ClaimThe Bible and the translationverified2010sExplicit statement

The Bible and the translation · Claim record

Not all 237 occurrences fall in quotations of the Hebrew Scriptures. The New World Translation's Appendix C3 lists the remaining verses, which “do not contain either a direct or an indirect quotation from the ‘Old Testament’ that uses the Tetragrammaton” and where the name is supplied on contextual grounds.

Claim ID claim-bible-jehovah-non-quotation-versesConcerns 2013Explicit statement

The claim and its evidence

Explicit statement · 2013 Verified

Not all 237 occurrences fall in quotations of the Hebrew Scriptures. The New World Translation's Appendix C3 lists the remaining verses, which “do not contain either a direct or an indirect quotation from the ‘Old Testament’ that uses the Tetragrammaton” and where the name is supplied on contextual grounds. Source: New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (Study Edition), 2013Source: New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (Study Edition), 2013

The organisation’s position or later explanation: The organisation says there are “either strong contextual grounds or linguistic reasons for restoring the divine name in these verses”, and lists supporting lexicons, commentaries and translations for each.

Show the evidence (2 sources)
Primary JW publication Verified

New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (Study Edition), “Appendix C3: Verses Where the Name Jehovah Does Not Appear as Part of Direct or Indirect Quotations”

2013 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania

“These verses do not contain either a direct or an indirect quotation from the “Old Testament” that uses the Tetragrammaton. However, there are either strong contextual grounds or linguistic reasons for restoring the divine name in these verses. … It should be noted, though, that the New World Bible Translation Committee did not rely on these translations as the basis for restoring the divine name in the Christian Greek Scriptures.”

The 237 occurrences are divided into two lists: Appendix C2 covers verses that quote or allude to Hebrew Scripture passages containing the Tetragrammaton; Appendix C3 covers the rest, where the name is supplied on contextual grounds alone.

Provenance and verification note for New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (Study Edition), Appendix C3: Verses Where the Name Jehovah Does Not Appear as Part of Direct or Indirect Quotations

Confidence note. Appendix C3's introductory text opened in full on wol.jw.org on 19 September 2026 and read directly. I did not count how many of the 237 occurrences fall under C3, so no figure is claimed.

Corroborated by. src-nwtv-nwtsty-c1

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-nwtv-nwtsty-c3-intro

Primary JW publication Verified

New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (Study Edition), “Appendix C1: The Restoration of the Divine Name in the “New Testament””

2013 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania

“Today, however, no manuscripts of the “New Testament” from the first century C.E. are available for us to examine. So no one can check the original Greek manuscripts of the “New Testament” to see whether the Bible writers used the Tetragrammaton. The Greek manuscripts of the “New Testament” that would have a bearing on this issue are copies that were made from about 200 C.E. onward.”

The organisation's own appendix states plainly that the case for restoring the divine name rests on inference rather than on manuscript evidence. It then poses the translator's choice: 'Will he follow the Greek text that uses Kyʹri·os or The·osʹ instead of the Tetragrammaton, or will he endeavor to ascertain where the Tetragrammaton would have appeared in the original Greek manuscripts?'

Provenance and verification note for New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (Study Edition), Appendix C1: The Restoration of the Divine Name in the “New Testament”

Confidence note. Appendix C1 opened in full on wol.jw.org on 19 September 2026 and read from beginning to end.

Corroborated by. src-nwtv-nwt-a5, src-nwtv-span-2020

Notes. This is the fairest and most useful single quotation on the subject: the organisation itself does not claim manuscript support.

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-nwtv-nwtsty-c1

Claim page

A direct link to this claim is https://jwtruth.org/evidence/claim-bible-jehovah-non-quotation-verses/. Every source above opens the original document or the best available copy. If you believe the wording, date or context is wrong, report an error.