Do I understand correctly that the WTS secured the copyright to JB Rotherham's bible translation and that is what they copied for their NWT? Franz knew some hebrew, and some greek, but in my guesstimation nowhere near enough to produce the NWT. So is this where it basically came from... copied then changed to include their doctrinally biased alterations?
One quick note, it really annoys me that my JW friend can't see the logic behind who could produce the better translation...5 guys from the same small religion with no credentials, or over a hundred highly respected scholars and experts from all over the world. Thought you should know so we don't get into it.
Here's another little twist on that. I was there, you know. As the translation committee completed a few books, say, Matthew through Acts, they would bind that sucker and sell the hell out of it. Same with whatever the next few completed books were. Sell the hell out of it. And then of course when they were done, they expected everyone to purchase SEVERAL copies of the completed works.
So not only did they have a built-in audience, they also took the same product and sold it to the same people in several variations, iterations, and any other technique and slieght of hand that would bring in a few extra bucks which, when you're talking about a million or so folks worldwide back in the fifties, you weren't talking chump change.
Francois, I have those individual bindings in my library! They are just sections of the Bible bound in that old green stuff. Remember those? Now I know the story behind them...thank you!
I have decided I won't ever get rid of my library. I wanted to so badly at first, but it is great to refer to all the publications I have when something comes up so I can varify to myself, "Yep, it says it right here in front of my eyes!" It has historical value to me, because even though I'll never be a JW again, that was our entire family history for the past, what, 70 some years?! So I think I'll hang on to just one copy of everything and put them up high where they aren't in our faces, but they are there for references and history's sake. Wonder what ya'll have done? Gotten rid of everything, hung on to everything, or just hung on to a few things? It felt really strange boxing up all the duplicates and all the old mags to set out on the curb! Liberating...but strange!
