"It is no more 'full of heresies' than any other translation" Bible Translations and how to choose between them by Alan S. Duthie
In the verse preceding his statement, Ron Rhodes says that the NWT rendering of Hebrews 1:8 is unacceptable. Mr. Rhodes likes the New International Version (NIV) and the New American Standard Version (NASB).
Hebrews 1:8 says in the NWT: "But with reference to the Son: 'God is your throne forever and ever, and [the] scepter of your kingdom is the scepter of uprightness."
The NASB says: "But of the Son he says, THY THRONE O GOD IS FOREVER AND EVER, AND THE RIGHTEOUS SCEPTER IS THE SCEPTER OF HIS KINGDOM."
The NIV reads similarly.
So which one is right? The NASB's translation reads like the Son is God, the NWT's does not. This scripture is quoting Psalms 45:6,7. What Mr Rhodes fails to mention in this regard is that Psalms here is referring to a human king, probably King Solomon. Was King Solomon "God"? NO! That is why the Revised Standard Version translates Psalms 45:6,7 as "Your divine throne endures forever and ever" which is different from the way it translated it for Hebrews 1:8. Hebrews 1:8 equates Jesus (the Son) with King Solomon in Psalms. Both are subordinate to God, both are Kings. The Tanakh Holy Scriptures (the New Jewish Publication Society Translation) translates Ps 45:7 as "Your -divine throne- is everlasting. and then it encourages the reader to read 1 Chronicles 29:23 which says: "Solomon successfully took over the throne of the LORD as king instead of his father." Solomon, like Jesus sits/sat on Jehovah's throne.
“'God is thy throne,' that is, God is the support of thy throne."—Sykes, S. Clarke, Lindsey, Christie, Belsham, &c.
"No mode of language is more customary in Scripture than to call God our rock; and as the address here is to a king, it figuratively employs the idea of throne, to express that he shall never be deposed — that he shall endure eternally." -Firmin Abanzit.
So a little investigation will go a long way to uncover the truth behind attacks on the NWT.
50 Million Martyrs In 2000 years / Hebrews 11:37&38 /
ReplyDeleteRead Psalm 45 In The Geneva Bible first print of 1579
Just for the sake of keeping us ALL honest
Wycliffe Tyndale and others, these men so dedicated in hours of daily prayer, a faithfulness beyond what we know,,
Dedicated themselves by their faith to the point of enduring being burned at the stake. SO THAT WE ~~
Could have the First Ever ENGLISH LANGUAGE Scriptures. To PRESERVE HIS HOLY WORDS,,
LONG BEFORE ANY EDITS. That of "translation" self professing to be in the truth.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ EXCERPT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Although Kittel's work is still highly praised among Evangelicals and others (who have been misled), it should be noted that most of the Jewish versions of the Old Testament have strongly REJECTED the work and "scholarship" of both Rudolph (father) and Gerhard (son) Kittel.
It is possible to find Protestant Bibles without an Old Testament mis-translated by the Kittel Family.
But there are Very Few Versions to which this applies. The Biblia Hebraica [1937] and the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia [1977] (published by the German Bible Societies/UBS [United Bible Societies is the official name]) both of these UBS O.T.
God's appointed guardians of the Old Testament Text were the Jews according to Romans 3:1-2,
"What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there in circumcision? Much in every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God."
The methods used by the Jews in fulfilling their responsibilities as the guardians of these sacred texts is an interesting study. There were eight rules that the Jewish copyists used in the copying of the texts:
1. The parchment must be made from the skin of a clean animal (clean meaning ceremonially clean according to the Old Testament sanitary laws); must be prepared by a Jew only, and the skins must be fastened together by strings taken from clean animals.
2. Each column must have no less than forty-eight, nor more than sixty lines. The entire copy must be first lined.
3. The ink must be of no other color than black, and it must be prepared according to a special recipe.
4. No word nor letter could be written from memory; the scribe must have an authentic copy before him, and he must read and pronounce aloud each word before writing it.
5. He must reverently wipe his pen each time before writing the word for "God" (Elohim), and he must wash his whole body before writing the name "Jehovah" (LORD in our King James Bibles), lest the Holy Name be contaminated.
6. Strict rules were given concerning forms of the letters, spaces between letters, words and sections, the use of the pen, the color of the parchment, etc.
7. The revision (to correct any errors) of a roll must be made within thirty days after the work was finished; otherwise it was worthless. One mistake on a sheet condemned the entire sheet. If three mistakes were found on any page, the entire manuscript was condemned.
8. Every word and every letter was counted, and if a letter was omitted, or if an extra letter was inserted, or if two letters touched one another, the manuscript was condemned and destroyed at once.
So then, our only choice is between the traditional Hebrew Masoretic Text that has been the standard text of the Old Testament for well over two thousand years, and is represented by the vast majority of the existing Old Testament manuscripts, OR the new, modern text (Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia) that has only a little minor manuscript support, and leaves out or changes between 20,000 and 30,000 words in the Old Testament.
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