All the years of reading my New World Translation (NWT) Bible,
published by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, I always
wondered why certain words were bracketed. Of course, being
afraid to question, I
never did. It was not until my journey out of being a
Spiritual Hostage, that I found a small statement buried in the
back of the NWT Bible.
On page 1547 the paragraph reads as
follows:
"[ ] Brackets enclose words
inserted to complete the sense in the English text; [[ ]] suggest
interpolations in original text."
This small buried statement increased my interest in these
bracketed words. First of all, what does that word
"interpolation" mean. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the meaning of
"interpolate" as a transitive verb is:
1 a : to
alter or corrupt (as a text) by inserting new or foreign
matterb : to insert (words)
into a text or into a conversation
b : to insert (words) into a text
or into a conversation
This brought up another question - do the bracketed
words change the meaning of the scriptures?
I did some research, looking for all the bracketed words in the
NWT Bible and reading every scripture, comparing it to other Bibles
I had. It turns out that most times the bracketed words do
not change the meaning, but a few times it dramatically changes the
meaning of the scriptures, and in my opinion, it helps support
certain doctrines of the religion.
Read the following scripture and read the scripture without the
bracketed word and then with the bracketed word.
Col. 1:15-17, NWT says:
"He is the image of the
invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; because by means of
him all [other] things were created in the heavens and upon the
earth, the things visible and the things invisible, no matter
whether they are thrones or lordships or governments or
authorities. All [other] things have been created through him
and for him. Also, he is before all [other] things and by
means of him all [other] things were made to exist."
By adding the word "other" is takes away from the
Deity of Christ (something Jehovah's Witnesses don't
believe in), making him a part of creation.
Acts 20:28, NWT says:
"Pay attention to yourselves and
to all the flock, among which the holy spirit has annointed you
overseers, to shepherd the congregation of God, which he purchased
with the blood of his own [Son]."
By adding the word "Son", it denies that Jesus is the God
who shed His own blood for us.
Titus 2:13, NWT says:
"While we wait for the happy
hope and glorious manifestation of the great God and of [the]
Savior of us, Christ Jesus,"
The Greek phrase "Theou kai soteros emon" meaning "God and
Savior of us" or "our God and Savior" is mistranslated as "God and
of [the] Savior of us". This word "the," being inserted in brackets
with no basis in the Greek text seems to be yet another attempt of
NWT translators to separate Christ from being God.
Another example of how the bracketed words change
meaning of scripture is in 1 Corinthians 14:12-16,
NWT. The expression "gift of the" is added in
brackets five times, changing "spirit" to "[gift of the] spirit."
The result is that Paul's contrast between his own personal
"spirit" and his "mind" is removed, which again serves the
Jehovah's Witness doctrine that the spirit is not a distinct entity
which survives death. To assure that this contrast is missed, the
word "my" is also added in brackets before "mind" twice in verse
15. Thus the simple contrast between "the spirit" and "the mind" is
changed to "the [gift of the] spirit" and "[my] mind."
Many other
websites have done significant research on the adding, changing
and omitting of words in the NWT Bible. Jehovah's Witnesses
have been very well trained on telling others how their Bible is
the most accurate Bible, citing
worldly scholars to support their doctrines.
The Opposite of Love is Fear
Having been raised in a fear-based culture, I now know that
being coerced to practice a religion out of fear, is not
loving. 1 John 4:18 (NWT), "There is no fear in love, but
perfect love throws fear outside, because fear exercises a
restraint. Indeed, he that is under fear has not been made
perfect in love."
