Has the New World Translation Been Changed to Fit Doctrine?

At several verses about who Jesus is, the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ New World Translation does not say what the Greek says, and the Society’s study notes say why. The notes do not claim a scribe altered the Greek. They say a literal English line would give an impression the translators do not accept. That is the Society’s account of the choice. It is not a proof of anyone’s motive.

Key points

• Jehovah’s Witnesses read John 1:1CloseIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.John 1:1 · King James VersionOpen source as the Word being a god, not God. Their New World Translation prints “the Word was a god.” The Greek is καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος, and the Word was God. There is no Greek word for the English a.
• At John 8:58CloseJesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.John 8:58 · King James VersionOpen source the Greek is ἐγὼ εἰμί, I am. The King James Version prints I am. The Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible prints “I have been.”
• At Colossians 1:16CloseFor by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:Colossians 1:16 · King James VersionOpen source the Greek is τὰ πάντα, all things. The New World Translation prints all other things. The study note says a literal rendering would be “all things,” and that this could give the impression that Jesus was the Creator.
• At Luke 23:43CloseAnd Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.Luke 23:43 · King James VersionOpen source the Greek has no comma. Scholarly editions the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ study note names put a comma before “today.” Their Bible puts the comma after it: “Truly I tell you today, you will be with me in Paradise.”
• At Hebrews 1:6CloseAnd again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.Hebrews 1:6 · King James VersionOpen source the Greek is προσκυνησάτωσαν, and the King James Version says worship him. The 2013 New World Translation says do obeisance to him.
• At Philippians 2:9CloseWherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:Philippians 2:9 · King James VersionOpen source the Greek is τὸ ὄνομα τὸ ὑπὲρ πᾶν ὄνομα, the name above every name. The Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible prints “every other name.” The study note says a literal rendering is “every name.”
• The Watch Tower article that announced the translation says the committee asked to remain anonymous. Raymond Franz, in Crisis of Conscience, gives his account of who they were. The Society’s page does not confirm those names.

John 1:1

The Greek clause is καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. θεὸς has no article. ὁ λόγος, the Word, does. There is no Greek word for a.

• New World Translation (2013), the Bible Jehovah’s Witnesses use: the Word was a god — New World Translation of John 1:1CloseIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.John 1:1 · New World Translation · Jehovah’s Witnesses’ BibleOpen source (1)
• King James Version: the Word was God — John 1:1CloseIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.John 1:1 · King James VersionOpen source (9)

Jehovah’s Witnesses read this as the Word being divine, a godlike one, not God Almighty. Their study note says the clause can be read that way, and that identifying the Word with Almighty God would disagree with the rest of the Bible as they read it. The note does not claim the Greek sentence contains the word a. John 1 and the Word answers the grammar. How reliable is the New World Translation? quotes the study note. Thomas’s sentence in the same Gospel is still John 20:28CloseAnd Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God.John 20:28 · King James VersionOpen source: My Lord and my God.

John 8:58

The Greek is πρὶν Ἀβραὰμ γενέσθαι ἐγὼ εἰμί. γενέσθαι is an aorist infinitive, to come to be. εἰμί is present, I am.

• New World Translation (2013), the Bible Jehovah’s Witnesses use: before Abraham came into existence, I have been — New World Translation of John 8:58CloseJesus said to them: “Most truly I say to you, before Abraham came into existence, I have been.”John 8:58 · New World Translation · Jehovah’s Witnesses’ BibleOpen source (2)
• King James Version: Before Abraham was, I am — John 8:58CloseJesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.John 8:58 · King James VersionOpen source (9)

The Jehovah’s Witnesses’ study note on “I have been” says Jesus told them about his prehuman existence as a mighty spirit creature in heaven before Abraham was born. It says some claim ἐγὼ εἰμί should be rendered “I am,” as an allusion to Exodus 3:14 in the Greek Old Testament. The note’s reason for “I have been” is that the action started before Abraham and was still in progress, and it points to John 14:9, where the same form is rendered “I have been with you men for such a long time.” It adds that Jesus’ words in John 8:54, 55 show he was not trying to portray himself as the same person as his Father.

