The Watchtower corporation boasts that the New World Translation is the best and most accurate Bible translation. They say they have translated it to convey the correct meaning. But when scrutinized it turns out that the New World Translation team has both added, removed and changed words and phrases to fit their own doctrines. This is condemned in scripture as a serious sin. (Deuteronomy 4:2; Proverbs 30:5,6; Revelation 22:18,19)

Apart from this the translation is also very clunky and inelegant, choosing such phrases as “dominant mental attitude” rather than just “mind”.

This article will look at a selection of scriptures in the New World Translation from as neutral an exegetical perspective as possible and describe what kind of change was made, and how this impacts the meaning of the translation. I will also make a guess as to why it was likely made based on decades of experience with Watchtower doctrine. And I may also compare it to a more mainstream Christian interpretation when appropriate. For the New Testament, all English quotations unless otherwise indicated are taken from the New World Translation 2013 edition, and the Greek quotations come from the Kingdom Interlinear Translation released by the Watchtower and downloadable from jw.org so that you can easily check that I’m not making this up. Please look up everything in your own Bible or the JW app.

[TOC]

Genesis 1:2

Now the earth was formless and desolate, and there was darkness upon the surface of the watery deep, and God’s active force was moving about over the surface of the waters.

Biased translation

Strangely enough this is the only place in the NWT where they use the word “active force”. Since the Watchtower teaches that the Holy Spirit is not a person but a force like electricity or gravity, they have to insert this somewhere. But this is the only place. Perhaps they worried that if they did it consistently it would start sounding like Star Wars fan fiction.

The hebrew phrase “Ruach Elohim” should be translated “God’s spirit”. A ruach literally means breath or wind, but also spirit, i.e. something invisible, but that you can feel the effects of. But in every case where Ruach refers to things in the supernatural it refers to a living being, such as angels, demons, or the spirit of man. The only times it is referred to as an impersonal force is when it is a natural phenomena such as wind. How come that God’s Holy Spirit is the only supernatural Ruach that is not a spirit being, but rather compared to a natural phenomena like electricity? Even though natural phenomena makes no sense in a supernatural realm? This is the kind of nonsense you get when you deny the personhood of the Holy Spirit.

Genesis 19:24

Then Jehovah made it rain sulfur and fire on Sodʹom and Go·morʹrah — it came from Jehovah, from the heavens.

Biased translation, Change

The more accurate translation of this verse was available in the older translation of the New World Translation:

Then Jehovah rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Jehovah out of heaven;

As you can see in the context of this verse, there are two Jehovah figures, one Jehovah on with Lot on the earth who initiates the destruction, and one Jehovah in heaven from whom the sulphur and fire comes. Most translations translate it similarly because that’s simply what the text says.

This matches perfectly with the previous contexts because in chapter 18 and 19 Jehovah is on earth in a visible form, speaking with Abraham and evidently waiting outside of Sodom when Lot, his family and the two angels come out. This is probably a Christophany/Theophany of the Logos/the Word/Jesus manifest in human form. He waits for Lot to be in safety, and then calls in an air strike from Jehovah (the Father) in heaven.

The plain reading of the Bible matches well with the Trinity doctrine. So likely the Watchtower change the wording to hide what could be used as evidence for the trinity doctrine. Their interpretation is clunky: “Jehovah made it rain. It came from Jehovah. From heaven.” Sounds like something a caveman would say.

Numbers 23: 2,3,15,16

Baʹlaam then said to Baʹlak: “Stay here by your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps Jehovah will get in touch with me. Whatever he reveals to me, I will tell you.” So he went to a barren hill. 4 Then God got in touch with Baʹlaam, who said to Him: “I set the seven altars in rows, and I offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.” […] 15 So Baʹlaam said to Baʹlak: “Stay here by your burnt offering while I get in touch with Him over there.” 16 And Jehovah got in touch with Baʹlaam and put this word in his mouth: “Return to Baʹlak, and this is what you are to say.”

Change/Misleading translation

The text actually says that Jehovak met Balaam on the hill. Throughout the Old Testament Jehovah continually meets people physically, and is visibly seen and sometimes even touched by people. This goes against the Watchtower idea that Jehovah is kind of like Allah, impossible to meet. And the idea of Jehovah coming to meet people on earth sounds too much like something Jesus would do. Therefore they try to obfuscate passages like these, using a term like “get in touch with” which can mean both to meet and to just generally contact someone.

Psalm 14: 1

The foolish one says in his heart: “There is no Jehovah.” Their actions are corrupt, and their dealings are detestable; No one is doing good.

Change

The New World Translation inserts “Jehovah” instead of “God”. I can not find a single Hebrew or Greek text nor any other translation that has the Divine Name in this verse. Having the divine name here makes no sense. That someone would deny the exiatence of God is plausible. That someone would be so specific as to use the name Jehovah is implausible. Why would someone not knowing the Divine Name use it when they say there is no God?

Psalm 22:16

For dogs surround me; They close in on me like a pack of evildoers, Like a lion they are at my hands and feet.

