New World Translation

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The New World Translation of the Jehovah's Witnesses.

The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (NWT) is a corruption of the Bible published by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society for Jehovah's Witnesses in 1961. It is not the first 'bible' to be published by the group, but is their first original translation of ancient Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic biblical texts.

As of 2008, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania has published more than 159 million copies of their Bible in 74 languages.

History

Until the release of the NWT, Jehovah's Witnesses in English-speaking countries generally used the King James Version or American Standard Version of the Bible. In the literature they have produced, Jehovah's Witnesses have quoted liberally from the King James Version and many other translations of the Bible over the years.

According to the publishers, one of the main reasons for producing a new translation was that most bible versions in common use, including the Authorised (King James) Version, employed archaic language. The stated intention was to produce a fresh translation, free of archaisms. Additionally, over the centuries since the King James Version was produced, more copies of earlier manuscripts of the original texts in the Hebrew and Greek languages have become available. The publishers claimed better manuscript evidence had made it possible to determine with greater accuracy what the original writers intended, particularly in more obscure passages. They said linguists better understood certain aspects of the original Hebrew and Greek languages than previously.

In October 1946, the president of the Watch Tower Society, Nathan H. Knorr, proposed a fresh translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures. Work began on December 2, 1947 when the "New World Bible Translation Committee" was formed. On September 3, 1949, Knorr convened a joint meeting of the board of directors of both the Watch Tower Society's New York and Pennsylvania corporations to announce that work on a modern-language English translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures was completed and had been turned over to the Society for printing. It was assigned to the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania for publication.

The New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures (New Testament) was released at a convention of Jehovah's Witnesses at Yankee Stadium, New York, on August 2, 1950. The translation of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) was released in five volumes in 1953,<ref>Life Magazine, July 1, 1953, Photo here</ref> 1955, 1957, 1958, and 1960, and the complete New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures was released as a single volume in 1961. Since then, it has undergone minor revisions, with the addition of marginal (cross) references in 1984. These had been included in the six volumes released between 1950 - 1960 but not in the single-volume editions since 1961.<ref>Foreword, New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, 1984.</ref> The basic layout style much resembles the American Standard Version 1901 edition.

Translators and Editor

The New World Translation was produced by the New World Bible Translation Committee. This committee, comprising members of multinational background, was formed about 1947.<ref>New York Times, August 3, 1950 p. 19.</ref> The New World Bible Translation Committee requested that the Watch Tower Society not publish names of its members,<ref>The Watchtower, September 15, 1950, p. 320</ref><ref>Walsh vs Honorable James Latham, Court of Session Scotland, 1954, cross examination of Frederick Franz pp. 90-92</ref> stating that they did not want to "advertise themselves but let all the glory go to the Author of the Scriptures, God"<ref>The Watchtower, November 15, 1950, p. 454</ref> adding that the translation, "should direct the reader, not to the translators, but to the Bible’s Author, Jehovah God".<ref>The Watchtower, December 15, 1974, p. 768.</ref> Jehovah's Witnesses believe that "the particulars of their [the New World Bible Translation Committee's members] university or other educational training are not the important thing" and that "the translation testifies to their qualification".<ref>The Watchtower, December 15, 1974, p. 768</ref> Former high ranking Watch Tower staffers have claimed knowledge of the identities of the translators.<ref>Martin W, Kingdom of the Cults, Expanded Anniversary Edition, October 1997, Bethany House Publishers, p. 123. "While the members of the [NWT] committee have never been identified officially by the Watchtower, many Witnesses who worked at the headquarters during the translation period were fully aware of who the members were. They included Nathan H. Knorr (president of the Society at the time), Frederick W. Franz (who later succeeded Knorr as president), Albert D. Schroeder, George Gangas, and Milton Henschel (currently the president)."</ref><ref>Wills T, M.A., A People For His Name - A History of Jehovah's Witnesses and An Evaluation, Lulu, 2006. Originally published in 1967 by Vantage Press. "[Frederick] Franz is a language scholar of no mean ability-he supervised the translation of the Bible from the original languages into the New World Translation, completed in 1961." (p. 253) Of author Tony Wills, the Preface reads "The Author has been intimately associated with Jehovah's Witnesses for many years, close enough to be able to think as one, but never, at the same time, losing his objectivity." </ref>

Features

See Jehovah's Witnesses The translators use the terms "Hebrew-Aramaic Scriptures" and "Christian Greek Scriptures" rather than "Old Testament" and "New Testament", stating that the use of "testament" was based on a misunderstanding of 2 Corinthians 3:14.<ref>Appendix 7E in the New World Translation reference edition</ref> When referring to dates in the supplemental material, the abbreviations "B.C.E." (before the common era) and "C.E." (common era) are used rather than BC and AD.

The pronoun "you" is printed in small capitals to indicate plurality, as are some verbs when plurality may be unclear. Square brackets [ ] are added around words that were inserted editorially (double brackets are used to indicate sources considered doubtful). Verbs indicating continuous or progressive action are consistently rendered as such in English, for example "proceeded to rest" rather than "rested" in Genesis 2:2, or "keep on asking" rather than "ask" at Matthew 7:7. Running headings are included at the top of each page to assist in locating texts, and there is an index listing scriptures by subject.

