JOHN 1:1 & NEW WORLD TRANSLATION COMMITTEE HAVE GOT IT COVERED FROM EVERY ANGLE
JOHN 1:1
Papyrus Bodmer II (p66) 200 C.E.
Papyrus Bodmer II (p66) 200 C.E.
Is "...(A) god..." the only translation that Jehovah's Witnesses use?
Let us see!
The New World Translation Committee has been busy through the years.
ORIGINAL NWT VERSION 1.
1950: "...Originally the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god..." - (New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures With References, Rendered from the Original Languages by the New World Bible Translation Committee - A.D. 1950.
ALTERNATE VERSION 2.
1950: "...In ( At ) a beginning the Logos was, and the Logos was with the God, and the Logos was a god..." [Alternate rendering based on footnote] New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures With References, Rendered from the Original Languages by the New World Bible Translation Committee - A.D. 1950.
INTERLINEAR ALTERNATE VERSION 3.
1969: “...In beginning was the Word, and the Word was toward the God, and god was the Word...” [Literal rendering] The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures, Rendered from the Original Languages by the New World Bible Translation Committee.
ALTERNATE VERSION 3.
1984: "...In [the] beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god..." - (New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures With References, Rendered from the Original Languages by the New World Bible Translation Committee - [Revised 1984])
ALTERNATE VERSION 4.
1984: ["...In [the] beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, (we'.lohim')] and god [was the Word..."] - ([Alternate rendering based on footnote (J17,18 Hebrew)] New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures With References, Rendered from the Original Languages by the New World Bible Translation Committee - Revised 1984.)
ALTERNATE VERSION 5.
1984: ["...In [the] beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was] divine..." - ([Alternate rendering based on Appendix 6A, Page 1579] New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures With References, Rendered from the Original Languages by the New World Bible Translation Committee - Revised 1984)
ALTERNATE VERSION 7.
1984: ["...In [the] beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was] godlike..." - ([Alternate rendering based on Appendix 6A, Page 1579] New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures With References, Rendered from the Original Languages by the New World Bible Translation Committee - Revised 1984.)
ALTERNATE COPTIC VERSION 8.
2008: "...In the beginning existed the Word, and the Word existed with the God, and a god was the Word..." - (The Watchtower, November 1st, Interlinear translation from Sahadic Coptic text; P. Chester Beatty - 813)
NOTE: Some of the above are based only upon footnotes and appendixes but not officially published as a separate translation in itself by the New World Translation Committee of Jehovah's Witnesses.
JOHN 1:1 & JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES
To summarize:
1. "a (g)od" = (indefinite)
2. "(g)od" with a small (g) = (literal)
3. "divine" = (qualitative)
4. "godlike" = (qualitative/paraphrase)
I'd say the NWT Translation Committee has all it's bases covered wouldn't you?
So next time brothers a trinitarian has a go at the NWT don't forget to mention the other renderings.
