The New World Translation (NWT) of the Bible, produced by Jehovah's Witnesses, has undergone significant revisions, particularly in the translation of the Greek verb proskuneó, traditionally rendered as "worship." Initially, the Watch Tower Society accepted Jesus as an object of worship, as reflected in early publications. However, over time, the organization shifted to reject worship of Jesus, insisting that worship be directed solely to Jehovah. These theological changes are reflected in the NWT, where proskuneó is increasingly translated as "obeisance" in reference to Jesus, instead of "worship." This shift in translation highlights how doctrinal changes within the Jehovah's Witnesses movement have influenced their Bible translation to align with their evolving beliefs.
JWs And The Worship Of Jesus
The following is a quote from the JW website.
“A God Exacting Exclusive Devotion”
The Bible clearly indicates, however, that our worship—in the sense of religious reverence and devotion—must be addressed solely to God. Moses described him as “a God exacting exclusive devotion.” And the Bible exhorts us to “worship the One who made the heaven and the earth and sea and fountains of waters.”—Deuteronomy 4:24; Revelation 14:7.
Jesus certainly occupies a pivotal role in true worship, one worthy of honor and respect. (2 Corinthians 1:20-21; 1 Timothy 2:5) He is the only way through which we are able to approach Jehovah God. (John 14:6) Accordingly, true Christians do well to direct their worship only to Jehovah God, the Almighty.
However, there is physical evidence that JWs once believed Jesus should be worship back in the late 1800s, when the theology changed that only Jehovah can be worship, they changed the NW translation to reflect this new theology. See the following quote for some evidence from the Watchtower:
The Founder Worshipped Jesus
The early Watch Tower Society, under the leadership of Charles Taze Russell, taught that it was both appropriate and proper to worship Jesus Christ. Numerous writings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries serve as evidence. Russell’s teachings, as published in Zion's Watch Tower and other early Watch Tower literature, explicitly endorsed the idea that Jesus should be worshiped. For example, in Zion’s Watch Tower from 1898, Russell wrote that it was proper for Jesus to receive worship, in light of his divinity as the “only begotten” Son of God and the agent of creation ( Matthew 2:11) and angels (Hebrews 1:6) as a model for proper Christian reverence (Zion's Watch Tower 1906 Jan 1 ). Even as late as 1939, the Watch Tower explicitly encouraged worship of both Jehovah and Jesus, acknowledging the role of Christ in God's purpose ( Watchtower 1939 Nov 15).
See Quotation From The WatchTower
"It seems clear that His Divinity was retained in humanity because He repeatedly spoke of Himself as having come down from heaven, and because He, though passing through trial and sorrow as a man, was yet possessed of the authority and exercised the prerogatives of a God. He was the object of unreproved worship even when a babe, by the wise men who came to see the new-born King. Matt. 2:2-11. Even the angels delighted to do Him honor. "When He bringeth the first-begotten into the world, He saith, "And let all the angels of God worship Him." Heb. 1:6. He never reproved any one for acts of worship offered to Himself, but when Cornelius offered such service to Peter--the leading apostle-- "he took him up, saying, stand up; I myself also am a man." .... Had Christ not been more than a man the same reason would have prevented from receiving worship...."
"It is undoubtedly proper enough for us to address petitions to our Redeemer and Advocate, who loved us and gave himself for us....Although we are nowhere instructed to make petitions to him, it evidently could not be improper so to do; for such a course is nowhere prohibited, and the disciples worshiped him."
"Question. The fact that our Lord received worship is claimed by some to be an evidence that while on earth he was God the Father disguised in a body of flesh and not really a man. Was he really worshiped, or is the translation faulty?
Answer. Yes, we believe our Lord Jesus while on earth was really worshiped, and properly so. It was proper for our Lord to receive worship in view of his having been the only begotten of the Father and his agent in the creation of all things, including man."
