The New World Translation Bible and the Words "In Union With"

A comment I noticed recently online: "When criticizing the NWT, John 1:1 is usually the first scripture mentioned. But there is another which disturbs me more. In John 14:10 (and other verses where Jesus speaks of being "IN" the Father), The NWT has changed it to say "in union with". (they must have thought that word "IN" sound too suggestive of the Deity of Jesus)."

Reply: The ASV has: "Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I say unto you I speak not from myself: but the Father abiding in me doeth his works." The NWT has "Do you not believe that I am in union with the Father and the Father is in union with me? The things I say to YOU men I do not speak of my own originality; but the Father who remains in union with me is doing his works."

Albert Barnes in his commentary writes of this Scripture: "The Father that dwelleth in me - Literally, 'The Father remaining in me.' This denotes most intimate union, so that the works which Jesus did might be said to be done by the Father. It implies a more intimate union than can subsist between a mere man and God. Had Jesus been a mere man, like the prophets, he would have said, “The Father who sent or commissioned me doeth the works;” but here there is reference, doubtless, to that mysterious and special union which subsists between the Father and the Son."

This is why the Williams New Testament can translate this verse as: "Do you not believe that I am in union with the Father and that the Father is in union with me? I am not saying these things on my own authority, but the Father who always remains in union with me is doing these things Himself."

Goodspeed in his New Testament has: "Do you not believe that I am in union with the Father and the Father is in union with me? I am not the source of the words that I say to you, but the Father who is united with me is doing these things himself."

The Twentieth Century New Testament has: "Do not you believe that I am in union with the Father, and the Father with me? In giving you my teaching I am not speaking on my own authority; but the Father himself, always in union with me, does his own work."

Also, this Scripture does not sound suggestive of the Deity of Jesus unless you are a Sabellianist.t

I have heard this complaint before from Rob Bowman (The New World Translation On Trial), where he writes:

"prepositions do have recognizable functions and meanings and cannot be translated in whatever manner one chooses. In violation of this, the NWT translates the simple preposition "in" (Greek, _en_) with unnecessary variations which often obscure or alter the meaning of the passage. This is illustrated in 1 John 5:20 where the NWT reads in part, 'And we are in union with the true one, by means of his Son Jesus Christ.' Reading this translation, one would never suspect that _in union with_ and _by means of_ translate the same simple Greek preposition. There is no sound reason for this variation."

Reply: What does being "In Christ" or "in the true one" mean to a modern reader? Bowman makes the fallacy that only an extremely literal or word-for-word translation will convey accurately the author's words through 2 milleniums.

"He[the translator] thinks that as long as he keeps the "same" words he cannot be too far wrong with the meaning. Instead, what he has done is not translation at all- he has put a new, and therefore wrong message in the bible. Whenever this happens, the problem has become very serious indeed." Norman Mundhenk, What Translation are you Using, The Bible Translator, Oct 1974, pp 419,420

For instance, in 1Samuel 24:3 the NWT uses the phrase "ease nature" while the original has "cover his feet". Is this is a mistranslation? After all the New World Translation is supposed to be literal Bible. But other literal Bibles such as the NKJV and the NASB also do not use the words "cover his feet". They use "relieve himself." This follows the original meaning better and it is an improvement.

No one is trying to obscure anything. Thayer's Lexicon under EN has,

"ingrafted as it were in Christ, in fellowship and union with Christ, with the Lord...Since such union with Christ is the basis on which actions and virtues rest, the expression is equivalent in meaning to by virtue of special fellowship or union with Christ."

See also Wallace's Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics, 372-75 and BDAG under _EN_ (4c)

The Good News Bible has at 1 John 5:20,  "We live in union with the true God - in union with his Son Jesus Christ."
An American Translation by Smith & Goodspeed has, "we are in union with him who is true, through his Son Jesus Christ."
The Charles B. Williams New Testament has, "We are in union with the True One, through his Son Jesus Christ."
The Weymouth New Testament in Modern Speech has, "We are in union with the True One - that is, we are in union with his Son Jesus Christ." See also 21st Century NT.
The Contemporary English Version uses the term "because of" here at 1 John 5:20, and Barclay uses "indissolubly bound."

The Revised English Bible frequently uses similar terms in place of "the simple preposition "in" (Greek, _en_)" so obviously, there is sound reason for this variation.