Accuracy of Bible Translation

by ruffian 29 Replies latest jw friends

  • ruffian
    ruffian

    I am trying to find out more on the translators of the JW's bible. They claim and so it claims in the front of their bible that it was translated by experts in Greek and Hebrew. What training if any did these people actually have in these ancient languages. I thought I read somewhere that they did the actuall translation not even from the original Greek and Hebrew. maybe that was just a falsehood? These young JW's also claim that ancient texts and writtings for the N.T also used YHWH for God.Short of having these ancient textss in my possesion, how do I prove they do not? Hope you can be of help. No flames please.

  • spinner
    spinner

    My dear ruffian,
    Your are wise to question the NWT of the Holy Bible, and any other trans. as well. There are mistakes, whether intentional, or not, it does not matter. But there are some errors that support the JW doctrine,that is hard to find in other trans. Look up Rev. 22:14,
    JW's believe you no longer have to "keep" the laws. So in their rendition it says," Those who wash their robes in the blood of Christ have the right to the tree of life." The oldest known MMS say," Blessed are those who keep the commandments of God, so that the authority to go to the trees of life may be theirs."You can see this
    reflected in the Diaglott.You will see two different translations
    shown.

    They must not want anyone to know the tree of life is an actual tree. They claim the Hebrew scriptures in the NWT come from the Septuagint. But in the Septuagint, it says in Isaiah 65:22," My people will live as long as the tree of life lives. ' In the NWT, it says,"for like the days of a tree will the days of my people be." The tree of life is being hidden.Why?

    The word "Parousia" is a big point that JW's think they understand. They translate it in the NWT as presence ot Jesus. But all real Greek scholars know there are word endings in fem. male, and neutral, for singular, and plural,in all parts of speech. You don't have a word meaning presence of Jesus in the feminine gendar for the "son" of God. If you can get a Greek interlinear, The Complete
    Word Study Dictionary by Spiros Zodhiates AMG Pub. 1993, # 3776 says ousia, fem noun from ousa (nf) meaning being, essence, substance. Compare Matthew 6:11 epiousion---epi means an intensive, and ousion, a masc. gendar ending for bread, arton (masc word). This means the substance of the bread. Because this noun can be masc. or fem. then the gender choice of the Bible writer clearly shows the substance spoken by the word parousia as being feminine. If you look, there is a woman from Genesis to Revelation. The GB are all men. No wonder they ignore this Woman of Jesus. There are numerous words that mean presence, masc. gender,like, enopion, and prosopon. So the word parousia means, alongside, HER substance. Keep searching, you will continue to learn the real truth. Gloria

  • larc
    larc

    ruffian,

    None of the translators of the NWT had a college education. There knowledge of Hebrew and Greek was self taught.

    The word Jehovah does not appear in the New Testemant in any manuscripts.

    For further information, I refer you to a thread entitled, "The Kingdom Interlinear Translation". To find this, go to search at the top of this page, click it on and enter any one of the major words in the title, and it will call up this thread. After reading it, you can enter a comment or question at the bottom of the tread and the thread will come back up on the most active list.

  • MacHislopp
    MacHislopp

    Hello Ruffiani,

    a good question.
    In mho, the best way to approach the true meaning of
    a Bible's verse or entire part is to consult a number
    of different translations and possibly using a good
    Hebrew/Aramaic/ and greek dictionary.

    Greetings, J.C.MacHislopp

  • larc
    larc

    Mac,

    From previous posts, I know that ruffian has two teenage witnesses calling on her. Her objective is to introduces ideas that may get them to question their religion without being so confrontive as to scare them away. So I think her objective here is to learn of the blantant problems with the NWT. I think that the use of the word Jehovah in the New Testament is one of the easiest to prove as being incorrect.

  • scholar
    scholar

    Greetings Ruffian

    There has been much speculation as to the identity and the qualifications of the NWT committee. In the absence of such information there is nothing to be gained in pursuing such unknowable questions. The scholarship is self evident in their work, it is without doubt the 'jewel in the crown' of all Bible translations.
    The use of Jehovah in the NT and the correct translation of prescence for parousia are examples of its brilliance.

    It is the only multi-lingual translation ever produced with it being available in part or whole in excess of thirty languages. Its accuracy can be confirmed by comparing it alondside other translations. The Society has published much background material concerning its features and textual sources. It comes with a good pedigree and as a good wine must be tasted to appreciate it so the NWT must be used and studied in order to appreciate its beauty.

    Enjoy
    scholar

    R

  • Cygnus
    Cygnus

    Okay, look. Does anyone really believe that Gangas or Schroeder really had anything to do with the actual translation process? No. Their and others' roles were supplementary and administrative.

    Fred Franz was the principal translator, and probably everything went through his office, but certainly there were many, many other persons involved who went unnamed that performed research and helped along the way.

    IMO, the NWT doesn't get quite the deserved respect for its scholarly approach to Bible translation that ought to be acknowledged.

    That said, it's not the Bible I'd choose, for study purposes or for casual reading.

  • larc
    larc

    ruffian,

    scholar's is a minority opinion on this board. I think you will find good information on the thread that I provided.

  • larc
    larc

    For you NWT defenders, I think it is an egregious error to insert the word Jehovah in over 200 places in the New Testement where the Greek word is Lord or God.

  • Francois
    Francois

    IMHO, the NWT is to truth what Stalin was to freedom.

    Francois

    Where it is a duty to worship the Sun you can be sure that a study of the laws of heat is a crime.

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