Issues with The Message Bible

Issues with

The Message Bible

Translated by

Eugene Peterson

-

It is wise

to be aware of 

the concerning issues in this translation.

Over the years,

I have seen

several Bible verses written in

The Message Bible

that I liked.

However,

I never read large portions of

The Message Bible,

and normally I forget it exists.

So -

when

I heard about

the problems with

The Message Bible Translation

I was shocked and alarmed.

I now know

many troubling facts that I will share

with you.

Here are the sections of this page.

Section 1

Eugene Peterson proudly proclaimed

that he did his Bible translations

quickly and playfully.

He gave the example of translating

The Beatitudes

(The Sermon on the Mount) 

in about 10 minutes.

*

Section 2

Eugene Peterson

totally changed

the meaning

of key Bible verses

on sin

 and it appears it was to reflect his personal beliefs.

*

Section 3

Peterson mistranslated the Messianic

Psalm 22

- which records the suffering of Jesus as quoted in Matt. 27:46 -

thereby

showing Peterson's lack of biblical training.

I graduated from a solid seminary

and Psalm 22 was emphasized

as being Messianic. 

Please note:

One of the key hallmarks of a good, solid Bible study translation
is that
it was created by a group of true Bible scholars.
The team approach keeps obvious errors from happening. 

Eugene Peterson worked alone.

*

Section 4

Peterson used a

famous occult phrase

in his writing of

The Lord's Prayer.

(Of course, it could have been an accident.)

When he found out,
he appeared concerned
and said
he would not have used it
if he had known it was a famous occult phrase.

Yet

he never changed the phrase

in the later edition and reprinting of his translation.

(More details further down.)

*

Section 5

More examples of

Peterson's incorrect translating and

his lack of a scholarly approach to translating.

Eugene Peterson

proudly proclaimed

that

he did the entire translation of

" The Beatitudes "

in about 10 minutes.

The rest of this section is taken

from:

https://www.gotquestions.org/The-Message-MSG.html

In an interview with Christianity Today

Peterson

described the beginning of the creative process

that

produced The Message......

The

" Got Questions" website page

then adds:

Aside from the impossibility of doing justice to

the Sermon on the Mount

in ten minutes,

one wonders whether

playfulness

is the appropriate demeanor

for those who attempt to

“rightly divide the word of Truth.”

(2 Timothy 2:15)

Awe and reverence

for a holy God and His holy Word, yes.

Playfulness? No.

The "Beatitudes in 10 minutes" quote was also discussed in the video below.

https://youtu.be/u7ipd8-flmU?si=leFo7ubZL_FZ2F53

Examples

of

Changing the Meaning

of

Important Scriptures

Examining 

Mistranslated Scriptures

In referring to the above video -

I say,

Our culture

is struggling with the morality of the issues that

Peterson incorrectly translated.

Therefore,

encouraging

the use of The Message could have

profound

negative

life-changing effects

on some people who read it

and

use it as the basis of their life choices.

~ ~ ~

Our choice of a Bible is important to God.

The Bible we choose will shape our spiritual life.

A comment from under a video

about

The Message Bible:

My mothered was diagnosed with cancer in 2020,

this

drew her close to the Lord.

We were reading the King James Version together,

celebrating scripture.

Then, she started to plan her funeral, and encountered a vicar, who she thought was "really nice".
She booked her service to be at his "Free Church of Scotland".

Then he started visiting her, and he gave her a message bible, which she now openly says, she prefers reading.

We hardly talk now.

She won't talk to me about

anything to do with God.

"Rachel, if you're going to bring these things up, I'm going to have to put the phone down".

She (now) thinks I had a breakdown, when I told her in 2020, that I had been saved out of buddhism, by Jesus Christ, and born again.

She now tells me I take the Holy Bible too literally.

She didn't say that in 2020,

when

she watched me be transformed

by the Word of God.

Breaks my heart, daily.

The comment is from under this video: 

https://youtu.be/zbUYBi3ESCQ?si=bU8pbRvPXQxsRGJi

The irritating music kept me from posting the video.

