The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (NWT) is a translation of the Bible published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society in 1961. It is not the first Bible to be published by the group, but is their first original translation of ancient Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic biblical texts. As of 2009, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania has published more than 159 million copies of the Bible in 79 languages.
History
Until the release of the NWT, Jehovah's Witnesses in English-speaking countries generally used the King James Version or American Standard Version of the Bible. In the literature they have produced, Jehovah's Witnesses have quoted liberally from the King James Version and many other translations over the years.
According to the publishers, one of the main reasons for producing a new translation was that most Bible versions in common use, including the Authorised (King James) Version , employed archaic language. The stated intention was to produce a fresh translation, free of archaisms. 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 have become available. The publishers claimed better manuscript evidence had made it possible to determine with greater accuracy what the original writers intended, particularly in more obscure passages. They said linguists better understood certain aspects of the original Hebrew and Greek languages than previously.
In October 1946, the president of the Watch Tower Society, Nathan H. Knorr, proposed a fresh translation of the New Testament, which Jehovah's Witnesses usually refer to as the Christian Greek Scriptures . Work began on December 2, 1947 when the "New World Bible Translation Committee" was formed. 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 to announce that work on a modern English translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures had been completed and consigned to the Society for printing.
The New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures was released at a convention of Jehovah's Witnesses at Yankee Stadium, New York, on August 2, 1950. 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 complete New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures was released as a single volume in 1961, and has since undergone minor revisions. marginal (cross) references that had appeared in the six separate volumes were included in the complete volume in the 1984 revision. The layout resembles the 1901 edition of the American Standard Version .
Translators and Editor
The New World Translation was produced by the anonymous New World Bible Translation Committee, formed about 1947. This committee is said to have comprised unnamed members of multinational background. The New World Bible Translation Committee requested that the Watch Tower Society not publish the names of its members, stating that they did not want to "advertise themselves but let all the glory go to the Author of the Scriptures, God," adding that the translation, "should direct the reader... to... Jehovah God". The publishers believe that "the particulars of university or other educational training are not the important thing" and that "the translation testifies to their qualification". Former high ranking Watch Tower staff have claimed knowledge of the translators' identities.
Features
The translators use the terms "Hebrew-Aramaic Scriptures" and "Christian Greek Scriptures" rather than "Old Testament" and "New Testament", stating that the use of "testament" was based on a misunderstanding of 2 Corinthians 3:14. When referring to dates in the supplemental material, the abbreviations "B.C.E." (Before the Common Era) and "C.E." (Common Era) are used rather than BC and AD.
The pronoun "you" is printed in small capitals (i.e, ) to indicate plurality, as are some verbs when plurality may be unclear. Square brackets are added around words that were inserted editorially, and double brackets are used to indicate sources considered doubtful. Verbs indicating continuous or progressive action are rendered as such in English, for example "proceeded to rest" rather than "rested" in Genesis 2:2, or "keep on asking" rather than "ask" at Matthew 7:7. Running headings are included at the top of each page to assist in locating texts, and there is an index listing scriptures by subject.
The translation inserts the name Jehovah over 200 times in the New Testament where the original texts refer to God. The basis offered by the translating body is that since the name Jehovah was used liberally in the original Greek and Hebrew manuscripts of the Old Testament, it can be assumed that the lack of references to Jehovah in the New Testament were an oversight on the part of the ancient manuscript writers.
Editions
The New World Translation is distributed in print editions commonly referred to as "Large Print" (four volumes), "Reference", "Regular (or Standard ) Hard Cover", "Regular (or Standard ) Soft Cover", and "Pocket". The regular editions incorporate the booklet, Bible Topics for Discussion (previously published separately in 1977 but updated for the 1981 and 1984 editions), which provides references to scriptures relating to various topics; several appendices containing arguments for various translation decisions, maps, diagrams and other information; and over 125,000 cross references. The reference edition contains the cross references and adds footnotes about translation decisions, and additional appendices that provide further detail relating to certain translation decisions. Many of the non-English translations lack footnotes, and some add language-specific footnotes.
Kingdom Interlinear
The New World Bible Translation Committee included the English text from the NWT in its 1969 and 1985 editions of the Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures . It also incorporates the Greek text published by Westcott and Hort in The New Testament in the Original Greek , and a literal word-for-word translation.
Non-print editions
In 1978, the Watch Tower Society began producing recordings of the NWT on audio cassette, with the New Testament released by 1981 and the Old Testament in three albums released by 1990. In 2004, the NWT was released on compact disc in MP3 format in major languages. Since 2008, audio downloads of the NWT have been made available from the Worldwide Association of Jehovah's Witnesses website in MP3 and AAC formats, including support for Podcasts.
