NEW WORLD TRANSLATION OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES

Marami akong nakakausap sa larangan (house-to-house preaching work) na nagsasabing binago daw ng mga Saksi ang buong Bibliya sa pagkakaroon ng sarili nitong salin, ang Bagong Sanlibutang Salin ng Banal na Kasulatan (New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures sa English). Nais kong ibahagi sa inyo ang isang karanasan.

May nakausap akong medyo masasabi nating salansang sa aming paniniwala ngunit sa isang malumanay na pakikipag-usap ay nawagi ko siya sa isang kapaki-pakinabang na usapan at sa papaanuman naunawaan niya ang aking paliwanag. Ayaw pa nga niyang ipaliwanag ko sa kaniya ang bagay na iyon (kasi nalaman ko nang dakong huli na narinig niya lang pala ang akusasyong iyon mula sa mga kaibigang hindi sang-ayon sa ginawang pagsasalin ng Mga Saksi ni Jehova ng sarili nitong Bibliya) nuong una. Ngunit sinabi ko sa kaniya na patuloy na mananatiling palaisipan sa kaniya ang bagay na iyon kung hindi niya ako pahihintulutang magpaliwanag.

Binigyan ko siya ng ilustrasyon: Halimbawa nais mong malaman kako ang katotohanan tungkol sa Coke -kung bakit marami ang bumibili nito, numero uno sa Pilipinas ngunit hindi sa ibang bansa- sa isang kasiya-siyang kasagutan. E saan ka ba kako magtatanong, sa Coke mismo o sa kalaban nitong Pepsi (ilustrasyon lang po)? Sinabi niya sa akin na "e di sa Coke mismo!" Tanong ko bakit? Sinabi niyang maaaring maling impormasyon ang ibibigay sa iyo ng Pepsi o paninira pa nga. So sabi ko tama po iyon.

Kaya kung may tanong kayo tungkol sa paniniwala naming mga Saksi e kanino po ba kayo magtatanong, sa mga Saksi mismo o duon sa ibang relihiyon? Bagaman hindi niya tuwirang sinabi sa akin ang inaasahan kong sagot e napag-unawa ko naman na ang sagot ay 'sa amin mismong mga Saksi' at hindi sa kung kani-kanino lamang. Iyon ang hudyat upang itawid ko sa kaniya ang paliwanag namin tungkol sa sariling salin.

Para sa kapakinabangan ng marami, ibabahagi ko sa inyo ang ilang bagay kung bakit sa modernong panahon natin ay kailangan ang madali maunawaang salin ng Bibliya. At ito din ang pinag-usapan namin ng kinukuwento ko sa inyo.

Ang sumusunod ay tekstong hinalaw ko mula sa Wycliffe (o Wyclife o Wyclif) Bible na inilathala pa noong 1395. Pansinin na ang ginamit dito ay MIDDLE ENGLISH. Bigyang pansin din ang mga spelling na ginagamit noon. Ito ang kanilang pang araw-araw na pakikipagtalastasan noon na napakalayo sa Modern English natin ngayon. At kasunod nito ang iba pang salin:


Wycliffe Bible (1395 MIDDLE ENGLISH)

Genesis CAP 1

1 In the bigynnyng God made of nouyt heuene and erthe.
2 Forsothe the erthe was idel and voide, and derknessis weren on the face of depthe; and the Spiryt of the Lord was borun on the watris.
3 And God seide, Liyt be maad, and liyt was maad.
4 And God seiy the liyt, that it was good, and he departide the liyt fro derknessis; and he clepide the liyt,
5 dai, and the derknessis, nyyt. And the euentid and morwetid was maad, o daie.
6 And God seide, The firmament be maad in the myddis of watris, and departe watris fro watris.
7 And God made the firmament, and departide the watris that weren vndur the firmament fro these watris that weren on the firmament; and it was don so.
8 And God clepide the firmament, heuene. And the euentid and morwetid was maad, the secounde dai.
9 Forsothe God seide, The watris, that ben vndur heuene, be gaderid in to o place, and a drie place appere; and it was doon so.
10 And God clepide the drie place, erthe; and he clepide the gadryngis togidere of watris, the sees. And God seiy that it was good;
11 and seide, The erthe brynge forth greene eerbe and makynge seed, and appil tre makynge fruyt bi his kynde, whos seed be in it silf on erthe; and it was doon so.
12 And the erthe brouyte forth greene erbe and makynge seed bi his kynde, and a tre makynge fruyt, and ech hauynge seed by his kynde. And God seiy that it was good.