It is alarming to read

Psalm 22

in

The Message translation

next to

The New King James version.

Peterson's translation additions and his tone concern me.

Cut & Paste in your browser

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%2022&version=NKJV,MSG

Just a quick scan

of the Hebrew

shows how Peterson added concepts.

(Hebrew is read right to left.)

https://biblehub.com/interlinear/psalms/22.htm

When we look at the psalm in Hebrew

we find his additions are

nowhere

to be found

in the original Hebrew.

I'll highlight

a couple of examples

of Peterson's errors in Psalm 22.

Let's look at a glaring translation error of

Psalm 22:1

Peterson writes -

"Why did you dump me miles from nowhere?" 

-

Next, I'll explain why that translation is so bad.

Peterson's translation

is especially concerning

because

Psalm 22 is not just a psalm about David suffering

but

it is also a Messianic Psalm

foreshadowing the suffering of Jesus

and thus

the translation must be

carefully done

so as not to mangle the prophetic meaning.

If

Peterson

was a

true Bible scholar and accurate translator -

he would know

that in Matthew 27:46

Jesus quotes

Psalm 22:1

on the cross during this agony.

And

if 

Peterson was a true Bible scholar and accurate translator

he would know

that this psalm

gives us information about Jesus suffering on the cross. 

 And so - Peterson would realize

he needed to be precise in his translation.

Obviously

Jesus was

not

dumped miles from nowhere.

And the Hebrew doesn't imply that David was either.

Psalm 22:6

has the word "worm" in it.

The Message Bible

says

"earthworm"

while all other translations say,

"worm."

https://biblehub.com/psalms/22-6.htm

Peterson

 - being the only one to choose the word "earthworm" - 

makes me wonder

if he mistranslated it.

Take Note:

It is easy to see that

Peterson added the words

" something to step on, to squash "

to Psalm 22.

Those added words are not in the Hebrew text.

(Hebrew is read right to left.)

https://biblehub.com/interlinear/psalms/22.htm

Let's

gain insights by looking at

the word

" worm "

in verse 6.

It is the Strong's Hebrew word # 8438

Pronounced:   toh - LAH

תּוֹלָע

There are many types of worms.

This Hebrew word

is defined as a special type of worm

used to obtain cloth dye.

I do not know

if this worm could be

classified as a type of earthworm.

Yet again,

I emphasize that no other translator used that word.

That Psalm 22 Hebrew word

for "worm"

refers to

the worm that produces crimson dye.

In other Bible books,

that Hebrew word is sometimes translated

as 

crimson thread, crimson cloth, or

color produced from the worm.

You can read about

this special type of worm

that biblical people would crush

to obtain

crimson red dye

to color cloth.

And you can also read how

this worm shows

a picture of Jesus dying for us.

Click the link....

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h8438/nkjv/wlc/0-1/

Scroll down to see the information.

Also you might want to look at this link.

Cut & Paste the following link

https://reasonsforhopejesus.com/psalm-22-crimson-scarlet-worm/

Also another link...

Cut & Paste the following link

https://biblehub.com/hebrew/8438.htm

A commentary comment says:

The color of lifeblood becomes a vivid thread through the sacrificial system, prefiguring the substitutionary death of the Messiah.

The worm must be crushed to yield the dye; likewise, “He was crushed for our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:5) Scarlet cloth on the Tabernacle speaks of constant access to cleansing by shed blood.

Note:

There are several times

besides Psalm 22:6

where the Hebrew word # 8438

"worm"

is referring to a person.

Job 25:6, Isaiah 41:14 and Isaiah 66:24.

After researching Psalm 22,

I now wonder if there are deeper meanings in those 3 Scriptures

Job 25:6, Isaiah 41:14 and Isaiah 66:24

as to why this very special word was chosen.

 

Isaiah 1:18

Here is

another inspirational example of this same word

used in

Isaiah 1:18.

Isaiah 1:18

says,

“Come now, and let us reason together,”
Says the LORD,
' Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be
as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool.'"

The word translated "crimson" is the same word

as "worm" in Psalm 22.

Think about it.