The translation inserts the name Jehovah over 200 times in the New Testament where the original texts refer to God. The basis offered by the translating body is that since the name Jehovah was used liberally in the original Greek and Hebrew manuscripts of the Old Testament, it can be assumed that the lack of references to Jehovah in the New Testament were an oversight on the part of the ancient manuscript writers.<ref>The Divine Name That Will Endure Forever p. 24</ref>

Editions

The New World Translation is currently distributed in print editions commonly referred to as "Large Print" (four volumes), "Reference", "Regular (or "Standard") Hard Cover", "Regular (or "Standard") Soft Cover", and "Pocket".<ref>"Announcements", Our Kingdom Ministry, September 1988, page 4</ref><ref>Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, published by Jehovah's Witnesses, page 614</ref> The regular editions incorporate the booklet, Bible Topics for Discussion (previously published separately in 1977 but updated for the 1981 and 1984 editions), which provides references to scriptures relating to various topics, and several appendices containing arguments for various translation decisions, maps, diagrams and other information. The reference edition contains over 125,000 cross references, footnotes about translation decisions, and additional appendices that provide further detail relating to certain translation decisions.<ref>"Study—Rewarding and Enjoyable", The Watchtower, October 1, 2000, page 16</ref> Many of the non-English translations lack footnotes, and some add language-specific footnotes.

Kingdom Interlinear

The New World Bible Translation Committee included the English text from the NWT in its 1969 and 1985 editions of Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures. It also incorporates the Greek text published by Westcott and Hort in The New Testament in the Original Greek, and a literal word-for-word translation.<ref>Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, published 1993 by Jehovah's Witnesses, "Chapter 27: Printing and Distributing God’s Own Sacred Word", page 610</ref><ref>"“Between-the-Lines” Translations of the Bible", The Watchtower, November 15, 1969, page 692</ref>

Non-print editions

In 1978, the Watch Tower Society began producing recordings of the NWT on audio cassette,<ref>Our Kingdom Ministry, September 1978, page 3</ref> with the entire Christian Greek Scriptures released by 1981<ref>Our Kingdom Ministry, October 1981, page 7</ref> and the Hebrew Scriptures in three albums released by 1990.<ref>The Watchtower, February 15, 1990, page 32</ref> In 2004, NWT was released on compact disc in MP3 format in major languages.<ref>Watchtower Publications Index 1986-2007, "Compact Discs"</ref> Since 2008, audio downloads of NWT's Bible books and chapters have been made available from the Worldwide Association of Jehovah’s Witnesses website in MP3 and AAC format, including support for Podcasts.

In 1983, the English Braille edition of NWT's Christian Greek Scriptures was released;<ref>Our Kingdom Ministry, August 1983, pages 3-4</ref> the complete English Braille edition of NWT was released by 1988.<ref>Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, published 1993 by Jehovah's Witnesses, "Chapter 27: Printing and Distributing God’s Own Sacred Word", pages 614-615</ref> NWT editions have since become available in several additional Braille scripts.<ref>Awake!, November, 2007 p. 30</ref> In 2006, production of the NWT in American Sign Language began, starting with the Gospel of Matthew.<ref>2007 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, published by Jehovah's Witnesses, pages 21-22</ref>

thumb|150px|left|A diskette edition of the NWT released at 1993 In 1992, a digital edition of New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures—With References was released, as a set of seven 3½-inch 720 KB diskettes or four 5¼-inch 1.2 MB diskettes, using Folio View software. In 1993, New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures—With References/Insight on the Scriptures was released in English, as a set of 5¼-inch 1.2 MB or 3½-inch 1.44 MB diskettes, containing the New World Translation and the two volumes of Insight. Since 1994, NWT has been included in the digital research tool, Watchtower Library on CD-ROM, available to baptized Jehovah's Witnesses.<ref>"The Compact Disc—What Is It All About?", Awake!, April 22, 1994, page 23</ref><ref>Our Kingdom Ministry, published by Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, September 2007, page 3</ref> Since 2007, the full text of the NWT has been available on the Watch Tower Society's official website.

Languages

As of 2009, the NWT has been published in 74 languages.<ref>See The Watchtower (Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania.) May 1, 2009. p.25</ref> Translation into other languages is based on the English text, supplemented by comparison with the Hebrew and Greek.<ref>Jehovah’s Witnesses—Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom (1993) Chap. 27 p. 611, subheading Translation Into Other Languages.</ref>

The complete translation of the Holy Scriptures is available in Afrikaans, Albanian, Arabic, Cebuano, Chinese (Standard, Simplified, Pinyin), Cibemba, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (also Braille), Finnish, French, Georgian, German, Greek, Hungarian, Igbo, Iloko, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Macedonian, Malagasy, Maltese, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (also Braille), Romanian, Russian, Serbian (Cyrillic and Latin scripts), Sesotho, Shona, Slovakian, Spanish (also Braille), Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog, Tsonga, Tswana, Turkish, Twi, Xhosa, Yoruba, and Zulu.