Sometimes I hear about something and then have to go research it until I get it figured out. And it can become an obsession thinking and researching. That has happened to me a few different times regarding Jehovah’s Witnesses.
The first time was when I heard about their failed 1914 prediction. And I wrote about that here. It led me to all sorts of places that intrigued me as I read about a slew of failed predictions from Jehovah’s Witness leadership. The first of which came from their founder.
This time it was a discussion on the podcast Cultish about Jehovah’s Witnesses that made me look at their translation of the Bible compared to their own Greek interlinear. It’s often not the same. And that’s telling.
Inter…what?
Some of you might not know what an interlinear is, and that’s okay. I’m going to do some show and tel here and hopefully you’ll understand why this is so important.
Interlinear Bibles are common. In fact, I have one myself, though I hardly use it. It is simply a Bible that has the Greek or Hebrew text either on one side of the page and the English on the other side. Or, sometimes, the interlinear will have the Greek word below and the English words on top.
Here is an example from the website bible.cc, which is a Bible Study tool that I sometimes use in my own studies. You can find the page that I have taken a screenshot of here.
Now, notice what the interlinear is. It is a way of viewing the original language alongside the translated language.
Translating from one language to another is interesting because two languages just don’t do things the same way. You’ll notice above that the word “the” is bracketed at the very beginning of the sentence. And it’s simply because Greek does not require the word “the” there and English does. English requires an extra word there. The opposite happens on occasion as well. There are a few instances where a “-” is placed because Greek uses two words where one does the job in English.
But I think you see, in essence, what an Interlinear Bible does and how it works. This will help as we look at the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ own Interlinear. When you look at it, you can see that the leadership of Jehovah’s Witnesses is a group of liars and deceivers who will pay the punishment due for their sins.
The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures
On the Jehovah’s Witness website, jw.org, there is a Greek interlinear. As shown above, the Greek and English are right there together. I also can’t stress enough that this is a Jehovah’s Witness product. It is produced by The Governing Body of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Everything on jw.org is from the people that call themselves The Faithful and Discreet Slave that is in control of everything Jehovah’s Witnesses are to learn. And as you look around at their website, you find that there is massive deception going on.
I will look at a few examples from their website. These are easy enough to find on your own. It’s at jw.org, then click library, then click Bibles, then click The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures.
Colossians 2:13-20
I chose to look at a few prominent passages of Scripture that are debated when a person speaks with a Jehovah’s Witness. They believe that orthodox Christians interpret the Bible wrongly in these passages. In fact, if you bring them up, they have been trained to refute them and say that the Jehovah’s Witness Bible translation is the correct interpretation.
Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jesus is not Yahweh. They believe the Son to be a created being. In order to persuade people that this is the correct way of interpreting the Bible, they add the word “other” to Colossians 2 repeatedly.
This is a terribly disgusting deceit and the reason I say so is that the word other is not found in the Greek text. And they know it. For it is not found anywhere in their own interlinear.
To put it plainly, they interpret the passage just like Christians have for thousands of years in their interlinear. Then, they deceptively add the word “other” to the New World Translation. And because this is a resource from the Jehovah’s Witnesses, they must be lying and know that they are lying.
You’ll see what I mean as you look below. The quotation is from the New World Translation, which is the Jehovah’s Witnesses Bible. Then you can compare it to the interlinear below.
Look at Colossians 2:13-20.
“13 He rescued us from the authority of the darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 by means of whom we have our release by ransom, the forgiveness of our sins. 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 16 because by means of him all other things were created in the heavens and on the earth, the things visible and the things invisible, whether they are thrones or lordships or governments or authorities. All other things have been created through him and for him. 17 Also, he is before all other things, and by means of him all other things were made to exist, 18 and he is the head of the body, the congregation. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might become the one who is first in all things; 19 because God was pleased to have all fullness to dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all other things by making peace through the blood he shed on the torture stake, whether the things on the earth or the things in the heavens.” (Colossians 2:13-20 NWT)
Again, in most Bible translations the word “other” is not found before the word “things” as it is repeatedly here. And it is not found in the Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures either.
