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The Bible and the translation · Claim record

The New World Bible Translation Committee acknowledged in its own foreword that of the 237 restorations of the divine name, one — at 1 Corinthians 7:17 — has ‘no support or agreement from any of the Hebrew versions’ and rests on ‘the context and related texts’.

Claim ID claim-bible-1cor717-no-supportConcerns 1 January 1985Explicit statement
Explicit statement · 1 January 1985 Verified

The New World Bible Translation Committee acknowledged in its own foreword that of the 237 restorations of the divine name, one — at 1 Corinthians 7:17 — has ‘no support or agreement from any of the Hebrew versions’ and rests on ‘the context and related texts’. The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures (1985 edition), 1 January 1985The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures (1985 edition), 1985

The organisation’s position or later explanation: The committee itself gives the reason in the same sentence: at that verse ‘the context and related texts strongly support restoring the divine name’.

Show the evidence (2 sources)
Primary JW publication Verified

The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures (1985 edition), “Foreword (section “Restoring the Divine Name, Jehovah”)”

1 January 1985 · pp.10-12 · pars. 11-16 · Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.

“Thus, out of the 237 times that we have restored Jehovah’s name in the body of our translation, there is only one instance wherein we have no support or agreement from any of the Hebrew versions. But in this one instance, namely, at 1 Corinthians 7:17, the context and related texts strongly support restoring the divine name.”

The foreword states the committee’s reasoning: “The evidence is that the original text of the Christian Greek Scriptures has been tampered with, the same as the text of the LXX has been”; that “Sometime during the second or third centuries C.E., the Tetragrammaton (YHWH, or JHVH) was eliminated from the Greek text by copyists”; and that “the modern translator is warranted in using the divine name as an equivalent of those two Greek words” where the Christian writers quote Hebrew Scripture passages in which the name occurs. It explains that its supports, “designated in this work by ‘J’ with a superior number”, are translations of parts or all of the Christian Greek Scriptures into Hebrew made over the centuries, and says the committee “looked for some agreement with us by the Hebrew versions we consulted to confirm our rendering”, in order “to avoid overstepping the bounds of a translator into the field of exegesis”.

Official source

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. Foreword opened on the Watchtower Online Library on 19 September 2026 and read in full; the 1 Corinthians 7:17 admission and the description of the “J” references confirmed word for word, with page numbers from the document’s own page markers.

Corroborated by. src-nwto-int-1985-app1b, src-nwto-nwtsty-a5-divine-name-greek

Notes. This is the organisation’s own, explicit statement that the “J” supports are Hebrew translations rather than ancient Greek manuscripts, and its own acknowledgement of one restoration with no textual support at all.

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-nwto-int-1985-foreword-divine-name

Primary JW publication Verified

The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures (1985 edition), “Appendix 1B: Restoring the Divine Name in the Christian Greek Scriptures”

1985 · p.1138 · Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.

“Following is a list of the 237 places where the name “Jehovah” is restored in the main text of the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures. See the footnotes on these citations for support.”

The appendix prints the full list of the 237 main-text restorations, from Matthew 1:20 to Revelation 22:6, and a further list of “the 72 places where the name ‘Jehovah’ occurs, not in the main text . . . but only in the footnotes”. It notes that “Jah” survives in hal·le·lou·i·aʹ at Revelation 19:1, 3, 4, 6.

Official source

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. Appendix opened on the Watchtower Online Library on 19 September 2026; both lists were read and the count of 237 and 72 confirmed from the appendix’s own wording.

Corroborated by. src-nwto-int-1985-foreword-divine-name

Notes. The appendix makes no distinction between restorations that fall in passages quoting the Hebrew Scriptures and those that do not, and this project has not counted them. The site must not publish a proportion it has not counted itself.

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-nwto-int-1985-app1b

Claim page

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