Accurately Interpreting the Scriptures part 2
July 10, 2009 by Steve
Filed under AA: Steve Bruecker, Apologetics, Religions
Jehovah Witnesses and Psalm 37
My purpose in this series is to help equip Christians interpret the Bible correctly. This will not be a class in hermeneutics (science and art of interpretation) but just some general guidelines that have helped me when I talk about the Bible.
The two Jehovah Witnesses at my door read from their Bible, the New World Translation, Psalm 37:29 (NWT): “The righteous themselves will possess the earth, and they will reside forever upon it.” I told them I was familiar with Psalm 37 and it spoke of two classes of people on the earth; the righteous and the wicked. I said your organization adds a 3rd class of people called the 144,000. I asked if the Bible says there are two classes of people, where do the 144,000 belong? Are they wicked or are they righteous? And if they are righteous, Psalm 37:29 says they will reside on earth forever and not in heaven (they believe only the 144,000 will be in heaven). The men didn’t answer and immediately changed the subject. This is a typical tactic of Jehovah Witnesses.
First we need to understand the context of Psalm 37. Jehovah Witnesses love to take passages out of context and share with unsuspecting people. As I told them the entire Psalm deals with these two classes of people; the righteous and the wicked. The writer David seems to be showing the superiority of doing right, as opposed to evil; he also exalts the superiority of delighting in God. David says in verse 3 to trust in God and do good deeds; sounds like excellent advice to me. As for the wicked, David writes in verse 28, they will perish.
Now we get to Psalm 37:29 (NASB) and it says, “The righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever.” The New World Translation says the righteous will inherit the earth and the New American Standard Bible says the righteous will inherit the land. The Hebrew word in question is “erets” and can be translated as either earth or land (it is translated land twice as much as earth). Is it earth or land and why is that important?
I will not debate which it is, I’ll leave that for Hebrew scholars; I do not think it matters. In my reading I believe this verse harkens back to the promises of God given to Abraham as part of the Abrahamic Covenant (Gen. 12:1-3). In that promise God said through Abraham He would build a nation (consisting of a people, land, and government), He would provide protection, and bless them and they would be a blessing to the nations.
Today followers of Jesus Christ are spiritual offspring of Abraham and as such, experience the blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant. I believe Psalm 37 is projecting forward the blessing of this covenant and focusing on the promise of a land. My understanding is this land is spoken about in Revelations where it is called a “new heaven and new earth.” All followers of Jesus Christ will physically live for eternity on the new earth fulfilling what David wrote in Psalm 37 “The righteous will inherit the land (earth) and dwell in it forever.”
All of this will occur after we die and spend time in heaven, waiting for the day spoken of in Revelations where our individual spirit will be reunited with our resurrected body. This will be a glorious day for the righteous or the true followers of Jesus Christ. Revelations and the Psalms teach the righteous will inherit the land; all part of the Abrahamic Covenant.
This is not how the Jehovah Witnesses interpret Psalm 37:29. In part 3 I will deal with the issue of a 3rd group, what Jehovah Witnesses call the 144,000. Their organization tries to make a case the 144,000 are ones destined for heaven. I will show this interpretation is false.
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I do not agree with all of what the Jehovah’s Witnesses teach. However, wouldn’t it best to point specifically to what the Scriptures do say and provide references? Rather than writing what you feel or believe Scripture says, why not just say exactly what it says? An effective formal argument of this type is impossible without Scriptural evidence. Without that, it’s just the opinions of men, which don’t count for much. Better yet, why not approach God’s Word without the intent to argue and your preconceived notions of what it says or does not say? That’s the most honest approach. It’s too easy to get it wrong when you come at it from the angle of proving someone else wrong or your own ideas and what you’ve been taught right.
Just a little food for thought:o)
I agree with the comment above from Jenni. Referring to the contents of the Bible itself is the best way to discuss differences. I believe it highly important that we leave our own opinions out, and remain fervent in what the Bible teaches.
In regard to the 144,000, I wanted to comment. I am Seventh-day Adventist, and this is a topic I’ve come across the last couple of Bible studies with others. In the Bible here, in Revelation the 14th chapter, the apostle Paul mentions the 144,000, saying that “Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.”
