Okay here we go!
Firstly, I am not trying to be an a$$ about all of this, I am actually seeking answers and I am going to start by speaking a lot with my mother and her Jehovah's Witnesses at the kingdom hall.
I am here to be constructive, not bash the bible, but QUESTION it and attempt to make sense of it. So let's just be cool and talk about it. I admit I can get silly at times but I honestly would like to give the bible a chance for once and really look into it honestly. That said, I am now reading the bible and I decided to start with the new testament since I think it has more relevance because the new testament is more about the new code we are to follow instead of the old ways.
Well, the first book is Matthew and I couldn't even get through the second chapter before a confusion within the text hit me!
Matthew 2:20 (King James Version)
20 Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life.Obviously, I have no issues with the above translated text. However, in the Jehovah's Witness translation....
Matthew 2:20 (New World Translation)
20 and said: "Get up, take the young child and it's mother and be on your way into the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the SOUL
of the young child are dead.My Issue: Well, oddly the only bible translation which uses the word SOUL is the Jehovah's Witness version. I have some major issues with this since we typically as a HUMAN RACE consider the soul to be a seperate entity from the body itself. This begs the question....
WHY use that word instead of life?
What strange ritual were these evil men going to perform which would be able to take Jesus's soul?
And, is it even possible to do such a thing... to God's son no less?
Why not just use the word LIFE to avoid confusion?