church's Bible.

    No one ever voted that the Protestant list is correct.

    And Jehovah`s Witnesses adopted the Protestant list of the Bible that was voted on by the Catholics to be included as the Bible Canon.

    Go figure !

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