S
saljmiranda
Guest
Hello, im in an ongoing discussion with my JW friend and and the topic of John1:1 came up and he came back with this response.
Facts: NWT is not the only translation to render John 1:1 as “a god”. 1966, 2001 The Good News Bible reads: "…and he was the same as God." 1970, 1989 The Revised English Bible reads: "…and what God was, the Word was." 14th century - Wycliffe’s Bible (from the 4th-century Latin Vulgate) reads: “In the beginning was the word, and the word was at God, and God was the word. 1956 The Wuest Expanded Translation reads: “In the beginning the Word was existing. And the Word was in fellowship with God the Father. And the Word was as to His essence absolute deity”[8] 1808 “and the Word was a god” - Thomas Belsham The New Testament, in An Improved Version, Upon the Basis of Archbishop Newcome’s New Translation: With a Corrected Text , London. 1864 “the LOGOS was God, This was in the Beginning with God” A New Emphatic Version (right hand column) 1864 “and a god was the Word” (left hand column interlinear reading) The Emphatic Diaglott by Benjamin Wilson, New York and London. 1867 “In the beginning was the gospel preached through the Son. And the gospel was the word, and the word was with the Son, and the Son was with God, and the Son was of God” - The Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible.
1935 “and the Word was divine” - The Bible—An American Translation, by John M. P. Smith and Edgar J. Goodspeed, Chicago. 1955 “so the Word was divine” - The Authentic New Testament, by Hugh J. Schonfield, Aberdeen. 1978 “and godlike sort was the Logos” - Das Evangelium nach Johannes, by Johannes Schneider, Berlin. 1822 “and the Word was a god.” - The New Testament in Greek and English (A. Kneeland, 1822.); 1863 “and the Word was a god.” - A Literal Translation Of The New Testament (Herman Heinfetter [Pseudonym of Frederick Parker], 1863); 1885 “and the Word was a god.” - Concise Commentary On The Holy Bible (R. Young, 1885); 1879 “and the Word was a god.” - Das Evangelium nach Johannes (J. Becker, 1979); 1911 “and the Word was a god.” - The Coptic Version of the N.T. (G. W. Horner, 1911); 1958 “and the Word was a god.” - The New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Anointed” (J. L. Tomanec, 1958); 1829 “and the Word was a god.” - The Monotessaron; or, The Gospel History According to the Four Evangelists (J. S. Thompson, 1829); 1975 “and the Word was a god.” - Das Evangelium nach Johannes (S. Schulz, 1975); 1962, 1979 “‘the word was God.’ Or, more literally, ‘God was the word.’” TheFour Gospels and the Revelation (R. Lattimore, 1979) 1975 “and a god (or, of a divine kind) was the Word” Das Evangelium nach Johnnes, by Siegfried Schulz, Göttingen, Germany
Why do Jehovah’s Witnesses stick to rendering John 1:1 as “a god”.Facts:John 1:1, 2:RS reads: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” (KJ, Dy, JB, NAB use similar wording.) However, NW reads: “In the beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god. This one was in the beginning with God.”Which translation of John 1:1, 2 agrees with the context? John 1:18 says: “No one has ever seen God.” Verse 14 clearly says that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us . . . we have beheld his glory.” Also, verses 1, 2 say that in the beginning he was “with God.” Can one be with someone and at the same time be that person?At John 17:3, Jesus addresses the Father as “the only true God”; so, Jesus as “a god” merely reflects his Father’s divine qualities.—Heb. 1:3.Is the rendering “a god” consistent with the rules of Greek grammar? Some reference books argue strongly that the Greek text must be translated, “The Word was God.” But not all agree. In his article “Qualitative Anarthrous Predicate Nouns: Mark 15:39 and John 1:1,” Philip B. Harner said that such clauses as the one in John 1:1, “with an anarthrous predicate preceding the verb, are primarily qualitative in meaning. They indicate that the logos has the nature of theos.” He suggests: “Perhaps the clause could be translated, ‘the Word had the same nature asGod.’” (Journal of Biblical Literature, 1973, pp. 85, 87) Thus, in this text, the fact that the word the·osʹ in its second occurrence is without the definite article (ho) and is placed before the verb in the sentence in Greek is significant. Interestingly, translators that insist on renderingJohn 1:1, “The Word was God,” do not hesitate to use the indefinite article (a, an) in their rendering of other passages where a singular anarthrous predicate noun occurs before the verb. Thus at John 6:70, JB and KJ both refer to Judas Iscariot as “a devil,” and at John 9:17 they describe Jesus as “a prophet.”John J. McKenzie, S.J., in his Dictionary of the Bible, says: “Jn 1:1 should rigorously be translated ‘the word was with the God = the Father], and the word
was a divine being.’”—(Brackets are his. Published with nihil obstat and imprimatur.) (New York, 1965), p. 317.In harmony with the above, AT reads: “the Word was divine”; Mo, “the Logos was divine”; NTIV, “the word was a god.” In his German translation Ludwig Thimme expresses it in this way: “God of a sort the Word was.” Referring to the Word (whobecame Jesus Christ) as “a god” is consistent with the use of that term in the rest ofthe Scriptures. For example, at Psalm 82:1-6 human judges in Israel were referred to as “gods” (Hebrew, ’elo·him ;ʹ Greek, the·oi ,ʹ at John 10:34) because they were representatives of Jehovah and were to speak his law.See also NW appendix, 1984 Reference edition, p. 1579.Was the Word “God” or “a god”?THAT question has to be considered when Bible translators handle the first verse of the Gospel of John.
