213 lines
9.2 KiB
Plaintext
213 lines
9.2 KiB
Plaintext
Why does the NEW WORLD TRANSLATION, published by Jehovah's Witnesses
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include "Jehovah" over 7,000 times in place of "Lord" or "God"? Did
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they make it up to support their own purposes? As of 1990, this
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translation has appeared in 11 languages with more than 56 million
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copies printed.
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The NEW WORLD TRANSLATION has been the subject of controversy since
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its original release in 1950 of the Christian Greek Scriptures.
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Rather than speculating, though, the information is publicly
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available. If you wish to have a more complete explanation, you may
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obtain your own copy from the Publishers of the New World
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Translation. (See the end of this document)
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This file is intended to be a SHORT reference to some reasonable
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sources of information in this crucial matter: the name of God and
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it's place in the Bible.
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-------------------------------------------------------------
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Please read the following excerpt from "ALL SCRIPTURE IS INSPIRED OF
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GOD AND BENEFICIAL" published by the Watchtower Society (1990
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edition, pg 327, paragraphs 1,2)
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"In recent years a number of modern Bible translations have been
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published that have done much to help lovers of God's Word to get
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the sense of of the original writings quickly. However, many
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translations have eliminated the divine name from the sacred record.
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On the other hand the New World Translation dignifies and honors
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the worthy name of the Most High God by restoring it to its rightful
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place in the text. The name now appears in 6,973 places in the
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Hebrew Scripture section, as well as 237 places in the Greeks
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Scripture section, a total of 7,210 places all together. The from
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YAHWEH is generally preferred by Hebrew scholars, but certainty of
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pronunciation is not now attainable. Therefore, the Latinized form
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JEHOVAH continues to be used because it has been used for centuries
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and is the most commonly accepted English rendering of the
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Tetragrammaton, or four letter Hebrew name (YHWH) (*note: the
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article shows the actual Tetragrammaton at this place). Hebrew
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scholar R. H. Pfeiffer observed: "Whatever may be said of its
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dubious pedigree, 'Jehovah' is and should remain the proper English
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rendering of YAHWEH."
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"The New World Translation is not the first version to restore the
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divine name in the Christian Greek Scriptures. From at least the
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14th century onward, many translations have felt forced to restore
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God's name to the text, particularly in places where the Christian
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Greek Scripture writers quoted from Hebrew Scripture texts that
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contain the divine name. Many modern-language missionary versions,
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including African, Asian, American, and Pacific-island versions of
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the Greek Scriptures, use the name Jehovah liberally, as do some
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European-language versions. Wherever the divine name is rendered,
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there is no longer any doubt as to which "lord" is indicated. It is
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the Lord of heaven and earth, Jehovah, whose name is sanctified by
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being kept unique and distinct in the "New World Translation of the
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Holy Scriptures".
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NEW WORLD TRANSLATION with References
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Appendix 1A
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"The greatest indignity that modern translators render to the Divine
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Author of the Holy Scriptures is the removal or the concealing of
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His peculiar personal name. Actually his name occurs in the Hebrew
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text 6,828 times as (YHWH or JHVH), generally referred to as the
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Tetragrammaton (literally meaning "having four letters"). By using
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the name "Jehovah" we have held to the original-language texts and
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have not followed the practice of substituting titles such as
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"Lord," "the Lord," "Adonai" or "God" for the divine name, or
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Tetragrammaton."
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The following are brief excerpts from various popular modern
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translations. (from Editions that I have at home)
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KING JAMES VERSION
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(Dictionary at the back)
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"Tetragrammaton" - "The four letters YHWH forming the sacred name of
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the supreme Deity. Whenever the words "Lord " and "God" appear in
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large and small capital letters in the OT, the original Hebrew text
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uses YHWH. Now sometimes written "Jehovah."
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"Jehovah" - "The Lord; God. Used by some Bible translators for the
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covenant God of Israel"
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(*NOTE: Although only including the Divine Name 4 times in this
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translation, the substituted "Lord" or "God" indicate where the
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Tetragrammaton belongs.)
