The Tetragrammaton is essential to your faith.
When the Apostle John wrote Revelation 11:17, did he write:
Eujcaristou'mevn soi, hwhy oJ qeov", oJ pantokrajtwr…
"We thank you, Jehovah [the] God, the Almighty…" (New World Translation)?
Or did he write:
Eujcaristou'mevn soi, kuvrie oJ qeov", oJ pantokrajtwr…
"We are giving thanks to you, Lord the God, the Almighty…" (Kingdom Interlinear Translation)?
What importance does the presence of the Tetragrammaton in the Christian Greek Scriptures have for your faith?
While discussing the significance of the Tetragrammaton with two Witnesses during a return visit, a householder was surprised by a statement made in the conversation.
One of the Witness said that, though he believed the writers of the Christian Greek Scriptures used the Tetragrammaton in 237 specific instances, his faith was not dependent on that fact.Would you agree with his statement that the inspired writers' use of the Tetragrammaton in the Christian Greek Scriptures is inconsequential to your faith? You could not make that statement and be consistent with your faith as a Witness for at least two reasons:
1. The
New World Translation, by its own statement of purpose, maintains that the restoration of the divine name is the most distinctive feature of the translation:
"The foremost feature of this translation is the restoration of the divine name to its rightful place in the English text. It has been done, using the commonly accepted English form "Jehovah" 6,973 times in the Hebrew Scriptures and 237 times in the Christian Greek Scriptures." (New World Translation Reference Edition, 1984, page 6.)
The translators are absolutely correct in restoring the divine name in the Hebrew Scriptures rather than using the traditional English Bible's "Lord." But what about the Christian Greek Scriptures? If the Tetragrammaton was not used in the original Greek manuscripts, then the foremost feature of the New World Translation would be based on a false premise.
The second reason reveals why it is important to one of Jehovah's Witnesses that the Christian Greek Scriptures use the Tetragrammaton.
2.
Many verses in the Christian Greek Scriptures give the addressee the titles of "God" and "the Almighty." Needless to say, if Jesus is identified with the addressee as "God...the Almighty," all Witnesses would be confronted with a grave discrepancy in their faith. If we compare the wording of the
New World Translation and the
Kingdom Interlinear Translation (both are published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society), we see this very problem. (The following quotations from the
Kingdom Interlinear Translation come directly from the interlinear portion. The word order is that of the true Greek sentence rather than an English translation.)
Please read on at the link:
http://towerwatch.com/Witnesses/New_World_Translation/TETRAGRAMMATON.htm
