Articles on 1984 Reference Bible: what I remember what my family found "exciting" were the cross references. Only jws with the 1950 to 1960 segments of the NWT had cross references; I remember they had it all bound together a 6 inch deep book.
*** w85 11/1 pp. 27-30 Part 1—Modern Stewardship of God’s Sacred Word ***The New Reference Bible
JEHOVAH’S faithful servants in all ages have relied on the accurate recording and transmission of God’s inspired written Word. During the 1,500 years that the nation of Israel was under the Law covenant, about 30 Israelite penmen were used to record God’s Word in what became the 39 books of the Hebrew Scriptures. One of these penmen, Moses, indicated that these sacred ‘revealed things’ were entrusted to the Israelites as part of their divine education as God’s “holy nation.” (Deuteronomy 29:29; Exodus 19:6) Jesus alluded to the Jews as being the custodians of Scriptural knowledge when he said: “Salvation originates with the Jews.” (John 4:22; Luke 11:52) Paul the apostle confirmed that the Jews “were entrusted with the sacred pronouncements of God.”—Romans 3:2.
During the centuries preceding our Common Era, the Israelites were a literate people. Trained scribes among them produced scrolls containing highly accurate copies of the Sacred Scriptures that then existed, and these were widely distributed both in Palestine itself and among the Jews and proselytes scattered throughout the nations.—1 Chronicles 2:55; Acts 8:4, 27, 28.
A significant event worthy of being noted in the Divine Record occurred in 29 C.E., when Jesus was baptized and became Jehovah’s Anointed One, or Messiah. Thereafter, he proved to be the foremost publisher of sacred truth. (Matthew 4:4, 10, 17) Although Jesus personally did no Bible writing, his words were later written down on scrolls by his loyal disciples under inspiration of the holy spirit. (John 16:13) On the day of Pentecost of 33 C.E., after his resurrection and ascension, Jesus began to organize a new congregation made up of believing Israelites and proselytes. (Acts 2:1-11) Soon, Samaritans and Gentiles were invited to become part of it. Members of this growing international, yet united, congregation came to be called Christians and formed the new spiritual “Israel of God.” (Galatians 6:16; Acts 11:26) This new organization was entrusted with publishing spiritual truth, and Jesus called it “the faithful and discreet slave.”—Matthew 24:45-47; Luke 12:42-44.
In time, eight Jewish members of this congregation were inspired to produce an additional 27 books, this time writing mainly in Greek. (2 Peter 3:15, 16) Thus, the Divine Library’s official catalog of Bible books increased to 66, penned by about 40 inspired natural Jews. Early Christians were eager to publish the Word of God, and Paul reports that in his day the good news had been “preached in all creation that is under heaven.” (Colossians 1:23) Paul also explained that Christians were the new stewards entrusted with “the greatly diversified wisdom of God”—referring not only to the inspired books themselves but also to their message.—Ephesians 3:10.
Bible translator Edgar Goodspeed, in his book Christianity Goes to Press (1940), showed that this zeal to publish lasted well into the second century of our Common Era: “All this presents a picture of the early Christians quite unlike that usually offered by historians. They were to an unusual extent a book-buying and book-reading people. They were also a translating and publishing people. . . . [In 140 C.E.] Christian publishers . . . resorted to the leaf-book form, the codex, and found it so practical . . . and convenient that it became their characteristic book form.”
What about spiritual Israel in our times? True to what Jesus said, his followers have been doing even greater works than he himself did. (John 14:12) Records show that from 1879 to 1984 Jehovah’s modern-day witnesses have distributed more than 8.8 billion tracts, pamphlets, magazines, Bibles, and Bible study aids, all containing spiritual instruction for the world public.
In what other way has the modern “faithful and discreet slave,” assisted since 1935 by “a great crowd” of “other sheep,” acted as the modern steward of the Sacred Scriptures? (Revelation 7:9, 10; John 10:16) Over the past hundred years, members of the anointed remnant have kept abreast of the discoveries of early Bible manuscripts. Eventually an anonymous committee of anointed Witnesses of Jehovah produced, between 1950 and 1960, the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures in English. This was a completely new translation, untouched and unfettered by Christendom’s religious traditions.