Change/Weird translation

This one is a bit of a head scratcher. Because Psalm 22 is a clear messianic prophecy, which Jesus himself quoted when he said “My God, any God, why have you forsaken me?” on the cross. And the actual wording of the bold part could be rendered “They have pierced my hands and my feet”, which would make more sense than “lions”. Also this is exactly what would happen with Jesus hands and feet. The translation about lions is weird and does not fit the context. And I can not figure out why the Watchtower would want to muddle a clear messianic prophecy about what happened to Jesus. It’s not even as if they’re denying that he was nailed hand and feet or something.

Psalm 25: 14

Close friendship with Jehovah belongs to those who fear him, And he makes his covenant known to them.

Biased translation

The word translated “close friendship“ is the Hebrew סוד (sod) which means “secret” or “intimacy”. The Watchtower probably chooses the word “friendship” to support their teaching that you can only “be friends with God”. The Bible rather teaches that when you put faith in Jesus, you become adopted as a child of God. Being a child of someone is more intimate than being their friend, but the Watchtower wants to hide from you your status as a child of God when you put faith in Jesus. They want to make you think you are in a lesser position by tricking you into thinking that “friendship” is the best you could hope for.

Psalm 45: 6

God is your throne forever and ever; The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness.

Change

Does it feel strange to say that God is a chair? That’s because that’s not how this verse is supposed to be rendered. The correct rendering is “Your throne, o God, is forever and ever…” But since Paul is using this quote in Hebrews 1:8 about Jesus, the Watchtower needs to change this verse both here and there to fit their own doctrines.

The Hebrew text says “כִּסְאֲךָ אֱלֹהִים” (kissay-dah elohim) where “כִּסְאֲ” (kissay) means throne, and “ךָ” (dah) is the second person pronominal suffix meaning “yours”. And “אֱלֹהִים” (Elohim) of course means God. So “the throne - that is yours - God…”

If you want to say that “God is your throne…” you would typically have to use the Hebrew word “הוּא” (hu), which means “he” or “it.” So, to say “God is your throne,” you could write “אֱלֹהִים הוּא כִּסְאֶךָ” (Elohim hu kisekha).

So there is no justification for translating this as “God is your throne” other than that the Watchtower needs to protect their doctrine that Jesus is not God. And since Paul uses this verse in Hebrews 1:8 about Jesus, it would mean that Jesus is referred to as God. It is a strong evidence for the divinity of Jesus.

Proverbs 8: 22

Jehovah produced me as the beginning of his way, The earliest of his achievements of long ago.

Change/Biased Translation

Chapter 8 of proverbs speaks about wisdom in anthropological terms, describing is as a woman who cries out to people to pursue her. The Watchtower says that this passage talks about the preincarnate Jesus. And specifically about how they think that Jesus is a created creature. There are several problems with that interpretation. For example verse 12 says that “I, wisdom, dwell together with shrewdness…” which would mean that Jesus is not only a woman, but also that she has a roommate called Shrewdness.

In verse 22 the word they translate “produced” is “qanah” which according to Strongs mean:

to erect, i.e. create; by extension, to procure, especially by purchase (causatively, sell); by implication to own

So it can mean both to produce and to possess something. Now, pretty much every other translation translates it as “posess” or some synonym. But the NWT chooses “produce”.

Does that make sense? Does God posess wisdom, or did he produce wisdom?

If God produced wisdom then the implication is that there was a point in time where God did not have wisdom. And also that God somehow created wisdom out of nothing, without having the wisdom to do so.

However, who can argue with the statement “God has wisdom”? Hence the meaning that the Watchtower have chosen is evidently the wrong meaning. It makes no sense. According to them Jesus is a woman who has a roommate named Shrewdness, and God at one point did not have wisdom.

Verse 23 also says that wisdom existed for eternity past, so that’s also a problem for the Watchtower. If that wisdom is Jesus himself, then Jesus is eternal, which goes against their teachings.

Proverbs 16: 2

All of a man’s ways seem right to him, But Jehovah examines the motives

Change/Biased translation

The part translated “Jehovah examines the motives” is actually “Jehovah examines the spirits.” This may seem as a small change but it subtly hides the fact that humans do have a spiritual part which is connected to our mental faculties and decision making. The Watchtower wants a worldview that is as naturalistic and sterile as possible. Humans can’t have spirits or souls that are in any way separate from their bodies. This worldview colors their word choice.

Ecclesiastes 3: 22

And I saw that there is nothing better than for a man to find enjoyment in his work, because that is his reward; for who can enable him to see what will happen after he is gone?

Change

The word translated “reward” actualy means “portion”. The meaning is that humans are forced to work to survive so we might as well try to enjoy it. But work is a curse, it is the cyrse on Adam after the fall. Work is not a reward. It is a necessary evil we must endure with grace.

The Watchtower probably change this to help their indoctrination of people to willingly work for free for their company. If people can be made to think that “work is a reward”, rather than some necessary evil we must endure, then maybe they won’t feel as used and abused.

Ezekiel 8: 3

Then he stretched out what appeared to be a hand and took me by a tuft of hair of my head, and a spirit carried me between the earth and the heavens and brought me to Jerusalem by means of the visions from God, to the entrance of the inner gate that faces north, where the idolatrous symbol of jealousy that incites jealousy stood.

Change

In this rich passage, Ezekiel has a fantastic encounter with God. God comes to him in the form of a man of fire, who lifts him by the hair and carries him to Jerusalem. But they change the definite article to an indefinite article, “the Spirit” to “a spirit”. The spirit is the Holy Spirit, and in this passage the Holy Spirit (who is associated with fire) is present in the shape of a man of fire. The Holy Spirit carries him to Jerusalem and also speaks to him throughout the rest of the chapter, speaking of himself as God.

