Psalm 34:8 and 1 Peter 2:3 New World Translation
Question from a Reader:
"Concerning the NWT. Why did you[NWT] do not respect your own policy about the name of Jehovah God? You[NWT] take a verse of Psalm 34:8. Normally you must write Jehovah !! No Lord ! Why did you change your policy?"
We believe that your question is: Why does the New
World Translation have "Lord" at 1 Peter 2:3 rather
than "Jehovah" when Peter was drawing upon Ps.34:8
where the divine name, YHWH, occurs? 1 Peter 2:3 reads in the New
World Translation: "provided you have tasted that the
Lord is kind." The context(vv.4-6) makes clear that the
"Lord" here is the Lord Jesus Christ.
The answer lies in that Peter was not making a formal
quotation but "...merely borrowing O.T. language, and
employing it in his own manner."- The First Epistle of St
Peter, F.J.A.Hort, London, 1898, p.104.
See also 1 Peter, World Biblical Commentary, J. Ramsay
Micheals, Word Books, 1988, p.90, par.3. We are rightly
informed there that Peter is alluding to Psalm 34:8 and
giving it "his own metaphorical context, with a new
application of [hO KYRIOS] to Jesus Christ..."(italics
ours). Hence, no English translation at 1 Peter 2:3 uses
quotation marks as if Peter was actually making a formal
quotation as he did, for instance, at 1 Peter 2:6 where he
introduces an 'Old Testament' saying by the words "For it is
contained in scripture." He then makes a formal quotation
from Isaiah 28:16 and asserts an identity of the "stone,"
that Jehovah promised to lay in "Zion," with Jesus
Christ himself. However, Peter, in 1st 2:3 has "adapted"
Psalm 34:8 which in the original "it means God(Jehovah), as
usual in the LXX." and applied it to the Christ -The
First Epistle of St. Peter, E.G.Selwyn, London, Macmillan
& Co. Ltd, 1947, pp.156, 157.(italics ours)
We might note that "the whole Psalm[34] was present to St
Peter throughout the Epistle"(C.Bigg, The Epistles of St
Peter and St Jude, The International Critical Commentary).
For these reasons Peter's 'use' or application of Psalm 34:8
towards Jesus Christ is not "nearly an exact quotation"
as some have claimed in their attempt to prove the identity of
Jesus as Jehovah(Why You Should Believe in the Trinity, R.M.Bowman,
Jr. p.109)
Hope this helps to explain why the NWT
Translation Committee in this instance did not go against it's
"policy" of employing the name, Jehovah, when the 'New
Testament' writers quoted from the 'Old Testament' where the
divine name occurred. One must always look at the context
of the author of a New Testament writing and judge whether the
referent is Jehovah or one that Jehovah is using in the capacity
of his representative. In the case before us it is that the
KHRESTOS ("kindness") of the Father (Jehovah) is
revealed specifically through Jesus Christ.(Cp.Titus 3:4-6)
One might come across confessions such as we read at 1 Cor.12:3
which tells us that "Jesus is Lord" or at
Philippians 2:11 that "Jesus Christ is Lord."
But such N.T. confessions should not make us think the writers
were telling us that Jesus Christ was or is "Jehovah."
It is as Floyd V. Filson states: "In general the titles[such
as "Lord"] used of [Jesus Christ] are not attempts to
describe his nature or person but to express the greatness and
effectiveness of his work in redeeming men and bringing them to
God. Since his work fulfils the promises of Scripture, it is not
surprising to find it described almost entirely in terms provided
by Scripture. Some of the terms, such as Lord.....were already
used in pagan circles and so were useful in expressing Christ's
significance to Gentiles, but the Old Testament roots of a true
and adequate understanding of Jesus were never forgotten."- A
New Testament History, SCM Press, 1965 British edition, page
314.
And of course, Peter makes an explicit distinction between the
Lord Jesus Christ and God[Jehovah] Himself throughout his
epistles. Cp 1 Peter 5:10,11. Yes, as Peter stated: "To him
[Jehovah God, not the Christ] be the might forever. Amen."
Only God the Father was Jehovah for the apostle Peter.