Facts: NWT is not the only translation to render John 1:1 as “a god”. 1966, 2001 The Good News Bible reads: "…and he was the same as God." 1970, 1989 The Revised English Bible reads: "…and what God was, the Word was." 14th century - Wycliffe’s Bible (from the 4th-century Latin Vulgate) reads: “In the beginning was the word, and the word was at God, and God was the word. 1956 The Wuest Expanded Translation reads: “In the beginning the Word was existing. And the Word was in fellowship with God the Father. And the Word was as to His essence absolute deity”[8] 1808 “and the Word was a god” - Thomas Belsham The New Testament, in An Improved Version, Upon the Basis of Archbishop Newcome’s New Translation: With a Corrected Text , London. 1864 “the LOGOS was God, This was in the Beginning with God” A New Emphatic Version (right hand column) 1864 “and a god was the Word” (left hand column interlinear reading) The Emphatic Diaglott by Benjamin Wilson, New York and London. 1867 “In the beginning was the gospel preached through the Son. And the gospel was the word, and the word was with the Son, and the Son was with God, and the Son was of God” - The Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible.
1935 “and the Word was divine” - The Bible—An American Translation, by John M. P. Smith and Edgar J. Goodspeed, Chicago. 1955 “so the Word was divine” - The Authentic New Testament, by Hugh J. Schonfield, Aberdeen. 1978 “and godlike sort was the Logos” - Das Evangelium nach Johannes, by Johannes Schneider, Berlin. 1822 “and the Word was a god.” - The New Testament in Greek and English (A. Kneeland, 1822.); 1863 “and the Word was a god.” - A Literal Translation Of The New Testament (Herman Heinfetter [Pseudonym of Frederick Parker], 1863); 1885 “and the Word was a god.” - Concise Commentary On The Holy Bible (R. Young, 1885); 1879 “and the Word was a god.” - Das Evangelium nach Johannes (J. Becker, 1979); 1911 “and the Word was a god.” - The Coptic Version of the N.T. (G. W. Horner, 1911); 1958 “and the Word was a god.” - The New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Anointed” (J. L. Tomanec, 1958); 1829 “and the Word was a god.” - The Monotessaron; or, The Gospel History According to the Four Evangelists (J. S. Thompson, 1829); 1975 “and the Word was a god.” - Das Evangelium nach Johannes (S. Schulz, 1975); 1962, 1979 “‘the word was God.’ Or, more literally, ‘God was the word.’” TheFour Gospels and the Revelation (R. Lattimore, 1979) 1975 “and a god (or, of a divine kind) was the Word” Das Evangelium nach Johnnes, by Siegfried Schulz, Göttingen, Germany
Why do Jehovah’s Witnesses stick to rendering John 1:1 as “a god”.Facts:John 1:1, 2:RS reads: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” (KJ, Dy, JB, NAB use similar wording.) However, NW reads: “In the beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god. This one was in the beginning with God.”Which translation of John 1:1, 2 agrees with the context? John 1:18 says: “No one has ever seen God.” Verse 14 clearly says that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us . . . we have beheld his glory.” Also, verses 1, 2 say that in the beginning he was “with God.” Can one be with someone and at the same time be that person?At John 17:3, Jesus addresses the Father as “the only true God”; so, Jesus as “a god” merely reflects his Father’s divine qualities.—Heb. 1:3.Is the rendering “a god” consistent with the rules of Greek grammar? Some reference books argue strongly that the Greek text must be translated, “The Word was God.” But not all agree. In his article “Qualitative Anarthrous Predicate Nouns: Mark 15:39 and John 1:1,” Philip B. Harner said that such clauses as the one in John 1:1, “with an anarthrous predicate preceding the verb, are primarily qualitative in meaning. They indicate that the logos has the nature of theos.” He suggests: “Perhaps the clause could be translated, ‘the Word had the same nature asGod.’” (Journal of Biblical Literature, 1973, pp. 85, 87) Thus, in this text, the fact that the word the·osʹ in its second occurrence is without the definite article (ho) and is placed before the verb in the sentence in Greek is significant. Interestingly, translators that insist on renderingJohn 1:1, “The Word was God,” do not hesitate to use the indefinite article (a, an) in their rendering of other passages where a singular anarthrous predicate noun occurs before the verb. Thus at John 6:70, JB and KJ both refer to Judas Iscariot as “a devil,” and at John 9:17 they describe Jesus as “a prophet.”John J. McKenzie, S.J., in his Dictionary of the Bible, says: “Jn 1:1 should rigorously be translated ‘the word was with the God = the Father], and the word
was a divine being.’”—(Brackets are his. Published with nihil obstat and imprimatur.) (New York, 1965), p. 317.In harmony with the above, AT reads: “the Word was divine”; Mo, “the Logos was divine”; NTIV, “the word was a god.” In his German translation Ludwig Thimme expresses it in this way: “God of a sort the Word was.” Referring to the Word (whobecame Jesus Christ) as “a god” is consistent with the use of that term in the rest ofthe Scriptures. For example, at Psalm 82:1-6 human judges in Israel were referred to as “gods” (Hebrew, ’elo·him ;ʹ Greek, the·oi ,ʹ at John 10:34) because they were representatives of Jehovah and were to speak his law.See also NW appendix, 1984 Reference edition, p. 1579.Was the Word “God” or “a god”?THAT question has to be considered when Bible translators handle the first verse of the Gospel of John.