Peculiar NWT rendering: System of Things (page 2)

MissingLink

Cults need their own terminology to set them apart from the "others".

DanTheMan

I've seen the NWT described as a "wooden" translation, which is apt. Accuracy issues aside, just reading it gives you a feel for Freddie Franz's very odd personality.

seek2find

A favorite of mine is Heb. 11:13 the NWT uses the word "land" and all the other translations I've compared use the term earth. But the process is reversed at Psalms 37:29 seek2find

I suppose Piety has a christendom ring from which the WTS has wanted to be differenciated, so they contrived Godly devotion, or is it that they are afraid JWs are too ignorant to understand what Piety means ?

Hortensia

I always hated the word "inculcate." And "redound." Anyone remember when they kept using that in the WT?

IP_SEC

actually methinks aion is embar to christians in general as it is a zodiacal term.

dinah

Everytime I hear my Mom say something about "this old system of things" I wanna puke. I hate that! I have cleared all the JW speak out of my vocabulary. Prolly should learn more words than the 7 you can't say on television.

Ippy, WTF happened to LSU Saturday?

Athanasius

Hi Dinah. I agree with you. My mom is a JW and everytime she mentions "this old system of things," I also want to barf.

And, Dan the Man, you are so right. The NWT is a one man translation and thus reflects Freddy Franz's idiosyncrasies. Since Freddy ended his secular education in 1913 and thereafter led a cloistered life, his Bible version contains phrases and terminology that were common in the 1890s and early 1900s. For example 1 Timothy 6:18 NWT says: "To work at good, to be rich in fine works, to be liberal, ready to share." J. N. Darby, who completed his translation of the Bible in 1890 also uses the term "liberal" in verse 18. However, the New Revised Standard Version translates 1 Timothy 6:18: " They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share." I don't know of a single modern English Bible version that uses "liberal" in place of "generous" in this verse. Another example is Daniel 4:14 where Freddy uses the word "boughs" where the NRSV and other modern language Bibles use "branches." The English language has changed a lot since 1890, but the problem with the NWT is that Freddy didn't adapt to the changing times.

Because of the awkwardness of the translation, I was embarrassed to use the NWT in the field service, prefering the New International Version and using the excuse that by using the NIV at the door the householder couldn't say we only use our own Bible.

kurtbethel

In Collosians 1, "all things" is rendered as "all [other] things", which greatly changes the meaning and is not in the original language.

How can you trust a translation that does this?

I have found the NWT to be more verbose than the NIV, with sometimes awkward grammar construction.

Peculiar NWT rendering: System of Things