The Interlinear Bible is a Bible that has accompanying Greek and Hebrew text from the Strong’s Concordance. This is a nice tool for those that want references immediately at hand. However, we know that other world religions will alter the Greek, Hebrew, and English in order to bring about a reading that adjusts to their preferred doctrine. This is known as heresy: to move away from, depart, or decent from original doctrine. This essay aims to show how alterations to Scripture can be subtle but dangerous, and to demonstrate this point, I’ll put two texts up against one another; the Christian Interlinear Bible versus the Jehovah’s Witnesses (JW) Kingdom Interlinear. In this essay I’ll be using screen shots of the Interlinear Bible found on biblehub.com and the Kingdom Interlinear found on the official Jehovah’s Witnesses website, jw.org.
As is often the case, JW’s will pull out a Kingdom Interlinear when attempting to show their audience how their New World Translation (NWT) version of the Bible is the correct version. The problem is that their Kingdom Interlinear is as altered as their NWT. The following are examples of changes made in the JW Kingdom Interlinear. In each example, the first piece of Scripture will be from the Christian Interlinear Bible and the second piece by the JW Kingdom Interlinear.
JOHN 1:1 – Christian Interlinear Bible
JOHN 1:1 – Jehovah’s Witnesses Kingdom Interlinear
In John 1:1, the Apostle John is writing about the person of Jesus. When comparing these versions, the differences may be subtle, but they change the doctrine of Jesus’ identity. In the Christian version, Jesus is proclaimed to be God, stating that Jesus “was with God and God was the Word,” giving the proper capital “G” in “God” which denotes Jesus’ divine nature and equality to the Godhead; the Godhead of course also being represented in John 1:1 with a capital “G.”
However, the JW Kingdom Interlinear suggests Jesus “was toward the God, and god was the Word.” When the JW’s make alterations like this, Jesus’ divine eternal nature are denied. This is why in the NWT, John 1:1 reads, “and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.” Just subtly inserting the word “a” and also putting a lower case “g” for the word “god”, changes the doctrine of Jesus.
When viewed properly, as in the Christian Bible, John 1:1 proclaims that Jesus was both God and with God. How is that possible, for Jesus to be both God and with God? Obviously, it’s a doctrine of the trinity, which the JW’s deny. The Trinity, or the Godhead, has been in existence for all eternity past; together co-exalting, co-loving, and enjoying perfect communion with one another.
Let’s look at an example from the book of Titus; another Scripture about the identity of Jesus.
TITUS 2:13 – Christian Interlinear Bible
TITUS 2:13 – Jehovah’s Witnesses Kingdom Interlinear
Here again, the change is subtle but nonetheless creates a different doctrine about the eternal divine nature of Jesus. In the Christian version, Jesus is spoken of as our “God and Savior.” His identity as Savior is necessarily joined to His identity as God! Titus is making this proclamation clear. However, the JW version obscures this proclamation and creates the appearance of two beings, “the great God and of Savior of us.” Just subtly inserting that word “of” creates a distinction that there are two beings being represented. When a JW pulls out his Kingdom Interlinear, he’ll show you this verse and say, “See, Jesus is distinct from God. He’s not God, but he is God’s chosen Savior for us.” This false statement is even more obvious when reading Titus 2:13 from their NWT, which says, “the great God and of our Savior, Jesus Christ.”
This subtle change is similar to how the JW’s alter Romans 9:5, continuing to obscure the original claim that Jesus is God.
Romans 9:5 – Christian Interlinear Bible
Romans 9:5 – Jehovah’s Witnesses Kingdom Interlinear
In the Christian Interlinear Bible, Jesus is said to be, “over all God, blessed to the ages.” However, the JW Kingdom Interlinear says that Jesus is, “the (one) being upon all (things), God blessed (one) into the ages.” For the JW’s, Jesus is upon all, but not Creator of all, nor over all. Secondly, the JW’s present Jesus as one blessed by God into the ages, not God Himself. Again, as subtle as these changes may be to some, they create doctrinal heresy.
As the Apostle Paul writes in Romans, he defends that Jesus is a fleshly descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (known by Jews as “The Fathers”) just as the Bible prophesied. Romans 9:5, “whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.” Here, Jesus Christ is described as being in the flesh, yet while a man, He is, “who is over all,” over all angels and man, as He is the Creator of all as He has another nature beyond His flesh; His divine nature. And as such He is also said to be, “God blessed forever.” So, the Christian Bible gets it right when it says, “who is over all, God blessed forever.” This statement is one continuous statement abut the same man, Jesus.
Now compare to how the NWT provides Romans 9:5, “To them the forefathers belong, and from them the Christ descended according to the flesh. God, who is over all, be praised forever.” Here, the verse is broken up into separate sentences. The second sentence implies that God, who is over all, and who is distinct from Jesus, is to be praised forever for giving us Jesus. Do you see the subtle change in how this verse is presented?
Similarly, the original Greek is altered by the JW’s when reading 2 Peter 1:1 which again presents Jesus’ identity differently, creating doctrinal heresy.
2 PETER 1:1 – Christian Interlinear Bible
2 PETER 1:1 – Jehovah’s Witnesses Kingdom Interlinear
In the Christian version, Peter writes to fellow Christians saying that their faith is, “a faith through the righteousness of the God of us and Savior, Jesus Christ.” However, the JW’s subtly insert “of” again, and create a distinction between two beings, where their altered version states that the believers have obtained a “faith in righteousness of the God of us and of Savior Jesus Christ.” Again, this alteration attempts to put two distinct people in view; God and Jesus. This rendering separates Jesus as not being the eternal God, but a creation of God, used by God as a Savior. This is not the gospel!
Other examples could be given, but I hope you see the difference in doctrine between the Christian Interlinear Bible and the Jehovah’s Witnesses Kingdom Interlinear. The JW’s are only allowed to use the Kingdom Interlinear version. If you’ve ever had a JW walk you through passages of their NWT along with their Interlinear “Bible”, you can be sure it was a Kingdom Interlinear and not the real thing. Truth matters. Doctrine cannot be changed. There are eternal consequences.