Advantages of the New World Translation:
Spiritual Gems From the Christian Greek Scriptures and The New World Translation Reference Bible
In its introduction (page 7, column 1, paragraph 4) the
Reference Bible says: "Special care was taken in translating Hebrew and Greek
verbs in order to capture the simplicity, warmth, character and forcefulness of
the original expressions. An effort was made to preserve the flavor of the
ancient Hebrew and Greek times, the people’s way of thinking, reasoning and
talking, their social dealings, etc." Let us see how this is so.
Verbs of Continuous Action
The writers of the Christian Greek Scriptures were careful and precise in their
choice of words. This is demonstrated in the account of Jesus’ Sermon on the
Mount. Several times in the original, a form of the verb is used that indicates
continuous action, and this is faithfully represented in the translation. Thus,
at Matthew 6:33 the New World Translation renders the opening words in this way:
"Keep on, then, seeking first the kingdom." The footnote to the verse suggests
an alternative rendering: "Or, ‘Be you seeking.’... The verb form indicates
continuous action."
Most other Bible translations ignore the continuous aspect of this verb. The
King James Version, for example, renders it: "Seek ye first the kingdom."
However, such a translation fails to capture the precision of Jesus’ counsel. He
did not imply that we should seek the Kingdom once or twice and then go on to
other things. Rather, we should seek it continuously. It should always be first
in our lives.
In Matthew 7:7 Jesus used this continuous form three times in this one verse,
with emphatic meaning: "Keep on asking, and it will be given you; keep on
seeking, and you will find; keep on knocking, and it will be opened to you."
These careful Bible renderings provide gems of truth that sparkle with
consistency.
Skillful Use of Negatives
The Bible writers were skillful in their use of negatives. Notice in the New
World Translation the careful rendering of Jesus’ further counsel in the Sermon
on the Mount. In Matthew 6:16 he is recorded as saying: "When you are fasting,
stop becoming sad-faced like the hypocrites." Most other translations render
this expression by a simple negative: "When ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites,
of a sad countenance." (KJ) This rendering implies ‘do not start looking sad.’
However, the Bible writer used here a negative command in the present
(continuous) tense. In Greek, that has a specific meaning. The action is
currently going on and must cease. The New World Translation observes this fine
point, which is ignored by most other translations.
Note some further examples of such careful translation: "Stop storing up for
yourselves treasures." (Matthew 6:19) "Stop judging that you may not be
judged."—Matthew 7:1. While considering the subject of negatives, notice the use
of negative commands where the Bible writers used the aorist tense. In Greek,
this tense indicates that the actions are prohibited at any given moment or
time. Hence, Jesus told his hearers: "So, never be anxious [that is, do not be
anxious at any moment] about the next day." (Matthew 6:34) Here again, most
translations use some form of simple negative such as, "Do not be anxious." (The
New English Bible) However, such a translation misses the full force of the
original. The Bible’s emphatic language is similarly preserved for us in the
phrase: "Never be anxious and say, ‘What are we to eat?"’ (Matthew 6:31) These
are a few jewels of careful translation.
Participate in Christian Activity
Often the alternative renderings of verbs that are found in the footnotes of the
Reference Bible reveal new shades of meaning in a Bible verse. Take for example
Paul’s counsel to the Philippians found at Philippians 1:27: "Only behave in a
manner worthy of the good news about the Christ." This is similar to the
rendering found in other translations. For example, the New International
Version reads: "Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ."
And The New English Bible says: "Let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of
Christ." However, in the Reference Bible there is a footnote to the word
"behave" that opens up a much deeper understanding of what that counsel would
have meant to the Philippians. The footnote gives an alternative rendering of
the word "behave": "Or, ‘Ca~ on as citizens."’
The Greek word that is here translated "behave" is derived from a word meaning
"citizen." The Philippians were to participate as "citizens" in declaring the
good news. It must be remembered that Roman citizens generally took an active
part in the affairs of the State, and Roman citizenship was highly
prized—particularly, as in the case of Philippi, by cities outside Italy whose
inhabitants had been granted citizenship by Rome. So, as the Reference Bible
footnote helps us to understand, Paul is here telling Christians that they must
not be inactive, merely nominal Christians. They must also participate in
Christian activity, thereby proving themselves worthy of the good news. This
deeper understanding is in harmony with Paul’s later words to the Philippians:
"As for us, our citizenship exists in the heavens. "—Philippians 3:20.
Abraham "Attempted to Offer Up" Isaac
As observed previously, a clearer understanding is possible when the Greek verbs
are carefully rendered into English. Consider the important text at Hebrews
11:17. The King James Version renders this verse as follows: "Abraham when he
was tried, offered up Isaac: and he . . . offered up his only begotten son."
From that rendering, one would think that the verb "offered up" appeared in the
same way in both instances in the Greek.
