Is the New World Translation an accurate Bible translation?

Answer 1

Although there are a few points of controversy regarding the NWT and the Revised NWT released in 2013, it is generally considered an accurate and reliable representation of the original texts. It is considered by many a "must have" for their library of bibles because of it's "easy to understand" application and the variety of languages it has been made available in.

The most controversial part of the NWT is not that the divine name (JHVH translated Jehovah) has been restored in the Old Testament nearly 7000 times, but that it is placed in the New Testament as well. They have only placed it in the New Testament when there are quotes or references made from the Old Testament or when God is considered to be "talking". Some translators disagree with this approach because the transcripts of New Testament used for Bible translation did not have the divine name in them. This is because the time periods that these transcripts are dated at are after it became "taboo" to pronounce the divine name. This is generally not considered "bias" by bible translators, because if you translate the Old Testament with the Divine name, than any references that the New Testament has to the Old Testament should logically match the reference.

Answer 2

Dr. Julius Mantey, author of A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament, called the NWT a "shocking translation," and Dr. William Barclay characterized the translators themselves as "intellectually dishonest." In addition, Dr. Bruce Metzger, professor of New Testament at Princeton called the NWT a "frightful mistranslation, erroneous, pernicious and reprehensible." The NWT mistranlates the Greek scriptures in order to remove the deity of Jesus, God is spelled in lower case as "god", and Jesus was created as the archangel Michael are just a few of their incredible utterings so the answer should be no.

Answer 3

All bibles have their mistakes as the original translators missed, left out or changed that which was originally written. Most translations today were taken from the German or the KJV of The Bible. Both have their faults. To be able to translate accurately one must be guided by the Spirit.

Addressing the specific question of the New World Translation of Jehovah's Witnesses, this translations source manuscripts were principally Westcott and Hort Text and Nestle's Greek text ( many other manuscripts were referred to to ensure the accurate rendition of the text) and it has been well received but controversial in its renditions. Generally speaking it is viewed by scholars as a respectable and accurate translation. No translation has been universally accepted as being the "most accurate".

Given the subjective nature of the question one can only quote biblical scholars in their reveiw of the NWT (see below)

**Jason BeDuhn, an associate professor of religious studies, Northern Arizona University : "..the general public and many Bible scholars assume that the differences in the New World Translation (NW) are due to religious bias on the part of its translators. However, he states: "Most of the differences are due to the greater accuracy of the NW as a literal, conservative translation." While BeDuhn disagrees with certain renderings of the New World Translation, he says that it emerges as "the most accurate of the translations compared," calling it a "remarkably good" translation. Truth in Translation: Accuracy and Bias in English Translations of the New Testament, 2004.

**New World Translation has been found to be "one of the most accurate English translations of the New Testament currently available" and is "the most accurate of the [8 major] translations compared."-Truth in Translation: Accuracy and Bias in English Translations of the New Testament by Jason BeDuhn, associate professor of religious studies at Northern Arizona University, in Flagstaff, Arizona

**Andover Newton Quarterly of January 1963 said: "The translation of the New Testament is evidence of the presence in the movement of scholars qualified to deal intelligently with the many problems of Biblical translation."

**As Theologian C. Houtman explains regarding the unorthodoxy of the New World Translation: "Various traditional translations of important terms from the original text have been discarded, apparently in order to arrive at the best possible understanding."

**REGARDING the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures, Edgar J. Goodspeed, translator of the Greek "New Testament" in An American Translation, wrote in a letter dated December 8, 1950: "I am interested in the mission work of your people, and its world wide scope, and much pleased with the free, frank and vigorous translation. It exhibits a vast array of sound serious learning, as I can testify."

**Professor Benjamin Kedar, a Hebrew scholar in Israel, said in 1989: "In my linguistic research in connection with the Hebrew Bible and translations, I often refer to the English edition of what is known as the New World Translation. In so doing, I find my feeling repeatedly confirmed that this work reflects an honest endeavor to achieve an understanding of the text that is as accurate as possible."

**Hebrew and Greek scholar Alexander Thomson wrote: "The translation is evidently the work of skilled and clever scholars, who have sought to bring out as much of the true sense of the Greek text as the English language is capable of expressing."-The Differentiator, April 1952, pages 52-7.

** "I have never discovered in the 'New World Translation' [of the Hebrew Scriptures] any biased intent to read something into the text that it does not contain" -- Professor Benjamin Kedar, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Answer 4

Yes, because there is nothing anyone can do against the truth but for the truth. The truth remains the truth, no matter which language it is spoken. Every translation of the Bible is simply a translation of the same truth in another language; all conveying the same content - The immutable word of God.

Answer

Dr. Julius Mantey, author of A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament, called the NWT a "shocking translation," and Dr. William Barclay characterized the translators themselves as "intellectually dishonest." In addition, Dr. Bruce Metzger, professor of New Testament at Princeton called the NWT a "frightful mistranslation, erroneous, pernicious and reprehensible." The NWT mistranlates the Greek scriptures in order to remove the deity of Jesus, God is spelled in lower case as "god", and Jesus was created as the archangel Michael are just a few of their incredible utterings so the answer should be no.