Rather than the more traditional “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” Jehovah’s Witnesses use the New World Translation, which gives John 1:1 as “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.” In asking what support there is for the Jehovah’s Witness position, this question is not about whether the New World Translation is correct and is not seeking a hermeneutical response, which is already provided here . I am looking for biblical or historical texts that could support the Jehovah’s Witness translation.

I was communing with a group of six JWs and one of them brought out an app which compared the NWT with other translations and claimed that there is not much difference between them. Do Jehovah's Witnesses believe any translations apart from the New World Translation are good for teaching? Do they believe that there is any possibility of translation error in the NWT?

The [Jehovah's Witnesses](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah 's_Witnesses) believe that their denomination is a restoration of the original, ancient form of Christianity. They claim to have rediscovered this form through principled biblical study and scholarship. The Witnesses have even produced their own Bible translation, the [New World Translation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_World_Translation_of_the_Holy_Scriptures) (NWT), which they claim more accurately reflects the intention of the original writers. While this translation has often been criticized for introducing a bias in favour of the denomination's pre-existing doctrines (and particularly for its use of the word "Jehovah" in the New Testament), it has also attracted praise for its scholarly methods and accuracy. Let's put aside for now the question of whether the pre-existing doctrines of the Jehovah's Witnesses unduly influenced this translation. I am interested to learn whether the converse is true: Did the production of the New World Translation influence the doctrines of the Jehovah's Witnesses? After all, the Witnesses do claim that their beliefs are based on modern, ongoing Biblical scholarship. **Did the NWT's translators claim to have gained any new insights on early Christianity, and if so, did these insights lead the denomination's leaders to change any of its previous interpretations and teachings, or to introduce new ones?** --- **EDIT:** The comments and answers so far indicate that there may be some confusion about what I am asking. So let me provide an example: The Jehovah's Witnesses once believed and taught that Jesus was put to death on a cross. However, in the 1930s this doctrine changed due to what they claimed was a re-examination of the original Greek-language texts of the New Testament. They noted that these texts use the word σταυρός (_stauros_) to refer to the instrument of execution. In consulting the available evidence from historical records and from contemporaneous textual usage of the term, they concluded that the word σταυρός, as used in the Bible, refers to a simple stake without a crossbeam. This interpretation became part of the official teaching: Jehovah's Witnesses now state that Jesus was put to death on a "torture stake". The take-home message here is that in the 1930s they claimed that their scholars discovered a significant translation error which, when corrected, led to a change in their teachings. The question is thus whether the Jehovah's Witnesses claim to have discovered and corrected any _further_ major errors or omissions in translation or interpretation during the production of their New World Translation in the 1940s and 1950s. **Did they ever say something to the effect of, "Until now, we Witnesses have mistakenly believed _X_. But thanks to the textual and historical evidence that was newly collected and analyzed in the preparation of the NWT, we understand now that we should actually believe _Y_."?**

Do Jehovah's Witnesses have their own version of the Bible? What is their reason for not accepting other versions such as the NIV or the KJV?

The New World Translation of the Bible was produced by the Jehovah's Witnesses. I'm wondering what specific scholarship is behind the translation. Who were the translators? What Greek Manuscripts were used? What were the credentials of the translators and their training in Biblical Languages? Was the Latin Vulgate referenced? Was it intended to be a word for word translation or thought for thought?

Throughout many passages in the NWT (Jehovah's Witness specific _New World Translation_), all instances of the pronoun "you" are written in all capitals. Here is an example from Acts 2:38 : > Peter [said] to them: “Repent, and let each one of ​YOU​ be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for forgiveness of ​YOUR​ sins, and ​YOU​ will receive the free gift of the holy spirit. What is the reasoning behind this capitalization? I am familiar with the practice of capitalizing He/Him and similar pronouns when referring to God or Christ, but this appears to be quite different and I have no idea what the rational is.

Are most Christian bibles and Jehovah’s Witnesses Bible the same ? If not what are some important differences in them?

In *Crisis of conscience*, written by Raymond Franz, the translators of the New World Translation are identified as Nathan Knorr, Frederick Franz, Albert Schroeder, George Gangas, and Milton Henschel. Where, if at all, did any of these study Biblical Hebrew or Greek?

How do Jehovah Witnesses explain the differences between the *New World Translation* and Latin/Greek, specifically in these two Bible verses? ## (1) Zechariah 12:10 **King James Version (KJV)** > 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** whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn **New World Translation (NWT)** > 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; and they will grieve bitterly over him as they would grieve over a firstborn son **Latin Vulgate by Jerome in 382AD** > ..et effundam super domum David et super habitatores Hierusalem spiritum gratiae et precum et aspicient **ad me** quem confixerunt et plangent eum planctu quasi super unigenitum et dolebunt super eum ut doleri solet in morte primogeniti (There is no word indicating 'the one'.) **LXX Septuagint — Greek translation of Hebrew in 132BC** > καὶ ἐκχεῶ ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον Δαυιδ καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς κατοικοῦντας Ιερουσαλημ πνεῦμα χάριτος καὶ οἰκτιρμοῦ καὶ ἐπιβλέψονται **πρός** [TOWARD] **με** [ME] ἀνθ’ ὧνκατωρχήσαντο καὶ κόψονται ἐπ’ αὐτὸν κοπετὸν ὡς ἐπ’ ἀγαπητὸν καὶ ὀδυνηθήσονται ὀδύνην ὡς ἐπὶ πρωτοτόκῳ (No word indicating 'the one') ## (2) Acts 20:28 **King James Version (KJV)** > Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with **his own** blood. **New World Translation (NWT)** > Pay attention to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the holy spirit has appointed you overseers,+ to shepherd the congregation of God, which he purchased with the blood of his own **Son**" **Latin Vulgate by Jerome in 382AD** > .adtendite vobis et universo gregi in quo vos Spiritus Sanctus posuit episcopos regere ecclesiam Dei quam adquisivit sanguine **suo**. (There is no word translatable as 'son'.) **Greek New Testament** > Προσέχετε { οὖν ♦ ἑαυτοῖς καὶ παντὶ τῷ ποιμνίῳ, ἐν ᾧ ὑμᾶς τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ἔθετο ἐπισκόπους, ποιμαίνειν τὴν ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ {κυρίου καὶ ♦ - } θεοῦ, ἣν περιεποιήσατο διὰ τοῦ { **ἰδίου** [OWN] αἵματος ♦ αἵματος τοῦ **ἰδίου** [OWN]}. (There is no word translatable as 'son'.) ## Note Upon further research, I found the Dead See Scrolls segment that contains Zechariah 12:10 and, in trying to identify the Hebrew words in [the English parallel](http://blb.sc/1Ly8) , I am noticing what seems to be an aleph and tau (the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet) right after “inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon...” and before “and they shall mourn for him, as” as seen in [this picture](http://thoughtswithaccent.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/dss_-_4q80e_zechariah-1210.jpg) . Does anyone know what the aleph and tau (if that’s what they are), are doing there? ## Note FYI, I re-posted this question on hermeneutics.se, as two separate questions as suggested by Affable Geek: On Zech 12:10 https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/7604/how-do-jehovah-witnesses-explain-differences-between-nwt-and-latin-hebrew-greek On Acts 20:28 https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/7605/how-do-jehovah-witnesses-explain-differences-between-nwt-and-latin-greek-on-acts