Romans 8:16

 

Romans 8:16

(KJV) The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

(1611 KJV) The spirit it selfe beareth witnes with our spirit, that we are the children of God.

 

Counterfeit Versions

(CSB) The Spirit himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children,

(NIV) The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.

(NASV) The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,

(ESV) The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

(NKJV) The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

(1901 ASV) The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are children of God:

(HCSB) The Spirit Himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God's children,

(RSV) it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

(Douay-Rheims Roman Catholic) For the Spirit himself giveth testimony to our spirit, that we are the sons of God.

(NWT-Jehovah’s Witnesses) The spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are God’s children.

 

Textus Receptus - Traditional Text

autò to pneuma summarturei tw pneumati hmwn oti esmen tekna qeou

 

Hort-Westcott - Critical Text

autò to pneuma summarturei tw pneumati hmwn oti esmen tekna qeou

 

Corrupted Manuscripts

None

 

Affected Teachings

If you will notice that the word “auto” is written the same in both the Textus Receptus and the Hort-Westcott Text. In the 1881 Revised Version, the word is also translated “himself.” Now it does not sound like a big change but it really is. If you notice the King James Version and the New World Translation both translate the word “auto” as “itself” while the rest of them translate it “himself.” The word “auto’ is in the neuter gender, which means that the Holy Spirit has no sexual category, in other words, the Holy Spirit is neither male nor female. This is why the King James translated it correctly by applying no sexual gender to the Holy Spirit. The modern versions change this in the English from a neuter gender to the masculine gender without any grammatical reason, instead they take grammatical license in doing it. Now the only reason that the Jehovah’s Witnesses kept the translation as “itself” is not to give it a correct translation but to twist the meaning of the word. They believe that the Holy Spirit is only a force and not a person and therefore they use the word “itself” as a derogatory term rather than a proper translation. Spirit has no gender. (Mat 22:30 KJV) For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.

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