New World Translation - Variants

by Wonderment 16 Replies latest watchtower bible

  • Wonderment
    Wonderment

    New World Translation - Variants

    Tentative translations below. You native language experts can probably do better than me. If so, help yourself.


    Matthew 24.3,
    English Edition: “what will be the sign of... the conclusion of the system of things?”
    French, 1987: “quel sera le signe de… la conclusion du système de choses” (...the system of things)
    French Revised: “quel sera le signe de… la période finale du monde?” (…the final period of the world)
    German Revised: “und den Abschluss des Weltsystems erkennen?” (the conclusion of the world system)
    Spanish Revised: “qué señal habrá... de la conclusión del sistema?” (…conclusion of the system)

    Matthew 24.45, "the faithful and discreet slave":
    Italian Revised: “lo schiavo fedele e saggio” = “the faithful and wise slave”
    Portuguese Revised: “o escravo fiel e prudente” = “the faithful and prudent slave”
    Spanish Revised, “el esclavo fiel y prudente” = “the faithful and prudent slave”

    Matthew 25.46,
    (English Edition), “cutting-off” contrasted with “everlasting life” in the same verse.
    (French Revised): “la mort éternelle” = “eternal death
    (Spanish Revised): “destrucción eterna” = “eternal destruction

    John 1.1,
    French, 1987: “et la Parole était dieu” = “and the Word was god
    French, Revised: “et la Parole était un dieu” = “and the Word was a god”
    Portuguese, 1986: “e a Palavra era [um] deus” = “and the Word was a god” (Brackets theirs.)
    Portuguese Revised: “e a Palavra era um deus” = “and the Word was a god”

    John 8.58, (I am: KJV; NIV, etc. NWT: "I have been")
    French, 1987: “Avant qu'Abraham soit venu à l'existence, j´étais” (...I was)
    French Revised: “avant qu’Abraham vienne à l’existence, j’ai été” (... I was, or … I,ve been, I have been)
    Italian, 1967: “io sono stato” = “I have been
    Italian, 1987: “Prima che Abraamo venisse all'esistenza, io ero” (… I was, I have been)
    Italian, 2017: “prima che Abraamo nascesse, io c’ero” = “I was, I was there
    Portuguese Revised: “Antes de Abraão vir à existência, eu já existia” (… I already existed)
    Spanish Revised: “antes de que Abrahán naciera, yo ya existía” (… I already existed)

    Revelation 3.14,
    English Edition: “the beginning of the creation by God”
    French Revised: “le commencement de la création de Dieu” = “the beginning of the creation of God”
    German Revised: “der Anfang der Schöpfung Gottes” = “the beginning of the creation of God”
    Italian Revised: “il principio della creazione di Dio” = “the beginning of the creation of God”
    Portuguese Revised: “o princípio da criação de Deus” = “the beginning of the creation of God”
    Spanish Revised: “el principio de la creación de Dios” = “the beginning of the creation of God”







  • slimboyfat
    slimboyfat

    Very interesting, particularly the French final period of the world. I wonder if the other languages have followed (or preceded) English in getting rid of “impaled” and restoring “elders” instead of “older men”. Have they eliminated “mentally diseased” as well?

  • Wonderment
    Wonderment

    slimboyfat: I wonder if the other languages have followed (or preceded) English in getting rid of “impaled” and restoring “elders” instead of “older men”. Have they eliminated “mentally diseased” as well?


    Mark 15.13, 1951 Edition, “Impale him!” > (Footnote: “Or, Fasten(ed) on a stake or pole.”)
    2013 Edition: “To the stake with him!”
    Modern Greek, 1993 & 2018: “Κρέμασέ τον στο ξύλο!” = “Hang him on the wood”

    French, 1987: “Attache-le sur un poteau!” = “Fix [attach] him to a post”
    French, 2018: “Au poteau!” = “To the pole [post]!”
    German, 1986 & 2018: “An den Pfahl mit ihm!” = “To the stake with him!”
    Italian, 1987 & 2017: “Al palo!” = “To the pole!”
    Portuguese, 1986 & 2015: “Para a estaca com ele!” = “To the stake with him!”
    Spanish, 1963 & 2019: “¡Al madero con él!” = “To the stake with him!”

    1 Timothy 6.4
    , NWT 1951: “mentally diseased.” 2013 Edition: “obsessed.”
    French, 2018: “passion maladive” = “unhealthy passion”
    German, 1986: “geistig krank” = “mentally ill [deseased]”
    German 2018: “besessen” = “obsessed”
    Modern Greek, 1997: “ασθενεί διανοητικά” = “mentally ill [deseased]”
    Modern Greek 2017: “εμμονή” = “obsessed”
    Italian, 1987: “mentalmente malato” = “mentally ill”
    Italian, 2017: “ossessionato” = “obsessed”
    Portuguese, 1986: “mania” = “mania [craze, habit]”
    Portuguese 2015: “obcecado” = “obsessed”
    Spanish, 1963: “mentalmente enfermo” = “mentally diseased”
    Spanish, 2019: “obsesionado” = “obsessed”

    Acts 15.4, NWT 1951: “the older men [Greek, presbytéron].” 2013 Edition: “the elders.”
    French, 1987 & 2018: “et les anciens” = “and the elders”
    German, 1986: “und den älteren Männern” = “an the older men”
    German, 2018: “und den Ältesten” = “and the elders”
    Greek, 1997 & 2017: “και οι πρεσβύτεροι” = “and the elders”
    Italian, 1987 & 2017: “gli anziani” = “the elders”
    Portuguese, 1986 & 2015: “anciãos” = “the elders”
    Spanish, 1963: “los hombres de mayor edad” = “the older men”
    Spanish, 2019: “los ancianos” = “the elders”

  • Doug Mason
  • BluesBrother
    BluesBrother

    I recall hearing an audio from one of Ray Franz's associates , a Chris Sanches who had been involved in the original translation of The NWT into Spanish.. He maintained that the forward contained "a lie" , when it said this Bible has been translated from the original languages. In fact it was taken from the English NWT of the time.

