Review: Eugene H Peterson's THE MESSAGE

1st April 2007, hej

This Article: (6 Pages)

5) PASSAGE 3 Revelation 13:8

Randomly selected from Revelation.

Everyone on earth whose name was not written from the world's foundation in the slaughtered Lamb's Book of Life will worship the Beast.Are you listening to this? They've made their bed, now they must lie in it. Anyone marked for prison goes to straight to prison, anyone pulling a sword goes down by the sword. Meanwhile God's holy people passionately and faithfully hold their ground. The Message.

The Greek text and interlined is a word for word translation (Compare Nestle and Diaglot)

8καὶ προσκυνήσουσιν αὐτὸν πάντες οἱ κατοικοῦντες ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ὧν οὐ γέγραπται τὸ

And will-worship him all those dwelling on the earth of not-been-written the

ὄνομα ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ τῆς ζωῆς τοῦ ἀρνίου τοῦ ἐσφαγμένου ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου.

name in the scroll of-the life of-the lamb of-the been-killed from foundation of-world

9Εἴ τις ἔχει οὖς ἀκουσάτω.

If anyone has an-ear to hear (Greek: understand).

10εἴ τις εἰς αἰχμαλωσίαν, εἰς αἰχμαλωσίαν ὑπάγει. εἴ τις ἐν μαχαίρᾳ α ̓ποκτενεῖ,

if anyone for captivity for captivity he-goes if anyone by a -sword will-kill

δεῖ αὐτὸν ἐν μαχαίρᾳ ἀποκτανθῆναι. ῟Ωδέ ἐστιν ἡ ὑπομονὴ καὶ ἡ πίστις τῶν ἁγίων.

it-is-necessary by a-sword to-be-killed. Here is the endurance and the faith of-the saints.

In verse 8 PTM changes the word order of the Greek and links the “name not written” to a time at the foundation of the world. By contrast the Greek word order links the killing of the slain lamb to a time at the foundation of the world. These are two different concepts. PTM's paraphrase is not supported by the word order of the Greek text..

For verse 9 PTM changes a statement to become a question. Then PTM adds a common saying. There is no justification in the previous or subsequent Greek words for adding this common saying. How does a general truism about the accepting of the consequences of ones actions relate to the condemnation of the people who kill? By adding this saying there is an error in logic, for if those who worship the beast have no choice, having been left out of the book at the foundation of the world, then they cannot have the free will to “make their bed”. Therefore, the addition of this saying not only defies PTM's own logic, it is also an unwarranted addition to the words of the Greek text.

In verse ten PTM implies that some are destined for prison, whereas the Greek text implies that the person who has the ideal of captivity being good for others will themselves go to captivity and those who decide to kill others with a sword will themselves be killed. To paraphrase it 'they would be hoist on their own petard' or in scriptural terms, there would be 'an eye for an eye'. For saints who are victims of captivity and death by the sword, this justice is of great comfort. PTM misses this concept of justice. By the use of “meanwhile” PTM implies the faithful stand around and be patient, offering no comfort to the faithful. The Greek Ode Ωδέ is best translated “here” or “in this”, that is, the previous thought is the reason for endurance and faith. This understanding is sustained by the logic related to justice. People who will wait for justice (an eye for an eye) will endure, they show their faith that justice will finally, in the future, occur.

In this passage PTM adds to the words of Revelation. This addition is not a logical clarification of any of the meaning of the surrounding Greek text. This is only a minor addition, however, the conclusion of this revelation is specific, “If any person shall add unto these things, God shall add unto them the plagues that are written in this book” It would be foolish to add words unnecessarily.

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