Two Translators Who Restored God's Name to the New Testament - Continue

 In his translation, Shadwell first used "Jehovah" at Matthew 1:20. His note for that verse says: "The word [ky'ri-os] in this, and in many other passages in [the] N.T. means JEHOVAH, the proper name of God: it is most important to restore this word to the English translation." He also stated: The honour of God requires it. He has declared himself by the name of JEHOVAH: and we cannot do better than use that name when we speak of him." He then said: "in our E.V. [Established, Authorized, or King James Version] of the Bible, the name of JEHOVAH rarely  occurs . . . Instead of the proper name of God, we read, the The Lord." Shadwell claimed: "The Lord . . . is a most unworthy title" to use as a substitute for God's name, adding that even he is called "The Lord" at his country manor, or country home.

Shadwell published his translation of Matthew in 1859 and his combined version of Matthew and Mark in 1861. But then his work came to an end.  He died on January 11, 1861. 

Next time: Two Translators Who Restored God's Name to the New Testament - Fedrick Parker

From the jw.org publications

Two Translators Who Restored God's Name to the New Testament - Continue

 Even before Shadwell and Parker published their English translations, other translators had restored God's name to their English translations of the New Testament, but only in relatively few places. Prior to 1863m when Parker published a Literal Translation of the New Testament, no English translator is known to have restored God's name extensively in a published New Testament. Who were Lancelot Shadwell and Fredrick Parker?

Lancelot Shadwell

Lancelot Shadwell (1808-1861) was a barrister and the son of Sir Lancelot Shadwell, the vice-chancellor of England. The son belonged to the Church of England. Although he believed in Trinity, he showed respect for God's name, describing it as "the glorious name of JEHOVAH." In his translation, the Gospels of Matthew, and of Mark, he used "Jehovah" 28 times in the main text and 465 times in the accompanying notes.

Shadwell may have learned about God's name by seeing it in the Old Testament in the original Hebrew. He stated that those who had replaced God's name with the term Ky' ir-os in the Greek translation of the Old Testament "were not honest translators." 

Next time: Two Translators Who Restored God's Name in the New Testament -Continue 

From the jw.org publications 

Two Translators Who Restored God's Name to the New Testament

 One of the first prayers that many people learn is the Lord's Prayer, which Jesus taught his followers. This prayer is commonly called the New Testamen. The prayer begins: "Our Father who art in heaven, let name be sanctified." (Matthew 6:9) Yet, God's name, rendered in English as "Jehovah" or sometimes "Yahweh," is rarely found in English translations of the New Testament.  These translations do, however, include the names of false gods, such as Zeus, Hermes, and Artemis. So should they not mention the name of our true God and Author of the Bible? - ACTS 14:12; 19:35; 2 TIMOTHY 3:16. 

The English Bible translators Lancelot Shadwell and Fredrick Parker believed that God's name should be restored to the New Testament.  Why use the word "restored"? Because they concluded that God's name was there originally but was later taken out. Why did they draw that conclusion?

Shadwell and Parker knew that existing manuscripts of what is often called the Old Testament, originally written mainly in Hebrew, include God's personal name thousands of times. So they wondered why the New Testament manuscripts available to them omitted the full form of God's name. Also Shadwell noticed that when the New Testament manuscripts use common Old Testament expressions, such as "the angel of Jehovah," copyists of the Greek New Testament had evidently replace God's name with terms like Ky'ri-os, which means "Lord."  - 2 KINGS 1:3, 15; ACTS 12:23. 

Next time: Two Translators Who Restored God's Name to the New Testament - Conclusion

From the jw.org publications

THE WORD OF GOD ENDURES FOREVER

 Can these so-called manuscripts be useful to the Bible students today? Undoubtedly! Take as an example the so-called long conclusion of the Gospel Mark, which in some Bibles follows Mark 16:8. It appears in the Greek Codex Alexandrinus of the fifth century, the Latin Vulgate, and elsewhere. However, the two authoritive fourth-century Greek manuscripts-Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus-both end with Mark 6:8.  The Sinaitic Syriac does not have this long conclusion either, adding further evidence that the long conclusion is a later addition and was not originally part of Mark's Gospel.

Consider another example. In the 19th century, almost all Bible translations had spurious Trinitarian addition at 1 John 5:7. However, this addition does not appear in the oldest Greek manuscripts. Neither does it appear in the Peshitta, thus proving that 1 John 5:7 is indeed a corruption of the Bible text.

