A Burning in My Bones: The Authorized Biography of Eugene H. Peterson, Translator of The Message

by Winn Collier

I translated the text that is in The Message directly from the original Hebrew and Greek texts. I have taught both of these languages in evangelical Christian seminaries for years….When people have addressed me as you have with questions and asking for clarification, I have always answered them as best I could, and have never had a single person respond to me whether thanking me or condemning me. And so finally I quit. What I do now is suggest that my critics learn Hebrew and Greek and we can discuss the word or sentence in question. But I find it nearly useless to discuss something totally out of context—if you are not willing to deal with the language from which I was translating I don’t think we can do much. I have never had any takers. Three or four years on each language should equip you to discuss my translation. But I am 82 years old now and so will probably be dead by the time you are ready.

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