But by changing this to the indefinite article, it creates confusion as to who this spirit is. Is it an angel? Does it just do the lifting? Who is speaking to Ezekiel. It all gets very fuzzy. And that’s the reason for this change. Hiding the triune nature of God, and confusing people.

Zechariah 3: 1, 2

Zechariah 3:1,2 — And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of Jehovah, and Satan was standing at his right hand to resist him. 2 Then the angel of Jehovah said to Satan: “May Jehovah rebuke you, O Satan, yes, may Jehovah, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this one a burning log snatched out of the fire?”

Addition

In this passage, the Angel of Jehovah stands by Satan and the High Priest, but the interesting thing is that in verse 2, it actually says that it is Jehovah who speaks about Jehovah in the third person.

Zechariah 3:2 (ASV) — And Jehovah said unto Satan, Jehovah rebuke thee, O Satan; …

You actually have one person called Jehovah requesting that another person called Jehovah would rebuke Satan. What is going on here?

The explanation is that in the ancient Jewish mindset and doctrine, Jehovah is a God with a plurality of persons or agents. Jehovah not only exist in heaven but also exist as a localized human like figure who interacts with humans. This was called the Two powers of heaven doctrine. And it is the theological predecessor of the Trinity doctrine. It is evident in scriptures like Genesis 19:24 and Daniel 7:13 where God is acting as two separate agents at the same time. Zechariah 3:1,2 is another example.

This secondary Jehovah person is often called The Angel of Jehovah. Angel basically means messenger. But the Angel of Jehovah usually does not refer to a lower created spirit being who only brings a message. In most cases such as here, or in the case of the Angel of Jehovah who led the Israelites through the wilderness, it actually refers to this secondary Jehovah person. The text makes it clear that the Angel of Jehovah in verse 1 is identical with Jehovah in verse 2, and that this secondary Jehovah person on earth is requesting the primary Jehovah person in heaven to rebuke Satan.

This secondary Jehovah person is also the same person who later became Jesus. He is fully divine and a part of Jehovah’s very being.

The Watchtower adds the words “the angel of” in verse 2 to hide the fact that the Angel of Jehovah is identical with Jehovah, so it is actually the second person of Jehovah requesting that the first person of Jehovah rebuke Satan. Two persons both being one God is of course way too close to what the trinity doctrine teaches, so they must change the Bible text to hide it.

Zechariah 3:2a in interlinear form.

John 1: 1

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.

Addition/Change

This is probably one of the most famous change to the New World Translation. Since John 1:1 is so blatantly trinitarian, the Watchtower jumps through an amazing amount of hoops to try to get the text to say something else, changing “the Word was God” to “the Word was a god””.

This is justified because the Greek text lacks the definite article before the word Theos (θεὸς). The Greek text says “αὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος”, literally “and god was the word”. (We’ll get back to the backwards word order.) Their argument is that if the Word is God, it should say “and the God was the Word”. But it doesn’t, so it should be “a God.”

But that’s not how Greek grammar works. If you have two nouns that are equated with “is”, one is the subject and one is the predicate nominative. Especially since you can write them in any order you wish. So which one is which? The rule is that you put the definite article on the subject and leave it out from the predicate nominative, although both are technically definite. That’s the reason why there is not a definite article before “God”. John followed the grammar rules for saying that A = B, and indicating which word has which function.

Which brings us to the backwards word order. The reason why he writes “and God was the Word” is because he emphasizes that the word is God, so he puts “God” first. In Greek you can write it in any order, but you can use the word order to emphasize different things. And as noted, he only use the definite article before “Word” to signal that this is the subject of the sentence, the one being described as God.

John 7: 29

I know him, because I am a representative from him, and that One sent me.”

Addition

In this verse Jesus is actually saying “But I know him for I am from him, and he hath sent me” which means that Jesus origin is from God himself, that Jesus is an extension of the one true God into this world. But this would be another clear scripture supporting the trinity doctrine, so the Watchtower, antichrists as they are, blatantly inserts “a representative” into the sentence, demoting Jesus from being part of the one true God to being an errand boy.

John 13: 32

God himself will glorify him __ __, and he will glorify him immediately.

Removal

John 13:32 Kingdom Interlinear Translation.

The Greek and other translations say: “God will glorify him [Jesus] in himself”.   The NWT probably removes this because that Jesus is glorified in God strongly hints at the triune nature of God.

John 14: 14

If you ask __ anything in my name, I will do it.

Removal

John 14:14 Kingdom Interlinear Translation

The Greek text, the Vulgate and many English translations (NLT, CSB, NIV, ESV, NET, NASB, BBE) include the word “me” between “ask” and “anything”. Jesus is telling his followers that “if you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” Jesus is straight out telling us that it is appropriate to address him in prayer. The Watchtower removes this because they have a faulty view of Jesus’ deity. The verse proves Jesus’ omniscience and omnipotence, that he can hear any prayer and do anything. These are attributes only God possesses. The truth revealed in this scripture is that Jesus is God and it is entirely appropriate to ask him things in prayer.