In this way the fine fabric of inspired words written thousands of years ago in languages not read by most people today was made available in a new, fresh way. The original printings of the New World Translation also contained helpful footnotes and appendixes, which the New Catholic Encyclopedia of 1967 described as “an impressive critical apparatus.” In time, the New World Translation was made available in several other languages to facilitate accurate Bible study internationally.
At the “Kingdom Increase” District Conventions of Jehovah’s Witnesses, held in the summer of 1984, a new edition of the New World Translationwith references was released in English. This contains not only a revision of the New World Translation text but also 125,000 marginal, or cross, references, as an aid in Bible study. Additionally, there are more than 11,400 enlightening footnotes, containing vital textual information as well as alternate renderings, that make this Reference Bible,in effect, a multiversion translation. There are indexes of Bible and footnote words, and 43 Appendix sections giving important information about the transmission of the text and Bible authenticity. Truly, this new Reference Bible makes up-to-date Bible scholarship available to the student of the Sacred Scriptures.
Earth wide, the Watch Tower Society has a large staff of loyal, careful translators who are busy at this time preparing versions of the Reference Bible in other principal languages. As a person makes use of its several reference systems, he will enjoy learning why various Bible texts need to be rendered in certain ways so as to be accurate. Consider some examples.
The Name Jehovah
The value of the footnotes and the appendix sections in the Reference Bible is seen in connection with the divine name, Jehovah. This name first appears at Genesis 2:4, and here is what a footnote to that verse says: “The first occurrence of God’s distinctive personal name,
יהוה (YHWH); these four Heb[rew] letters are referred to as the Tetragrammaton. The divine name identifies Jehovah as the Purposer. Only the true God could rightly and authentically bear this name. See App 1A.”
Turning to Appendix 1A, we find the title: “The Divine Name in the Hebrew Scriptures.” Under this title, the appendix shows that the New World Translation renders YHWH as Jehovah all 6,827 times that it occurs in the traditional Hebrew text. It also adds 146 warranted restorations, making a grand total of 6,973 times that the name Jehovah appears from Genesis to Malachi. No other Bible translation gives this rightful place to Jehovah’s name. That alone makes the New World Translation superior to all others.
People of the Nations Must Make Active Response
The New World Translation gives serious consideration to preserving verb forms so as to increase accurate understanding. For example, in Genesis 22:18 we read: “By means of your seed all nations of the earth will certainly bless themselves.” There is an asterisk beside the phrase “will certainly bless themselves,” referring us to a footnote that says: “The Heb[rew] verb is in the reflexive, or hith·pa·‘el ′ form.”
Most Bible translations render these words in a way similar to the King James Version, which says: “In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” Incorrectly, such renderings convey the idea that Jehovah’s blessing will come automatically, whereas the Hebrew form here indicates that the people of the nations must “bless themselves.” They must make the effort to meet Jehovah’s requirements in order to receive his blessings through faith in the Messianic Seed, Jesus Christ.
This has great meaning for us today. Members of the “great crowd” must take positive steps in order to gain life. By means of actively exercising their faith in Jesus Christ, ‘they wash their robes in the blood of the lamb.’—Revelation 7:14.
The Numbering of the Ten Commandments
The New World Translation footnotes give helpful information as to why differences exist between it and some other translations and why its renderings are reliable. For example, what is the proper way of dividing the text of the Ten Commandments? These commandments are found in the Bible in Exodus 20:1-17. In the Reference Bible, each separate commandment is written as a separate paragraph. Thus, the first commandment takes in verses 2 and 3. The second is covered in verses 4 to 6. The third is found in verse 7, and so forth. Not all would agree with this way of dividing the commandments. Hence, how do we know that it is correct?
