The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (NWT, also simply NW) is a translation of the Bible published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society; it is used and distributed by Jehovah's Witnesses."Are All Religions Good?", The Watchtower, August 1, 2009, p. 4, "Jehovah's Witnesses, produce a reliable Bible translation known as the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures. However, if you are not one of Jehovah's Witnesses, you may prefer to use other translations" The New Testament portion was released in 1950 as the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures, with the first revised edition of the complete New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures released in 1961.
It is not the first Bible to be published by the Watch Tower Society, but it is its first translation into English. Commentators have noted that scholarly effort went into producing the translation, but many have described it as biased.
History
Until the release of the New World Translation, Jehovah's Witnesses in English-speaking countries primarily used the King James Version.The Watchtower, November 1, 1959, p. 672: "Up until 1950 the teachings of Jehovah's witnesses were based mainly upon the King James Version of the Bible": "The King James Bible was used by the Witnesses prior to the release of their own version, which began with the Greek Scriptures, in 1950" According to the publishers, one of the main reasons for producing a new translation was that most Bible versions in common use, including the Authorized Version (King James), employed archaic language. The stated intention was to produce a fresh translation, free of archaisms."Announcements", The Watchtower, August 1, 1954, p. 480 Additionally, over the centuries since the King James Version was produced, more copies of earlier manuscripts of the original texts in the Hebrew and Greek languages had become available. According to the publishers, better manuscript evidence had made it possible to determine with greater accuracy what the original writers intended, particularly in more obscure passages, allowing linguists to better understand certain aspects of the original languages."Bible Knowledge Made Plain Through Modern Translation", The Watchtower, October 15, 1961, p. 636
A fresh translation of the New Testament, which Jehovah's Witnesses usually refer to as the Christian Greek Scriptures, was proposed in October 1946 by the president of the Watch Tower Society, Nathan H. Knorr."Part Three—How the Bible Came to Us", The Watchtower, October 15, 1997, p. 11, "With this objective, associates of the Society set out in 1946 to produce a fresh translation of the Scriptures. A translation committee of experienced anointed Christians was organized to produce the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures in English." Work began on December 2, 1947, when the "New World Bible Translation Committee" was formed, composed of Jehovah's Witnesses who professed to be anointed."Stand Complete and With Firm Conviction—The New World Translation Appreciated by Millions Worldwide", The Watchtower, November 15, 2001, p. 7."How the Governing Body Differs From a Legal Corporation:, The Watchtower, January 15, 2001, p. 30. The Watch Tower Society is said to have "become aware" of the committee's existence a year later. The committee agreed to turn over its translation to the Society for publication"New Bible Translation Completed, Released", The Watchtower, October 1, 1960, p. 599. and on September 3, 1949, Knorr convened a joint meeting of the board of directors of both the Watch Tower Society's New York and Pennsylvania corporations where he again announced to the directors the existence of the committee"New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures", The Watchtower, September 15, 1950, p. 315. and that it was now able to print its new modern English translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures. Several chapters of the translation were read to the directors, who then voted to accept it as a gift. The New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures was released at a Jehovah's Witness convention at Yankee Stadium, New York, on August 2, 1950; a revised edition was released on May 1, 1951New world Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures, May 1, 1951, p. 4
The translation of the Old Testament, which Jehovah's Witnesses refer to as the Hebrew Scriptures, was released in five volumes in 1953, 1955, 1957, 1958, and 1960. The first revision of the complete New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures was released as a single volume in 1961, and has since undergone various revisions.Watchtower October 1st, 1960 p. 601 para. 13 Cross references that had appeared in the six separate volumes were updated and included in the complete volume in the 1984 revision.Foreword, New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, 1984.
In 1961, the Watch Tower Society began to translate the New World Translation into Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish; the New Testament in these languages was released simultaneously in July 1963 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. By 1989, the New World Translation was translated into eleven languages, with more than 56,000,000 copies printed.All Scripture is Inspired of God and Beneficial 1990 p. 331
For many years, the New World Translation was thought to be the Watch Tower Society's first original translation of ancient Biblical Hebrew, Koine Greek, and Old Aramaic biblical texts, until the re-discovery of the German ("Magdeburg Bible"), formally called ("The Holy Scriptures").