John 16: 8

And when that one comes, he will give the world convincing evidence concerning sin and concerning righteousness and concerning judgment:

Change/Strange Word Choice

John 16:8 Kingdom Interlinear Translation

In this verse the Greek says “that (one) will reprove the world”.   It is quite clear that the Holy Spirit (that one) will reprove the world. The world is the object of the sentence, the one who receives the reproof. The Holy Spirit like a lawyer acting as an accuser in court, and the world is the accused one.

But “he will give the world convincing evidence concerning sin” means that the world is a passive recipient of evidence, like the world is not the one on trial but rather the judge or jury. And whose sin is it talking about? It’s all very unclear. The word ἐλέγξει (elengchei) can mean “to expose, convict, reprove”, and I guess the meaning “expose” can be forced to mean “give evidence”, but that’s a stretch. In that case it would rather be “give evidence against someone” rather than “give evidence to someone”. I do not know why they would change the clear meaning of the word to make such a complicated translation, but it’s not accurate.

John 16: 27-28

For the Father himself has affection for you, because you have had affection for me and have believed that I came as God’s representative. 28 I came as the Father’s representative and have come into the world. Now I am leaving the world and am going to the Father.”

Change/biased translation

John 16:27,28 Kingdom Interlinear Translation

The Greek word translated here as as “representative” is ἐξῆλθον (exelthon).   This word has absolutely nothing to do with representation or representatives. Exelthon simply means “come out”. In the New World Translation it is consistently translated “come out” everywhere except in this passage: The disciples came out of the city, Paul came out of Macedonia, smoke and locusts came out of the pit. It is always the action of something coming out of one location into another. So what Jesus is really saying is that he came out of the Father. This means that before he came to earth he was somehow in the Father. This matches perfectly with the Trinity doctrine which teaches that the Father and Son share the same substance. Although Jesus did represent God on earth, this word does not mean “representative”. It is a blatant change or at best a very far-fetched and fanciful biased word choice. The Watchtower change this to support their Arian teachings.

John 17: 3

This means everlasting life, their coming to know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.

Fuzzy interpretation

This is not strictly a problem with the translation, but rather with the interpretation that the Watchtower has of this scripture. Their interpretation is that this scripture means that in order to gain eternal life, you must take in knowledge about God. That studying is a means to an end, that is to attain to eternal life. What this scripture actually is is a definition about what it means to have eternal life. Jesus said in John 3:36 that “the one who exercises faith in the Son has everlasting life”. If you have faith in Jesus, you already have everlasting life right now. In John 17:3 Jesus is just defining and expounding on what it means to have everlasting life, what the whole purose for having everlasting life is. And the reason or purpose why we have everlasting life is not to go to heaven, or to live on earth in nice houses and hugging lions. The reason we have everlasting life is to know God. The point of it all is to have a deep, intimate relationship with God. And this is something we can have right now, since if we have faith in Jesus we alreadyhave everlasting life. Why does the Watchtower present this scripture as if learning about God results in everlasting life, rather than everlasting life resulting in knowing God? Probably because they are a works-based religion, and it has some gnostic ideas floating around, more specifically that salvation comes through knowledge or that our knowledge somehow affects our salvation. This is a form of works righteousness, because studying is a form of works you can do. What if a person can’t study or don’t have the time or ability to study, are they worse off? At what level of knowledge is your salvation secure? Will you always worry that your level of knowledge is not enough? It causes a lot of subconscious stress. But the correct interpretation makes it a spiritual paradise: Not only do you already have everlasting life, you can get to know God personally at your own pace forever.

John 17: 8

because I have given them the sayings that you gave me, and they have accepted them and have certainly come to know that I came as your representative, and they have believed that you sent me.

Change/biased translation

The words translated “came as your representative” is the greek “παρὰ σοῦ ἐξῆλθον” (para soy exelthon) which does not mean to come as a representative, but it means to “come out of you”. ἐξῆλθον (exelthon) means to come out of something, not to represent something. The NWT translates this as “went out” or “come out” in every instance except when it has to do with Jesus “coming out” from God the Father. They donthis to hide the deity of Christ and the Trinity Doctrine. See also John 16:28

Acts 5: 42

And every day in the temple and from house to house they continued without letup teaching and declaring the good news about the Christ, Jesus.

Biased translation/Change

The words translated “from house to house” here are the Greek words κατ’ οἶκον (kata oikon). Oikon means house. Kata means according to, in, against, by, or every. Other translations render this “in houses”, because the Christians were assembling in house churches where they would teach everyone who came there. The exact same words, kata oikon, are used in Acts 2:46 where they translate it “they took their meals in different homes”. Why doesn’t it say “they took their meals from house to house”? Romans 16:5, 1 Corinthians 16:19 and Colossians 4:16 also has kata oikon, rendering it “the congregation that is in their/her house”. So it is obvious that kata oikon refers to a house church, a congregation in the house. They don’t translate it “the congregation that is from house to house”. So why would they translate Acts 5:42 as teaching “from house to house”? The reason is probably that there is basically no evidence in scripture that the early Christians went from house to house, knocking doors and preaching to people like the Jehovah’s witnesses do. So when you can’t find scriptural evidence for your main activity, then what do you do? Then you change your Bible to fake it.

Acts 20: 28

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.

