Zechariah 12:10 Corruption in the NWT

by Sea Breeze 3 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  Sea Breeze

  Here's a Question for those who still support Watchtower on this forum. Why did Watchtower leave out the word "me" in Zech. 12:10 ?

  Zechariah 12:10 reads like this:

  And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me (Strong's H853) whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son - Zech. 12:10

  Strong's H853

  אֵת

  Apparently contracted from H226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition...)

  
  

  Since the word "me" is clearly in the original Greek, why did Watchtower leave it out and translate this verse this way? :

  I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of favor and supplication, and they will look to the one whom they pierced, and they will wail over him as they would wail over an only son - Zech. 12: 10 NWT
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  no-zombie

  Sea Breeze,

  while I do understand what you are getting at in your question (the implication being here that that God and Jesus are the same person, which is a kind of proto-Trinity concept) and while I acknowledge that many English translation of this verse does use the word me in this verse, at the same time, and equal number of good Bible translations do not use the word me in that verve, but prefer instead to go with a phrase similar to the one.

  This is because both understandings could be right.

  However as far a I understand, the English translation of the Greek Septuagint (which the gold standard) does use the expression the one. Which would support the position of the NWT.
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  Sea Breeze

  @no-zombie

  Many critics suggest that English translations of the Greek Septuagint might be biased to prevent a messianic interpretation.

  However, the preposition “me” is definitely in the original Hebrew. If you are curious, you can go to http://biblehub.com/interlinear/zechariah/12-10.htm The literal translation of the Hebrew words goes something like this: “they have pierced whom on me and they shall look….”

  I looked up the Septuagint translation of Zechariah 12:10. This is a helpful piece of data because the Septuagint translation was made before the ministry of Jesus. At this point, there was no strong reason for the Jews to have such a biased translation–geared to prevent a messianic interpretation.

  The Septuagint translation has the one who is looked on also being the one who is "mocked" instead of "pierced", but the grammar is clear - "me".
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  no-zombie

  Sea Breeze

  Any translation task is difficult to get right, as there are many linguistic, cultural and historic factor at play. Even dating texts is highly debatable. Its actually recognized as an independent study called paleography ... proving that moving the Bible from one language to another is highly complex and often subjective.

  A number of respected publications that I own, that have helped me come to this understanding, I've listed below for your consideration, namely ...

  Scribes and Scholars: A guide to the Transmission of Greek and Latin Literature by Reynolds and Wilson

  Guardians of Letters: Literacy Power and the Transmitters of Early Christian Literature by Haines-Eitzen

  The Earliest Christian Artifacts: Manuscripts and Christian Origins by Hurtado

  Inside Roman Libraries: Book Collections and Their Management in Antiquity by Houston

  Books and Readers in the Early Church: A History of Early Christian Texts by Gamble

  Ante-Pacem: Archaeological Evidence of Church Life before Constantine by Snyder

  However if you original thought is based up on the whether Zech 12:10 supports the Trinity, my final argument against that view, is based upon the Jewish messianic expectations and identifications. Jews in the first century were expecting a man like King David not God personified. And this view is clearly amplified by all the Christian texts before Constantine, particularly those of the early church up to 200-250CE