The Message (Bible)
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- This article is about a version of the Bible. For other uses, see The Message.
| The Message | |
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| Full name: | The Message |
| Abbreviation: | MSG |
| Complete Bible published: | 2002 |
| Translation type: | Colloquial |
| Copyright status: | Copyright 2002 Eugene H. Peterson |
| Genesis 1:1-3 | |
| First this: God created the Heavens and Earth--all you see, all you don't see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God's Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss. God spoke: "Light!" And light appeared. | |
| John 3:16 | |
| This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. | |
The Message, written by Eugene H. Peterson and first published in 1993, is a contemporary translation of the Holy Bible from the original languages, "crafted to present its tone, rhythm, events, and ideas in everyday language."
The Message was written in order to recreate the spirit of the original books of the New Testament, which were written in the street language of the day. The Greek language has two levels: formal and informal. If someone were to write something intended for posterity, they would write in the formal language. Formal language was used for things such as philosophy, law, history, and epic poetry. However, almost all of the New Testament was written in the informal language, the everyday speech of the common people.
The Message was written as an attempt to convert the Bible back into the language in which people think and speak. Peterson notes that in the course of the project, he realized that this was exactly what he had been doing in his thirty-five years as a pastor, "always looking for an English way to make the biblical text relevant to the conditions of the people."
The Message was published in piecemeal over a nine year period. New Testament was published in 1993. The Old Testament Wisdom Books were published in 1998. The Old Testament Prophets were published in 2000. The Old Testament Pentateuch were released in 2001. The Books of History came out in 2002. The entire Protestant Bible was released the same year.
The Message is intended to be a tool for helping understand the Bible better. "The Message" is generally regarded as a paraphrase. Paraphrasing involves interpretation of the text to the point that the author is in many cases displaying his or her opinion on what the text says. However, Peterson himself does not consider "The Message" to be a paraphrase, but rather considers it to be a full translation.[1]
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[edit] Criticism
The Message has drawn some criticism. One site lists some of the things that the author believes are wrong with it, including things such as the following: It distorts the relationship between God the Father and Jesus the Son, or it deletes words that imply occult spirituality and substitutes more finite and human influences.[2]
[edit] Editions
- Old Testament
- The Pentateuch: ISBN 1-57683-196-5
- The Books of History: ISBN 1-57683-194-9
- The Wisdom Books: ISBN 1-57683-126-4
- The Prophets: ISBN 1-57683-195-7
- New Testament
- Youth Edition: ISBN 0-89109-793-7
- Text Edition: ISBN 0-89109-728-7
- Entire Bible
- With verse markings (The Message Remix): ISBN 1-57683-434-4
- Without verse markings: ISBN 1-57683-289-9
[edit] Sample verse (1 Cor 13:1-3)
This comparison of 1st Corinthians 13, verses 1 through 3 demonstrates the difference between The Message and the King James Version.
- King James Version
- Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
- And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
- And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
- The Message
- The Way Of Love
- If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.
- If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing.
- If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.
[edit] Sample verse (Romans 10:9-10)
This comparison of Romans 10, verses 4 through 10 also demonstrate the difference between The Message and the King James Version.
- King James Version
4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
5 For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.
6 But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)
7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
- The Message
4-10 The earlier revelation was intended simply to get us ready for the Messiah, who then puts everything right for those who trust him to do it. Moses wrote that anyone who insists on using the law code to live right before God soon discovers it's not so easy—every detail of life regulated by fine print! But trusting God to shape the right living in us is a different story— no precarious climb up to heaven to recruit the Messiah, no dangerous descent into hell to rescue the Messiah. So what exactly was Moses saying? 'The word that saves is right here, as near as the tongue in your mouth, as close as the heart in your chest.' It's the word of faith that welcomes God to go to work and set things right for us. This is the core of our preaching. Say the welcoming word to God—"Jesus is my Master"—embracing, body and soul, God's work of doing in us what he did in raising Jesus from the dead. That's it. You're not "doing" anything; you're simply calling out to God, trusting him to do it for you. That's salvation. With your whole being you embrace God setting things right, and then you say it, right out loud: "God has set everything right between him and me!"
[edit] Footnotes
[edit] External links
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- Two sites which are opposed to The Message translation
