by
Viola Larson
January the sixth is the first night of my second semester of Greek. With
the usual feelings of trepidation and anticipation I am entering the world
of Greek vowels as a semester ago I entered the world of Greek nouns. One of
the first things the teacher and textbook explained about biblical Greek was
that unlike classical Greek, the Greek of Plato and Aristotle, biblical
Greek was meant for the common people. For that reason it is called Koine
Greek meaning common. William D. Mounce in his Greek textbook writes, ‘that
this language was the language of the everyday people used in the writings
of wills, private letters, receipts, shopping lists, etc.”1 This is the
kind of understanding Eugene Peterson is referring to when he writes that
‘in order to understand the Message right, the language must be rightnot a
refined language that appeals to our aspirations after the best but a rough
and earthy language that reveals God’s presence and action where we least
expect it . . .”2 In my Greek class and also in the textbook the gospel of
John is often the reading material since John’s Greek was more like those
who spoke Greek from a common lifestyle. His Greek is easier for a beginner
to understand. Learning John 1:1 in Greek is very easy, however, going on to
Luke and Romans, etc., is important. Eugene Peterson has the same idea. When
writing about his paraphrase, _The Message_, he states, ‘_The Message_ is a
reading Bible. It is not intended to replace the excellent study Bibles that
are available.” Additionally when writing about the difficult portions of
the Bible he writes, ‘But I haven’t tried to make it easythere is much in
the Bible that is hard to understand. So at some points along the way, soon
or late, it will be important to get a standard study Bible to facilitate
further study.”3
A paraphrase is different than a contemporary Bible translated from the
original languages. I remember quite a few years ago being in a philosophy
class when the teacher (he was a Presbyterian by the way) was trying to
prove that Isaiah 53 emphasized Israel as the suffering servant. He was
hoping to avoid seeing Jesus in that picture. He asked if anyone had a Bible
so they could read the passage. I did. It was a paraphrase, the Amplified
Bible, which attempts to include all of the different meanings of the words
whether they fit the context or not. After explaining to the class that some
also see Jesus in this passage I read most of it but found myself busily
editing as I went, hoping the teacher had not noticed all of the extra
words. Needless to say that’s when I switched to The New American Standard
which has been my favorite ever since. Paraphrases, which are not
translations, are usually produced for various reasons. Peterson writes that
his grew out of his attempts at bringing the Greek and Hebrew versions into
his sermons and pastoral care. He writes:
And all the time those old biblical languages, those powerful and vivid
Hebrew and Greek originals, kept working their way underground in my
speech, giving energy and sharpness to words and phrases, expanding the
imagination of the people with whom I was working to hear the language
of the Bible in the language of Today and the language of Today in the
language of the Bible.4
One of the important functions of a translation, as well as a paraphrase is
that it be correct doctrinally. Of course translations such as the NIV and
the NAS must be translated ‘as truthful as human skill, aided by the divine
grace, can make it.”5 One of the cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith
is the deity of Jesus Christ. As Peterson writes in his introduction of the
Gospel of John, ‘The fixing is all accomplished by speakingGod speaking
salvation into being in the person of Jesus. Jesus in this account, not only
speaks the Word God; he is the Word of God.”6 And Peterson’s paraphrase
picks up this theme.
_The Word was first_
_ The Word present to God_
_ God present to the Word._
_The Word was God,_
_ In readiness for God from day one._
_The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood._
(John 1:1, 14)
In the passage where doubting Thomas touches the wounds in Jesus’ hands he
says, ‘My Master! My God!” (John 20: 28) And in Hebrews, where the author
of Hebrews lifts up Christ in the psalms, Peterson writes, ‘but he says to
the Son, you’re God, and on the throne for good.” (Heb. 1:8a) I think
perhaps his paraphrase of John 12: 47-50 is one of the clearest renditions I
have read of Jesus insistence that salvation is only through Him:
If anyone hears what I am saying and doesn’t take it seriously, I don’t
reject him. I didn’t come to reject the world; I came to save the world.