The English “I have been” is the note’s reading of a present “I am.” The King James line keeps the present. The note states the doctrinal reason in its own words: a mighty spirit creature, not the same person as the Father. Jesus is God. The sentence the crowd heard is the one they treated as a claim worth stones, in the next verse, John 8:59CloseThen took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.John 8:59 · King James VersionOpen source.

Colossians 1:16–20

The Greek of the three clauses is τὰ πάντα, all things, with no ἄλλος.

• New World Translation (2013), the Bible Jehovah’s Witnesses use: all other things were created; he is before all other things; reconcile to himself all other things — New World Translation of Colossians 1:16Closebecause by means of him all other things were created in the heavens and on the earth, the things visible and the things invisible, whether they are thrones or lordships or governments or authorities. All other things have been created through him and for him.Colossians 1:16 · New World Translation · Jehovah’s Witnesses’ BibleOpen source (3)
• King James Version: all things were created by him; he is before all things; reconcile all things unto himself — Colossians 1:16CloseFor by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:Colossians 1:16 · King James VersionOpen source (10)

The Jehovah’s Witnesses’ study note says a literal rendering of the Greek would be “all things,” and that such a rendering could give the impression that Jesus was not created but was the Creator himself, which would not agree with the preceding verse calling him “the firstborn of all creation.” The word that keeps the Son on the created side of the English line is the word the note does not find in the Greek. How the brackets around that word changed between the 1984 Reference Bible and the current text is How has the New World Translation changed?. Is Jesus the Creator or a creature? and What does “firstborn of all creation” mean? stay with the doctrine the note is protecting.

Luke 23:43

The Greek is Ἀμήν σοι λέγω σήμερον μετ’ ἐμοῦ ἔσῃ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ. There is no comma in the Greek.

• New World Translation (2013), the Bible Jehovah’s Witnesses use: Truly I tell you today, you will be with me in Paradise — New World Translation of Luke 23:43CloseAnd he said to him: “Truly I tell you today, you will be with me in Paradise.”Luke 23:43 · New World Translation · Jehovah’s Witnesses’ BibleOpen source (4)
• King James Version: Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise — Luke 23:43CloseAnd Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.Luke 23:43 · King James VersionOpen source (11)

The Jehovah’s Witnesses’ study note says the earliest manuscripts are capitals without consistent punctuation, so a comma can stand before or after “today.” It also says scholarly editions prepared by Westcott and Hort, Nestle and Aland, and the United Bible Societies put a comma before the Greek word rendered “today.” The note’s reason for putting the comma after “today” is that Jesus was in the grave until the third day and ascended forty days later, so the criminal could not be with him in Paradise that same day. The note’s own summary is that the evidence “suggests” Jesus used “today” of the time the promise was made, not of the time the criminal would be in Paradise.

The comma is an English decision. The note names the editions that decide it the other way. Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that the dead are unconscious and that Paradise is future. The punctuation they print agrees with that teaching. The Greek sentence does not contain the comma.

Hebrews 1:6

The Greek is Καὶ προσκυνησάτωσαν αὐτῷ πάντες ἄγγελοι θεοῦ.

• New World Translation (2013), the Bible Jehovah’s Witnesses use: let all of God’s angels do obeisance to him — New World Translation of Hebrews 1:6CloseBut when he again brings his Firstborn into the inhabited earth, he says: “And let all of God’s angels do obeisance to him.”Hebrews 1:6 · New World Translation · Jehovah’s Witnesses’ BibleOpen source (5)
• King James Version: let all the angels of God worship him — Hebrews 1:6CloseAnd again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.Hebrews 1:6 · King James VersionOpen source (12)

Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that worship belongs to Jehovah alone, and that what angels and disciples give Jesus is obeisance. Their Bible prints that distinction into this verse. A Questions From Readers article had printed the same verse with “worship him,” and the 1984 Reference Bible kept worship in a footnote under do obeisance. Those editions are How has the New World Translation changed?. Should Jesus be worshipped? reads the verb beside Revelation 5, where the Lamb receives the praise given to the One on the throne.

Philippians 2:9

The Greek is τὸ ὄνομα τὸ ὑπὲρ πᾶν ὄνομα, the name above every name. There is no ἄλλος.

