A Difficult Message
A certain book has been masquerading as a Bible for the last 20 or so years right under the noses of most evangelicals. It has been read in many churches including my home church and no one says anything because they are unaware of just how unfaithful this book is to the scriptures. I am talking of The Message Bible. Many who read this article will be shocked and possibly angry that I am attacking this “translation” of the Bible. They will think to themselves, or perhaps even comment on this article, “How dare you!? The Message Bible has helped so many people read the scriptures with easy to understand language!” This is partly true. While The Message Bible is very easy to read, it takes far too much liberty in many places of scripture and adds a comedic factor where it really doesn’t belong. If you are skeptical of what I’m suggesting, hang with me and you will see what I mean.
First, let me explain the methods used in translating the Bible. Translating is not an exact science. You cannot simply change words from one language to another, as most often, the sentences will not be understandable. Different languages have different sentence structures and also use idioms that will not make sense once translated. Take Matthew 1:18 for example; Most translations will say that Mary was “found to be with child,” or “found to be pregnant,” but in the Greek, it literally says “Mary was found to be having it in the belly.” If it was left this way, this would be what is known as a “formal equivalency,” or in other words, a word-for-word translation. The good thing about a word-for-word translation is that you get pretty much exactly what was written in the original language. The negative side of this is that in some cases, like the one I just mentioned, it can be very difficult, if not impossible, for most readers to understand. “Having it in the belly,” is an idiom unknown to most people today, so it must be carefully changed in order to be comprehensible. This brings us to the next method of translation.
In passages such as Matthew 1:18, translators use a “dynamic equivalency,” or a phrase-for-phrase method of translation. The point is to,, as Mike Winger says, “change the exact wording in order to preserve the exact meaning,” of a sentence. Good translations of the Bible, while typically leaning more to one side of this scale (word-for-word to phrase-for-phrase) will utilize both of these methods in order to stay as faithful to the text of scripture as possible, while simultaneously trying to assist the average reader in understanding the meaning of what was written. There is much more to it than this, but for the point of this article, this is all you really need to know.
The Message Bible was written by one lone man named Eugene Peterson, and judging by the statements he has made about his work, there was not a lot of thoughtful effort put into it. Eugene said in an interview that he “translated” the beatitudes in about 10 minutes. The Message Bible, on a translation methodology scale of one to ten, with one being the most word-for-word, and ten being the most phrase-for-phrase, would be somewhere in the ballpark of 15-20. If you’ve stuck with me thus far, you may be thinking to yourself, “Okay, I’ve heard a lot of claims, but no evidence.” So then, let’s look at a few examples from scripture, using the NASB (New American Standard Bible) as our strongly word-for-word translation to compare it to the same passages in The Message Bible.
First up, let’s look at Proverbs 1:17
NASB: “Indeed, it is useless to spread the baited net in the sight of any bird.”
MSG: “Nobody robs a bank with everyone watching.”
.....yeah.
Next up, Psalm 1:1, a familiar verse to many.
NASB: “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers!”
MSG: “How well God must like you - you don’t hang out at sin saloon, you don’t slink along dead-end road, you don’t go to smart mouth college.”
It just keeps getting worse, doesn’t it?
One more? Why not. Here is Zechariah 13:6.
NASB: “And one will say to him, ‘What are these wounds between your arms?’ Then he will say, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.’”
MSG: “And if someone says, ‘And so where did you get that black eye?’ they’ll say, ‘I ran into a door at a friend’s house.’”
You know what? I mentioned the beatitudes earlier; let’s look at Matthew 5:5.
NASB: “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the Earth.”
MSG: “You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are -- no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.”
...Well... that got a lot longer.
In all seriousness, The Message Bible should not even be called a Bible. It should be called, Eugene Peterson’s Impressions of the Bible. This is not a translation of God’s Holy Word. I beg anyone who uses one of these books to study scripture to stop using it; or at the very least, sit down with a good word-for-word translation like the NASB or the ESV to compare it to what is in The Message.
If you find the public reading of The Message in churches concerning, as I do, and your pastor uses it regularly in your own congregation, I urge you to prayerfully consider the best way to address the issue. When I heard The Message Bible read in my home church, I made a video explaining my concern to our youth group, as they are the most impressionable members of our congregation. I did not want them to be encouraged to use it in their own personal Bible study and in doing so, be starved of the pure truths of God that are missed in the reckless handling of it by Eugene Peterson. Our interim pastor who used it in the morning service saw the video and reached out saying that he appreciated my concern and thought I articulated the problematic nature of the MSG well. In retrospect, I wish I had gone to him directly first, and then shared the video, but I cherish his gracious and loving response regardless.
To end this article, I would like to recommend alternate translations that are very easy to read, and yet stay quite faithful to the original text of scripture, as my intention is not to leave believers with lower reading comprehension without a translation that they can understand. That being said, I also encourage you to use a Bible that is as word-for-word as you can understand, and even read a dynamic translation alongside a word-for-word translation, as this will help increase your ability to understand the nuance of formal translations with each in-depth study (this is incredibly easy with the “compare” feature in the Bible app available on your smart phone. It’s free!). Just read a word-for-word translation in your Bible app, and when you are unsure what is being said in a particular verse, simply tap the verse and hit the “compare” button that will appear on the task bar that pops up when you click on the verse! You can add different translations to compare by hitting the “Add Version +” button at the bottom-right of the screen (iOS users. May vary with android or other devices). It’s that easy! Here are some good phrase-for-phrase translations available to you:
The New Living Translation or NLT for short. The New International Version or NIV
And I cannot end this article without recommending the New English Translation, or NET, as the footnotes are extensive and in most cases, extremely useful for those wishing to know why certain verses are translated the way they are, or why one reading was chosen over another possible translation, or even the cultural significance of certain passages of scripture! This translation leans toward the word-for-word side, and it is my primary translation (although I use the “compare” feature for clarity when necessary) and it has taken my studying to a new level with its vast collection of footnotes! Footnotes are wildly underrated! But before I get on a tangent about footnotes, I will conclude by first cautioning you not to use the Passion Translation either, but that deserves its own treatment in a separate article (stay tuned!).
What a wonderful time we live in, that we have so many good translations of the Bible to choose from, varying in the level of reading comprehension, giving Christians of all backgrounds access to the Good News and the eternal, holy Words of our Creator!
Recommended Resources:
Bibles: New Living Translation
New International Version
New English Translation
Video: “Can I Trust Bible Translations” by Mike Winger