Hebrews Ch. 1:8-9

Hebrews Ch. 1:8-9

I chose to read Hebrews today and felt a great mist lift from my eyes – almost a physical sensation of revelation to me. The first three chapters of this book (I had to stop just before Chapter 4 because of this revelation, I had to write it down) have gotten me thinking a great deal about translations and the truth of said translations.

I’ve had times when I have questioned the Trinity because it is not something I can understand. I will never fully understand it, which I accept, but accepting God as three persons in one God has been a bit of a tough issue for me. I’ve looked for passages pertaining to this matter as I know the Bible is the inspired word of God so if there is anything said about this, it’ll be there – and it certainly is. I am beginning to understand more about God’s triune nature courtesy of His grace, and I thank Him wholeheartedly for even the tiniest snippet of understanding He sees fit to grant me. I wish to please Him and knowing Him just a little bit better achieves this, I think.

Another element of this life that I struggle with is to do with the Jehovah’s Witnesses. I have a friend who is a JW and I don’t talk to him much about his beliefs because I don’t know how to rebuke or correct someone if needed – all I remember right now is him telling me that the New World Translation is widely considered the most accurate translation of the Bible around… I’ve heard quite the opposite and seen red flags pop up in JW literature (two JWs come by my house and give me magazines once a month, each time the content seems to goes against Scripture; I’m not affiliated with the JWs, I just keep wishing I could tell them the truth, the words don’t come though; I'll keep praying on the matter). Now, bear with me – this does all have to do with my revelation today.

So while I was reading the book of Hebrews something come into my head, an idea, as I spotted a few verses of that would act as evidence for Jesus’ deity and the deity of the Holy Spirit. I thought I would take a look at them and compare them to other translations of the Bible. I truly believe this exercise is God’s will, both for me and hopefully for others who are struggling with the same battle of faith and JWs.

The first extract that really jumps out at me is Hebrews 1:8-9, which is as follows in the New Living Translation of the Bible:

But to the Son he says,

“Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever.

You rule with a sceptre of justice.

You love justice and hate evil.

Therefore, O God, your God has anointed you,

pouring out the oil of joy on you more than on anyone else.”

The extract is actually a Psalm, Psalm 45:6-7 to be exact, but as I’m reading the book of Hebrews I thought I’d copy over the translations of this portion of Hebrews from other Bibles, I've underlined the sentence that has sparked this interest.

King James Version (1611 edition)

8 But unto the Sonne, he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.

9 Thou hast love righteousnesse, and hated iniquitie, therefore God, even thy God hath anointed thee with the oyle of gladnesse above thy fellowes.

English Standard Version

8 But of the Son he says,

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,

the sceptre of uprightness is the sceptre of your kingdom.

9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;

Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”

New International Version

8 But about the Son he says,

“Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever;
a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.

9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions
by anointing you with the oil of joy.”

I have looked through 43 English translations of the Bible and have found that while some of them use different wording, they all preach the same message: Jesus is God - God is clearly talking to God. Out of curiosity (and compelling by who I believe to be the Holy Spirit), I look up the new world translation of the Bible and found the following:

New World Translation

8 But with reference to the Son: “God is your throne forever and ever, and [the] sceptre of your kingdom is the sceptre of uprightness. 9 You loved righteousness, and you hated lawlessness. That is why God, your God, anointed you with [the] oil of exultation more than your partners.”

I’m not sure how other believers will look at this but when I read it I don’t see the same message as the other 43 translations I looked at. This extract does not proclaim that Jesus is God, like the others.

I am getting a little concerned as the longer I spend typing this, the more I feel a battle emerging inside of me. Something is nudging me to post this and ask for others’ opinions on it, something else is just telling me I’m nit-picking and looking into it too much. To be honest when I saw the difference I was shocked. It’s a small, simple sentence but in my eyes it completely changes the tone of the two verses. Am I reading into this too much? I just had to post this to see what others thought on the matter because I know that typically, JWs are taught that Jesus is like a “demi God”, a created being and seeing how different this line is compared to forty three other translations makes me wonder.

It's been said that the leaders of the JWs have altered their Bible to correlate to their teaching, I suppose having it thrown into my face like that was a huge wake up call. Maybe God is trying to provide evidence to disprove the false teaching of the Jehovah's Witnesses?

What are your thoughts?