@ghost-of-a-duke said
Tuesday, 3pm.

@Ghost-of-a-Duke

Yes.

From a Greek interlinear

In beginning was the word, and the word was toward the God, and god was
1 ᾿Εν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν

the Word
ὁ λόγος.

When you read this quickly thee way that it has been translated in the translations you have highlighted seems fair enough. However ..... the two Greek words used for God/god are different.

Now although the NWT is the most famous (arguably) for translating as we are discussing, it isn't alone, although is clearly in the minority. Other translations that i have seen say that the word was "divine".

Sorry it didn't paste very well but you should be able to see it. Sorry about the edits but I'm trying to make it easy. So

God = θεόν
god = θεὸς

Utilising Google Translate

English Greek

God Θεός (Theos)
divine θεϊκός (theïkós)

So I see this subject is being discussed again which is fine as there are a couple new ones here.

" That question has to be considered when Bible translators handle the first verse of the Gospel of John. In the New World Translation, the verse is rendered: “In the beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.” (John 1:1) Some other translations render the last part of the verse to convey the thought that the Word was “divine,” or something similar. (A New Translation of the Bible, by James Moffatt; The New English Bible) Many translations, however, render the last part of John 1:1: “And the Word was God.”​—The Holy Bible—​New International Version; The Jerusalem Bible.

Greek grammar and the context strongly indicate that the New World Translation rendering is correct and that “the Word” should not be identified as the “God” referred to earlier in the verse. Nevertheless, the fact that the Greek language of the first century did not have an indefinite article “a” or “an leaves the matter open to question in some minds. It is for this reason that a Bible translation in a language that was spoken in the earliest centuries of our Common Era is very interesting.

The language is the Sahidic dialect of Coptic. The Coptic language was spoken in Egypt in the centuries immediately following Jesus’ earthly ministry, and the Sahidic dialect was an early literary form of the language. Regarding the earliest Coptic translations of the Bible, The Anchor Bible Dictionary says: “Since the [Septuagint] and the [Christian Greek Scriptures] were being translated into Coptic during the 3d century C.E., the Coptic version is based on Greek manuscripts which are significantly older than the vast majority of extant witnesses.”

The Sahidic Coptic text is especially interesting for two reasons. First, as indicated above, it reflects an understanding of Scripture dating from before the fourth century, which was when the Trinity became official doctrine. Second, Coptic grammar is relatively close to English grammar in one important aspect. The earliest translations of the Christian Greek Scriptures were into Syriac, Latin, and Coptic. Syriac and Latin, like the Greek of those days, do not have an indefinite article. Coptic, however, does. Moreover, scholar Thomas O. Lambdin, in his work Introduction to Sahidic Coptic, says: “The use of the Coptic articles, both definite and indefinite, corresponds closely to the use of the articles in English.”

Hence, the Coptic translation supplies interesting evidence as to how John 1:1 would have been understood back then. What do we find? The Sahidic Coptic translation uses an indefinite article with the word “god” in the final part of John 1:1. Thus, when rendered into modern English, the translation reads: “And the Word was a god.” Evidently, those ancient translators realized that John’s words recorded at John 1:1 did not mean that Jesus was to be identified as Almighty God. The Word was a god, not Almighty God."

@galveston75 said
So I see this subject is being discussed again which is fine as there are a couple new ones here.

" That question has to be considered when Bible translators handle the first verse of the Gospel of John. In the New World Translation, the verse is rendered: “In the beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.” (John 1:1) Some other transla ...[text shortened]... did not mean that Jesus was to be identified as Almighty God. The Word was a god, not Almighty God."

@divegeester said
Cite your source Galveston75.
You’ve been pulled up for plagiarism dozens of times in the past.

https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2008812

@very-rusty said
Well it said a lot about students, nothing about adults unless I missed a paragraph. 😛 🙂

I will not be going anywhere they can trace me through my IP addy. 🙂

-VR