Clearly, as promised, Jehovah God has preserved his Holy Word. In it we are given this assurance: "The green grass dries up he blossom withers, but the Word of our God endures forever." (Isaiah 40:8; 1 Peter 1:25) The version known as the Peshitta plays a humble but important role in the accurate transmission of the Bible's message to all humanity.

What Is Syriac?

Syriac is one of the dialects of Aramaic, and official language of the Persian Empire. It was spoken in the northern Mesopotamia and around Antioch, where many became believers of the good news in the first century C.E. As a written language, Syriac came into wide use in the second or third century C.E. 

Next time: Two Translators Who Restored God's Name to the New Testament

From the jw.org publications 

MORE SYRIAC MANUSCRIPTS DISCOVERED - Conclusion

 The second manuscript that has survived to our day is the Sinaitic Syriac. Its discovery is linked with the adventurous twin sisters mentioned at the start of this article. Although Agnes did not have a university degree, she learned eight foreign languages, one of the Syriac. In 1892, Agnes made a remarkable discovery in the monastery of St. Catherine in Egypt. 

There, in a dark closet, she found a Syriac manuscript. According to her own account, "it had a forbidding look, for it was very dirty, and its leaves were nearly all stuck together through their having remained unturned" for centuries. It was a palimpsest manuscript of which the original text had been erased and the pages rewritten with a Syriac text written about female saints. However, Agnes spotted some of the writing underneath and the words "of Matthew," "of Mark," or "of Luke" at the top. What she had in her hands was an almost complete Syriac codex of the four Gospels! Scholars now believe that this codex was written in the fourth century. 

The Sinaitic Syriac is considered one of the most important Biblical manuscripts discovered, right along with such Greek manuscripts as the Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus. It is now generally believed that both the Curetonian and Sinaitic manuscripts are extant copies of old Syriac Gospels dating from the second or early third century. 

Next time: THE WORD OF GOD ENDURES

From the jw.org publications

MORE SYRIAC MANUSCRIPTS DISCOVERED

Until the 19th century, almost all the known Greek copies of the Christian Greek Scriptures were from the fifth century or much later. For this reason, Bible scholars were especially interested in such versions as the Latin Vulgate and Syriac Peshitta. At the time, some believed that the Peshitta was the result of a revision of an older Syriac version. But no such text was known. Since the roots of the Syriac Bible go back to the second century, such a version would provide a window on the Bible text at an early stage, and it would be invaluable to Bible scholars! Was there really an old Syriac version? Would it be found? 

Yes, indeed! In fact, two such precious Syriac manuscripts were found. The first is a manuscript dating from the fifth century. It was among a large number of Syriac manuscripts acquired by the British museum in 1842 from a monastery in the Nitrian Desert in Egypt. It was called the Curetonian Syriac because it was discovered and published by William Cureton, the museum's assistant keeper of manuscripts. This precious document contains the four Gospels in the order of Matthew, Mark, John, and Luke. 

Next time: MORE SYRIAC MANUSCRIPTS DISCOVERED - Conclusion

From the jw.org publications

THE GOOD NES TRANSLATED INTO SYRIAC - Conclusion

 The Diatessaron is of great interest to us today. Why? In the 19th century, some scholars argued that the Gospels were written as late as the second century, between 130 C.E. and 170 C.E., and thus could not be authentic accounts of Jesus' life. However, ancient manuscripts of the Diatessaron that come to light since then have proved that the Gospels of Matthew. Mark, Luke, and John were already in wide circulation by the middle of the second century. They therefore have been written earlier. In addition, since Tatian, when compiling the Diatessaron, did not make use of any of the so-called apocryphal gospels in the way he did the four accepted Gospels, it is evident that the apocryphal gospels were not viewed as reliable or canonical. 

By the start of the fifth century, a translation of the Bible into Syriac came into general use in northern Mesopotamia. Likely made during the second of third century C.E. this translation included all the books of the Bible except two Peter, 2 and 3 John, Jude, and Revelation. It is known as the Peshitta, meaning "Simple" or "Clear."  The Peshitta is one of the oldest and most important witness to the early transmission of the Bible text. 

Interestingly, one manuscript of the Peshitta has a written date corresponding to 459/460 C.E., making it the oldest Bible manuscript with a definite date. In about 508 C.E., a revision of the Peshitta was made that included the five missing books. It came to known as the Philoxenian Version.

Next time: MORE SYRIAC MANUSCRIPTS DISCOVERED

From the jw.org publications

THE GOOD NEWS TRANSLATED INTO SYRIAC

 As the number of Syriac-speaking Christians increased in the second century, there arose a need for the good news to be translated into their tongue. Thus, it appears that Syriac, not Latin, was the first vernacular into which parts the Christian Greek Scriptures were translated. 

