The Truth About The New World Translation, Wisdom, and Jesus Christ

The Truth About the New World Translation, Wisdom, and Jesus Christ

The Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses claims that the New World Translation(NWT) is an accurate translation, free from sectarian bias. If this is true then we should find that it accurately translates words from the original languages and does not conceal the truth from people. The NWT should translate words consistently, not altering the text to a reading more favorable for a particular Watchtower doctrine.

The Watchtower has charged other translations with altering the text. In the Foreword to the first edition of the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures, the Watchtower writes of biases that exist in all other Bible translations.

"In support of a preferred religious view, an inconsistency and unreasonableness have been insinuated into the teachings of the inspired writings." (NWT of the Christian Greek Scriptures,1950,p.6)

In presenting their work on the New World Translation, the translation committee (which remains anonymous to this day) described their approach to the task of translating from the ancient languages into English.

"We offer no paraphrase of the Scriptures. Our endeavor all through has been to give as literal a translation as possible, where the modern English idiom allows and where a literal rendition does not for any clumsiness hide the thought. That way we can best meet the desire of those who are scrupulous for getting, as nearly as possible, word for word, the exact statement of the original. We realize that sometimes the use of so small a thing as the definite or indefinite article or the omission of such may alter the correct sense of the original passage." (NWT of the Christian Greek Scriptures,1950,p.9)

The seriousness of translating the Bible accurately is recognized by the New World Bible Translation Committee. In the Foreword to the 1984 edition of the New World Translation, they state this in the following way.

"The translators of this work, who fear and love the Divine Author of the Holy Scriptures, feel toward Him a special responsibility to transmit his thoughts and declarations as accurately as possible. They also feel a responsibility toward the searching readers who depend upon a translation of the inspired Word of the Most High God for their everlasting salvation."

Have they lived up to their responsibility to provide an accurate translation to you, the reader, or have inaccuracies crept in, being insinuated into the inspired writings in support of a preferred religious view?

Proverbs 8:1,2,22-31 NWT
1 Does not wisdom keep calling out, and discernment keep giving forth its voice? 2 On top of the heights, by the way, at the crossing of the roadways it has stationed itself. ...
22 "Jehovah himself produced me as the beginning of his way, the earliest of his achievements of long ago. 23 From time indefinite I was installed, from the start, from times earlier than the earth. 24 When there were no watery deeps I was brought forth as with labor pains, when there were no springs heavily charged with water. 25 Before the mountains themselves had been settled down, ahead of the hills, I was brought forth as with labor pains, 26 when as yet he had not made the earth and the open spaces and the first part of the dust masses of the productive land. 27 When he prepared the heavens I was there; when he decreed a circle upon the face of the watery deep, 28 when he made firm the cloud masses above, when he caused the fountains of the watery deep to be strong, 29 when he set for the sea his decree that the waters themselves should not pass beyond his order, when he decreed the foundations of the earth, 30 then I came to be beside him as a master worker, and I came to be the one he was specially fond of day by day, I being glad before him all the time, 31 being glad at the productive land of his earth, and the things I was fond of were with the sons of men.

Here we see wisdom personified, speaking of "itself" as the earliest of God's creations. So what, you ask. Why is that important? These verses in Proverbs are among those used by the Watchtower to claim that Jesus is a created being and not God. For example, in their booklet "Should You Believe In The Trinity", they put forth their case as such.

Jesus a Separate Creation
WHILE on earth, Jesus was a human, although a perfect one because it was God who transferred the life-force of Jesus to the womb of Mary. (Matthew 1:18-25) But that is not how he began. He himself declared that he had "descended from heaven." (John 3:13) So it was only natural that he would later say to his followers: "What if you should see the Son of man [Jesus] ascend to where he was before?"-John 6:62, NJB.
Thus, Jesus had an existence in heaven before coming to the earth. But was it as one of the persons in an almighty, eternal triune Godhead? No, for the Bible plainly states that in his prehuman existence, Jesus was a created spirit being, just as angels were spirit beings created by God. Neither the angels nor Jesus had existed before their creation.
Jesus, in his prehuman existence, was "the first-born of all creation." (Colossians 1:15, NJB) He was "the beginning of God's creation." (Revelation 3:14, RS, Catholic edition). "Beginning" [Greek, ar·khe'] cannot rightly be interpreted to mean that Jesus was the 'beginner' of God's creation. In his Bible writings, John uses various forms of the Greek word ar·khe' more than 20 times, and these always have the common meaning of "beginning." Yes, Jesus was created by God as the beginning of God's invisible creations.
Notice how closely those references to the origin of Jesus correlate with expressions uttered by the figurative "Wisdom" in the Bible book of Proverbs: "Yahweh created me, first-fruits of his fashioning, before the oldest of his works. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills, I came to birth; before he had made the earth, the countryside, and the first elements of the world." (Proverbs 8:12, 22, 25, 26, NJB) While the term "Wisdom" is used to personify the one whom God created, most scholars agree that it is actually a figure of speech for Jesus as a spirit creature prior to his human existence.
As "Wisdom" in his prehuman existence, Jesus goes on to say that he was "by his [God's] side, a master craftsman." (Proverbs 8:30, JB) In harmony with this role as master craftsman, Colossians 1:16 says of Jesus that "through him God created everything in heaven and on earth."-Today's English Version (TEV).
So it was by means of this master worker, his junior partner, as it were, that Almighty God created all other things. (Should You Believe In The Trinity, 1989, p.14, emphasis added)

