Snips From The Message In Proverbs

The Message Bible is kind of unique . I just bought ( for less than $2.00 ) the book of Proverbs by Eugene Peterson . I don't have the rest of the Bible by Peterson . I really don't think I will buy his work on the rest of the books of the Bible . I bought his treatment of Proverbs last Saturday .

I'm not sure how much of the work was his alone . Two other people are mentioned as being on the editorial team . But I would think that he did most of the work .

The Message style of translation is not my preferred method . I like something along the lines of a combo : modified literal , like the TNIV , HCS or ISV ( can't wait to buy the completed form of the latter when it's released ) . However , TM fills a niche . It has a catchy , or if you'd like -- an arresting way with expressing things . It is very free -- too free much of the time . Occasionally it translates close to the manner of the more formal versions , only occasionally . It's a surprise when it does .

Peterson's translation is so free much of the time that the NLTse in contrast seems to read more word-for-word . Sometimes there is barely a connection with the form of the original .

Peterson really did "translate" the NT . So , even though TM is known for being even more free than a paraphrase -- it is really a translation -- just not in the sense that we are used to . I don't know how much Hebrew he knows in comparison to his knowledge of the Greek .

This extra-dynamic ( not technical jargon -- my way of wording it ) is a shock to my system at times . Sometimes EP can really convey his intrepretation in a most helpful manner . Yet he does not consider this a real Bible as such -- he prefers the NRSV for purposes of study and preaching .

I think he may be this generation's J. B. Phillips . Nevertheless , because he uses such an idiomatic style , this version will be out-of-date in 15 or 20 years . It's good to put things across in colloquial language -- but his overabundance of contemporary speech is overkill at times .

Anyway , I will give some samples of one or two phrases from each chapter of Proverbs . I will not identify the verses that the phrases orginate from -- you can guess . I'll just name the chapter .

1) When you grab all you can get , that's what happens : the more you get , the less you are .

2) those who are lost themselves can't tell a trail from a tumbleweed

3) stupid living gets the booby prize

4) She'll garland your life with grace , she'll festoon your days with beauty

5) You don't want to end your life full of regrets , nothing but sin and bones

6) Riffraff and rascals talk out of both sides of their mouths

7) She runs a halfway house to hell

8) You can find me on Righteous Road -- that's where I walk -- at the intersection of Justice Avenue

9) confront bad behavior and get a kick in the shins

10) Wise son , glad father ; stupid son , sad mother

11) a God-shaped life is a flourishing tree

12) A good person basks in the delight of God

You can't find firm footing in a swamp

13) sin dumps the wicked in the ditch

14) a quick-tempered person stockpiles stupidity

15) fools are leaky faucets , dripping nonsense

he stands with those who have no standing

Well , I'll take a brealk now . I'll be back later to give more samples from the remaining chapters .

 

Continuing with select snips in the book of Proverbs in TM .

16) There's a way that looks harmless enough ; look again -- it leads straight to hell .

17) What's this ? Fools out shopping for wisdom ! They wouldn't recognize it if they saw it !

18) The words of a fool start fights ; do him a favor and gag him

Listening to gossip is like eating cheap candy ; do you really want junk like that in your belly ?

19) Discipline your children while you still have the chance ; indulging them destroys them

20) never confide in blabbermouths

21) What a bad person plots against the good , boomerangs

22) The perverse travel a dangerous road , potholed and mud-slick ; if you know what's good for you , stay clear of it

23) Don't bother talking sense to fools ; they'll only poke fun at your words

24) Fools incubate sin ; cynics desecrate beauty

25) A person without self-control is like a house with its doors and windows knocked out

26) A proverb quoted by fools is limp as a wet noodle

27) A prudent person sees trouble coming and ducks

28) If you desert God's law , you're free to embrace depravity

serious reprimand is appreciated far more than bootlicking flattery

29) The fear of human opinion disables

30) A leech has twin daughters named "Gimme" and "Gimme more."

31) Many women have done wonderful things , but you've outclassed them all !

 

Country songs ? Perhaps , but Peterson is an urbane kinda' guy . As a former Professor at Regent he's very well educated . I think he tried too hard to identify with the common person . Maybe that's why he sounds sort of countryfied ( new word ? -- not countryfried ) .

 

Did you write that one nept ? That's good , very good -- in such short time too . I sang it with a twang with my own tune that I improvised on the spot ( pats himself on the back ) .

 

Keith , The Message is not technically a paraphrase . It is a translation -- a loose one to be sure , but nevertheless a translation . It's actually more free than a paraphrase . But Eugene Peterson is quite a scholar compared to Ken Taylor who paraphrased the 1901 ASV .

 

A Reconsideration

I guess TM is a kind of paraphrasing translation . I was kind of hung-up on the fact that Peterson actually translated out of the original languages . Evenso , his method of translation was paraphrastic . I only have his treatment of Proverbs , nothing more than that . I just can't bring myself to classifying it as a Bible per se . It might be considered more of a commentary or devotional device rather than the Word of God as such .
The Message is not what I would recommend to anyone , least of all to a new Christian or an unsaved person .

Could someone come to a saving knowledge from reading it ? The LORD has , to our eyes, strange designs at times . Who can fathom them ? Was anyone really saved under the ministrations of Charles Finney ? It's the same kind of deal .