Addition

Acts 20:28 Kingdom Interlinear Translation

If you look at this scripture in the original Greek, there is no indication that the word “Son” should be found anywhere here:   The Greek word ἰδίου (idíou) means “self”. So this last part is properly translated as: “Shepherd the congregation of God, which He purchased through the blood of himself” (or “through his own blood”). So God is said to have bought us with his own blood.

But what does that mean? Whose blood was spilled to buy us from the world? Of course it is Jesus’ blood who bought us. Hence the only exegetical conclusion of this scripture is that Jesus is God. This is of course unacceptable to Arians such as Jehovah’s witnesses, so the Watchtower just goes ahead and inserts words which completely change the meaning of this passage to match up with their own teachings.

Romans 8: 1

Therefore, those in union with Christ Jesus __ have no condemnation.

Removal

Romans 8:1 Kingdom Interlinear Translation

The Greek and other translation has the word “now” in the text: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.”   This is probably removed to hide the fact that salvation by faith in Jesus is an instant thing, and not something that is postponed until after Armageddon, the millennial reign and the final test. The moment you put faith in Jesus you are instantly saved for all eternity. Christians can enjoy their salvation in Christ immediately, but the Watchtower wants to hide this in order to coerce the Witnesses to keep striving after a carrot they may never reach.

Romans 8: 23

Not only that, but we ourselves also who have the firstfruits, namely, the spirit, yes, we ourselves groan within ourselves while we are earnestly waiting for adoption as sons, the release from our bodies by ransom.

Change

Romans 8:23 Kingdom Interlinear Translation

If we have a look at the greek, what the bold section actually says is “awaiting the release-by-ransom of-the body of-us”. The grammar is clear. It is the bodies that are ransomed or released. It is not a release from our bodies, but a release of our bodies. The correct translation of this verse would be “And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” The reason they change this is probably because the true teaching of the Bible is that God does not ignore our physical bodies in his plan of redemption, but he plans to resurrect them into a glorified state in the future earth. However the Watchtower teaches that not only Jesus but also the so called “anointed” when they die leave behind their bodies to live as some sort of wispy bodiless spirits and never return to earth. This teaching is false. Not only was Jesus resurrected in his own body, but all Christians will be resurrected into their physical bodies. So if the Watchtower would translate this verse accurately, some of their followers might start to question this ridiculous idea that 144.000 of them will turn into ghosts while the others will have physical bodies.

Romans 8: 27

But the one who searches the hearts knows what the meaning of the spirit is, because it is pleading in harmony with God for the holy ones.

Change

Romans 8:27 Kingdom Interlinear Translation

In this verse which talks about the Holy Spirit, the Greek says φρόνημα (phronēma) which means “what one has in the mind, the thoughts and purposes”, meaning “the mind” or “the thoughts” or “the thinking”. But the Watchtower has changed this to “meaning”. This is to hide the fact that the Holy Spirit is a person who has a mind and thoughts.

Romans 9: 5

To them the forefathers belong, and from them the Christ descended according to the flesh. God, who is over all, be praised forever. Amen.

Change

Romans 9:5 Kingdom Interlinear Translation

The Greek wording inthis verse goes “of-whom the fathers and out-of whom the Christ the-thing according-to flesh the-one being upon all-things God blessed-one into the ages amen”. So in this passage it is clear that it is talking about only one person, Christ, who is described as being above all things, and being God, is blessed forever. This clearly and straightforwardly calls Christ “God”. But the Watchtower changes the text in three important ways here: 1) They put a full stop in the middle of this sentence and divides it into two different sentences. They do this because this scripture clearly affirms the deity of Christ, and their doctrine denies it, so they allow their own doctrine to contradict the Bible. This makes the second sentence introduce another person to make an awkward and abrupt appearance where he doesn’t belong. The natural flow of the Greek is interrupted by a change of topic and an out-of-context exhortation to praise God. This is emphasized by #2: 2) They switch the order of the words and put “who is over all” after “God”, when it is supposed to be after Christ. “Who is over all” is a description of Christ in this sentence. And who is “over all” except God? This is unacceptable to their doctrines so they change the Bible. 3) They add “be” before blessed. This turns the meaning from a description into a exhortation. The Greek is describing Christ as being “God who is blessed”. The NWT instead turns this into a command to praise God. Had it just been a case of punctuation then it could be debatable, but they have done at least three different changes in order to twist this scripture to make it say what they want: to deny the deity of Christ.

1 Corinthians 7: 31

and those making use of the world as those not using it to the full; for the scene of this world is changing.

Change/biased translation

Almost all other translation translates the last part as something along the lines of “the fashion of this works is passing away” or “the works as we know it is ending”. The difference is that it is not changing, but disappearing. We should not put our faith in the world because it will disappear, it is transient. The scripture doesn’t focus on that things change from one fashion to another, but rather that all of it is futile. Why does the Watchtower change this? Probably because their version gives the sense that things are constantly changing, and we must therefore adapt to these changes. This gives them an excuse for changing their “Truth” on a regular basis. If the world is changing, you should expect “The Truth” to change too, right?

2 Corinthians 5: 20

Therefore, we are ambassadors substituting for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us. As substitutes for Christ, we beg: “Become reconciled to God.”

