Does anyone know if "a god" (John 1:1) has been in any other translation besides Greber and the NWT?
New World Translation Errors
by ClassAvenger 75 Replies latest watchtower bible
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nowisee
"In a beginning was the Word, and the Word was with the God, and a god was the Word." -- emphatic diaglott
"And what God was, the Word was." -- The New English Bible - 1961
"the Logos was divine." -- Moffatt's New Translation of the Bible - 1922
"the Word was divine." -- The Complete Bible - An American Translation (Smith-Goodspeed)
"It was tightly bound up with God, yes itself of divine being." -- Boehmer
"And God the Word was" -- Menge
"And was of divine weightiness." -- Pfaefflin
"And God of a sort the Word was." -- Thimme
the last four are german translators.
by the way, this may be the most helpful thread i have ever read. thanks to everyone.
best wishes, nowisee
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rocketman
I looked up Genesis 1:2 at Bible Gateway, and each translation referenced there uses "Spirit of God" in the rendering. The Contemporary English Version does have a footnote that states "or, a mighty wind". My guess is that the NWT uses that possible rendering and calls it God's "active force", which of course then fits in with their concept of the holy spirit.
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DJ
Thanks nowisee! and Hi my friend!
Do you remember when I told you that I had been trying to learn the Koine Greek? That does it...I am going to dust off my books and get this straight once and for all. There are so many other verses in the bible that prove that Jesus was God imo..but I want to get John 1:1 on my own. Wish me luck err, good fortune..lol..
I recall the jw's teaching me that the Greek translated into English this way: In the beginning was the word and the word was toward the god and the Word was god. If I am remebering that correctly....?? they said that the word "the" before the word "god" in the highlighted portion proved to them that that was God and the second god was "a god" I always hated definite articles in school....lol... but that just doesn't sound right..Didn't YHWH say that before and after Him there were no gods formed (Isa)
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nowisee
hi dj!
i wish you luck...er, good fortune......er,......GOD BLESS!!
love, nowisee
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onacruse
aunthill, I checked every reference to Schroeder given in the 2001 WT CD, and didn't find the comment you mention. If you have more info, I'd be glad to do another search...a statement like that, in writing, would be a great piece of "wake up and smell the roses" for a JW.
nowisee, that's a great list! I just did a search and compilation of the main items I could find on the WT CD, and came up with this:
*** w91 3/1 The “New World Translation”—Scholarly and Honest ***[footnote]
Jürgen Becker, Jeremias Felbinger, Oskar Holtzmann, Friedrich Rittelmeyer, and Siegfried Schulz. Emil Bock says, “a divine being.” See also the English translations Today’s English Version, The New English Bible, Moffatt, Goodspeed.
*** ti p. 27 What About Trinity “Proof Texts”? ***[1989]
*** w88 6/1 p. 17 Accurate Knowledge of God and His Son Leads to Life ***
*** Rbi8 p. 1579 6A Jesus—A Godlike One; Divine ***[1984]
1808: “and the word was a god.” The New Testament, in an Improved Version, Upon the Basis of Archbishop Newcome’s New Translation: With a Corrected Text
1864: “and a god was the Word.” The Emphatic Diaglott, by Benjamin Wilson
1928: “and the Word was a divine being.” La Bible du Centenaire, L’Evangile selon Jean, by Maurice Goguel.
1935 “and the Word was divine” The Bible—An American Translation, by J. M. P. Smith and E. J. Goodspeed
1935: “the Logos was divine.” A New Translation of the Bible, by James Moffatt
1946: “and of a divine kind was the Word.” Das Neue Testament, by Ludwig Thimme
1958: “and the Word was a God.” The New Testament, by James L. Tomanek
1966: “and he was the same as God.” Today’s English Version
1970: “and what God was, the Word was.” The New English Bible
1975: “and a god (or, of a divine kind) was the Word.” Das Evangelium nach Johannes, by Siegfried Schulz
1978: “and godlike sort was the Logos.” Das Evangelium nach Johannes, by Johannes Schneider
1979: “and a god was the Logos” Das Evangelium nach Johannes, by Jürgen Becker
The list of "alternate readings" is rather short, considering that it covers almost 200 years of translations.
DJ, I daresay you'll really enjoy studying Greek. If you'd like some assistance, I'd be glad to help.
As far as the importance of the Greek article is concerned, Dana and Mantey quote Robertson and call it:
...one of the most fascinating fields of liguistic research, for, without doubt, "the development of the Greek article is one of the most interesting things in human speech."
John 1:1 is an excellent example of what the Greek article, or the absence of the article, implies.
Craig
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UnDisfellowshipped
The New World Translation versus The Other Bible Translations:
Genesis 1:2 -- "Active Force" versus "Spirit":
New World Translation: Now the earth proved to be formless and waste and there was darkness upon the surface of [the] watery deep; and God’s active force was moving to and fro over the surface of the waters.
Versus:
King James Version: And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
New King James Version: The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
21st Century King James Version: And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
Modern King James Version: And the earth was without form and empty. And darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved on the face of the waters.
New International Version (NIV): Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
New American Standard Bible (NASB): The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.
1901 American Standard Version: And the earth was waste and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters
The Literal Translation of the Holy Bible: and the earth being without form and empty, and darkness on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God moving gently on the face of the waters,
Revised Standard Version: The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.
World English Bible: Now the earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep. God's Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.
Third Millennium Bible: And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
New Century Version: The earth was empty and had no form. Darkness covered the ocean, and God's Spirit was moving over the water.
Amplified Bible: The earth was without form and an empty waste, and darkness was upon the face of the very great deep. The Spirit of God was moving (hovering, brooding) over the face of the waters.
New Living Translation: The earth was empty, a formless mass cloaked in darkness. And the Spirit of God was hovering over its surface.
English Standard Version: The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
1965 Bible in Basic English: And the earth was waste and without form; and it was dark on the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God was moving on the face of the waters.
Contemporary English Version: The earth was barren, with no form of life; it was under a roaring ocean covered with darkness. But the Spirit of God was moving over the water.
Good News Translation: the earth was formless and desolate. The raging ocean that covered everything was engulfed in total darkness, and the Spirit of God was moving over the water.
GOD'S WORD Translation: The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep water. The Spirit of God was hovering over the water.
"The Message" Translation: Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God's Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss.
1851 Brenton's English Septuagint: But the earth was unsightly and unfurnished, and darkness was over the deep, and the Spirit of God moved over the water.
1889 Darby Bible: And the earth was waste and empty, and darkness was on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
1899 Douay-Rheims Bible: And the earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God moved over the waters.
1833 Webster Bible: And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
1898 Young's Literal Translation: the earth hath existed waste and void, and darkness is on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God fluttering on the face of the waters,
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DJ
Nowisee,
Two of the translations that you have posted seem to me to be saying the Word was God Am I missing something or are you?
"And what God was, the Word was" The New English Bible 1961
"And God the Word was" Menge
love, dj
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UnDisfellowshipped
Hi DJ,
DJ said:
Nowisee,
Two of the translations that you have posted seem to me to be saying the Word was God Am I missing something or are you?
"And what God was, the Word was" The New English Bible 1961
"And God the Word was" Menge
love, dj
Yes, it looks to me like those two Translations are definitely saying that Jesus is God.
Also, it looks like the following two Translations that OnACruise posted also are saying that Jesus is God:
1966: “and he was the same as God.” Today’s English Version
1970: “and what God was, the Word was.” The New English Bible
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nowisee
they are translations the wt used to defend its case in "aid to bible understanding". i do see it the way you do.
love again, nowisee