"In one respect many of Christendom could learn numerous important lessons from these wise Gentiles....They worshiped him in three senses of the word: (1) They fell before him, prostrated themselves, thus physically expressing their reverence. (2) They worshiped him in their hearts and with the tongue gave expression to their rejoicing and confidence. (3) They opened their treasure-box and presented to him three gifts appropriate to royalty: the myrrh representing submission, frankincense representing praise, gold representing obedience."
"Jehovah God commands all to worship Christ Jesus because Christ Jesus is the express image of his Father, Jehovah, and because he is the Executive Officer of Jehovah always carrying out Jehovah's purpose (Heb.:3-6)."
"During the Millennium, "the princes will lead the people in their worship of Jehovah and of Christ." Vindication Volume 3 (J. F. Rutherford, 1932) p.295
"The people of all nations who obtain salvation must come to the house of the Lord to worship there; that is to say, they must believe on and worship Jehovah God and the Lord Jesus Christ, his chief instrument (Philippians 2:10, 11)."
“In the New World Translation we note that when this Greek verb pros·ky·ne'o is applied to Jesus as a man on earth or materializing as a man after his resurrection, it is translated “do obeisance.” However, when referring to the glorified Jesus in the invisible heavens in the presence of the holy angels, the New World Translation makes a change and renders pros·ky·ne'o as applied to him by the English word “worship.” (Heb. 1:6) This is properly and consistently done....Well, then, since the angels are commanded to worship the glorified Jesus at his second coming, should not we, who, as humans, are so much less than angels, likewise worship him? In answer we say, We must render to him what God’s Word says we must.”
Change in beliefs
Starting in the 1950s, Jehovah's Witnesses began to move away from the belief that Jesus should be worshiped. This shift was in part a response to the growing influence of Trinitarian doctrines, which the Witnesses rejected. By 1954, the Watch Tower had officially revised its stance, claiming that worship should be directed solely to Jehovah, and not to Jesus. The 1954 Watchtower explained that while Jesus had an essential role in salvation, all worship was to be addressed to Jehovah God, and Christians should pray to Jehovah through Jesus Christ, but not worship Jesus directly ( Watchtower 1954 Jan 1). This new policy led to significant changes in Watch Tower literature and practices, including the rejection of the idea that Jesus could be an object of worship and was idolatrous.
Consequently, since the Scriptures teach that Jesus Christ is not a trinitarian co-person with God the Father, but is a distinct person, the Son of God, the answer to the above question must be that no distinct worship is to be rendered to Jesus Christ now glorified in heaven. Our worship is to go to Jehovah God. However, we show the proper regard for God’s only-begotten Son by rendering our worship to God through and in the name of Jesus Christ. Even now when we kneel in prayer, as Paul did according to Ephesians 3:14-19, we offer prayer in the name of Jesus Christ in obedience to his own directions (John 15:16; 16:23-26), but the prayer itself is addressed, not to Jesus, but to God his Father. In this way we keep things in their relative positions.
Trinitarians who believe that Jesus is God, or at least the second person of the triune God, do not like to have Jehovah’s witnesses say that it is unscriptural for worshipers of the living and true God to render worship to the Son of God, Jesus Christ. To the trinitarians that means denying worship to Jehovah God.
"Reverent adoration should be expressed only to God. To render worship to anyone or anything else would be a form of idolatry, which is condemned in both the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures. Accordingly, true Christians do well to direct their worship only to Jehovah God, the Almighty."
The theological transition from accepting Jesus worship to forbidding it was reflected in the New World Translation, as the translation of proskuneó in relation to Jesus was adjusted to match the society's evolving position. Prior to this shift, the NWT occasionally used "worship" in reference to Jesus, but post-1954, the translation consistently avoided this term in favor of “obeisance,” a more neutral term that does not carry the connotation of worship.