A footnote to Exodus 20:17 gives this explanation: “This division of the Ten Commandments, vss 2-17, is the natural division. It agrees with the first-century C.E. Jewish historian Josephus . . . who divide[d] off vs 3 as the first commandment, vss 4-6 as the second commandment and vs 17, which forbids all covetousness, as the tenth commandment. Others, including Augustine, consider vss 3-6 as one commandment but divide vs 17 into two commandments, the ninth against coveting a fellowman’s house and the tenth against coveting his living possessions . . . Augustine’s division has been adopted by the Roman Catholic religious system.” However, the New World Translation follows the “natural division” of Exodus chapter 20 as presented above. Thus the prohibition against making and bowing down to images receives due emphasis as the second commandment.
Added Portions From the
Septuagint
In preparing the New World Translation, editions of the Greek Septuagint, the Syriac Peshitta, the Latin Vulgate and several other early manuscripts were examined. For example, observe Habakkuk 2:4. In the second half of this verse, the main text reads: “But as for the righteous one, by his faithfulness he will keep living.” This represents what appears in the traditional Hebrew text. However, the footnote to these words indicates that the Greek Septuagint translation contains additional material not found in the Hebrew text: “If anyone shrinks back my soul . . . has no pleasure in him.” This is of interest when we note that the apostle Paul quoted from Habakkuk 2:4, writing in his letter to the Hebrews: “‘But my righteous one will live by reason of faith,’ and, ‘if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.’” (Hebrews 10:38) Hence, Paul’s quotation included the additional words found in the Septuagint version.
This reminds us of the fact that Paul and other writers of the inspired Christian Greek Scriptures often used the Septuagint version when quoting from earlier inspired writings. Since this version varies in some places from the traditional Hebrew text, their quotations sometimes contain material that is not found in the Hebrew text (as in the above example). In using this variant material, the Christian Bible writers made it part of the inspired record, and in such cases the footnotes in the Reference Bible are an invaluable aid in identifying the sources of quotations.
The above are only a few examples of the thousands of footnotes available in the Hebrew Scriptures section of the new Reference Bible. All these references support the accuracy and clarity of the New World Translation and its value in promoting Bible education. In the next issue of The Watchtower, interesting footnote information taken from the Christian Greek Scriptures, as found in the new Reference Bible, will be presented. Truly, there proves to be a modern stewardship of God’s Sacred Word.
*** w85 11/15 pp. 28-31 Part 2—Spiritual Gems From the Christian Greek Scriptures ***The New Reference Bible
IN THE Watchtower issue of November 1, 1985, consideration was given to the 1984 edition of the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures—With References. It was shown that in this publication Jehovah’s anointed remnant, loyal to their stewardship of the Holy Scriptures, have provided a faithful translation of the Bible as well as supportive references for use in a worldwide spiritual education program. The first article dealt mainly with the Hebrew Scriptures. This second article will consider how the Reference Bible offers further choice spiritual gems in the Christian Greek section of the Bible.
In its introduction (page 7, column 1, paragraph 4) the Reference Bible says: “Special care was taken in translating Hebrew and Greek verbs in order to capture the simplicity, warmth, character and forcefulness of the original expressions. An effort was made to preserve the flavor of the ancient Hebrew and Greek times, the people’s way of thinking, reasoning and talking, their social dealings, etc.” Let us see how this is so.
Verbs of Continuous Action
The writers of the Christian Greek Scriptures were careful and precise in their choice of words. This is demonstrated in the account of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Several times in the original, a form of the verb is used that indicates continuous action, and this is faithfully represented in the translation. Thus, at Matthew 6:33 the New World Translation renders the opening words in this way: “Keep on, then, seeking first the kingdom.” The footnote to the verse suggests an alternative rendering: “Or, ‘Be you seeking.’ . . . The verb form indicates continuous action.”
Most other Bible translations ignore the continuous aspect of this verb. The King James Version, for example, renders it: “Seek ye first the kingdom.” However, such a translation fails to capture the precision of Jesus’ counsel. He did not imply that we should seek the Kingdom once or twice and then go on to other things. Rather, we should seek it continuously. It should always be first in our lives.
