Benjamin Wills Newton’s translation (1888) (brackets his)

And God proceeded to say [future], Let Light become to be, and Light proceeded to become to be [future].

New World Translation (1953)

3 And God proceeded to say: “Let light come to be.” Then there came to be light.

James Washington Watts’ translation (1963) (brackets his)

3 Afterward God proceeded to say, “Let there be light”; and gradually light came into existence.

Benjamin Wills Newton’s translation (1888) (brackets his)

And God proceeded to view [future] the Light, that it [was] good; and God proceeded to divide [future] between the Light and the darkness;

New World Translation (1953)

4 After that God saw that the light was good, and God brought about a division between the light and the darkness.

James Washington Watts’ translation (1963) (brackets his)

4 Also God proceeded to observe the light, [seeing] that it was good; so he proceeded to divide the light and the darkness.

Benjamin Wills Newton’s translation (1888) (brackets his)

and God proceeded to call [future] the light Day, and the darkness He called [not “proceeded to call”; the past tense is used] Night; and evening proceeded to be [future], and morning proceeded to be [future] Day one.

New World Translation (1953)

5 And God began calling the light Day, but the darkness he called Night. And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, a first day.

James Washington Watts’ translation (1963) (brackets his)

5 Then God began to call the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. Thus there came to be an evening and a morning, even one day.

Benjamin Wills Newton’s translation (1888) (brackets his)

And God proceeded to say [future] Let there become a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it become divisive between waters and waters.

New World Translation (1953)

6 And God went on to say: “Let an expanse come to be in between the waters and let a dividing occur between the waters and the waters.”

James Washington Watts’ translation (1963) (brackets his)

6 Then God continued, saying, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, also let there be a separation between the waters.”

Benjamin Wills Newton’s translation (1888) (brackets his)

And God proceeded to make [future] the firmament, and proceeded to divide [future] between the waters which [are] below in relation to the firmament and the waters which [are] above in relation to the firmament;

New World Translation (1953)

7 Then God proceeded to make the expanse and to make a division between the waters that should be beneath the expanse and the waters that should be above the expanse. And it came to be so.

James Washington Watts’ translation (1963) (brackets his)

7 Accordingly, God proceeded to divide the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and gradually it came to be so.

Benjamin Wills Newton’s translation (1888) (brackets his)

and God proceeded to call [future] the firmament Heavens; and evening proceeded to become [future] and morning proceeded to become [future] Day second.

New World Translation (1953)

8 And God began to call the expanse Heaven. And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, a second day.

James Washington Watts’ translation (1963) (brackets his)

8 Thereafter God began to call the expanse Heavens. Thus there came to be an evening and a morning, a second day.

The New World Translation has not followed the unfounded theory of Waw Consecutive when translating Hebrew verbs. This age-old theory does not convey the power and forcefulness of the Hebrew verbs in their original states. Therefore, the New World Translation presents the Hebrew verbs with accurate meaning and dynamism by maintaining a distinction between the perfect and the imperfect states of the Hebrew verbs.

Heb., נפש (neʹphesh); Gr., ψυχή (psy·kheʹ); Lat., aʹni·ma

In the Hebrew Scriptures the Hebrew word neʹphesh occurs 754 times, first in Ge 1:20. The New World Translation consistently renders it “soul” and in each case it proves understandable in the light of its context. The use of this one Hebrew word in many different contexts helps us to ascertain the basic idea inherent in the word as the Bible writers used it, namely, that it is a person, an individual, or a lower creature; or, the life that a person or an animal enjoys as such. This is totally different from what the ancient Egyptians, Babylonians, Greeks and Romans religiously and philosophically called a soul.

In the Christian Greek Scriptures the Greek word psy·kheʹ occurs by itself 102 times, first in Mt 2:20. This includes Eph 6:6 and Col 3:23, where it is in the expression “whole-souled.” Additionally it is used in many compound Greek words such as in Php 2:2, 19; 1Th 5:14. The New World Translation consistently renders psy·kheʹ as “soul.” This uniform rendering by the same English word proves very enlightening as to how the inspired writers used psy·kheʹ and what properties they ascribed to it.

To aid in understanding the uses of “soul,” we have