Which translation of the Bible is the best?

Actually that answer about the New World Translation of the Jehovah's Witnesses couldnt be much farther from the truth than any other statement I have heard. Im actually doing a research on bible versions and on Jehovah's Witnesses bible translation. First of all ( Red major flag ) on any book where the authors or translators dont want to be know and they have actually been know because the names have in fact been revealed by former high- ranking members of the Jehovah's witness. Not only that but these people including the founder have been taken to court based on the claims that they are suitable to translate the bible. Which in court their founder lied was put to the test to translate very simple things and he couldnt and more recently as stated earlier they did also take to court the head person of the committee member responsible on translating. They are 4 members and this is their educational background. Their names and scholarly qualifications are as follows:

They included Nathan H. Knorr (president of the Society at that time), Frederick W. Franz (who later succeeded Knorr as president), Albert D. Schroeder, George Gangas, and Milton G. Henschel (currently the president). None of these men had any university education except Franz, who left school after two years, never completing even an undergraduate degree. In fact, Frederick W. Franz, then representing the translation committee and later serving as the Watchtower Society's fourth president, admitted under oath that he could not translate Gen 2:4 from the Hebrew.

From the Pursur's Proof of the cross-examination held on Wednesday, November 24, 1954 (p. 7, paragraphs A-B), examining Frederick W. Franz, vice-president of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society and sent as representative of the Society and the Translation Communications:

Q: Have you also made yourself familiar with Hebrew?

A:(Franz) Yes.

Q: So that you have a substantial linguistic apparatus at your command?
A: Yes, for use in my biblical work.
Q: I think you are able to read and follow the Bible in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and French?
A: Yes.
Later, during the same cross-examination:
Q: You, yourself, read and speak Hebrew, do you?
A: I do not speak Hebrew.
Q: You do not?
A: No.
Q: Can you, yourself, translate that into Hebrew?
A: Which?

Q: That fourth verse of the second chapter of Genesis?
A: You mean here?
Q: Yes.
A: No.

We asked a Hebrew teacher at Biola University/Talbot Theological Seminary if the fourth verse of the second chapter of Genesis was a particularly difficult verse to translate. After all, the pursur's question would hardly have been fair if it were the hardest verse in the Old Testament to translate. The professor said that he would never pass a first-year Hebrew student who could not translate that verse. This is an example of the "scholarship" backing the NWT.
However, the Watchtower "translation" speaks for itself and shows more clearly than pen can, the scholastic dishonesty and lack of scholarship so rampant within its covers.

( do you see now why they would hide their identity ). They have added and changed so many things in the bible that there wouldnt even be enough space for me to write it all. Another thing that Jehovah's Witness love to do is to misquote people and scholars whom they quoted have come out publicly stating that those statements are not true and that their translations is in major error and sometimes plain dishonest. This is all over the internet and all over the place anyone who does their research should find it quickly.

Also their founder and leader was a mason who was into the occult which is Egyptian and goes back to Babylonian ways. Just take a look at his tomb and look at the pyramid put there in honor of him. He was fascinated with it which is where he got his teachings on the 1914 prophecy that never came true and other false prophecies that never happened. He got those by making calculations of his study on pyramids and such. Its all his writings, when I mentioned this to a Jehovah witness their reply was that he was a man that was led of the devil I was like wow she was really bashing his founder but the crazy thing is that they still hold his teachings. Need I say more?

Remember Deut. 18:22, "If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him." If someone makes a false prophecy, and they have claimed to be a prophet of God, then they are false prophets and are not to be listened to.

Jehovah witness claim they are the voice and the prophet of God

IDENTIFYING THE "PROPHET" -- "So does Jehovah have a prophet to help them, to warn them of dangers and to declare things to come? These questions can be answered in the affirmative. Who is this prophet?...This "prophet" was not one man, but was a body of men and women. It was the small group of footstep followers of Jesus Christ, known at that time as International Bible Students. Today they are known as Jehovah's Christian Witnesses...Of course, it is easy to say that this group acts as a 'prophet' of God. It is another thing to prove it." The Watchtower, 4/1/72, p. 197. (See Deut. 18:21)

1897 "Our Lord, the appointed King, is now present, since October 1874," Studies in the Scriptures, Vol. 4, page 621.

1899 "...the 'battle of the great day of God Almighty' (Revelation 16:14), which will end in A.D. 1914 with the complete overthrow of earth's present rulership, is already commenced." The Time Is at Hand, page 101 (1908 edition).

1916 "The Bible chronology herein presented shows that the six great 1000 year days beginning with Adam are ended, and that the great 7th Day, the 1000 years of Christ's Reign, began in 1873." The Time Is at Hand, page ii, (forward).

1918 "Therefore we may confidently expect that 1925 will mark the return of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the faithful prophets of old, particularly those named by the Apostle in Hebrews 11, to the condition of human perfection." Millions Now Living Will Never Die, page 89.

1922 "The date 1925 is even more distinctly indicated by the Scriptures than 1914." The Watchtower 9/1/22, page 262.

1923 "Our thought is, that 1925 is definitely settled by the Scriptures. As to Noah, the Christian now has much more upon which to base his faith than Noah had upon which to base his faith in a coming deluge." The Watchtower, page 106 4/1/23.