In 1983, the English Braille edition of the NWT's New Testament was released; the complete English Braille edition was released by 1988. NWT editions have since become available in several additional Braille scripts. In 2006, production of the NWT in American Sign Language began, starting with the Gospel of Matthew.
In 1992 a digital edition, New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures—With References , was released, as a set of seven 3½-inch 720 KB diskettes or four 5¼-inch 1.2 MB diskettes, using Folio View software. In 1993, New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures—With References/Insight on the Scriptures was released in English, as a set of 5¼-inch 1.2 MB or 3½-inch 1.44 MB diskettes, containing the New World Translation and the two volumes of Insight . Since 1994, the NWT has been included in the digital research tool, Watchtower Library on CD-ROM , available to baptized Jehovah's Witnesses. The full text of the NWT is also available on the Watch Tower Society's official website.
Languages
As of 2009, the NWT has been published in 79 languages. Translation into other languages is based on the English text, supplemented by comparison with the Hebrew and Greek.
The complete translation of the Holy Scriptures is available in Afrikaans, Albanian, Arabic, Bulgarian, Cebuano, Chinese (Standard, Simplified, Pinyin), Cibemba, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (also Braille), Finnish, French, Georgian, German, Greek, Hungarian, Igbo, Iloko, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Lingala, Macedonian, Malagasy, Maltese, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (also Braille), Romanian, Russian, Serbian (Cyrillic and Latin scripts), Sesotho, Shona, Slovak, Spanish (also Braille), Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog, Tsonga, Tswana, Turkish, Twi, Xhosa, Yoruba, and Zulu.
The Christian Greek Scriptures (commonly known as the New Testament) is available in American Sign Language, Amharic, Armenian, Brazilian Sign Language, Cambodian, Chichewa, Efik, Estonian, Ewe, Hiligaynon, Hindi, Italian Braille, Kannada, Kinyarwanda, Kirghiz, Kirundi, Luganda, Malayalam, Myanmar, Ossetian, Samoan, Sango, Sepedi, Sinhala, Slovenian, Sranantongo, Tamil, Thai, Tumbuka, and Ukrainian.
Critical review
Overall review
In its review of Bible translations released from 1955 to 1985, The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary listed the New World Translation as one of the major modern translations.
In 2003 J
The Bible Source
New Testament on Cassette ISBN: 052911593X EAN: 9780529115935 Version: New King James Version Bible ... The unique beauty of the New Living Translation can ...
New Living Translation™: Discover The NLT - audio - Bible on ...
Bible on Cassette NT NLT List Price: $29.99 ISBN: 978-0-8423 ... dramatic, multivoice recording of the New Testament. ... “Using the New Living Translation in sermon preparation helps to ...
Bible on Cassette/CD - The New Testament Audio Book on CD, Cassette
A dramatic, multivoice recording of the New Living Translation, New Testament, featuring original music and sound effects.
NLT New Testament - Audio Bible on Cassette
- NLT New Testament - Audio Bible on Cassette. New Living Translation Bible on Cassette. 12 cassettes over 17 hours of listening. Dramatic multi-voiced recordings, orchestral music ...
Bible translations by language - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
William Ballantine - translator of The Riverside New Testament (d. 1937) Steven T. Byington - American, translator of The Bible in Living English, published by the Watchtower Bible and ...
The Life Recovery Bible: New Living Translation Version, Burgundy ...
Audio Cassette Bibles; Audio CD/DVD Bibles; Audio MP3 ... And now with The Life Recovery Bible: New Living Translation Version in ... Remix Edition (Hardcover) | The Message New Testament ...
Cokesbury - New Living Translation One Year New Testament on Cassette ...
The One Year Bible is presented in a dramatic, multivoice recording and is presented in a format that enable you to listen through the entire New Testament in one year--in as ...
KJV New Testament - Audio Bible on ...
- KJV New Testament - Audio Bible on Cassette. ... and Teens » Christian Living ... Bible features the New Testament in a KJV translation ...
The Bible on Audio - Listen to Audio Bibles on CD, Cassette, MP3, and ...
... tape holy bible cd niv audio bible bible audio book listen to the bible bible on cassette new testament ... dramatized production of the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, an ...
The Message: New Testament - Audio Bible on Cassette: Eugene ...
New King James Version(NKJV) New Living Translation(NLT) New Revised Standard Version(NRSV) ... Write a review of The Message: New Testament - Audio Bible on Cassette