Apologetics: Jehovah’s Witnesses! Your Translation Isn’t Accurate!

A few days ago, as I was chilling at home taking my Duolingo courses, someone arrived at the door. My mom answered and since she wasn’t feeling well, handed the person off to me. The person in question was a Jehovah’s Witness recruiting people for Bible studies. We talked for about five minutes, I got a copy of a Watchtower magazine, as well as the Bible study pamphlet and we scheduled to meet up the next day. So, in preparation for our meeting, I started calling some of my mentors to learn as much as possible about Jehovah’s Witnesses in the short time I had, watching YouTube videos about them, and looking through their sources.

Holy cow, there’s all sorts of things wrong with them.

I’ll focus on one of the biggest issues I found while scrolling through the Jehovah’s Witness translation of the Bible (the New World Translation): their translation of Colossians 1:15-20.

For those of you who don’t know, Jehovah’s Witnesses have a belief that Jesus was a created being, a “special creature.” They don’t believe He is God but believe that He is the archangel Michael in human form and much of their translation of the Bible is rewritten in such a way as to get rid of anything suggesting that Jesus is God. And, in the case of Colossians 1:15-20, they have rewritten it to make it more accommodating of their beliefs, but that’s where the Jehovah’s Witnesses have dug their own grave, not only when they say that their translation of the Bible is accurate, but also when they try to say Jesus is not God.

According to the New World Translation of the Bible, Colossians 1:15-20 says:

 He is the image of the invisible God,^o the firstborn of all creation;^{p 16} because by means of him all other things were created in the heavens and on the earth, the things visible and the things invisible,^q whether they are thrones or lordships or governments or authorities. All other things have been created through him^r and for him. ¹⁷ Also, he is before all other things,^s and by means of him all other things were made to exist, ¹⁸ and he is the head of the body, the congregation.^t He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,^u so that he might become the one who is first in all things; ¹⁹ because God was pleased to have all fullness to dwell in him,^{v 20} and through him to reconcile to himself all other things^w by making peace through the blood^x he shed on the torture stake, whether the things on the earth or the things in the heavens.

Notice there that the word “other” is added in here. The inclusion of that word, while it doesn’t deny Jesus’ divinity, nor does it deny that He’s could have been a created being, makes the passage more flexible. Without that word, “other,” the passage points in one direction: Jesus being God. It’s this flexibility that Jehovah’s Witnesses depend on when using this passage to say that Jesus was created being, because otherwise, they couldn’t make that argument.

But here’s where it gets tricky for JWs.

While the word “other” is included in their standard New World Translation of the Bible, not only is it not included in standard Bibles (i.e. the ESV, NIV, NKJ, etc.), but it is absent in their own Kingdom Interlinear Bible. It says:

¹⁵ ὅς
whoἐστιν
isεἰκὼν
imageτοῦ
of theθεοῦ
Godτοῦ
theἀοράτου,
invisible,πρωτότοκος
firstbornπάσης
of allκτίσεως,
creation, ¹⁶ ὅτι
becauseἐν
inαὐτῷ
himἐκτίσθη
it was createdτὰ
theπάντα
all (things)ἐν
inτοῖς
theοὐρανοῖς
heavensκαὶ
andἐπὶ
uponτῆς
theγῆς,
earth,τὰ
the (things)ὁρατὰ
visibleκαὶ
andτὰ
the (things)ἀόρατα,
invisible,εἴτε
whetherθρόνοι
thronesεἴτε
orκυριότητες
lordshipsεἴτε
orἀρχαὶ
governmentsεἴτε
orἐξουσίαι·
authorities;τὰ
theπάντα
all (things)δι’
throughαὐτοῦ
himκαὶ
andεἰς
intoαὐτὸν
himἔκτισται·
it has been created; ¹⁷ καὶ
andαὐτὸς
heἔστιν
isπρὸ
beforeπάντων
all (things)καὶ
andτὰ
theπάντα
all (things)ἐν
inαὐτῷ
himσυνέστηκεν,
it has stood together, ¹⁸ καὶ
andαὐτός
heἐστιν
isἡ
theκεφαλὴ
headτοῦ
of theσώματος,
body,τῆς
of theἐκκλησίας·
ecclesia;ὅς
whoἐστιν
isἡ
theἀρχή,
beginning,πρωτότοκος
firstbornἐκ
out ofτῶν
theνεκρῶν,
dead (ones),ἵνα
in order thatγένηται
might becomeἐν
inπᾶσιν
all (things)αὐτὸς
heπρωτεύων,
holding the first place, ¹⁹ ὅτι
becauseἐν
inαὐτῷ
himεὐδόκησεν
he thought wellπᾶν
allτὸ
theπλήρωμα
fullnessκατοικῆσαι
to dwell down ²⁰ καὶ
andδι’
throughαὐτοῦ
himἀποκαταλλάξαι
to reconcileτὰ
theπάντα
all (things)εἰς
intoαὐτόν,
him,εἰρηνοποιήσας
having made peaceδιὰ
throughτοῦ
theαἵματος
bloodτοῦ
of theσταυροῦ
stakeαὐτοῦ,
of him,δι’
throughαὐτοῦ
himεἴτε
whetherτὰ
the (things)ἐπὶ
uponτῆς
theγῆς
earthεἴτε
orτὰ
the (things)ἐν
inτοῖς
theοὐρανοῖς.

Even according to them, the word “other” is not present in the Greek of this passage.

This is a big deal because it shows two things. Not only can their own translation not escape the fact that, according to Scripture, Jesus is God, but it also shows that they do not have an accurate translation. It shows that the standard New World Translation has been changed from the original Greek to fit the agenda of the Watchtower Society.

This should concern every single Jehovah’s Witness. If your books have been changed and aren’t lining up with the original Greek, then are you even reading the Scriptures as their original author intended them to be read? If they have been changed to fit your doctrine, then aren’t following the doctrines of man, not God? And if so, shouldn’t that make you worry about what God actually wants you to believe?

Until next time,

M.J.