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