So, here I interpret this as the 144,000 having a significant and integral part in the last days.
Then, it goes on, in the 4th verse, “These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure. They follow the Lamb wherever He goes.”
The last part is very important, that “they follow the Lamb wherever He goes.” We can all agree that the Bible is here to be both interpreted and taken literal, depending upon the section, theme, etc. In a recent Bible study, I and another were studying the sanctuary of Christ. We were discussing the various aspects of the sanctuary. In the Holy Sanctuary, which as the Bible says was built and destroyed and built and then destroyed I believe (bear with my unworthy attempt to compact this all into one post). As I understand it, the Holy Sanctuary had (or has) three sections. The outer court. The holy place. And the most holy place. Now, as the Bible has shown me, and as history and documentation has shown, in the Holy Sanctuary were select things. To move forward a little (and this may diminish my attempt to explain this even further), but the 144,000 are said by Paul to “follow the Lamb wherever He goes.” According to the Bible (I’d have to locate or ask someone who’s been studying the Word for longer to provide the texts, but I’m more than happy to do that if anyone wants) Jesus Christ, who is dubbed the Lamb in many places in the Bible, went into the Most Holy place when He was crucified and He rose from the dead, and went to take his place with the Father.
Now, for the 144,000, when Paul says they followed the Lamb wherever He went, the interpretation is that Paul was referring to the righteousness and character and very essence of Jesus. These 144,000 are going to follow Jesus Christ into the Most Holy place in the sanctuary. They are going to be equipped to live as Christ on Earth. Much like the disciples who followed Jesus when Jesus was alive, the 144,000 shall follow Jesus wherever He goes. They will be able to stand in the Most Holy place of the sanctuary, where the glory of God resides. And back during the time of Christ, after He rose and went with the Father, the disciples were given the responsibility of furthering the message of Christ. They were powered by the Holy Spirit to do miracles just as Christ did. Just like then, it is believed that the 144,000 will carry that same torch in the last days.
These 144,000 must be fully able to stand in the Most Holy place in the sanctuary. There are certain things in the Most Holy place that are important to acknowledge.
I hope that this was not too confusing, and I ask God to bless this post. I am striving daily to live a life in Christ, and follow His Way, and His commandments. I apologize for any confusion.
I must post that I meant to say John everywhere I mentioned Paul. Again, my apologies.
Jenni,
I appreciate your input. My main purpose for this web site is to equip Christians to answer tough questions and strengthen beliefs. My current series is not an indepth analysis of individual scriptures but to show where Jehovah Witnesses error in their interpretations. I will continue this series and will tackle the 144,000 soon. If you want more indepth Bible teachings I suggest listening to the 2 sermons I preached and posted. One is called “What’s the Big Deal About the Resurrection” based on 1 Cor. 15:12-20 and the other called “Transforming Power of God’s Grace” based on Genesis 32 and the life of Jacob. I preached this sermon last Sunday (7/12/09).
Steve
Is the New World Translation a Jehovah Witness bible or is it just the version that they use?
Erin,
The New World Translation comes from the Watchtower Organization. It is loaded with problems and is a poor translation.
Steve
The New World Translation used by Jehovah Witnesses comes from the actual “Dead Sea Scrolls” that were written in Hebrew. It constains exact scriptures (in English) and puts God name back in the bible over 7,000 times where it is supposed to be. That is the only difference in their bible. Why does the newer versions of the King James bible leave out god’s name? Psalm 83:18 clearly says his name is Jehovah. Other scriptures are Exodus 6:3, Isaiah 12:2, Isaiah 26:4, Genesis 22:14, Exodus 17:15, and Judges 6:24.
In the newer King James versions, his name is taken completely out.
In my opinion, to truely know someone, its starts with knowing their name. How can you truely know someone if you don’t even know what their name is? Therefore, would you want to use a bible that leaves God’s name out, or would you want to use one that sanctifies it? The choice is yours.
