The stated intention was to produce a fresh translation, free of archaisms. According to the publishers, one of the main reasons for producing a new translation was that most Bible versions in common use, including the Authorized Version (King James), employed archaic language. Until the release of the New World Translation, Jehovah's Witnesses in English-speaking countries primarily used the King James Version.
Although commentators have said a scholarly effort went into the translation, critics have described it as " biased". It is not the first Bible to be published by the Watch Tower Society, but it is its first original translation of ancient Biblical Hebrew, Koine Greek, and Old Aramaic biblical texts. The New Testament portion was released first, in 1950, as The New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures, with the complete New World Translation of the Bible released in 1961. The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures ( NWT) is a translation of the Bible published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society it is used and distributed by Jehovah's Witnesses.