1925 "The year 1925 is here. With great expectation Christians have looked forward to this year. Many have confidently expected that all members of the body of Christ will be changed to heavenly glory during this year. This may be accomplished. It may not be. In his own due time God will accomplish his purposes concerning his people. Christians should not be so deeply concerned about what may transpire this year." The Watchtower, 1/1/25, page. 3.

1925 "It is to be expected that Satan will try to inject into the minds of the consecrated, the thought that 1925 should see an end to the work." The Watchtower, Sept, 1925 page 262.

1926 "Some anticipated that the work would end in 1925, but the Lord did not state so. The difficulty was that the friends inflated their imaginations beyond reason; and that when their imaginations burst asunder, they were inclined to throw away everything." The Watchtower, page 232.

1931 "There was a measure of disappointment on the part of Jehovah's faithful ones on earth concerning the years 1917, 1918, and 1925, which disappointment lasted for a time...and they also learned to quit fixing dates." Vindication, page 338.

1941 "Receiving the gift, the marching children clasped it to them, not a toy or plaything for idle pleasure, but the Lord's provided instrument for most effective work in the remaining months before Armageddon." The Watchtower, 9/15/41, page 288.

1968 "True, there have been those in times past who predicted an 'end to the world', even announcing a specific date. Yet nothing happened. The 'end' did not come. They were guilty of false prophesying. Why? What was missing?.. Missing from such people were God's truths and evidence that he was using and guiding them." Awake, 10/8/68.

1968 "Why are you looking forward to 1975?" The Watchtower, 8/15/68, page 494.

So many false prophecies and errors and plain lies!

When confronted there response is just that our light is getting brighter; but hold on. Don't they claim that they are the voice the prophet of God in earth? Does God make mistakes or errors and if so many things have been changed what makes you think that what you are reading now wont be changed tomorrow. Its just crazy when you hear the Jehovahs Witness response but that's because they don't know their history and they are very zealous to defend something they don't know about because this information will never be teached to them. Doing so to them would be questioning God which would bring fear on anyone and therefore in no way are they able to look anywhere else for anwers.

I can go all day and post 500 pages on there is to know of them but by now you got the point.

Best translation of the Bible

• The NIV (New International Version) is the best translation. The KJV (King James Version) though poetic, has too many translation mistakes.
  

• NKJV (New King James Version). NIV is lacking some parts of verses.

Answer

The Bible version that your denomination is using.

Actually, the above statement may be false. The best translation that I currently know of is the NASB, but I prefer to read a Greek Bible

Answer

Just get as close to Hebrew as possible...
The order of translations are as follows (to the extent of my knowledge): Hebrew-> Aramaic->Greek->Latin->English

Answer

Many languages have numerous Bible translations. Some translations use difficult, archaic language. Others are free, paraphrased translations that aim for easy reading rather than accuracy. Still others are literal, almost word-for-word translations.

The English edition of the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, published by Jehovah's Witnesses, was prepared directly from the original languages by an anonymous committee. This version, in turn, has been the primary text used for translations into about 60 other languages. Translators for those languages did, however, make extensive comparisons with the original-language text. The New World Translation aims for a literal rendering of the original-language text whenever such a rendering would not hide its meaning. The translators seek to make the Bible as understandable to readers today as the original text was to readers in Bible times.

Some linguists have examined modern Bible translations-including the New World Translation-for examples of inaccuracy and bias. One such scholar is Jason David BeDuhn, associate professor of religious studies at Northern Arizona University in the United States. In 2003 he published a 200-page study of nine of "the Bibles most widely in use in the English-speaking world." His study examined several passages of Scripture that are controversial, for that is where "bias is most likely to interfere with translation." For each passage, he compared the Greek text with the renderings of each English translation, and he looked for biased attempts to change the meaning. What is his assessment?

BeDuhn points out that the general public and many Bible scholars assume that the differences in the New World Translation (NW) are due to religious bias on the part of its translators. However, he states: "Most of the differences are due to the greater accuracy of the NW as a literal, conservative translation." While BeDuhn disagrees with certain renderings of the New World Translation, he says that this version "emerges as the most accurate of the translations compared." He calls it a "remarkably good" translation.

Dr. Benjamin Kedar, a Hebrew scholar in Israel, made a similar comment concerning the New World Translation. In 1989 he said: "This work reflects an honest endeavor to achieve an understanding of the text that is as accurate as possible. . . . I have never discovered in the New World Translation any biased intent to read something into the text that it does not contain."

Ask yourself: 'What is my goal in reading the Bible? Do I want easy reading with less attention to accuracy? Or do I want to read thoughts that reflect the original inspired text as closely as possible?' (2 Peter 1:20, 21) Your objective should determine your choice of translation.

*Besides the New World Translation, the others were The Amplified New Testament, The Living Bible, The New American Bible With Revised New Testament, New American Standard Bible, The Holy Bible-New International Version, The New Revised Standard Version, The Bible in Today's English Version, and King James Version.

I you can read biblical Hebrew there is the Biblia Hebraica Stutt., and the Nestle Greek text.

First answer by ID3286625497. Last edit by Emailtoalvaro. Contributor trust: 0 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 23 [recommend question]