Addition

2 Corinthians 5:20 Kingdom Interlinear Translation

The Watchtower adds the word “substituting” in this verse. If you are an ambassador, you’re an ambassador for someone. You might represent them. But you never substitute them. The word is not there in Greek or any other translations. The Watchtower has added this word here to bolster their claim that they are God’s representative on earth, even to the point that they blasphemously claim that they are substitutes for Jesus Christ, as if Jesus is not present, so they now have all his authority. They have in a sense thrown Jesus off his throne and sat themselves down there instead. This is narcissism, hubris and blasphemy.

Galatians 6: 18

The undeserved kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ be with the spirit you show, brothers. Amen.

Change

Galatians 6:18 Kingdom Interlinear Translation

The Greek in this verse is translated as “the spirit of you”. Most translations tended this “your spirit” or similar. Why would the Watchtower change this to “the spirit you show”? Probably because Jehovah’s witnesses have a materialistic view of humans, thinking that the soul is the entire person, and the spirit is the physical energy that keeps a body going. It makes no sense to say that the favor of Christ should be with the bioelectrical impulses that keep your body alive. So adding “you show” makes it sound like Paul is talking about their general attitude, “the spirit you show”. Scriptures like 1 Thessalonians 5:23 shows that the spirit of a man is one of three parts of what makes up the human being. It is the part that is born when a person is born again. (John 3:3-6) It makes sense that Jesus would show favor to our spirits as being part of our very being. But it makes no sense to Jehovah’s Witnesses who does not believe in human spirits, so they have to add words to make it seem like it’s talking about attitude.

Ephesians 4: 8

For it says: “When he ascended on high he carried away captives; he gave gifts in men.”

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Ephesians 4:8 Kingdom Interlinear Translation

The original Greek and all other translations says that Jesus gave gifts to men, not in men. The text refers to the gifts of the Holy Spirit that Jesus gives to people to help them do his will. The Watchtower changes this words because they need an unquestioning obedience to their hierarchy of authority. By saying that the leaders are “gifts from God” they thus inappropriately glorify men, bordering on idolatry.

Ephesians 4: 9

Now what does the expression “he ascended” mean but that he also descended into the lower regions, that is, the earth?

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Ephesians 4:9 Kingdom Interlinear Translation

The Greek for the end of this verse properly translates as“he stepped down into the lower parts of the earth”. Most translations render it similarly. Ever since the first century, Christians have interpreted this as Jesus going down into Hades after he died. Early creeds read like the Apostles’ creed mention this:

… I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He … was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father… -Excerpt from the Apostles’ creed

The Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that humans cease to exist at death. It is a false teaching not found in the Bible. All throughout the Bible when humans die, their soul goes into Sheol/Hades, and so did the soul of Jesus for 3 days and nights. The Watchtower changes “of the” into “that is”, equating the “lower regions” with the “earth”, when the original text is saying that the “lower regions” is a prepositional descriptor in the idiomatic phrase “lower parts of the earth”. The “lower parts of the earth” is an idiom meaning Hades. Adding the clarifying statement “that is”, makes no sense because it sounds like Paul is explaining what he means by the “lower regions”. If his readers didn’t know what the idiom meant then it would just be confusing to use it. If they knew what it meant then it wouldn’t need to be explained. The truth is that the Ephesians, living in a Hellenistic culture, would immediately understand that “the lower regions” refers to Hades. The Watchtower probably changes this in order to deceive people into thinking that human souls do not go to Hades upon death. They must protect their doctrine of annihilation at death. ## Ephesians 4:10 > The very one who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might give fullness to all things. ### Change The correct wording of the bold section is “that he might fill all things.” The idea is that Jesus Christ himself fills all things. Not that he causes things to become full in some other sense. I suspect this may have been changed to hide the fact that Jesus is here shown to be omnipresent, able to be anywhere and everythwere, and to fill things. This is a problem for the Watchtower because according to them, not even Jehovah is omnipresent. And it would also ruin their argument that “The Holy Spirit can not be a person because a person can not fill things” if Jesus is a person who fills things. ## Ephesians 4:23 > And you should continue to be made new in your dominant mental attitude. ### Clunky translation The words translated here rather mean “the spirit of your minds”. Dominant mental attitude is very clunky and not an elegant choice of words.

Colossians 1: 15–17, 20

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 16 because by means of him all other things were created in the heavens and on the earth, the things visible and the things invisible, whether they are thrones or lordships or governments or authorities. All other things have been created through him and for him. 17 Also, he is before all other things, and by means of him all other things were made to exist, […] 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all other things by making peace through the blood he shed on the torture stake, whether the things on the earth or the things in the heavens.

Addition

The NWT adds the word “other” five times in this passage. No Greek manuscript and no other translation uses the word “other” here. The word “other” radically changes the meaning here. Without “other” it says “all things were created by [Jesus]”, meaning that Jesus himself is not a creation but the eternal creator himself. By inserting the “other”, it suddenly means that Jesus could himself be included in the category of created things and thus not be the eternal creator. It is inserted to support the Jehovah’s Witness teaching that Jesus is a created being, which is based on the third century heresy called Arianism.

Colossians 1:15–17, 20 Kingdom Interlinear Translation

Colossians 1: 19

because God was pleased to have all fullness to dwell in him,

Removal

Colossians 1:19 Kingdom Interlinear Translation

This is a subtle change. The NWT removes the definite article “the” before “fullness”. If the “The” is there you have to ask yourself “what fullness?” And the answer is “the fullness of God.” But when left out, it’s just any indefinite general fullness, some sort of quality.