In Matthew 7:7 Jesus used this continuous form three times in this one verse, with emphatic meaning: “Keep on asking, and it will be given you; keep on seeking, and you will find; keep on knocking, and it will be opened to you.” These careful Bible renderings provide gems of truth that sparkle with consistency.
Skillful Use of Negatives
The Bible writers were skillful in their use of negatives. Notice in the New World Translation the careful rendering of Jesus’ further counsel in the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 6:16 he is recorded as saying: “When you are fasting, stop becoming sad-faced like the hypocrites.” Most other translations render this expression by a simple negative: “When ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance.” (KJ) This rendering implies ‘do not start looking sad.’ However, the Bible writer used here a negative command in the present (continuous) tense. In Greek, that has a specific meaning. The action is currently going on and must cease. The New World Translation observes this fine point, which is ignored by most other translations. Note some further examples of such careful translation: “Stop storing up for yourselves treasures.” (Matthew 6:19) “Stop judging that you may not be judged.”—Matthew 7:1.
While considering the subject of negatives, notice the use of negative commands where the Bible writers used the aorist tense. In Greek, this tense indicates that the actions are prohibited at any given moment or time. Hence, Jesus told his hearers: “So, never be anxious [that is, do not be anxious at any moment] about the next day.” (Matthew 6:34) Here again, most translations use some form of simple negative such as, “Do not be anxious.” (The New English Bible) However, such a translation misses the full force of the original. The Bible’s emphatic language is similarly preserved for us in the phrase: “Never be anxious and say, ‘What are we to eat?’” (Matthew 6:31) These are a few jewels of careful translation.
Participate in Christian Activity
Often the alternative renderings of verbs that are found in the footnotes of the Reference Bible reveal new shades of meaning in a Bible verse. Take for example Paul’s counsel to the Philippians found at Philippians 1:27: “Only behave in a manner worthy of the good news about the Christ.” This is similar to the rendering found in other translations. For example, the New International Version reads: “Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.” And The New English Bible says: “Let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ.” However, in the Reference Bible there is a footnote to the word “behave” that opens up a much deeper understanding of what that counsel would have meant to the Philippians. The footnote gives an alternative rendering of the word “behave”: “Or, ‘carry on as citizens.’”
The Greek word that is here translated “behave” is derived from a word meaning “citizen.” The Philippians were to participate as “citizens” in declaring the good news. It must be remembered that Roman citizens generally took an active part in the affairs of the State, and Roman citizenship was highly prized—particularly, as in the case of Philippi, by cities outside Italy whose inhabitants had been granted citizenship by Rome. So, as the Reference Bible footnote helps us to understand, Paul is here telling Christians that they must not be inactive, merely nominal Christians. They must also participate in Christian activity, thereby proving themselves worthy of the good news. This deeper understanding is in harmony with Paul’s later words to the Philippians: “As for us, our citizenship exists in the heavens.”—Philippians 3:20.
Abraham “Attempted to Offer Up” Isaac
As observed previously, a clearer understanding is possible when the Greek verbs are carefully rendered into English. Consider the important text at Hebrews 11:17. The King James Version renders this verse as follows: “Abraham when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he . . . offered up his only begotten son.” From that rendering, one would think that the verb “offered up” appeared in the same way in both instances in the Greek.
However, the Greek verb form differs in these two occurrences. In the first case, the verb “offer up” is in the perfect (completed) tense, whereas the second “offer up” is in the imperfect (past continuous) form. These verb tenses have many subtle meanings in Greek, and the New World Translation endeavors to bring them out by its rendering of the text: “Abraham, when he was tested, as good as offered up Isaac, and the man . . . attempted to offer up his only-begotten son.” There is a footnote to the first occurrence of the verb that gives an alternative rendering: “Or, ‘Abraham, when being tried, has (as it were) offered.’” And a footnote to the second verb suggests a second way that this verb in the imperfect form could be expressed: “Or, ‘proceeded.’” Thus, the verse could read: “The man . . . proceeded to offer up.” In this way, the Greek verb indicates that the action was intended or attempted but not carried out to completion. This is in harmony with what actually happened.—Genesis 22:9-14.