But you need to know that whoever puts me off, refusing to take in what
I’m saying, is willfully choosing rejection. The Word, the
Word-made-flesh that I have spoken and that I am, _that_ Word and no
other is the last Word. I’m not making any of this up on my own. The
Father who sent me gave me orders, told me what to say and how to say
it. And I know exactly what his command produces; real and eternal life.
That’s all I have to say. What the Father told me, I tell you.
‘The deity of Christ is very clear in Peterson’s work, as is his view of the
Holy Spirit. Telling his disciples of their need to obey Him Jesus tells
them of the Holy Spirit. Peterson renders it this way. ‘If you love me, show
it by doing what I’ve told you. I will talk to the Father, and he’ll provide
you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you. This
friend is the Spirit of Truth. The godless world can’t take him in because
it doesn’t have eyes to see him, doesn’t know what to look for. But you know
him already because he has been staying with you, and will even be in
you!”(John 14: 16-17)
All writers have various themes that tend to run through all their work.
Peterson has two that are important to me. One is the poetic use of words,
the other is the importance of keeping the corruption of the worldly systems
out of the Church. Petersons use of the poetics can be seen in his rendering
of Romans 15:13, ‘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.” The picture of God as
a God of green hope is very biblical as well as poetic. There is a promise
in Psalms that has a special for many reaching old age. Speaking of the
righteous person the Psalmist writes: ‘They will still yield fruit in old
age; they shall be full of sap and very _green_, to declare that the Lord is
upright; He is my rock and there is no unrighteousness in Him.” (92:14,15)
(Emphasis mine.) Peterson’s other theme, an uncorrupted Church, can be seen
in the way he puts 1 Corinthians 5:1-5. It is a strong message for the
Church today. Paul is confronting the Church about a man who has been
sleeping with his stepmother. Peterson renders it this way:
I also received a report of scandalous sex within your church family, a
kind that wouldn’t be tolerated even outside the church; One of your men
is sleeping with his stepmother. And you’re so above it all that it
doesn’t even faze you! Shouldn’t this break your hearts? Shouldn’t it
bring you to your knees in tears? Shouldn’t this person and his conduct
be confronted and dealt with?
Ill tell you what I would do. Even though I’m not there in person,
consider me right there with you, because I can fully see what’s going
on. I’m telling you that this is wrong. You most not simply look the
other way and hope it goes away on its own. Bring it out in the open and
deal with it in the authority of Jesus our Master. Assemble the
communityI’ll be present in spirit with you and our Master Jesus will be
present in power. Hold this man’s conduct up to public scrutiny. Let him
defend it if he can! But if he can’t, then out with him! It will be
totally devastating to him, of course, and embarrassing to you. But
better devastation and embarrassment than damnation. You want him on his
feet and forgiven before the Master on the Day of Judgment.
So, back to Greek and a new way for me to read the Bible in its original
language. But, I am thankful for a good translation like the NAS, and happy
to every so often just read from a simple paraphrase, particularly Eugene
Peterson’s _The Message_.
_____________
1 William D. Mounce, _Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar_, (Grand Rapids:
Zondervan) 1.
2 Eugene H. Peterson, _The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language_,
(Colorado Springs: NavPress 2002) 1742.
3 Ibid. 8, One example of the hard things of the Bible is 1Corinthians
15:28. The NAS puts it this way. ‘When all things are subjected to Him, then
the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things
to Him, so that God may be all in all.” Peterson’s version is ‘When
everything and everyone is finally under God’s rule, the Son will step down,
taking his place with everyone else, showing that God’s rule is absolutely
comprehensivea perfect ending.” Leon Morris acknowledges this as a
difficult passage, he quotes Calvin, ‘all things will be brought back to
God, as their alone beginning and end, that they may be closely bound to
him.” In Leon Morris, _Tyndale New Testament Commentaries: 1 Corinthians,_
revised edition, (England: Inter-Varsity; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans 1996) 213.
4 Ibid.
5 C.J. Cadoux, _The Bible in its Ancient and English Versions_, p.274, in
F.F. Bruce, _The Books and the Parchments: How We Got Our English Bible_,
230.
6 Peterson, _Message_, 1914.