Editing New World Translation (section)

=== Translators ===

The ''New World Translation'' was produced by the New World Bible Translation Committee, formed in 1947. This committee is said to have comprised unnamed members of multinational backgrounds.<ref>''The New York Times'', August 3, 1950 p. 19.</ref> The committee requested that the Watch Tower Society not publish the names of its members,<ref>The Watchtower, September 15, 1950, p. 320</ref><ref>Walsh vs Honorable James Latham, Court of Session Scotland, 1954, cross examination of Frederick Franz pp. 90–92</ref> stating that they did not want to "advertise themselves but let all the glory go to the Author of the Scriptures, God,"<ref>''The Watchtower'', November 15, 1950, p. 454</ref> adding that the translation, "should direct the reader, not to the translators, but to the Bible’s Author, Jehovah God".<ref name="wt741215p454">''The Watchtower'', December 15, 1974, p. 768.</ref> The publishers stated that "the particulars of [the New World Bible Translation Committee's members] university or other educational training are not the important thing" and that "the translation testifies to their qualification".<ref name="wt741215p454"/>

Former high-ranking Watch Tower staff have identified various members of the translation team. In 1983 former [[Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses|Governing Body]] member [[Raymond Franz]] listed [[Nathan Homer Knorr|Nathan H. Knorr]], [[Frederick William Franz|Fredrick W. Franz]], Albert D. Schroeder, George D. Gangas, and [[Milton George Henschel|Milton G. Henschel]] as members of the translation team, adding that only Frederick Franz had sufficient knowledge in biblical languages.<ref>Raymond V. Franz, Crisis of Conscience (Atlanta: Commentary Press, 1983), p. 50.</ref><ref>Tony Wills, M.A., ''A People For His Name—A History of Jehovah's Witnesses and An Evaluation'', Lulu, 2006. Originally published in 1967 by Vantage Press. "[Frederick] Franz is a language scholar of no mean ability—he supervised the translation of the Bible from the original languages into the New World Translation, completed in 1961." (p. 253)</ref> Referring to the identified members, evangelical minister [[Walter Ralston Martin]] said in 1997, "The New World Bible translation committee had no known translators with recognized degrees in Greek or Hebrew exegesis or translation... None of these men had any university education except Franz, who left school after two years, never completing even an undergraduate degree." Fredrick Franz had stated that he was familiar with not only Hebrew, but with Greek, Latin, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and French for the purpose of biblical translation.<ref>Walter Martin, ''Kingdom of the Cults—Expanded Anniversary Edition'', October 1997, Bethany House Publishers, p. 123-124. "the New World Bible translation committee had no known translators with recognized degrees in Greek or Hebrew exegesis or translation. While the members of the [NWT] committee have never been identified officially by the Watchtower, many Witnesses who worked at the headquarters during the translation period were fully aware of who the members were. They included Nathan H. Knorr (president of the Society at the time), Frederick W. Franz (who later succeeded Knorr as president), Albert D. Schroeder, George Gangas, and Milton Henschel'."</ref><ref>{{cite book  | last = Penton| first = M. James | author-link = James Penton| title = Apocalypse Delayed: The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses| publisher = University of Toronto Press| year = 1997|edition=2nd| page=174|isbn = 978-0-8020-7973-2}}</ref> In 2003, [[Jason BeDuhn]] noted, "the members of the translation team remain anonymous, just as they do for the NKJB and the [[Lockman Foundation]]'s [[New American Standard Bible|NASB]]".{{sfn|BeDuhn|2003|pp=39}}