However, the Greek verb form differs in these two occurrences. In the first
case, the verb "offer up" is in the perfect (completed) tense, whereas the
second "offer up" is in the imperfect (past continuous) form. These verb tenses
have many subtle meanings in Greek, and the New World Translation endeavors to
bring them out by its rendering of the text: "Abraham, when he was tested, as
good as offered up Isaac, and the man.., attempted to offer up his only-begotten
son." There is a footnote to the first occurrence of the verb that gives an
alternative rendering: "Or, ‘Abraham, when being tried, has (as it were)
offered."’ And a footnote to the second verb suggests a second way that this
verb in the imperfect form could be expressed: "Or, ‘proceeded."’ Thus, the
verse could read: "The man . . . proceeded to offer up." In this way, the Greek
verb indicates that the action was intended or attempted but not carried out to
completion. This is in harmony with what actually happened.—Genesis 22:9-14.
The footnotes in the Reference Bible also provide helpful information taken from
other works of Bible scholarship. Consider, for example, Paul’s use of the term
"wall in between," found at Ephesians 2:14. The Reference Bible footnote reads:
"An allusion to the wall in the area of the temple that fenced off the
unsanctified Gentile worshipers from entering the inner courtyards that were
open only to the sanctified Jewish worshipers. According to the Mishnah
(translated by Danby, 1950, p. 592), the stone barrier was called ‘the Soreg.’
This wall was said to be 1.3 m (4.3 ft) high. See App 9F."
Paul nicely argues in the context of Ephesians 2:14 that this "wall in between,"
the Soreg in Herod’s temple of Jesus’ day, pictured the prior legal separation
between Jews and Gentiles by reason of the Law covenant made through Moses. But
now this wall that separates, the Law covenant, has been put away because of
Christ’s sacrifice, which has sanctifying power to cleanse even Gentiles.
(Colossians 2:13-15) Since 36 C.E., when believing Gentiles were joined to the
congregation of Christian Jews, such Gentiles became anointed and sanctified
ones as part of the spiritual "Israel of God." (Galatians 6:16) These Gentiles,
now cleansed, were also a part of the heavenly sanctuary class, pictured by
those who walked in the inner courtyards of the temple. No more were the Gentile
Christians handicapped in their relationship to Jehovah by being confined to the
outer courtyard known as the Court of the Gentiles.
Declaring the Good News "From House to House"
Many have criticized Jehovah’s Witnesses for their global, effective
house-to-house preaching work. Yet, there is a clear pattern set by the apostles
and early Christians. In Acts 5:42, we read of their activity: "Every day in the
temple and from house to house they continued without letup teaching and
declaring the good news."
There is a comment in the footnote of the Reference Bible about the phrase "from
house to house." Here is what it says: "Lit., ‘according to house.’ Gr[eek], kat’
oi’kon. Here ka’ta’ is used with the accusative sing[ular] in the distributive
sense. R. C. H. Lenski, in his work The Interpretation of The Acts of the
Apostles, Minneapolis (1961), made the following comment on Acts 5:42: ‘Never
for a moment did the apostles cease their blessed work. "Every day" they
continued, and this openly "in the Temple" where the Sanhedrin and the Temple
police could see and hear them, and, of course, also [katoikon], which is
distributive, "from house to house," and not merely adverbial, "at home."
Helpful Marginal References
When reading the Scriptures, one often finds that the Bible writer is quoting a
passage from another part of the Scriptures or making an allusion to another
passage in the Bible. In such cases, the Reference Bible can be very helpful.
Its system of marginal references directs the student to other places where the
subject is mentioned.
Consider Jesus’ encounter with his Adversary, Satan, recorded at Matthew 4:3-11.
In Mt 4 verse 4 Jesus counters Satan’s first temptation by saying: "It is
written, ‘Man must live, not on bread alone, but on every utterance coming forth
through Jehovah’s mouth."’ The reference indicates that Jesus was here quoting a
scripture, found in our Bibles in Deuteronomy 8:3. Satan presented Jesus with a
second temptation, trying to support it by asserting: "It is written, ‘He will
give his angels a charge concerning you, and they will carry you on their hands,
that you may at no time strike your foot against a stone."’ Where did Satan find
those words?
The marginal reference directs the student to Psalm 91:11, 12. Yes, Satan was
quoting scripture, acting as "an angel of light." (2 Corinthians 11:14) Jesus
replied, "Again it is written, ‘You must not put Jehovah your God to the test."’
This also was a scripture quotation, but correctly applied. From where was it
quoted? The marginal reference points us to Deuteronomy 6:16. When tempted for
the third time, Jesus again quoted scripture. From where? From Deuteronomy 6:13,
according to the marginal reference. Many other similarly helpful services are
rendered by the 125,000 marginal references found in the Reference Bible.
From these samples one can see that the Reference Bible heightens the beauty of
the New World Translation by revealing its many accurate renderings of spiritual
truths.
The New World Translation Reference Bible can be obtained from Jehovah’s
Witnesses or by writing to the publishers at the appropriate office.
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