I have clipped images from the Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures to show this. As you read it, realize that translating from one language to another is not clean and smooth. So, some wording changes are necessary for English speakers to make sense of it. But what you don’t find is the word “other” or anything that would mean the word “other” in the Governing Body of the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ own Greek interlinear. The link to look at the page yourself is here.
As you can see, there is no reason to add the Greek given here. Therefore, it is deceptive and they know it. This is their resource. The Governing Body of the Jehovah’s Witnesses produced this and know that their New World Translation is wrong. Look at all the places the word “other” is added and consider the warnings given to people that add or take away from God’s Word.
“You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you.” (Deuteronomy 4:2 ESV)
I found that, as I considered the question, “why would they add “other’”‘ so often in a passage that did not have any textual reason for it?”, I grew angry. And I grew angry because it is obvious that this is an intentional deception.
But it doesn’t stop there. The most heated debates with Jehovah’s Witnesses revolve around John 1:1 and they did the same thing there.
John 1:1
John 1:1 is one of those hot-button passages for a Jehovah’s Witness. And the New World Translation differs greatly from other translations of the Bible by adding the word “a” before the word “god” when others do not. The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures does not either, which further infuriates me. And I think you’ll see why as we look at the two.
Here is John 1:1 in the New World Translation.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.” (John 1:1 NWT)
This article “a”, as you might’ve guessed by now, is not found in the interlinear. You can look for yourself on their website here.
Notice how the interlinear translates this. “and god was the Word”. They didn’t even bracket the word “a” in the text because there is no warrant for it.
I have known about the weirdness of Jehovah’s Witnesses translation for years. I have known about their addition of “a” in John 1:1. What I did not know was that they knew it was wrong, but translated it that way anyway?
I didn’t find that out until I looked at the interlinear produced by their governing body.
John 8:58
Another passage often discussed is John 8:58. And something similar is done here.
Christians have heard this verse so often that they know it by heart.
“Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”” (John 8:58 ESV)
As you likely know already, this statement is significant for Jesus identifies Himself as being “I am” or Yahweh. Jesus identifies Himself as God Almighty by using the personal name of God first seen in Exodus 3, in which God calls Himself “I am”.
The New World Translation distorts this by saying that Jesus said, “I have been” instead of “I am”. Scholars have never understood why it would be worded this way. But it seems that The Governing Body of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, those who claim to be the Faithful and Discreet Slave, don’t believe it should be worded that way either. Just take a look at The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scripture and compare it to their translation of the Bible. Take a look at the New World Translation and compare it to the Interlinear provided by Jehovah’s Witnesses.
“Jesus said to them: “Most truly I say to you, before Abraham came into existence, I have been.”” (John 8:58 NWT)
Notice that in the New World Translation Jesus says “I have been”. Now take a look at The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures. You can also look at it on their website here.
Again, what reason is there for the difference? Why did someone feel that it was necessary to right “I have been” when even in their own Greek Interlinear it says “I am”?
The only conclusion that I can see is that they deceptively changed the text to hide the fact that Jesus is God Almighty.
Concluding Thoughts
By now I hope that it is obvious to everyone that the Governing Body of the Jehovah’s Witnesses have produced a Bible that is completely distorted. But I hope that it’s also obvious that these very same people created that distorted Bible to keep people enslaved to sin and on their way to Hell.
I believe that the Governing Body of the Jehovah’s Witnesses is a Satanic group that binds people in darkness and drags them to Hell through purposeful and sinful deception. Their own resources prove that they know they are wrong. There is no other explanation for the differences seen in their interlinear text.
There is only one way of salvation from the wrath of God and it is in God the Son, Jesus Christ. And the deception of Jehovah’s Witnesses is that they cause people to believe in a different Jesus. They cause people to believe in a Jesus who does not save.
This tool of Satan attempted to cover up the truth of who Jesus is. But even in their best attempt, they couldn’t hide their folly.
[1] https://www.jw.org/en/library/bible/kingdom-interlinear-greek-translation/books/colossians/1/, accessed 01/12/2026.
[2] https://www.jw.org/en/library/bible/kingdom-interlinear-greek-translation/books/john/1/, accessed 1/12/2026.
[3] https://www.jw.org/en/library/bible/kingdom-interlinear-greek-translation/books/john/8/, accessed 01/12/2026.
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