Here we see the importance of Proverbs 8 regarding the Watchtower doctrine that Jesus was a created being. They present the quotations from Proverbs 8 and attempt to apply them directly to Jesus, drawing several specific beliefs about Jesus from that text. They make the following direct connections between Jesus and "wisdom" in Proverbs 8:

The creation of "wisdom" is the creation of Jesus.
The words of "wisdom" are the words of Jesus.
The names of "wisdom" are the names of Jesus.

Thus, it is an honest question to ask if the text of Proverbs 8 does indeed truly apply to Jesus. Is there anything in the text that might indicate otherwise?

First, let us note points of interest in the chapters surrounding Proverbs 8. Proverbs 7:4 and 9:4 in the NWT refer to "wisdom" as "sister" and "she" respectively. Proverbs 1:20 has a footnote that identifies "wisdom" in the original Hebrew text as speaking in a feminine voice which should be translated "herself". Thus, outside of chapter 8 we have "wisdom" being described using feminine gender. This does not fit well as a figurative description of Jesus. But chapter 8 in the NWT consistently renders all references to wisdom as "it" or "itself" and not "she" or "herself". Is this dealing with the text accurately? Has the New World Translation Committee followed the facts that it knows about Proverbs 8? No, they have not.

This one being the first member of God's heavenly family, he could also be called the firstborn of all creation. Our thinking about this here reminds us of what is said in the eighth chapter of the book of Proverbs, where divine wisdom is pictured as a person who talks about himself. Of course, in the original Hebrew text of Proverbs, the word "wisdom" (hhakh-mah`) is in the feminine and speaks of itself as a female person. Of course, divine wisdom does not have any separate existence apart from God. Wisdom always existed in Him and so was not created. (God's "Eternal Purpose" Now Triumphing For Man's Good; 1974; p.28, emphasis added)

Though personified as a "helper," the holy spirit is not a person, for a Greek neuter pronoun (rendered "it") is applied to the spirit. Hebrew feminine pronouns are similarly applied to wisdom personified. (Proverbs 1:20-33; 8:1-36). (The Watchtower; 9/15/1992; p.16, emphasis added)

Clearly, by the Watchtower's own admission, "wisdom" in the original Hebrew text of Proverbs 8 is described using the feminine gender. Accurate translation demands that this be rendered as "she" and not as "it". The original one-volume edition of the NWT came out in 1961. It has undergone revisions in 1970, 1971, and 1984. The 1984 version of the NWT, which was produced 10 years after the "Eternal Purpose" book quoted above, continues to present "wisdom" in Proverbs 8 as "it", knowingly contradicting facts already acknowledged in print by the Watchtower!

This is nothing less than deliberate mistranslation. It is concealing the truth contained in God's Word by means of intentional deception. Why does the Governing Body continue to conceal the truth? Why are they deliberately mistranslating Proverbs 8? Mistranslating Proverbs 8 allows the Governing Body to continue to use that text to support its denial of the Deity of Jesus Christ. To translate it correctly would have the effect of removing that set of verses from their arsenal. The accusation raised against other Bibles by the Watchtower has come home to roost in their very own translation. "In support of a preferred religious view, an inconsistency and unreasonableness have been insinuated into the teachings of the inspired writings." (NWT of the Christian Greek Scriptures, 1950, p.6)

The Watchtower is concealing the truth about Jesus intentionally. Will you continue to support an organization which knowingly misrepresents the inspired Word of God? They do not deserve your trust or allegiance. Instead, Jesus deserves your trust, faith, and worship. Come to him and find forgiveness and salvation that no one can take away.

Romans 10:9-13 NASB ...9if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; 10 for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed." 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call upon Him; 13 for "Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved."