The Bible is defined in different ways by different denominations. In the fellowship of Christian
Churches and Churches of Christ,
the Bible is generally defined as a collection of 66 books which were produced
by individuals operating under the special inspiration of God so that the
resultant texts were exactly what God wanted them to be. The Bible is considered the church’s
authoritative standard for faith and practice.
For most Christians, however, when the Bible is consulted
and studied, the text being read is a translation that was designed to convey
the meaning of the inspired Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts; the proportion of
Christians who interact daily with Biblical texts in their original languages
is relatively low.
It is practical to emphasize the meaning of the inspired
text: the use of a translation allows
those who do not know Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek to know and apply the message
which those ancient texts convey. The
translation of the Bible into many languages has greatly advanced the spread of
the gospel. But with the benefit comes a
risk: the risk that if the base-text –
the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek text – is not compiled correctly, and is not translated
correctly, then the result will not convey the message that was conveyed by the
original text, and that where a translation contains shortcomings, its users
will not possess the Word of God.
 |
Most of the Bible in Contemporary English,
blended with Eugene Peterson's
comments and interpretations. |
No English translation perfectly conveys the full sense of
every nuance of every word and phrase in the original text, but several English
versions are sufficient for the needs of most readers. The
Message, however, is so inaccurate that it does not deserve to be
considered a Bible. To see why this is
the case, let’s compare the Greek base-text of the tenth chapter of the Gospel
of Matthew to The Message. (In the following comparison, the text of The Message is from The Message: Remix: The Bible in Contemporary Language,
Copyright © 2003 by Eugene H. Peterson.
All rights reserved.)
10:1a – “The
prayer was no sooner prayed than it was answered.” – This sentence has no
parallel in the Greek text.
10:1b – “and sent
them out into the ripe fields” – This phrase has no parallel in the Greek text.
10:1c – “and to
tenderly care for the bruised and hurt lives.” – This is not a translation, but
rather a replacement of what Matthew wrote, stating that the disciples were
given power to heal every disease and every sickness. The emphasis on healing in the original text has been obscured.
10:5a – “harvest
hands” – This term has no parallel in the Greek text.
10:5b – “Don’t
begin by traveling to some far-off place to convert unbelievers.” – Jesus’
words did not pertain to distance; instead, He told His disciples
on this occasion not to preach to the Gentiles – εις οδον εθνων μη
απέλθητε: into the nations’ way do not go.
10:5c – “And
don’t try to be dramatic by tackling some public enemy.” – This is simply not
what Jesus said. He told them not to
enter into any city of the Samaritans – και εις πόλιν Σαμαριτων μη
εισέλθητε. This is a very simple
sentence. The prohibitions against being
dramatic and against tackling “some public enemy” were made up by Peterson out
of thin air.
10:6 – “Go to the
lost, confused people right here in the neighborhood.” – What Jesus said was,
“But go instead to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” The distinction that Jesus drew on this
occasion was pretty simple: minister to
those in need among fellow-Jews, not to Gentiles and Samaritans. This is not a difficult concept to
understand; nor is the sentence difficult to translate accurately – but instead
of doing so, Peterson replaced the specific reference to “the house of Israel”
to the vague and inaccurate, “right here in the neighborhood,” as if Jesus was
referring to a place rather than an ethnic group.
10:8 – “Touch the
untouchables.” – The base-text says, “Cleanse lepers” (λεπρους
καθαρίζετε). This is not a command to touch; it is a command to heal; it is about applying divine power,
not human pity.
10:9a – “Don’t
think you have to put on a fund-raising campaign before you start.” – This
resembles the original text only to the extent that they both are about not
acquiring money. Jesus’ words are considerably different: “Do not
acquire gold, nor silver, nor copper in your belts.” There is nothing in The Message to correspond specifically to gold, or to silver, or to
copper, or to belts.
10:9b, e – “You
don’t need a lot of equipment” and, at the end of the verse, “Travel light.” –
Jesus’ instructions were not this vague.
He specified that the disciples were not to take along a knapsack for
the road, nor two shirts, nor sandals, nor a staff (or, in the Byzantine Text,
staffs). The Message’s paraphrase blurs Jesus’ sentence and makes it
impossible for readers to perceive what He specified to His disciples.
10:9c – “You are the equipment.” – This is
entirely from Peterson; nothing in the original text corresponds to this
sentence.
10:9d – “and all
you need to keep that going is three meals a day.” – Jesus said nothing to His
disciples about eating three meals a day.
Jesus said that the worker is worthy of his food. The reference to three daily meals is just
something that Peterson threw in without any textual basis, except the reference to food.
10:10 – “don’t insist on staying at a luxury inn. Get a modest place with some modest people” –
This is not what Jesus said. He told the
disciples that whenever they enter a city or village, they should inquire about
who is worthy. No parameters are given
about whether the residence is large or small, or about whether or not it is
“modest.”
10:14a – “If they
don’t welcome you, quietly withdraw.
Don’t make a scene. Shrug your
shoulders and be on your way.” – Jesus’ instructions were very different. He told His disciples that if they were not
received and their words were not heeded, they were to shake the dust off their
feet as they departed. How did the early
church interpret Jesus’ statement? We do
not have to guess, because Acts 13 provides an account of how Paul and Barnabas
acted when their message was rejected in the city of Antioch-in-Pisidia: in Acts 13:46,
they boldly answered the Jews who opposed their message, and in Acts 13:51 “they shook the dust from their feet in
protest.” This is a far cry from the
quiet shrugging of shoulders that Peterson made up out of thin air.
10:15a – “You can
be sure that on Judgment Day they’ll be mighty sorry’ – Here Peterson has
subtracted and added. Jesus said that it
will be more tolerable for the land
of Sodom and Gomorrah
on Judgment Day than it will be for such a city. The
Message completely skips this reference to Sodom
and Gomorrah. This does not mean that Peterson undertook
his task with an agenda to eliminate or significantly reduce Biblical
condemnations of sodomy, but when references such as this one in Matthew 10:15 are deliberately obscured, one wonders how different a version made with such an agenda
would be from what is encountered in The
Message.
10:15b – “but
it’s no concern of yours now.” – Nothing in the Greek text of Matthew 10:14 corresponds to these words. Peterson just threw them in.
10:16 – “This is hazardous work I’m assigning you.” –
This entire sentence is an insertion; once again, nothing in the Greek text corresponds to
these words.
10:17 – “Some people will impugn your motives; others
will smear your reputation.” – Jesus said that His disciples will be handed
over to councils and that His disciples will be scourged in the
synagogues. Motive-impugning and
reputation-smearing are not the actions described by Jesus in this verse, and
the base-text does not justify mentioning them. Does anyone imagine that smearing your reputation is the equivalent of scourging?
10:18 – “Without knowing it, they’ve done you – and me
– a favor” – None of this has a basis in the base-text; it is all an
insertion. Meanwhile, the phrase και
τοις εθνεσιν (“and the Gentiles”) is not represented in The Message in any way.
10:21a – “When
people realize that it is the living God you are presenting and not some idol
that makes them feel good” – There is nothing in the base-text that corresponds
to any of this.
10:21b – “They
are going to turn on you, even people in your own family.” – This is an
extremely blurry summary of what Jesus said. The base-text says, “Brother will betray brother to be killed, and a father his child, and
children will rise up against their parents and have them killed.” This verse has been thoroughly abbreviated
and adulterated.
10:22b – “But
don’t quit. Don’t cave in. It is all well worth it in the end.” – This is
all a fine sentiment, but it is ridiculous as a translation of what Jesus said
in this verse, which is simply, “The one who endures to the end, that one shall
be saved.”
10:23 – “Be survivors!
Before you’ve run out of options, the Son of Man will have arrived.” – The imprecision here is completely unnecessary. Did Peterson feel that the meaning of Jesus’ sentence to the disciples was
deficient, and must be put at a distance? There is a lot more to the Greek text of this verse, as follows: “And when they persecute you in this city,
flee to another. For truly I say to you,
you will not have gone through all the cities of Israel
before the Son of Man comes.”
10:24a – “A
student doesn’t get a better desk than her teacher.” – Jesus’
actual sentence lack any reference to a female student; it also lacks any reference to a desk.
10:25b – The
entire phrase (present in the Greek base-text), “and for the slave to be like
his master,” is not represented. It is as if a sentence in the base-text has simply vanished.
10:25c – “If they
call me, the Master, ‘Dungface,’ what can the workers expect?” – The Greek word
that Peterson rendered “Dungface” is Βεελζεβουλ (Beelzeboul), which is the name of a
demon. Peterson’s mistranslation
completely obscures the connection between 10:25
and the Pharisees’ actions in 9:34. In addition, the term οικοδεσποτην simply
means house-master, not capital-M “Master,” as if Jesus is some sort of
Ascended Master or Jedi Master.
10:27 – “So don’t hesitate to go public now.” – Can
anyone seriously consider this an adequate representation of the
base-text??? Here is the sentence: “What I say to you in the darkness, speak in
the light, and what you hear in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops.” (Unnecessary abridgments such as this one occur frequently in The Message.)
10:28a – “Don’t
be bluffed into silence by the threats of bullies.” – This is a fine sentiment,
but it leaves out a significant part of what Jesus said: “And do not fear those who kill the body, but
cannot kill the soul.” The opponents in
view here are not schoolyard bullies; they are individuals with the means to
kill.
