The phrase “mess of pottage” means something of little value. It is associated with the exchange by Esau of his birthright for a meal of lentil stew. (A pottage is a type of soup.)
The phrase “mess of pottage” is not itself Biblical. It first appeared in a chapter heading (but not the actual text) of the 1560 Geneva Bible.
That’s what I wrote about “mess of pottage” back in 2006, when I discovered that Wikipedia had no entry explaining this vital term – nay, this utterly indispensable term. So I created a page for it myself, which is, after all, the whole point of Wikipedia. Since then, that page has undergone two serious rounds of editing, and the scholarship certainly appears better today than what I was able to contribute. Even so, several entire words in the entry are still mine.
Anyway, I thought that “Mess of Pottage” would be a good name for my blog, so I registered the domain, and there you go. Or, rather, here you are. Enjoy!