Even prior to 1896, the Society was doing much as a Bible distributor. Not for commercial gain but as a service to its readers, it drew attention to various Bible translations that were available, bought them in large quantities so as to obtain good rates, and then made them available for a price that was sometimes only 35 percent of the list price. Included among these were numerous editions of the King James Version that were easy to carry and use, also larger ‘Teachers’ Bibles’ (King James Version with such helps as a concordance, maps, and marginal references), The Emphatic Diaglott with its Greek-to-English interlinear rendering, Leeser’s translation that placed the English text alongside the Hebrew, Murdock’s translation from ancient Syriac, The Newberry Bible with its marginal references that drew attention to occurrences of the divine name in the original language as well as other valuable details reflected in the Hebrew and Greek text, Tischendorf’s New Testament with its footnote references to variant readings in three of the most complete ancient Greek Bible manuscripts (Sinaitic, Vatican, and Alexandrine), the Variorum Bible with its footnotes that set out not only variant readings of ancient manuscripts but also various translations of portions of the text by eminent scholars, and Young’s literal translation. The Society also made available such helps as Cruden’s Concordance and Young’s Analytical Concordance with its comments on the original Hebrew and Greek words. In the years that followed, around the globe Jehovah’s Witnesses frequently obtained from other Bible societies many thousands of Bibles in whatever languages were available and distributed these.

As early as 1890, according to available evidence, the Society arranged for a special printing, bearing its own name, of the Second Edition of The New Testament Newly Translated and Critically Emphasised, as prepared by the British Bible translator Joseph B. Rotherham. Why this translation? Because of its literalness and its endeavor to benefit fully from research that had been done to establish a more accurate Greek text and because the reader was helped by devices employed by the translator to identify which words or expressions were given special emphasis in the Greek text.

In 1902 a special printing of the Holman Linear Parallel Edition of the Bible was made by arrangement of the Watch Tower Society. It contained wide margins in which were printed references to places in Watch Tower publications where various verses were explained, also an index listing scores of subjects along with Scripture citations and helpful references to the Society’s publications. This Bible contained the wording of two translations—the King James rendering above that of the Revised Version where there was any difference. It also included an extensive concordance that alerted the user to various meanings of original-language words.

That same year, the Watch Tower Society came into possession of the printing plates for The Emphatic Diaglott, which includes J. J. Griesbach’s Greek text of the Christian Greek Scriptures (the 1796-1806 edition) along with an English interlinear translation. Alongside this was the rendering of the text by British-born Benjamin Wilson, who had taken up residence in Geneva, Illinois, U.S.A. Those plates and the sole right of publication had been purchased and then given as a gift to the Society. After copies already in stock had been sent out, arrangements were made by the Society for more to be produced, and those became available in 1903.

Four years later, in 1907, the Bible Students Edition of the King James Version was published. The “Berean Bible Teachers’ Manual” was bound with it, as an appendix. This included concise comments on verses from all parts of the Bible, along with references to Watch Tower publications for fuller explanation. An edition with an enlarged appendix was published about a year later.

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A Few of the Translations Used by Early Bible Students

Young’s literal translation

Leeser’s translation (English alongside Hebrew)

Tischendorf’s “New Testament” (with variant readings from Greek MSS)

Murdock’s translation (from Syriac)

“The Emphatic Diaglott” (Greek to English)

Variorum Bible (with various English renderings)

“The Newberry Bible” (with valuable marginal notes)

[Picture on page 605]

Introduction to the edition of Rotherham’s “New Testament” printed for Watch Tower Society c. 1890

[Picture on page 606]

Holman Linear Parallel Edition of the Bible, as published by arrangement of Watch Tower Society in 1902

[Picture on page 606]

Watchtower edition of “King James Version,” with specially designed concordance (1942)

[Picture on page 607]

“American Standard Version,” a translation that uses the divine name, Jehovah, over 6,870 times; Watchtower edition (1944)

[Picture on page 607]

Byington’s translation (1972)