Dear Angela,
Thanks for writing and giving your view. I will begin by correcting a few obvious errors in your comments. First, your translation does not come directly from the “Dead Sea Scrolls.” I think you need to ask the experts at your organization what translations were used for the New World Translation (NWT). You will find the primary source material for the Hebrew Scriptures was Kittel’s Biblia Hebracia. This edition first appeared in 1906. Obviously, your translators did not primarily use ancient Hebrew texts as you claim. Many other secondary sources were used including the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Your New Testament was taken from the Westcott and Hort manuscripts. I have a Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures published by your organization and it admits Westcott and Hort were the New Testament text they utilized. The Westcott and Hort manuscripts are accepted as valid texts for the New Testament. The problem is not the original New Testament texts, it is how the Greek was translated into English and how words were added that were never in the original text.
Second, Jehovah is not a Biblical word. It was created by combining the original Hebrew name for God YHWH and adonai (used by Jews who didn’t want to say God’s name). The resulting combined word, “Jehovah” is used for God by many groups but it is not a Biblical word. Nowhere do you find the word Jehovah in the original languages, Hebrew or Greek.
Third, forcing the word Jehovah into the New Testament is simply wrong. When your translators did this they went against thousands of Greek manuscripts of the New Testament; some of which date back to the second century. The truth is the New Testament always uses the words “Lord” [Greek: Kurios] and “God” [Greek: theos] when talking about God. The writers never used Jehovah, even when quoting the Old Testament. The Greek New Testament source for the New World Translation, Westcott and Hort, never used Jehovah; they used kurios for Lord and theos for God. The Kingdom Interlinear from your organization demonstrates that Jehovah was never in the original text. This Watchtower Book shows how kurios (Lord) and theos (God) were changed to Jehovah in the English translation. It is simply a lie God’s name was left out of the King James or any other version of the Bible. Angela, I suggest finding a Kingdom Interlinear at your hall so you can see for yourself.
Finally, let me address additional problems with the New World Translation; the rejection of noted scholars in the field of Biblical translations. Dr. Ron Rhodes wrote the following in his book Reasoning from the Scriptures with the Jehovah Witnesses: The New World translation is an incredibly biased translation. Dr. Robert Countess, who wrote a doctoral dissertation on the Greek text of the New World translation, concluded the translation “has been sharply unsuccessful in keeping doctrinal considerations from influencing the actual translation…It must be viewed as a radically biased piece of work. At some points it is actually dishonest. At others it is neither modern nor scholarly.” British scholar H.H. Rowley asserted, “from the beginning to end this volume is a shining example of how the Bible should not be translated.” Indeed, Rowley said, this translation is “an insult to the Word of God.”
Dr. Julius Manti, author of A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament, calls the New World translation “a shocking mistranslation.” Dr. Bruce M. Metzger, professor of New Testament at Princeton University, calls the New World translation “a frightful mistranslation,” “erroneous,” “pernicious,” and “reprehensible.” Dr. William Barclay concluded that “the deliberate distortion of truth by this sect is seen in their New Testament translation. It is abundantly clear that a sect which can translate the New Testament like that is intellectually dishonest.”
It is highly revealing that the Watchtower Society has always resisted efforts to identify members of the New World Translation committee. The claim was they preferred to remain anonymous and humble, giving God the credit and glory for this translation. However, as former Jehovah witness David Reed notes, “an unbiased observer will quickly note that such anonymity also shields the translators from any blame for errors or distortions in their renderings. And it prevents scholars from checking their credentials.”
The Watchtower Society must have been utterly embarrassed when the names of the translators of the New World translation were made known to the public. The reason for that is the translation committee was completely unqualified for the task. Four of the five men in the committee had no Hebrew or Greek training whatsoever (they had only a high school education). The Fifth, Fred W. Franz, claimed to know Hebrew and Greek, but upon examination under oath in a court of law in Edinburg Scotland he failed a simple Hebrew test.
In court Franz was asked if he knew Hebrew and he said yes. He said he had a command of various languages including Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Spanish, German, and French. When asked if he speaks Hebrew, he said no. He was then asked if he could translate the fourth verse of Genesis into Hebrew. His answer was NO! The fact was Franz, liked the others on the New World translation committee, could not translate Hebrew or Greek. The truth is Franz dropped out of the University of Cincinnati after his sophomore year and even while there, he had not studied anything related to theological issues.
More could be said about the errors of the New World Translation but I will stop here for now. Bottom line, it is a translation that should be avoided at all costs.