The “Wall in Between”
The footnotes in the Reference Bible also provide helpful information taken from other works of Bible scholarship. Consider, for example, Paul’s use of the term “wall in between,” found at Ephesians 2:14. The Reference Bible footnote reads: “An allusion to the wall in the area of the temple that fenced off the unsanctified Gentile worshipers from entering the inner courtyards that were open only to the sanctified Jewish worshipers. According to the Mishnah (translated by Danby, 1950, p. 592), the stone barrier was called ‘the Soreg.’ This wall was said to be 1.3 m (4.3 ft) high. See App 9F.”
Paul nicely argues in the context of Ephesians 2:14 that this “wall in between,” the Soreg in Herod’s temple of Jesus’ day, pictured the prior legal separation between Jews and Gentiles by reason of the Law covenant made through Moses. But now this wall that separates, the Law covenant, has been put away because of Christ’s sacrifice, which has sanctifying power to cleanse even Gentiles. (Colossians 2:13-15) Since 36 C.E., when believing Gentiles were joined to the congregation of Christian Jews, such Gentiles became anointed and sanctified ones as part of the spiritual “Israel of God.” (Galatians 6:16) These Gentiles, now cleansed, were also a part of the heavenly sanctuary class, pictured by those who walked in the inner courtyards of the temple. No more were the Gentile Christians handicapped in their relationship to Jehovah by being confined to the outer courtyard known as the Court of the Gentiles.
Declaring the Good News “From House to House”
Many have criticized Jehovah’s Witnesses for their global, effective house-to-house preaching work. Yet, there is a clear pattern set by the apostles and early Christians. In Acts 5:42, we read of their activity: “Every day in the temple and from house to house they continued without letup teaching and declaring the good news.”
There is a comment in the footnote of the Reference Bible about the phrase “from house to house.” Here is what it says: “Lit., ‘according to house.’ Gr[eek], kat’ oi
′ kon. Here ka·ta ′ is used with the accusative sing[ular] in the distributive sense. R. C. H. Lenski, in his work The Interpretation of The Acts of the Apostles, Minneapolis (1961), made the following comment on Ac 5:42: ‘Never for a moment did the apostles cease their blessed work. “Every day” they continued, and this openly “in the Temple” where the Sanhedrin and the Temple police could see and hear them, and, of course, also [kat’ oi ′ kon ], which is distributive, “from house to house,” and not merely adverbial, “at home.”’”
Helpful Marginal References
When reading the Scriptures, one often finds that the Bible writer is quoting a passage from another part of the Scriptures or making an allusion to another passage in the Bible. In such cases, the Reference Bible can be very helpful. Its system of marginal references directs the student to other places where the subject is mentioned.
Consider Jesus’ encounter with his Adversary, Satan, recorded at Matthew 4:3-11. In verse 4 Jesus counters Satan’s first temptation by saying: “It is written, ‘Man must live, not on bread alone, but on every utterance coming forth through Jehovah’s mouth.’” The reference indicates that Jesus was here quoting a scripture, found in our Bibles in Deuteronomy 8:3. Satan presented Jesus with a second temptation, trying to support it by asserting: “It is written, ‘He will give his angels a charge concerning you, and they will carry you on their hands, that you may at no time strike your foot against a stone.’” Where did Satan find those words? The marginal reference directs the student to Psalm 91:11, 12. Yes, Satan was quoting scripture, acting as “an angel of light.” (2 Corinthians 11:14) Jesus replied, “Again it is written, ‘You must not put Jehovah your God to the test.’” This also was a scripture quotation, but correctly applied. From where was it quoted? The marginal reference points us to Deuteronomy 6:16. When tempted for the third time, Jesus again quoted scripture. From where? From Deuteronomy 6:13, according to the marginal reference. Many other similarly helpful services are rendered by the 125,000 marginal references found in the Reference Bible.
From these samples one can see that the new Reference Bible heightens the beauty of the New World Translation by revealing its many accurate renderings of spiritual truths.
