''The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language'' (MSG) is a

paraphrase A paraphrase () is a restatement of the meaning of a text or passage using other words. The term itself is derived via Latin ', . The act of paraphrasing is also called ''paraphrasis''. History Although paraphrases likely abounded in oral tra ...

of the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

. Authored by

Eugene H. Peterson Eugene Hoiland Peterson (November 6, 1932 – October 22, 2018) was an American Presbyterian minister, scholar, theologian, author, and poet. He wrote over 30 books, including the Gold Medallion Book Award–winner '' The Message: The Bible in ...

and published in segments from 1993 to 2002, the MSG falls on the extreme dynamic end of the

dynamic and formal equivalence The terms dynamic equivalence and formal equivalence, coined by Eugene Nida, are associated with two dissimilar translation approaches that are employed to achieve different levels of literalness between the Translation#Source and target texts ...

spectrum.

Features

According to the Introduction to the New Testament of ''The Message'', its "contemporary idiom keeps the language of the Message (Bible) current and fresh and understandable". Peterson notes that in the course of the project, he realized 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".

Translation consultants

The publisher states: "Peterson's work has been thoroughly reviewed by a team of recognized Old and New Testament scholars to ensure that it is accurate and faithful to the original languages." Old Testament team: * Robert L. Hubbard Jr., North Park Theological Seminary (chair) * Richard E. Averbeck, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School * Bryan E. Beyer, Columbia International University * Lamar E. Cooper Sr., Criswell College * E. Enns, Eastern University * Duane A. Garrett, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary * Donald R. Glenn, Dallas Theological Seminary * Paul R. House, Beeson Divinity School, Samford University * V. Philips Long, Regent College * Tremper Longman, Westmont College * John N. Oswalt, Asbury Theological Seminary * Richard L. Pratt Jr., Reformed Theological Seminary, Third Mill Ministries * H. Walton, Wheaton College * Prescott H. Williams Jr., Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary * Marvin R. Wilson, Gordon College New Testament team: * William W. Klein, Denver Seminary (chair) * L. Bock, Dallas Theological Seminary * A. Hagner, Fuller Theological Seminary * Moises Silva, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary * Rodney A. Whitacre, Trinity School of Ministry

Circulation

''The Message'' was published piecemeal over a nine-year period. The

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

was published in 1993. The Old Testament Wisdom Books were published in 1998. The

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

Prophets were published in 2000. The Old Testament

Pentateuch The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the sa ...

were released in 2001. The Books of History came out in 2002. The entire Bible was released the same year and follows the traditional Protestant

Biblical canon A biblical canon is a set of texts (also called "books") which a particular Jewish or Christian religious community regards as part of the Bible. The English word ''canon'' comes from the Greek , meaning " rule" or "measuring stick". The use ...

Comparison to other translations

''The Message'' was translated by Peterson from the original languages. It is a highly

idiomatic Idiom, also called idiomaticness or idiomaticity, is the syntactical, grammatical, or structural form peculiar to a language. Idiom is the realized structure of a language, as opposed to possible but unrealized structures that could have develop ...

translation, using contemporary slang from the US rather than a more neutral

International English International English is the concept of using the English language as a global means of communication similar to an international auxiliary language, and often refers to the movement towards an international standard for the language. Relat ...

, and it falls on the extreme dynamic end of the

spectrum. Some scholars, like Michael J. Gorman, consider some of Peterson's idiomatic renderings unconventional. The work was awarded the

Evangelical Christian Publishers Association The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) is an international non-profit trade association whose member companies are involved in the publishing and distribution of Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to ...

Gold Medallion in 2003 for being the title retailers prized.

Psalm 23:1-4

New International Version The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The ''NIV'' was created as a modern translation, by Bible scholars using the earliest an ...

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and publis ...

The Living Bible The Living Bible (TLB or LB) is a personal paraphrase, not a translation, of the Bible in English by Kenneth N. Taylor and first published in 1971. Taylor used the American Standard Version of 1901 as his base text. Origin In a 1979 interview ...

: The Message:

Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13)

: The Message:

Editions

Old Testament: *The Pentateuch: *The Books of History: *The Wisdom Books: *The Prophets: New Testament: *Youth Edition: *Text Edition: Entire Bible: *With verse markings (The Message Remix): *Without verse markings: *With verse markings (The Message: The Numbered Edition): ; this edition was recognized as an

ECPA Christian Book Award The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) is an international non-profit trade association whose member companies are involved in the publishing and distribution of Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to ...

winner. *Catholic/Ecumenical Edition: 2013,

References

External links

Publisher's History & FAQ
(most recently available archived version)
''The Message'' text onlineEugene Peterson interview at a U2 fansite
{{DEFAULTSORT:Message, The 2002 non-fiction books Bible translations into English 2002 in Christianity