Pansinin ang pagkakaiba ng

King James Version (1611 EARLY MODERN ENGLISH)

Genesis Chapter 1

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon
the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the
waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light
from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.
And the evening and the morning were the first day.
6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters,
and let it divide the waters from the waters.
7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were
under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament:
and it was so.
8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the
morning were the second day.
9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together
unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of
the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding
seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is
in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after
his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after
his kind: and God saw that it was good.


New King James Version (1982 MODERN ENGLISH)

Genesis Chapter 1

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was[a] on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.
6 Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.”
7 Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so.
8 And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.
9 Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so.
10 And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
11 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so.
12 And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.



Hindi ko na inilagay pa ang ibang OLD ENGLISH translation na nauna pa sa Wycliffe Bible. Kung papansinin ninyo ang pinagpipitagang King James Version ay ni-revised mula sa orihinal na salin nito. Ngayon, masasabi ba nating binago din ng tagapaglathala ng mga nabanggit na salin ang buong Bibliya dahil sa ini-adapt lamang nila sa lenguwaheng kinabubuhayan nila ang kanilang ginawa? Ang English na ginamit ay luma na ika nga. Isa pa hindi na ginagamit ito ngayon -hindi na talaga dapat gamitin- sa obvious na dahilan.

Tandaan na deskrisyon ng tagapagsalin ang pagbabago ng salita, kuwit, question mark atbp batay sa kasalukuyang paggamit ng mga ito. Kung tutuusin ang Hebreo noon ay walang kuwit, question mark o exclamatory point man lamang. Pero sa atin ay mayroon. Binago ba ng lahat ng tagpagsalin ng ano pa mang Bibliya ang orihinal sa salin nito. Natural hindi! Sumulat ka kaya ngayon ng wala man lamang kuwit, tuldok o question mark, may makakaunawa ba sa sulat mo. Wala.


Heto naman ang New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (1984 MODERN ENGLISH)

Genesis Chapter 1

1 In [the] beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Now the earth proved to be formless and waste and there was darkness upon the surface of [the] watery deep; and God’s active force was moving to and fro over the surface of the waters.
3 And God proceeded to say: “Let light come to be.” Then there came to be light.
4 After that God saw that the light was good, and God brought about a division between the light and the darkness.
5 And God began calling the light Day, but the darkness he called Night. And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, a first day.
6 And God went on to say: “Let an expanse come to be in between the waters and let a dividing occur between the waters and the waters.”
7 Then God proceeded to make the expanse and to make a division between the waters that should be beneath the expanse and the waters that should be above the expanse. And it came to be so.
8 And God began to call the expanse Heaven. And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, a second day.
9 And God went on to say: “Let the waters under the heavens be brought together into one place and let the dry land appear.” And it came to be so.
10 And God began calling the dry land Earth, but the bringing together of the waters he called Seas. Further, God saw that [it was] good.
11 And God went on to say: “Let the earth cause grass to shoot forth, vegetation bearing seed, fruit trees yielding fruit according to their kinds, the seed of which is in it, upon the earth.” And it came to be so.
12 And the earth began to put forth grass, vegetation bearing seed according to its kind and trees yielding fruit, the seed of which is in it according to its kind. Then God saw that [it was] good.


Nang ipakita ko sa kaniya ang English translation na ito, siya mismo ang nagsabi na kakaunti lang ang pagkakaiba, karaniwan sa iilang mga salitang ginamit pero hindi nawawala ang diwa. Ipinakita ko rin sa kaniya ang Old Tagalog Version ng KJV (King James) at ang modernong Tagalog na ginamit sa NW (New Wrold Translation) gaya ng iniharap sa unang pitak (naks malalim ba na Tagalog) ko sa blog na ito.

Sabi ko tulad din iyan ng salitang PAARALAN. Subukan mo kakong tanungin ang anak mo kung siya ba ay galing sa paaralan, eskuwelahan o iskul (school pa nga). Sabi niya school daw ang gamit niya, hindi paaralan. Sinabi kong wala namang problema kung gagamitin niya ang salitang paaralan, pero hindi ba kako mas maganda kung ang gagamitin niya ay salitang kasalukuyang ginagamit ng mas marami? Sumang-ayon naman siya. Idinagdag ko pa ang salitang 'paki pirmahan (o sign pa nga) nyo nga ito' kumapara sa 'paki lagdaan mo nga ito.' Natawa siya.

Nagpaalam ako na tulad niya ay may ngiti sa mga labi. Tanda na kapuwa kasiya-siya at kapaki-pakinabang ang aming pag-uusap.