Colossians 1: 21,22

21 Indeed, you who were once alienated and enemies because your minds were on the works that were wicked,22 he has now reconciled by means of that one’s fleshly body through his death, in order to present you holy and unblemished and open to no accusation before him —

Change

Yet another example of the abuse of prepositions, especially the “in” preposition.The Greek uses “εν” meaning “in”. Replaced this preposition with other prepositions render the meaning totally different. In this passage the correct translation would be “now has he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death”, because just like Noah was in the ark for salvation, so we are in a spiritual sense positionally in Christ’s body. But the Watchtower on the one hand officially teaches that Jesus’ body was disintegrated into atoms, and in a spiritual sense only 144.000 Jehovah’s Witnesses are “in” the body of Jesus. So this scripture would indicate either that Jesus was bodily resurrected, which the Watchtower denies. Or it would indicate that all non-anointed Jehovah’s Witnesses are still alienated and enemies of God. The Watchtower changes in to by means of and thus make his body more akin to a tool or instrument.

Colossians 1:21,22 Kingdom Interlinear Translation

Colossians 2: 9

because it is in him that all the fullness of the divine quality dwells bodily

Biased translation

The Greek word rendered “divine quality” is θεότητος (Theotetos) which actually means “divinity”, that is the divine nature or the thing that makes God “God”. It could well be rendered divine quality, it is technically correct. But this gives a watered down sense of its gravity. Like it is like any other quality is that perhaps other beings than God could have. In actually it is the quality that defines if a being is God or not. But even with the Watchtower trying to water it down, it is still an undeniable proof for the Trinity doctrine. What it is saying in undeniable terms is that Jesus is fully, 100% unequivocally divine. All the fullness of the quality which means someone is God dwells in Jesus. Or in other words: Jesus is fully God.

Colossians 3: 23,24

Colossians 3:23,24 Kingdom Interlinear Translation

Whatever you are doing, work at it whole-souled as for Jehovah, and not for men, for you know that it is from Jehovah you will receive the inheritance as a reward. Slave for the Master, Christ.

Biased translation

The whole chapter of Colossians 3 is all about Jesus Christ. Christ is explicitly named in verses 1,3,4,11,15,16,17,18,20,22,23,24 and, if you read the KJV, also in verse 13. Jesus is referred to as “Jesus”, “Christ” or “The Lord”. Especially verse 17 makes it abundantly clear that “The Lord” refers to Christ. God the Father is only referred to as “God” or “God the Father”. Very simple. But since the Watchtower spread the non-historical and unscholarly conspiracy theory that somehow some evil scribe managed to gather every manuscript in the known world and remove the name “Jehovah” from them, leaving no trace, (while at the same time they claim that the Bible has been unchanged), the Watchtower endeavours to pepper the name Jehovah in every place they possibly can. Colossians 3 is a chapter where this backfires because their insertion of the name Jehovah in verses 13, 16, 22, 23 and 24 makes their translation a confusing mess. It is nigh impossible to know who the text is talking about since it switches between two persons and when it only says “The Lord” you have no idea who it talks about. The identity of “The Lord” is passed between Jesus and Jehovah like a tennis ball at Wimbledon, but in verses 23 and 24 it hits the net… The problem there is that if you look in the greek, verse 23 talks about “Kyriou” which is the greek word for “the Lord”. They translate this as “Jehovah”. And in verse 24 it again talks about “Kyriou” which they again translate as “Jehovah”. But at the end of verse 24 it says “Kyriou Christou” or “The Lord Christ”. Remember that this is all the same long sentence. So in the beginning of the sentence they twice change “The Lord” to “Jehovah”, but at the end of the sentence it reveals that “The Lord” it is talking about is actually Jesus Christ. What is a false prophet to do in such circumstances when the text not only reveals that your theology is wrong, but also that your conspiracy theory about replacing the name Jehovah is wrong? What thee Watchtower chose to do was to translate the last “Kyriou” as “Master” instead of “The Lord” and hope that their followers won’t look into it. It sounds weird, but if your followers are not used to do research, they will probably just skim over it. Another benefit of this is that it makes the whole chapter very confusing. Who is it talking about? And if your readers are confused then they need you to explain the meaning of this mess that you have created. A win-win solution for a manipulative high control group.

1 Timothy 2: 3,4

This is fine and acceptable in the sight of our Savior, God, whose will is that all sorts of people should be saved and come to an accurate knowledge of truth.

Addition

1 Timothy 2:3,5 Kingdom Interlinear Translation

The Watchtower adds the words “sorts of“ in this verse. The originals says that God wants all people to be saved. His wish is for everyone to be saved. By adding “sorts of”, the Watchtower makes it sound like God is content with just saving people of each kind, like Noah saving two animals of each kind. Like a butterfly collector who capture one or two of each kind of butterfly to pin onto a bird with a neat label underneath, just as a sampling of what exists in the wild, once God has completed his little hobby project and have samples of each sort of humans — each shade of skin, one of each sex, fat, thin, rich, poor, tall, short, young, old — he will be satisfied. It’s as if God only is interested in checking off the various possible categories of humans rather than having any real concern for humanity. Since the Watchtower preaching campaign has only attracted about one person in a thousand while the biblical Christian gospel has attracted a third of the world’s population, it makes sense to lower God’s expectation from “all” to “a few samples of every category”. If the Jehovah’s witnesses are the true religion then God’s wish that all people be saved would be unattainable. It would take hundreds of thousands of years at their current rate to even come close to that goal. This unauthorised change of the Bible text changes a person’s understanding of salvation and their perception of other people. This is the most prominent scripture but the same deceptive translation also occur in:

• John 1:7
• John 12:32
• Romans 5:18
• 1 Corinthians 9:23
• 1 Timothy 2:1
• 1 Timothy 4:10
• Titus 2:11
• 1 Peter 2:17

1 Timothy 4:1

However, the inspired word clearly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to misleading inspired statements and teachings of demons,

Change/Addition

1 Timothy 4:1 Kingdom Interlinear Translation

The words “the inspired word” in this verse have been changed. In the Greek it says that “the spirit” is saying these things. I actually have no idea how they could twist this to mean “the inspired word”. Word is “logos” and there is no “logos” in this verse. However I do understand why they would change this. This verse says that “the spirit”, obviously the Holy Spirit, is saying something. And if it is saying something or speaking, that means that it is a person. “Active forces” like electricity can not “say” anything or speak prophecies as the Holy Spirit does here. Ironically this passage warns people that in “in later times” or the last days, some will fall away by listening to false spirits and teachings of demons, and by the hypocrisy of men who speak lies. Funny how the sect of Jehovah’s witnesses emerged in the later days based on the teachings of a men who paid attention to false spirits and teachings of demons. And as this document shows, men who are not afraid to lie and deceive to push their false teachings.

Hebrews 1: 8

But about the Son, he says: “God is your throne forever and ever, and the scepter of your Kingdom is the scepter of uprightness.

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Hebrews 1:8 Kingdom Interlinear Translation

This verse quotes Psalm 45:6 which in Greek begins with “Ὁ (Ho/The) θρόνος (thronos/throne) σου (soy/of you) ὁ (Ho/the) θεὸς (Theos/God)”

The word σου “sou” is a possessive form of the second person pronoun συ “soo”, meaning you. Hence σου “sou” means “yours” or “of you” indicating that the first noun, the throne, belongs to the second noun, God.

In short the phrase means “The throne of you, God…”, “your throne, o God” or “The throne which belongs to you, o God…” speaking to God. The sentence is addressing God and the rest of the sentence makes a comment on the Throne that belongs to God.

If the author had wanted to convey the idea that God is a piece of furniture that belongs to the person being addressed, they would have used the copulative verb “είναι” (is) to identify God with the Throne itself. The phrase would then be:

“Ὁ (Ho/The) θεὸς (Theos/God) είναι” (is) θρόνος (thronos/throne) ὁ (Ho/the) σου (soy/of you)”

So there is absolutely no justification for translating this as “God is your throne…”

According to Paul, this sentence is spoken to Jesus by God the Father, and God the Father adresses Jesus as “God”. This is a strong piece of evidence for the deity of Jesus. So it is no surprise that the Watchtower boldly and blatantly change it into something that makes no sense whatsoever. “God is your throne”? God is not a piece of furniture.

See also Psalm 45:6

Hebrews 11: 13,16

Hebrews 11:13,16 — In faith all of these died, although they did not receive the fulfillment of the promises; but they saw them from a distance and welcomed them and publicly declared that they were strangers and temporary residents in the land. […] 16 But now they are reaching out for a better place, that is, one belonging to heaven. Therefore, God is not ashamed of them, to be called on as their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Biased word choice

The words in verse 13 that are translated “in the land” in Greek actually means “on the earth”. (Epi means on top of the surface of something.) In the land denotes a local earthly kingdom, country or geographical area. Earth denotes the whole physical world. Big difference. And the words “one belonging to heaven” should actually be “a heavenly one”. The difference is that “belonging to” means that it does not have the properties of what it belongs to, i.e. it’s not heavenly. But “heavenly” means that it has the distinct properties of heaven. Big difference. The actual reading of the text denotes that these ancient faithful ones considered themselves temporary residents on earth and were looking forward to a heavenly hope. Why would the Watchtower obfuscate these verses? Naturally to preserve their idea that only a limited number of people go to heaven, and that these ancient faithful were not part of that group. As Hebrews indicate, this is not accurate.

Revelation 5: 10­

and you made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they are to rule as kings over the earth.”

Change / Biased translation

Revelation 5:10 Kingdom Interlinear Translation

The text translates the Greek word ἐπὶ (epi) as “over” when it is a preposition that means “upon”. From the surface of something and upward. This diagram from the first page of the printed edition of the Kingdom Interlinear explains it:

Diagram explaining Greek prepositions, from the Kingdom Interlinear Translation

The word is translated as “upon” or “on” in other parts of the Bible, for example in Matthew 6:10, which translates the same phrase, “on [the] earth”, as in Revelation 5:10.

Matthew 6:10 Kingdom Interlinear Translation

Matthew 6:10 — Let your Kingdom come. Let your will take place, as in heaven, also on earth.

The reason for this is to hide the fact that the kings of God’s Kingdom will physically rule on earth, and not from heaven as the Watchtower teaches. They will be here, people can see them, meet them, touch them. They will not be an anonymous invisible council ruling from heaven.