Isaiah 1:18 brings us back to the little worm

that they used to make crimson dye.

Here we see a hidden message that relates

Jesus

to that little worm -  just as we did in Psalm 22.

The blood of Jesus is the crimson that changes us. 

https://biblehub.com/text/isaiah/1-18.htm

Here

is my in-depth biblical insights 

into the

Messianic nature of 

Psalm 22

It

starts out

lighthearted

and then goes into depths.

Here

is my

entertaining and simple

devotional

on Psalm 22 called

Clever Clues

The following phrase

is a

well-known

occult phrase:

as above, so below

Peterson put it in his translation.

Here is

The Lord's Prayer

Matthew 6:7-13

in

The Message Bible

Our Father in heaven,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right;
Do what’s best—
    as above, so below.
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.
You’re in charge!
You can do anything you want!
You’re ablaze in beauty!
    Yes. Yes. Yes.

The alarm bells

I hear are not only

because he used 

as above, so below

in his translation.

Anyone could innocently

put an occultic phrase in a sentence.

Here is the disturbing situation:

Warren B. Smith

is a Christian who used to be in the New Age Movement.

Warren B. Smith tells us that

he knows of a man who contacted Peterson

and told him the above fact.

Warren reports that Peterson said,

"If I knew it was an occult term, I would not have used it."

Yet

years later, it is still in the latest edition of 

The Message Bible.

Warren B. Smith

has written

helpful articles

exposing

Eugene Peterson and The Message Bible.

I will link his articles

further down

so you can read his helpful information.

Here

is an interesting quote from 

Warren B.  Smith ...

" Most people do not understand that the

New Age / New Spirituality

has been - and continues to be -

the driving force moving the world and the church

toward

a new

World Religion.

It

teaches that

"we are all One"

and

"we are all a part of God"

because God is "in" everyone and everything.

This Doctrine of "Oneness"

is the foundational doctrine of

the New Age / New World Religion.

The false God and the false Christ of the New Age

have proclaimed

through their many channels and teachers

that "Oneness"

is the foundation truth of the New Spirituality. 

As a

former member of the New Age movement,

I realize

how easy it is

for most believers

to miss references

to a belief system of which they were never a part

and

don't really understand.

However, it is crucial we recognize any leaven

- especially New Age leaven -

when it appears

in more recent Bible translations like

The Message (1993, 2003) 

The Voice (2023), and the Passion (2017). "

To find out 

more

about

The New Age Movement

click here

The GREEN Mystery

Here is a bizarre example of

Eugene Peterson adding a word.

-

It

is a

mystery

where he got the added word.

One of the links from

Warren B. Smith

alerts us to this

mystery.

Let's look at 

Romans 15:13.

King James Version

Now the God

of hope

fill you with all joy and peace

in believing,

that ye may abound in hope,

through the power of the Holy Ghost.

The Message translation

Oh! May the God

of   green   hope

fill you up with joy,

fill you up with peace,

so that your believing lives,

filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit,

will brim over with hope!

What?

There is no word "green" in the Greek.

Next

Warren B.  Smith

gives

more examples

of concerns

about

The Message

Cut and Paste links into your Browser...

Number 1

In the next link,

if

you scroll down

you will see Smith's many examples

of

incorrect Bible translations that Peterson did.

I covered some of his examples.

https://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/new-booklet-eugene-petersons-mixed-message-a-subversive-bible-for-a-new-age/

Number 2

Here is a disturbing story

that concerns Peterson's integrity.

Peterson told this story

about when he intentionally put others into a dangerous situation.

The danger of entrusting one’s Christian walk to Eugene Peterson and his Message translation was dramatically underscored in a 2007 book Peterson wrote titled The Jesus Way.
In describing a group hike he took with friends and family
in
Glacier National Park,
Peterson discloses
how he purposely withheld crucial information from his family and friends prior to their setting out on their walk.

https://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/a-dangerous-walk-with-eugene-peterson/

Eugene Peterson endorses

The Shack.

Consider visiting our page - The Shack

Examining The Message Bible

was presented in August 2025.

Matthew 24:4