Editing New World Translation (section)

== Translation ==

According to the Watch Tower Society, the ''New World Translation'' attempts to convey the intended sense of original-language words according to the context. The original ''New World Translation'' employs nearly 16,000 English expressions to translate about 5,500 biblical Greek terms, and over 27,000 English expressions to translate about 8,500 Hebrew terms. The translators state that, where possible in the target language, the ''New World Translation'' prefers literal renderings and does not paraphrase the original text.<ref>How Can You Choose a Good Bible Translation? (Watchtower May 1, 2008 pp. 18–22)</ref>

=== Textual basis ===

The master text used for translating the Old Testament into English was [[Biblia Hebraica (Kittel)|Kittel's Biblia Hebraica]]. The Hebrew texts, [[Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia]] and [[Biblia Hebraica Quinta]] were used for preparing the latest version of this translation. Other works consulted in preparing the translation include Aramaic [[Targum]]s, the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]], the [[Samaritan Torah]], the Greek [[Septuagint]], the Latin [[Vulgate]], the [[Masoretic Text]], the [[Codex Cairensis|Cairo Codex]], the [[Aleppo Codex]], [[Christian David Ginsburg]]'s Hebrew Text, and the [[Leningrad Codex]].<ref name="autogenerated305">[http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1101990132 "All Scripture is Inspired of God and Beneficial" 1990 pp. 305-314]</ref><ref>[http://www.jw.org/en/publications/bible/nwt/appendix-a/how-the-bible-came-to-us/ How the Bible Came to Us, Appendix A3 of 2013 REVISION]</ref>
<gallery caption="Diagrammatic representation of textual basis" widths="200px" heights="150px" perrow="4">
File:NWT-HS.jpg|Hebrew
File:NWT-GS.jpg|Greek
</gallery>

The Greek master text by the [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge University]] scholars [[Brooke Foss Westcott|B. F. Westcott]] and [[Fenton John Anthony Hort|F. J. A. Hort]] (1881) was used as the basis for translating the New Testament into English.{{sfn|Paul|2003|pp=85}} The committee also referred to the [[Novum Testamentum Graece]] (18th edition, 1948) and to works by Jesuit scholars José M. Bover (1943),{{sfn|Paul|2003|pp=85}} and Augustinus Merk (1948).{{sfn|Paul|2003|pp=85}} The [[United Bible Societies]]' text (1975) and the [[Erwin Nestle|Nestle]]-[[Kurt Aland|Aland]] text (1979) were used to update the footnotes in the 1984 version. Additional works consulted in preparing the ''New World Translation'' include the [[Armenian Bible translation|Armenian Version]], [[Coptic versions of the Bible|Coptic Versions]], the Latin Vulgate, [[Sixto-Clementine Vulgate|Sistine and Clementine Revised Latin Texts]], [[Textus Receptus]], the [[Johann Jakob Griesbach]]'s Greek text, the [[Emphatic Diaglott]], and various [[Papyrus#Collections of papyri|papyri]].<ref name="autogenerated305"/>

=== Other languages ===

Translation into other languages is based on the English text, supplemented by comparison with the Hebrew and Greek text.<ref>Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom (1993) Chap. 27 p. 611, subheading Translation Into Other Languages.</ref> The complete ''New World Translation'' has been published in more than one hundred languages or [[writing system|scripts]], with the New Testament available in more than fifty additional languages.

When the Writing Committee approves the translation of the Bible into a new language, it appoints a group of baptized Jehovah's Witnesses to serve as a translation team. Translators are given a list of words and expressions commonly used in the English ''New World Translation'' with related English words grouped together (e.g. ''atone'', ''atonement'', or ''propitiation''). A list of vernacular equivalents is then composed. A database of Greek and Hebrew terms is available where a translator has difficulty rendering a verse. The vernacular terms are then applied to the text in the target language. Further editing and translation are then performed to produce a final version.<ref name=translation />