• New World Translation (2013), the Bible Jehovah’s Witnesses use: the name that is above every other name — New World Translation of Philippians 2:9CloseFor this very reason, God exalted him to a superior position and kindly gave him the name that is above every other namePhilippians 2:9 · New World Translation · Jehovah’s Witnesses’ BibleOpen source (6)
• King James Version: a name which is above every name — Philippians 2:9CloseWherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:Philippians 2:9 · King James VersionOpen source (13)

The Jehovah’s Witnesses’ study note says:

A literal rendering of the Greek text (“every name,” Kingdom Interlinear), which is used in many translations, could give the impression that Jesus’ name is above God’s own name.

Philippians 2:9 · New World Translation · Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible

The note tells the reader the literal English and the impression it refuses. The impression is that Jesus’ name would stand above God’s. The supplied “other” is what keeps Jehovah’s name above the name God gave the Son, which is the teaching the note is writing to protect. Who is the Alpha and the Omega? is the related claim about the divine name and the Son.

Who translated it

The Watch Tower article “New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures,” the Bible Jehovah’s Witnesses released in 1950, says the Christian Greek Scriptures were released on Wednesday afternoon, August 2, 1950, at Yankee Stadium. On the committee it says: (7)

It is issued to glorify or memorialize the names of no men. Therefore the men who compose the translation committee have indicated their desire to the Society’s boards of directors to remain anonymous, and specifically do not want their names to be published while they are in life or after death.

Source · New World Translation · Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible

That is the Society’s account. The names are not on the page.

Raymond Franz’s account

Raymond Franz, a former member of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses, gives his own account in Crisis of Conscience, fourth edition, second printing November 2004. Footnote 16, read in the PDF of that edition, says: (8)

The New World Translation bears no translator’s name and is presented as the anonymous work of the “New World Translation Committee.” Other members of that committee were Nathan Knorr, Albert Schroeder and George Gangas. Fred Franz, however, was the only one with sufficient knowledge of the Bible languages to attempt translation of this kind. He had studied Greek for two years at the University of Cincinnati but was only self-taught in Hebrew.

Source · New World Translation · Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible

The body nearby says Fred Franz “had been the principal translator of the Society’s New World Translation,” the Bible Jehovah’s Witnesses publish. This is Raymond Franz’s account. The Society’s article says the committee asked that the names not be published, in life or after death. It does not confirm the names in the footnote. A reader can hold both sentences: the Society withheld the names on purpose, and a former Governing Body member later published an account of who he said they were.

What the notes show

The study notes are public. They say when a literal rendering would give an impression the translators reject: that the Word was God Almighty, that Jesus was the Creator, that his name is above God’s name, that the criminal would be with him that day. Candor about a choice is not the same as the Greek requiring the English. The pages linked above argue the doctrine from the passages. This page’s claim is narrower. Where the note adds a word or moves a comma so that the English will not say what the note says the Greek could say, the doctrine is doing the work the note assigns to it. That is not a finding that anyone lied. It is the note, the Greek, and the King James line, on the same page.

Frequently asked questions

Do all translations add words? Translators supply English the Greek does not spell letter by letter. The King James printers marked some supplied words in italics. The test is whether the supplied word changes who Jesus is, and whether the translator says the Greek reads otherwise. “Other” in Colossians 1:16 and Philippians 2:9 is that kind of word. The Jehovah’s Witnesses’ notes say the literal rendering is the line without it.

Is John 14:14 the same kind of choice? No. There the manuscripts differ, and the study note says so. How reliable is the New World Translation? keeps that case so a real variant is not treated as the same thing as a supplied “other.”

Did the Society hide the committee? The 1950 article says the committee asked to remain anonymous, including after death. Raymond Franz later named four men and said Fred Franz was the only one with the languages for this kind of translation. The Society’s page does not adopt that account. Both statements are on the record as what each writer published.

Keep reading

• How has the New World Translation changed?
• How reliable is the New World Translation?
• John 1 and the Word
• Is Jesus the Creator or a creature?
• Should Jesus be worshipped?
• How do you read Watchtower language?