NWT Hides the Divine Name as Found in W&H
One of the foremost features of the 1948 Macmillan edition of the W&H Greek text is the careful identification and indication of ?Quotations From the Old Testament.? In addition to listing these passages and phrases ?together with references to the places from which they are derived? on pages 601-618, they are ?marked by uncial [ ALL CAPITAL ] type in the text.? So, by observing where W&H used this special ?uncial? typeface, readers can easily spot OT quotations and (if they desire) look up the source in the back. This feature of the W&H text is invaluable in ?determining where the inspired Christian writers have quoted from the Hebrew Scriptures,? yet it does not appear in KIT .
Many translators, such as William F. Beck (The New Testament in the Language of Today: An American Translation), have incorporated this feature into their English translations. Why didn?t the NWT ?
Could it be that KIT omits the special uncial typeface in order to omit or hide the unique, divine name of the Sovereign L ORD of the universe? In the W&H text this name is identifiable in quotations by a special type. Ancient Hebrew scribes also identified this name using special typefaces in the manuscripts they produced. Modern readers of English translations such as Beck?s can also easily locate this name in the OT quotations in the NT. Readers of the NWT , however, are unaware that some uses of the distinctive name of the Supreme Deity are obscured in the translation they use.
Why was W&H not listed as a J-Document? Surely, it qualifies far more than some of those listed. The special typeface employed by W&H (but omitted in KIT ) makes it easy for anyone to ?determine the identity to give to kyrios and theos, and make appropriate use of the personal name.? Consider the following quotations from the LXX:
- 2Th 1:9 ??from before the L ORD and from the glory of his strength, at the time he comes??
- He 1:10 (the Father to the Son) ?You, at the beginning, O L ORD , laid the foundations??
- 1P 2:3 (speaking of the rejected Stone) ?you have tasted that the L ORD is kind.?
- 1P 3:15 ?But the L ORD (who is Christ) you must sanctify??
Watchtower, stop hiding the name!
--