10:28b – “Save
your fear for God, who holds your entire life – body and soul – in his
hands.” It is difficult to overstate the
inaccuracy of The Message in this
verse. Here is the Greek text of the
last sentence: Φοβεισθε δε μαλλον τον
δυναμενον και ψυχην και σωμα απολέσαι εν Γεέννη, that is, “Fear, instead, the
one with power to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Besides significantly altering the nuance of
the sentence, Peterson completely removed the reference to hell.
10:29 – “What’s the price of a pet canary? Some loose change, right?” – In the real
world, Jesus referred to the price of two sparrows, not to the price of a pet
canary. (And have you seen how much
canaries actually cost? It’s more like
$20, not “some loose change.”) A literal
translation of the base-text would not be difficult to understand. Peterson’s translational choice here, as in a multitude of other passages, seems as irreverently flippant and capricious as it
is inaccurate and unnecessary.
10:31 – “of all this bully talk.” – There is no basis
for this in the base-text. Peterson just threw that in there.
10:33 – “If you turn tail and run, do you think I’ll
cover for you?” – Peterson has sacrificed accuracy for the sake of stylistic flair, and left a significant part
of the base-text unrepresented. Here is
the sentence that he has mauled: “And
whoever will deny me before people, I also will deny him before my Father in
heaven.” Three things have happened
here: (1) the act of making a candid denial of Christ
has been turned into the act of turning tail and running, (2) Jesus’ affirmation has been turned into a
question, and (3) a reference to “my Father in heaven” has completely
disappeared.
 |
Matthew 10:38: where did the cross go?
I thought there was something here
about taking up your cross. |
10:38 – “If you don’t go all the way with me, through
thick and thin, you don’t deserve me.” – Where did the cross go??? In the real world, this verse says, “And the
one who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” It’s right there: σταυρον (“cross”). Is Peterson’s translation-technique actual sorcery, or just sleight-of-hand? Either way, he makes a clear reference to the cross disappear!
10:40 – “We are intimately linked in this harvest
work.” – This entire sentence is an addition; nothing corresponds to it in the
base-text. Here and elsewhere, it is
almost as if Peterson wrote thematic titles for various paragraphs, and
inserted them into the text, slightly changed as if they were the words of
Christ.
10:41 – “This is a large work I’ve called you into, but
don’t be overwhelmed by it. It’s best to
start small.” – Both of these sentences have no parallel in the base-text. Jesus did not say these words that The Message attributes to him. They are insertions by Eugene Peterson.
10:41 – “Accepting someone’s help is as good as giving
someone help.” – Peterson just made this up.
The Greek text of the Gospel of Matthew does not contain this, or anything like
this.
10:42 – “The smallest act of giving or receiving makes
you a true apprentice.” – This sentence has no parallel in the base-text. It is an insertion, originating not with
Jesus but with Eugene Peterson.
So: in Matthew 10, The Message contains 37 flaws (or more,
depending on how they’re counted).
Peterson freely adds phrases and sentences which have no textual
foundation. He repeatedly fails to
translate entire phrases and sentences that are in the base-text (no matter
which text-type is being consulted). He
omits two references to the cross, two references to Israel, a reference to Sodom
and Gomorrah, and a reference to
hell.
These inaccuracies in Matthew 10 are not exceptions. They are typical. Elsewhere, The Message refers to casseroles,
telescopes, pajamas, the dictionary, and on and on. The New Testament's references to hell have been consistently watered down. Some of Peterson’s theological biases have been smuggled in. Inspired sentences have been left out. From
beginning to end, this version is blatantly inaccurate.
Can any responsible, well-informed Christian recommend The Message? Certainly: as a representation of Eugene
Peterson’s interpretations of the Bible, it’s terrific! If it were being marketed as a commentary,
many aspects of it would be commendable.
When it is read discerningly, as a commentary, The Message can be a source of edification. But as a Bible translation – which is what
NavPress is marketing it as, and which is what many preachers treat it as – it
is a disaster. It is like a shipwreck at
the bottom of the sea, with barnacles and holes from beginning to end.
Thus ends my review of The
Message. But there is an implication
of this that should not be ignored: the
people who helped make The Message and the people who still promote it as a Bible translation must be extremely
untrustworthy as evaluators of the quality and accuracy of Bible
translations. (I daresay that if you
meet any scholar who recommends making The
Message your primary translation for doctrinal study, run away fast and far.)
The individuals in these lists may be fellow believers, with
impeccable credentials of every kind, and they may have wonderfully fruitful
ministries; nevertheless, as evaluators of the accuracy of Bible translations,
each and every one is demonstrably unworthy of the church’s trust.
____________
Scripture taken from THE MESSAGE, Copyright © 1993, 21994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
[Normally I would not refer to The Message as Scripture,
but this notice is probably legally required and I don’t want to get sued.]
