At Titus 2:13 the New World Translation reads “of the great God and of our Savior, Jesus Christ”, treating the phrase as referring to two persons. The Greek has a single article τοῦ governing both nouns, joined by καί — the construction covered by Granville Sharp's rule.
Claim ID claim-bible-titus-2-13-two-personsConcerns 2013Explicit statement
The organisation’s position or later explanation: The organisation argues that a single article need not imply a single referent in koine Greek, quoting C. F. D. Moule's Idiom Book — the sense “of the great God, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ... is possible in κοινή [koi·neʹ] Greek even without the repetition [of the definite article]” — and Ezra Abbot's 1888 study at length.
2013 · Titus 2:13 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
“while we wait for the happy hope and glorious manifestation of the great God and of our Savior, Jesus Christ”
The repeated 'of' makes two persons the natural reading in English. The 1984 Reference Bible reads 'of the great God and of [the] Savior of us, Christ Jesus'.
1985 · Titus 2:13 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
“τῆς of the δόξης glory τοῦ of the μεγάλου great θεοῦ God καὶ and σωτῆρος of Savior ἡμῶν of us Χριστοῦ of Christ Ἰησοῦ, Jesus,”
The Greek has a single article τοῦ governing both 'great God' and 'Saviour', joined by καί. This is the construction covered by Granville Sharp's rule.
19 September 2026 · Bible Hub (reproducing the named copyright translations)
“One person: New International Version “our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ”; English Standard Version “our great God and Savior Jesus Christ”; New American Standard Bible “our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus”; New Revised Standard Version “our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ”. Two persons: King James Bible “the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ”; American Standard Version “the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ”; New American Bible “the great God and of our savior Jesus Christ”; Douay-Rheims “the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ”.”
Modern versions overwhelmingly read one person, but the King James Version, the American Standard Version, the Douay-Rheims and the New American Bible render the phrase in a way that permits or implies two — so the NWT's reading is not unique to it.
Notes. This quote field compiles renderings quoted separately from one Bible Hub parallel page; it is not a continuous passage. Each rendering was checked word for word against the page, which carries over forty versions.
Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID.src-nwtv-bh-titus-2-13
1985 · pp.1143-1144 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
“This indicates that when two distinct persons are connected by καί, if the first person is preceded by the definite article it is not necessary to repeat the definite article before the second person. … According to An Idiom Book of New Testament Greek, by C. F. D. Moule, Cambridge, England, 1971, p. 109, the sense “of the great God, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ . . . is possible in κοινή [koi·neʹ] Greek even without the repetition [of the definite article].””
The organisation's defence of reading two persons at Titus 2:13. The appendix lists eleven translations from 1719 to 1972 that render it the same way and quotes Ezra Abbot at length.
Provenance and verification note for The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures, Appendix 2E: “Of the Great God and of [the] Savior of Us, Christ Jesus”
Confidence note. Appendix opened in full on wol.jw.org on 19 September 2026; page markers 1143 and 1144 read from the page-number spans. I confirmed the appendix's wording; I did not open Moule's Idiom Book or Abbot's essays to check the quotations against the printed originals.
2013 · study note, Titus 2:13 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
“Some scholars therefore argue that only one person is referred to here, so they render this phrase, “of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ.” They thus view this text as proof that the inspired Scriptures describe Jesus as “the great God.” However, many scholars and Bible translators acknowledge that this passage can properly be rendered as it is in the New World Translation, referring to two distinct persons.”
The current study note. It states the opposing reading accurately before answering it, and refers the reader to Kingdom Interlinear Appendix 2E.
Provenance and verification note for New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (Study Edition), Study note on Titus 2:13, 'of the great God and of our Savior, Jesus Christ'
Confidence note. Study note read in full on the nwtsty Titus chapter 2 page on wol.jw.org, 19 September 2026.
A direct link to this claim is https://jwtruth.org/evidence/claim-bible-titus-2-13-two-persons/. Every source above opens the original document or the best available copy. If you believe the wording, date or context is wrong, report an error.