Peculiar NWT rendering: System of Things

Athanasius

This morning at church I read the New Testament lesson, which was Ephesians 1:15-23, from the New Revised Standard Version Bible. Verse 20-21 says:

"God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, (21) far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come."

Thirty years ago when giving public talks as a JW elder I read the same Scripture using the NWT, which renders verse 21 as: "far above every government and authority and power and lordship and every name named not only in this system of things, but also in that to come."

The Watchtower's peculiar rendering of the Greek word aion as "system of things," was always an embarrassment when I had to use the NWT when talking with non-JWs. Did "system of things" and other peculiar translations in the NWT irritate you too?

passwordprotected

Grace = "undeserved kindness".

WTWizard

That they refuse to use the word "damn" when it is appropriate. Just about every other version renders it "damn" or "damned"; the Not Well Translated version renders it "condemn" or "condemned". They also refuse to render the word "hell" as such.

Yet, they refer to a donkey as "ass". Including "she-asses" for female donkeys. That could lead someone to stumbling a lot easier than a "damn" when it is supposed to be there. (Note--that word "ass" is actually found throughout the Not Well Translated version as such, meaning "donkey"). Now, if they are going to use "condemn" instead of "damn", wouldn't it have made sense to use "donkey" instead of "ass"?

snowbird

NWT Oddities

Post 647 of 5289
since 01-May-07

54 y 11 m 30 d

The NWT rendering of this Scripture has always irritated me:

Psalm 10: 4 The wicked one according to his superciliousness makes no search;
All his ideas are: “There is no God.”

Why select a 16-letter word when all other English translations use pride/haughtiness of his face/countenance? I used to cringe whenever this psalm came up for the Bible reading because superciliousness was almost always mispronounced. Any similar stories or comments?

Sylvia

snowbird

I just had to go there.

From The Message Bible:

Psalm 10:4 The wicked snub God ,
their noses stuck high in the air.

What a difference!

Sylvia

White Dove

I always wondered what those "things" in system of things were. I wondered if it meant evil things. It never said.

I can't stand the word "inculcate." My dad picked this one up and started using it but only in conversations about how I should "inculcate" the truth into my kids. Copy cat. He never uses such uncommon words as that.

isaacaustin

Proverbs 11:9 in the NWT:

By [his] mouth the one who is an apostate brings his fellowman to ruin, but by knowledge are the righteous rescued.

KJV - Pro 11:9 -	An hypocrite with [his] mouth destroyeth his neighbour: but through knowledge shall the just be delivered. © Info : - King James Version 1769 Info

NKJV - Pro 11:9 -	The hypocrite with his mouth destroys his neighbor, But through knowledge the righteous will be delivered. © Info : - New King James Version © 1982 Thomas Nelson

NLT - Pro 11:9 -	Evil words destroy one's friends; wise discernment rescues the godly. © Info : - New Living Translation © 1996 Tyndale Charitable Trust

NIV - Pro 11:9 -	With his mouth the godless destroys his neighbor, but through knowledge the righteous escape. © Info : - The Holy Bible, New International Version© 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society

ESV - Pro 11:9 -	With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbor, but by knowledge the righteous are delivered. © Info : - English Standard Version © 2001 Crossway Bibles

RVR - Pro 11:9 -	El hipócrita con la boca daña a su prójimo; Mas los justos son librados con la sabiduría. © Info : - Reina-Valera © 1960 Sociedades Bíblicas en América Latina

NASB - Pro 11:9 -	With {his} mouth the godless man destroys his neighbor, But through knowledge the righteous will be delivered. © Info : - New American Standard Bible © 1995 Lockman Foundation

RSV - Pro 11:9 -	With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbor, but by knowledge the righteous are delivered. © Info : - Revised Standard Version © 1947, 1952.

ASV - Pro 11:9 -	With his mouth the godless man destroyeth his neighbor; But through knowledge shall the righteous be delivered. © Info : - American Standard Version 1901 Info

YNG - Pro 11:9 -	With the mouth a hypocrite corrupteth his friend, And by knowledge the righteous are drawn out. © Info : - Robert Young Literal Translation 1862, 1887, 1898 Info

DBY - Pro 11:9 -	With his mouth a hypocrite destroyeth his neighbour; but through knowledge are the righteous delivered. © Info : - J.N.Darby Translation 1890 Info

WEB - Pro 11:9 -	A hypocrite with [his] mouth destroyeth his neighbor: but through knowledge shall the just be delivered. © Info : - Noah Webster Version 1833 Info

HNV - Pro 11:9 -	With his mouth the godless man destroys his neighbor, But the righteous will be delivered through knowledge. ©