Says the JW that tries to rewrite nearly every Christian Bible.
When a new Bible translation is published in English many people wonder why, because a great many English versions already exist. Some may even argue that the
King James Version gives us the Bible in English; so why produce new translations? The principal reason is to give the public a translation of God’s Word that accurately expresses the fine shades of meaning contained in the Hebrew and Greek of Bible manuscripts and that at the same time is understandable to the average person living today. The
King James Version itself was actually a new translation in its day, really a revision of previous English versions, those with previous enlish version spoke against the KJV in the beginning but it met the need for a clearer translation of God’s Word then, and now new versions again meet our need for an easily understood version today.
The English language has changed since 1611, when the
KJV was released. Many words that were used then are no longer used today or their meanings have changed. For example, many don't understand the language of the
KJV in its rendering of Genesis 25:29. It says: “Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint.” In a new translation that uses the English we speak today this verse reads: “Once Jacob was boiling up some stew, when Esau came along from the field and he was tired.” (
NW) Since the purpose in reading the Bible is to learn from it, is not that goal more easily attained when the language used in it is the English that is spoken in this twentieth century rather than that spoken in the seventeenth century?
The translations of the Bible of which the
KJV was a revision were based upon a small number of Hebrew and Greek manuscripts. Many thousands of manuscripts have been found since then, some being as much as a thousand years older than those. The fact that these manuscript copies are older means they are closer in time to the original writings and are, therefore, more accurate, having fewer copyist errors. Their existence urges the production of new translations that can incorporate the refinements they make possible.
The continually improved knowledge scholars are gaining of the ancient languages of Hebrew and Greek is another factor that makes new Bible versions necessary. They have a much better understanding of these languages today than did the Bible translators of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
It was not until the close of the eighteenth century that archaeological findings revealed that the Greek-language manuscripts of the Bible were written in a form of Greek that was spoken by the common people. It differed a little from the classical Greek, just as the English spoken by a laborer often differs from that spoken by the upper class in society. Prior to this discovery scholars made their translations according to their understanding of classical Greek. This resulted in inaccuracies because word meanings according to classical Greek often differed somewhat from the common, or koine, Greek. For example, the KJV renders Matthew 6:27 this way: “Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?” The word it translates “stature” or size was right in Luke 2:52 and Luke 19:3 and Ephesians 4:13, but the common, or koine, Greek also gave the word the meaning of age or time of life. Knowing the extended meaning of the word, modern translators make this verse plainer and more accurate. One version says: “Who of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his life span?” (
NW) So the thought should be life span instead of stature.
NEW WORLD TRANSLATION OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES
Despite the fact that there are many fine Bible translations in modern-day English, the need for new and fresh translations has not ceased. Every refinement benefits the public by making Bible knowledge plainer and by giving them a more accurate expression of the Scriptures. Recently a new translation of the Bible was released that incorporates numerous refinements as well as eliminating certain shortcomings that were objectionable in other versions. This superb translation is called the “New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures.”
To an enthusiastic assembly of more than 51,000 ministers and Bible students the
New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures was released in one compact volume on June 23, 1961, at Yankee Stadium, New York city. The assembled ministers were surprised at its compact size, yet with easily readable type, and delighted by its nominal price, a price that would make it easily available even to people of small financial means.
Taking advantage of the oldest Bible manuscripts that have been found as well as the improved understanding of koine Greek, the translators of this version have produced a copy of the Bible in English that is extremely accurate. It carefully expresses the fine shades of meaning in the Hebrew and Greek words. Its literalness, however, is not carried to the point where reading is made difficult. At all times an easy, expressive flow of thought is maintained. Its accuracy makes it more desirable than a free translation, that is, one in which the translator takes the general thought and expresses it freely in his own words. The extreme care taken to make the
New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures accurate is an assurance to readers that what they read is as near to the original thoughts as is possible to express them at this time.
An outstanding feature of the
New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures that is a decided improvement over other versions is the faithful manner in which it restores God’s name, Jehovah, to its rightful place in the Scriptures. Wherever the Hebrew letters for it appear in Bible manuscripts this translation renders the name Jehovah instead of using one of the many substitutions for it that superstitious copyists employed centuries ago. Aside from restoring it to the Hebrew Scriptures, this version is outstanding in its restoration of the divine name to the Christian Greek Scriptures, or New Testament, wherever the Greek Scripture writers made quotations of portions of the Hebrew Scriptures containing the Name. Thus a translation of the Bible finally exists in English that magnifies the Most High by using his proper name in the 7,198 places where it belongs.
How this modern translation helps to make Bible knowledge plain can be quickly seen by comparing it with some well-known versions.