The Jehovah’s Witnesses Translators Altered God’s Word

“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”
[Matthew 24:35]

This is a look at how the Jehovah’s Witnesses Watch Tower Bible And Tract Society Of Pennsylvania has added to and changed God’s Word

The point of this article is to let unsuspecting Jehovah’s Witnesses know that the Watchtower organization has corrupted the Word of God by adding words to it, words that are clearly not in the original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts. God hates and condemns this practice of tampering with His word:

“For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book” [Revelation 22:18]

What I find so bizarre is that the Jehovah’s Witnesses translators did not even attempt to hide their tampering (but they did try to explain it away). And when I speak to Jehovah’s Witnesses, they don’t realize that any tampering has been done in spite of how incredibly obvious the tampering is.

ADDERS – in secret – in Colossians:

Here is a major example of that tampering with God’s holy Word:

“Because by means of him all [other] things were created in the heavens and upon the earth, the things visible and the things invisible, no matter whether they are thrones or lordships or governments or authorities. All [other] things have been created through him and for him. Also, he is before all [other] things and by means of him all [other] things were made to exist.” Colossians 1:16-17 – NWT

The word “OTHER” does not appear AT ALL in either of these two verses in the original Greek manuscripts, as attested to by the correct translation of these verses in the King James version:

“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” Colossians 1:16-17 – KJV

The ADDERS’ excuse:

The Jehovahs Witnesses New World Translation bible translators say that the reason they insert words in brackets throughout their translation (the NWT) is: “to make some application that is shown by the Greek word or to show something that is understood along with the Greek word because of its grammatical form.” This quote can be found on page 5 of “The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures (KIT), 1969 ed.”.

By ADDING the word “other” in those verses, the meaning of the passage has been changed in a very significant way. Since the JWs teach that Jesus is a created being and since Colossians 1:16 actually contradicts this teaching by stating that Jesus created ALL things, then obviously Jesus can’t be part of his own creation (i.e He did not create himself). Therefore the NWT translators needed to add the word “other” even though God condemns the practice of  adding to or subtracting from His holy and inerrant word.

If God wanted the apostle Paul to use the word “other” in Colossians chapter 1, He would have inspired Paul to do so as in Ephesians 3:5 and elsewhere in the New Testament:

“Which in other [heteros in the Greek, Strongs # 2087] ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;” [Eph 3:5] – KJV

ADDERS in Philippians:

Philippians 2:9 in the NWT does not have brackets around the inserted word “other” even though it was added by the translators (and it is not in the original Greek). 

“For this very reason also God exalted him to a superior position and kindly gave him the name that is above every other name.” Philippians 2:9 – NWT

This insertion of “other” violates their own rules, since their rules say they are to use brackets around words that are inserted by the translators. We see that the KJV is properly translated without the word “other”.

“Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name” Philippians 2:9 – KJV

The KJV agrees with the JW’s Greek interlinear Bible also:

… the name the over every name.

Why did the Watchtower Society unjustifiably insert the word other in that verse? For anyone who knows the doctrines of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the answer is obvious. In their minds, apart from Scripture to back it up, they think Jesus is “Michael the archangel” and not deity  (i.e. God Almighty, even though the Bible refers to Him as such in various places). Hence, a created being could never have a name above the eternal God, especially when Psa. 83:18 and 148:13 declare:

“That people may know that you, whose name is Jehovah, You alone are the Most High over all the earth” Psalm 83:18 – (NWT).

 

“Let them praise the name of Jehovah, for his name alone is unreachably high” Psalm 148:13 – (NWT).

Consequently, the word other is inserted in Phil. 2:9, which distorts the meaning of that verse, taking glory away from the Lord Jesus, as was done in Col. 1:16,17.

ADDERS are also SUBSTITUTORS:

Since the NWT translators don’t consider it a sin to add to the Word of God, it is not surprising that they substitute incorrect words in their translation. What is surprising is how easy it is to catch them doing this…

The NWT translators made what seemed like a legitimate rule for translating the Greek words “Kurios” and “Theos” into the divine name “Jehovah” when the underlying Greek text in the New Testament is a quote of a verse from the Old Testament Hebrew that contains the word “Jehovah”. We find them violating this rule at a very significant verse dealing with – of course – the deity of Christ:

“That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord <kurios>, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:10&11 – KJV

 

“Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.” Isaiah 45:22&23 – KJV

Scripture is clear that one day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that “Jesus Christ is Lord.” This is a quote from Isaiah 45:23 which says that to Jehovah every knee will bow:

Therefore based on the Watchtower’s own translation rule, the Lord spoken of in Philippians is none other than Jehovah. Further it is of interest to note that the 1950 edition of the New World Translation of the Christian Scriptures, which contained marginal cross references, cited Isaiah 45:23 as a cross reference to the Philippians 2:11 passage.

SEE ALSO:

Heb. 1:6, “Let the angels do obeisance to him.” – an article about a major word change that the Jehovah’s Witnesses made to their own bible when they revised it.

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