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AMERICAN STANDARD VERSION
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Preface:
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The change first proposed in the Appendix - that which substitutes
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"Jehovah" for "Lord" and "God" (printed in small capitals) - is one
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which will be unwelcome to many, because of the frequency and
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familiarity of the terms displaced. But the American Revisers,
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after a careful consideration, were brought to the unanimous
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conviction that a Jewish superstition, which regarded the Divine
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name as too sacred to be uttered, ought no longer to dominate in the
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English or any other version of the Old Testament, as it fortunately
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does not in the numerous versions, made by missionaries....This
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personal name, with its wealth of sacred associations, is now
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restored to the place in the sacred text to which it has an
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unquestionable claim."
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(Includes the Divine Name in the text throughout the Bible)
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REVISED STANDARD VERSION (C)1946,1952
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Preface:
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"A major departure from the practice of the American Standard
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Version in the rendering of the Divine Name, the "Tetragrammaton."
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The American Standard Version used the term "Jehovah"; the King
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James Verson had employed this in four places, but everywhere else,,
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except in three cases where it was employed as part of a proper
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name, used the English word Lord (or in certain cases God) printed
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in capitals. The present revision returns to the practice in the
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reading, which follows the prece-practice in the reading in the
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reading of the Hebrew scriptures in the synagogue."
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(*NOTE: The translators chose to follow a TRADITION of many
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translators, but, at the same time, they recognize that God's
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personal name belongs in the Bible.)
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THE BIBLE IN LIVING ENGLISH
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Preface:
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"....But the spelling and pronunciation are not highly important.
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What is highly important is to keep it clear that this is a personal
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name. There are several texts that cannot be properly understood if
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we translate this name by a common noun like "Lord," or, much worse,
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by a substantivized adjective."
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(*NOTE: Shows that, despite variations in the way the Tetragrammaton
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is pronounced, it is to be included in the text)
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NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION
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Preface:
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"In regard to the divine name YHWH, commonly referred to as the
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Tetragrammaton, the translators adopted the device used in most
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English versions of rendering that name as "Lord" in capital
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letters to distinguish it from Adonai, another Hebrew word rendered
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"Lord", for which small letters are used."
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(*NOTE: This shows that the translators admit to following the
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TRADITION of many translators, but also acknowledge the divine
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name's rightful place in the text of the Bible)
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---------------------------------------------------------------------
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-------
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"All Scripture Is Inspired of God and Beneficial" is a 353 page,
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hardcover book that summarizes and provides historical background
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to each of the 66 books of the Bible.
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It also has additional chapters that provide background information
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on the Bible as a whole:
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- A Visit to the Promised Land
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- Time and the Holy Scriptures
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- Measuring Events in the Stream of Time
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- The Bible and Its Canon
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- The Hebrew Text of the Holy Scriptures
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- The Christian Greek Text of the Holy Scriptures
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- The Bible in Modern Times
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- Advantages of the 'New World Translation'
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- Archaeology and the Inspired Record
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- The Bible - Authentic and True
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- The Inspired Scriptures Bring Eternal Benefits
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If you wish, the Reference Edition of the New World Translation is
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available. It contains an appendix which gives details of why and
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how this translation renders the divine name.
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Appendix 1A The Divine Name in the Hebrew Scriptures
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Appendix 1B Scribal Changes Involving the Divine Name
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Appendix 1C The Divine Name in Ancient Greek Versions
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Appendix 1D The Divine Name in the Christian Greek Scriptures
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Appendix 1E "Sovereign Lord" - Heb., - 'Adho nai'
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Appendix 1F "The [true] God" - Heb., - ha'Elohim'
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Appendix 1G "The [true] God" - Heb., - ha'El'
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Appendix 1H "The [true] Lord" - Heb., ha'Adhohn'
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Appendix 1J Titles and Descriptive Terms Applying to Jehovah
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Appendix 2A Extraordinary Points - Puncta extraordinaria
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Appendix 2B Emendations (Corrections) of the Sopherim - "Tiqqune
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Sopherim"
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Appendix 2C Scribal Changes Involving the Divine Name
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Appendix 3A Hebrew and Greek Transliterations
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Appendix 3B Hebrew Prefixes and Suffixes
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Appendix 4C Hebrew Verbs Indicating Continuous or Progressive
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Action
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plus 28 other appendices
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for further information, please contact:
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Watchtower Bible and Tract Society
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25 Columbia Heights
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Brooklyn, New York 11201
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or
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Watchtower Bible and Tract Society
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Box 4100
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Halton Hills (Georgetown)
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L7G 4Y4
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