  • Wonderment
    Wonderment

    BluesBrother:

    I recall hearing an audio from one of Ray Franz's associates , a Chris Sanches who had been involved in the original translation of The NWT into Spanish. He maintained that the [Foreword] contained "a lie", when it said this Bible has been translated from the original languages. In fact it was taken from the English NWT of the time.


    This is what the 1963 Spanish New Testament of the Watchtower claimed in its inside title page: "The Christian Greek Scriptures were "translated from the English version of 1961, but faithfully consulting the ancient Greek text."

    Also, I have compared the Spanish WT NT in numerous places with both the English and the Greek Text, and I find that overall they followed the English version faithfully as they claimed. However, occasionally, they chose to deviate from the English version in favor of the Greek Text reading. In all, I believe Chris Sanchez did not give all the details. This does not necessarily mean that he lied, but it is possible that some unnamed editor went over the translated New Testament and made some changes to it. This is something they have also claimed, by the way.
  • Doug Mason
    Doug Mason

    No one knows what was originally written. No one alive, that is.

    I do not know which source was used for the NWT OT.

    The text that the KJV NT is based on is known as the Textus Receptus, prepared in some haste by Erasmus. I leave you to Google for information about him and that text.

    A couple of 19th century Christendom priests decided they did not like the Textus Receptus, so they produced their own. Their surnames were Westcott and Hort. It is very interesting to search the www with expressions such as: Westcott Hort beliefs.

    After seeing what these two Trinitarians were up to, note that "The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures" states that its Greek text comes from Westcott and Hort.

    More recent NT texts are available, such as Nestle/Aland.

    They might have come from the original languages -- Aramaic, Hebrew, Greek, etc., but that does not guarantee the veracity of those sources, which requires the expertise of scholars in Lower (Textual) Criticism, such as Emanuel Tov.

    Doug

  • slimboyfat
    slimboyfat

    Thank you for the comparisons Wonderment—it’s appreciated.

  • Earnest
    Earnest

    Doug Mason : I do not know which source was used for the NWT OT.

    In Appendix A3 of the Study Edition of the New World Translation it identifies the sources used for the NWT OT:

    Hebrew Text: The New World Translation of the Hebrew Scriptures (1953-1960) was based on Biblia Hebraica, by Rudolf Kittel. Since that time, updated editions of the Hebrew text, namely, Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia and Biblia Hebraica Quinta, have included recent research based on the Dead Sea Scrolls and other ancient manuscripts. These scholarly works reproduce the Leningrad Codex in the main text along with footnotes that contain comparative wording from other sources, including the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Greek Septuagint, the Aramaic Targums, the Latin Vulgate, and the Syriac Peshitta. Both Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia and Biblia Hebraica Quinta were consulted when preparing the present revision of the New World Translation.

    Doug Mason: ...note that "The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures" states that its Greek text comes from Westcott and Hort.

    In the Foreword of The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures, pp.8,9 it says :

    The Greek text that we have used as the basis of our New World Translation is the widely accepted Westcott and Hort text (1881), by reason of its admitted excellence.* But we have also taken into consideration other texts, including that prepared by D. Eberhard Nestle,** the Spanish Jesuit scholar Jose Maria Bover,*** and another Jesuit scholar, A. Merk.**** The UBS text of 1975 and the Nestle-Aland text of 1979 were consulted to update the critical apparatus of this edition.

    Footnote *: Besides using the 1948 Macmillan Company edition of this text, we have availed ourselves of the two exhaustive volumes on Matthew and Mark, prepared under the supervision of S. C. E. Legg, A.M., and published by the Oxford Clarendon Press, Novum Testamentum Graece Secundum Textum Westcotto-Hortianum - Evangelium Secundum Matthaeum (1940) and Evangelium Secundum Marcum (1935).

    Footnote **: The 18th edition of Novum Testamentum Graece by D. Eberhard Nestle, elaborated by D. Erwin Nestle, published in 1948 by the Wurttemberg Bible Socicty, Stuttgart, Germany.

    Footnote ***: Novi Testamenti Biblia Graeca et Latina by Joseph M. Bover, SJ, dated 1943 and published at Barcelona, Spain.

    Footnote ****: The 1948 printing of the sixth edition of Novum Testamentum Graece et Latine by Augustinus Merk, S.J., and printed at Rome, Italy.

    Doug Mason: They might have come from the original languages ...but...the veracity of those sources, requires the expertise of scholars in Lower (Textual) Criticism, such as Emanuel Tov.

    Westcott, Hort and Lightfoot were the leading textual critics of their day. Before criticising them have a read through Hort's Introduction and Appendix to get a flavour of their expertise.

    Their work was of such a high standard that 100 years later Bruce Metzger was reported in Bible Interpreters of the 20th Century, as saying (p.264):

    “The international committee that produced the United Bible Societies Greek New Testament, not only adopted the Westcott and Hort edition as its basic text, but followed their methodology in giving attention to both external and internal consideration”

  • Doug Mason
    Doug Mason

    Thanks for the details, Earnest.

    As we both point out, the WTS's NT is based on the 19th century Greek text created by "interesting" people.

    Doug

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