I've seen that the NWT has some omitted parts in the bible, although sometimes they are included somewhere else and they say that in that version they were taken out. I was wondering what was the point in doing that. The missing texts are: Matthew 17:21, 18:11, 23:14 ; Mark 7:16, 15:28 ; Luke 17:36, 23:17 ; John 5:4, 7:53, and John 8:1-8:11.
Missing bible texts
by ClassAvenger 4 Replies latest watchtower bible
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NeonMadman
Actually, this isn't as sinister as it might seem.
The chapter and verses used in the King James Version have become traditional, so all modern versions use those divisions. The problem is that, since the time of the translating of the KJV in 1611, thousands more manuscript fragments have been found, and some of them are earlier and/or more reliable than the ones from which the KJV was translated. And certain verses which appeared in the KJV have been found not to be present in the more reliable manuscripts. So most modern translations omit them, or include them as marginal notes only.
More orthodox modern translations, such as the NIV and NASB, tend to restructure the verses immediately around the omitted material so there is no gap, or else just to omit the verse number entirely. The NWT chooses to handle this by including the verse number followed by a blank line (like this: 22 ----- ), which makes it a bit more obvious that something has been omitted, and leads to questions such as yours. If I'm not mistaken, many of the omitted verses are also included in the marginal notes of the NWT.
Of course, the NWT is a horrible translation, as attested by many Greek and Hebrew scholars, but the omitted verses are not evidence of that. Rather, the same verses tend to be omitted by most modern translations.
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gold_morning
Hi,
Neoman answered before me and took the words right out of my mouth. He is very correct. If you looked up these verses in the King James Version ....or Nelsons New American Standard you will see these verses bracketed. IF you look at the footnotes in regards to these verses it will say something like..these verses are not found in ancient manuscripts.
agape love, gold_morning
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ClassAvenger
I understand now. I didn't really think it was something bad, because as you said, in some places they were included as footnotes or on the side. Thanks for the help. I have another question, that maybe does not concern this matter at all, but I would like to know why they put "Holy Ghost" in lowercase letters. I know that maybe you wouldn't like to answer that by yourself, but you can give me a link to a website where I can learn more on this. Thanks for the help.
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onacruse
Hi ClassA
The NWT translates pneuma hagios as "holy spirit" in accord with the best basic meaning of the words. Most 20th-century translations render pneuma as "spirit" rather than "ghost." As an aside, the German NWT renders the Greek as heilegen geist (whence comes the English "ghost").
The upper/lower case decision is based on whether personality is assigned to that "spirit." The Arian theology of the WTS considers the spirit of God to be an impersonal force (merely an energy field, as it were), and therefore no upper case.
Craig