Translators
The New World Translation was produced by the New World Bible Translation Committee, formed in 1947. This committee is said to have comprised unnamed members of multinational backgrounds. The committee requested that the Watch Tower Society not publish the names of its members,The Watchtower, September 15, 1950, p. 320Walsh vs Honorable James Latham, Court of Session Scotland, 1954, cross examination of Frederick Franz pp. 90–92 stating that they did not want to "advertise themselves but let all the glory go to the Author of the Scriptures, God,"The Watchtower, November 15, 1950, p. 454 adding that the translation, "should direct the reader, not to the translators, but to the Bible’s Author, Jehovah God".The Watchtower, December 15, 1974, p. 768. The publishers stated that "the particulars of [the New World Bible Translation Committee's members] university or other educational training are not the important thing" and that "the translation testifies to their qualification".
In 1964, Bruce M. Metzger wrote: "on the whole, one gains a tolerably good impression of the scholarly equipment of the translators (their names are not divulged) [...] Frequently an intelligent use of a critical information is apparent".
In 1974, William I. and Joan Cetnar, who had worked at the Watchtower Society's headquarters, stated that Nathan H. Knorr, Fredrick W. Franz, Albert D. Schroeder, George D. Gangas and Milton G. Henschel used to meet with the translation committee. The Cetnars said that only Franz had the necessary qualifications to act as critical biblical translators. Raymond Franz, a former member of the Governing Body and of the denomination until 1981, identified four members of the translation team. In 1983, in his book Crisis of Conscience, he listed Knorr, Franz, Schroeder and Gangas as members of the translation team, adding that only Frederick Franz had sufficient knowledge in biblical languages.: "[Frederick] Franz is a language scholar of no mean ability—he supervised the translation of the Bible from the original languages into the New World Translation, completed in 1961". In 1998, Greg G. Stafford said that the composition of the translation committee cannot be established with certainty, and that even if Franz were a member without knowledge of Hebrew, this would not preclude his knowledge of Koine Greek or diminish the qualifications of other members.
In 2003, Jason BeDuhn noted, "the members of the translation team remain anonymous, just as they do for the NKJB and the Lockman Foundation's NASB". In 2003, William E. Paul said that "although not openly so advertised, it appears Franz was the leading translator of the Jehovah's Witnesses' Bible translation". In 2008, George D. Chryssides opines that George D. Gangas "was proficient in Greek, and it is speculated that he was a member of the New World Translation Committee". In 2016, Chryssides observes that, the translation committee apparently did not possess formal academic qualifications in Hebrew or Greek—credentials typically regarded as necessary for undertaking a task of such complexity—they nevertheless produced an independent translation of the Bible; he notes this outcome as significant, as it appears to challenge the assumption that such work can only be effectively completed by individuals with specialist academic expertise.
Revisions
In 1970, the translation was revised, with the publisher citing changes in modern English usage and a better understanding of the Hebraic and Greek languages.wol.jw.org, "Your Bible—How It Was Produced", 1981 In 1971, footnotes were added. In 1981, another revision was released, which included a concordance and appendix. A large-print edition was released in 1984.
At the Watch Tower Society's annual meeting on October 5, 2013, a significantly revised translation was released. Referring to the new revision, the publishers stated, "There are now about 10 percent fewer English words in the translation. Some key Biblical terms were revised. Certain chapters were changed to poetic format, and clarifying footnotes were added to the regular edition."JW.org, "The 2013 Revision of the New World Translation" The Pericope Adulterae (John 7:53 – 8:11) and the Short and Long Conclusions of Mark 16 (Mark 16:8–20)—offset from the main text in earlier editions—were removed. The new revision was also released as part of an app called JW Library."Jehovah's Witnesses distribute free Bibles", The Daytona Beach News-Journal, October 26, 2013 The 2013 edition of the New World Translation has been translated, in whole or in part, into more than 326 languages.
Translation
According to the Watch Tower Society, the New World Translation attempts to convey the intended sense of original-language words according to the context. The original New World Translation employs nearly 16,000 English expressions to translate about 5,500 biblical Greek terms, and over 27,000 English expressions to translate about 8,500 Hebrew terms. The translators state that, where possible in the target language, the New World Translation prefers literal renderings and does not paraphrase the original text.How Can You Choose a Good Bible Translation? (Watchtower May 1, 2008 pp. 18–22)
Textual basis
The master text used for translating the Old Testament into English was Kittel's Biblia Hebraica. The Hebrew texts, Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia and Biblia Hebraica Quinta were used for preparing the latest version of this translation. Other works consulted in preparing the translation include Aramaic Targums, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Samaritan Torah, the Greek Septuagint, the Latin Vulgate, the Masoretic Text, the Cairo Codex, the Aleppo Codex, Christian David Ginsburg's Hebrew Text, and the Leningrad Codex."All Scripture is Inspired of God and Beneficial" 1990 pp. 305-314How the Bible Came to Us, Appendix A3 of 2013 REVISION