By about 170 C.E., the Syrian writer Tatian (c. 120-173 C.E) combined the four canonical Gospels and produced, in Greek or Syriac, the work commonly called the Diatessaron, a Greek word meaning "through [the] four [Gospels]. Later Ephraem the Syrian (c.310-373 C.E.) produced a commentary  on the Diatessaron, thus confirming that was in general use among Syrian Christians. 

Next time: THE GOOD NEWS TRANSLATED IN SYRIAC - Conclusion

From the jw.org publications

The Syriac Peshitta - A Window on the World of Early Bible Translations

 For nine days in 1892, the twin sisters Agnes Smith Lewis and Margaret Dunlop Gibson journeyed by camel through the desert to St. Catherine's Monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai. Why would these two women in their later 40's undertake such a journey at a time when travel in what was called the Orient was so dangerous? The answer may help strengthen your belief in the accuracy of the Bible.

JUST before returning to heaven, Jesus commissioned his disciples to bear witness about him "in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the most distant part of the earth." (Acts 1:8) This the disciples did with zeal and courage. Their ministry in Jerusalem, however, soon stirred up strong opposition, result in the martyrdom of Stephen. Many of Jesus' disciples found refuge in Antioch, Syria, one of the largest cities in the Roman Empire, some 350 miles (550 km) north of Jerusalem. - ACTS 11:19. 

In Antioch, the disciples continued to preach "the good new" about Jesus, and many non-Jews became believers. (Acts 11:20, 21) Though Greek was the common language within the walls of Antioch, outside its gates and in the province, the language of the people of Syriac.

Next time: THE GOOD NEWS TRANSLATED INTO SYRIAC

From the jw.org publications

Practice Sessions Can Help Your Family - Conclusion

 Of course, sound reasoning alone may not be enough to persuade some listeners. But expressing ourselves with tact and mildness can help. (Read Colossians 4;6.) Sharing our convictions can be likened to throwing a ball. We can toss the ball gently or hurl it forcefully. When we throw it gently, the other player is more likely to catch it and to continue playing. Similarly, if we express ourselves with tact and mildness, people may be more willing to listen and to continue the conversation. Of course, if someone wants to win a debate or to ridicule our beliefs, we are not obligated to answer him further. (Proverbs 26:4) But such a person may be the exception; some-perhaps many-will listen.

Clearly, this is great value in making mildness a personal goal. Pray to Jehovah for the strength you need to remain mild when responding to controversial questions or unjust criticism.  Remember, your mild attitude can prevent differences of opinion from escalating into arguments. And your mild attitude may actually move some listeners to change their view about us and about Bible truths. Be "always ready to make a defense" of your belief, "doing so with a mild temper and deep respect." (1 Peter 3:15) Yes, let mildness be your strength!  

Next time: The Syriac Peshitta-A Windo on the World of Early Bible Translations

From the jw.org publications 

Practice Sessions Can Help Your Family -Continue

 Practice sessions can help Christians to present convincing arguments and to convince themselves that have sound reasons for their beliefs. The "Young People Ask" series on jw.org includes worksheets for teenagers. Those are designed to help ones to reinforce their beliefs and to prepare answers in their own words. By studying tis series as a family, we all can learn how to defend our faith in a mild, appealing way

A youth named Matthew explains how practice sessions helped him. As part of their family worship, Matthew and his parents often research topics that might be discussed in a class. He says: "We think of what sort of scenarios might come up, and we practice how to handle them based on the research we did. When I have clearly in mind the reasons for my stand, I feel secure and I find it easier to be mild when dealing with others."

Next time: Practice Sessions Can Help Your Family - Conclusion

From the jw.org publications

PREPARE AS A FAMILY

 Parents can effectively teach their children how to respond mildly when their beliefs are challenged. (James 3:13) Some parents have practice sessions during family worship. They consider topics that might come up at school, discuss and demonstrate how to give an answer, and teach their children how to speak in a mild appealing way. - See the box "Practice Sessons Can Help Your Family." 

                                                                                                          

Practice Sessions Can Help Your Family

Many families find it useful during family worship to discuss controversial subjects that may come up at school or at work. (Proverbs 9:9) For example, consider how you would reply if someone says: 

. Only uneducated people believe in God."

. "Evolution is a fact." 

. "If creation is true, who created the Creator?" 

. "Jehovah's Witnesses hate homosexuals." 

. "Why do Jehovah's Witnesses pressure people to change  

     their religion?" 

. " You have changed the Bible to fit your beliefs." 

Next time: PREPARE AS A FAMILY - Continue

From the jw.org publications