By the 1970s and 1980s, as the Watch Tower continued to solidify its theology of exclusive worship of Jehovah, the translation of proskuneó in the NWT became more strictly controlled to align with this doctrine. While the word proskuneó is used many times in the New Testament, it is translated inconsistently in the current NWT. In verses referring to the devil, demons, idols, or angels, the term is consistently translated as “worship.” However, when the term is applied to Jesus, the NWT always opts for “obeisance” (a term meaning homage or respect) rather than “worship.” This deliberate change in translation is particularly striking when compared to earlier editions of the NWT, which used “worship” in reference to Jesus in the book of Hebrews. For example, in the 1961 and 1953 and 1970 edition of the NWT, proskuneó was translated as “worship” in reference to Jesus in Hebrews 1:6 and several other passages.
However, by 1981, the translation was adjusted to “obeisance” in this same passages. By 2013, even footnotes that had previously referred to Jesus as being worshiped were removed. This evolution in the translation of proskuneó reveals a clear shift in the organization's stance on Jesus worship and demonstrates how the NWT was modified to reflect this doctrinal change. This table was taken from Carm.com and based on the The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures (1969)
| Verse | Jesus | God | Demons | dragon,beast,image | Devil | Generic | Idols | Peter | Angel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matt. 2:2 | obeisance | ||||||||
| Matt. 2:8 | obeisance | ||||||||
| Matt. 2:11 | obeisance | ||||||||
| Matt. 4:9 | worship | ||||||||
| Matt. 4:10 | worship | ||||||||
| Matt. 8:2 | obeisance | ||||||||
| Matt. 9:18 | obeisance | ||||||||
| Matt. 14:33 | obeisance | ||||||||
| Matt. 15:25 | obeisance | ||||||||
| Matt. 18:26 | obeisance | ||||||||
| Matt. 20:20 | obeisance | ||||||||
| Matt. 28:9 | obeisance | ||||||||
| Matt. 28:17 | obeisance | ||||||||
| Mark 5:6 | obeisance | ||||||||
| Mark 15:19 | obeisance | ||||||||
| Luke 4:7 | worship | ||||||||
| Luke 4:8 | worship | ||||||||
| Luke 24:52 | obeisance | ||||||||
| John 4:20 | worship | ||||||||
| John 4:21 | worship | ||||||||
| John 4:22 | worship | ||||||||
| John 4:23 | worship | ||||||||
| John 4:23 | worship | ||||||||
| John 4:24 | worship | ||||||||
| John 9:38 | obeisance | ||||||||
| John 12:20 | worship | ||||||||
| Acts 7:43 | worship | ||||||||
| Acts 8:27 | worship | ||||||||
| Acts 10:25 | obeisance | ||||||||
| Acts 24:11 | worship | ||||||||
| 1 Cor. 14:25 | worship | ||||||||
| Heb. 1:6 | obeisance | ||||||||
| Heb. 11:21 | worship | ||||||||
| Rev. 3:9 | obeisance | ||||||||
| Rev. 4:10 | worship | ||||||||
| Rev. 5:14 | worship | ||||||||
| Rev. 7:11 | worship | ||||||||
| Rev. 9:20 | worship | ||||||||
| Rev. 11:1 | worship | ||||||||
| Rev. 11:16 | worship | ||||||||
| Rev. 13:4 | worship | ||||||||
| Rev. 13:8 | worship | ||||||||
| Rev. 13:12 | worship | ||||||||
| Rev. 13:15 | worship | ||||||||
| Rev. 14:7 | worship | ||||||||
| Rev. 14:9 | worship | ||||||||
| Rev. 14:11 | worship | ||||||||
| Rev. 15:4 | worship | ||||||||
| Rev. 16:2 | worship | ||||||||
| Rev. 19:4 | worship | ||||||||
| Rev. 19:10 | worship | ||||||||
| Rev. 19:20 | worship | ||||||||
| Rev. 20:4 | worship | ||||||||
| Rev. 22:8 | worship | ||||||||
| Rev. 22:9 | worship |