Zechariah 3:2 "Then [the angel of] Jehovah said to Satan......" New World Translation.
Question: Why does the New World Translation 'add' the words, within square brackets, "the angel of" at Zechariah 3:2?
Firstly the New World Translation is not
unique in doing so. The Revised English Bible(1989) reads
here at Zechariah 3:2 "The angel said to Satan." (Note
it does not use square brackets as the New World Translation
does) Its footnote reveals why this choice was adopted for it
states: "3:2 angel: prob[able] r[ea]d[in]g, so Syriac; Heb[rew]
LORD."-additions in square brackets ours.
This is similiar to what we can read in the footnote to this
verse in the Reference Edition of the New World
Translation(1984): "2* "The angel (messenger) of
Jehovah," Sy[riac]; MLXXVg, "Jehovah."
Other translations that support the New World Translation here are:
The Jerusalem Bible: "The angel of Yahweh...." Footnote: "The angel of Yahweh" Syr.; "Yahweh" Hebr.
New American Bible: "And the angel of the Lord....."
The Holy Bible, An American Translation(W.F.Beck): " "The LORD rebuke you," the Angelº of the LORD said..." Footnote: " ºSyriac; Heb "the LORD said."
The Emphasised Bible(J.B.Rotherham): Footnote: "The messenger of Yahweh(ver.1) appears to be here(ver.2) called "Yahweh"......"
The Bible, An American Translation(Powis-Smith and Goodspeed): "So the angel of the LORD said...."
Joyce Baldwin writes: "[v.1]....The scene is the heavenly court room, where the angel of the Lord, called simply 'the Lord' in verse 2, represents God as judge...."- Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi: An Introduction and Commentary, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, Inter-Varsity Press, 1978 reprint(1st pub.1972), page 113.
Also, A New Commentary on Holy Scripture states: "[v]2. the Lord. Read the angel of the Lord, as the speech that follows seems to require."-SPCK, London, reprint 1946(1st pub.1928).
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