And in praying (Good News Translation “When you pray”) translates a Greek participle. New English Bible and New Jerusalem Bible render “In your prayers” and Barclay “When you say your prayers.” It is translationally sound, of course, to render the participle as a finite verb (so Good News Translation), drawing the subject “you” from the main verb in the clause.
Most translations will begin this verse very much as they did verses 5 and 6, or they may have “The way you should pray, it is not by using….”
Heap up empty phrases (Good News Translation “use a lot of meaningless words”) translates one verb in Greek. It occurs only here in the New Testament, and apparently there is only one known occurrence of its usage in Greek literature outside the New Testament. The meaning is somehow related to for their many words at the end of the verse. Some scholars see in the verb the meaning “speak stammeringly, say the same thing over and over again.” At least one scholar understands the verb to be onomatopoeic, that is, it sounds like its referent. In Greek the verb consists of two parts, a stem meaning “speak,” and a prefix batta, which is not a meaningful word. If the verb is taken to be onomatopoeic, the sense will then be “go on and on saying ‘batta, batta, batta.’ ” Others see a probable connection between this word and a word found in an Aramaic papyrus from Qumran which means “without effect.” Several scholars follow yet another interpretation. Inasmuch as the prayers of pagans (and not hypocrites) is in focus, they take this as a reference to the pagan practice of heaping up names or terms for God to ensure that the correct name of God would not be omitted during their prayers. Since it is impossible to be conclusive, the translator is advised to follow one of the standard translations; for example: “do not go babbling on like the heathen” (New English Bible), “do not babble as the pagans do” (Jerusalem Bible), “do not rattle on like the pagans” (New American Bible), and “don’t use a lot of words like the heathen do” (Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1st edition). Other models translators can follow include “Don’t use a lot of words that don’t make sense” and “Don’t go on repeating strange sounds (or, words).” This sentence may be restructured in some translations: “The way you should pray, it is not by using a lot of words that don’t make sense. That is what the pagans do.”
Gentiles (Good News Translation “pagans”) was first used in 5.47 (see comments there).
“God will hear them” of Good News Translation is an active transform of the Greek passive structure they will be heard with the subject (God) explicitly expressed. When used of prayer the verb “hear” means “answer.” Therefore “God will hear them” means “God will answer their prayers.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates “They think that they can get something from God.” This can also be “They think that God will pay attention to their prayers” or “They think that God will give them what they pray for.”
For their many words refers specifically to prayer, and so Good News Translation has “because their prayers are long.” New American Bible renders “by the sheer multiplication of words.” New English Bible restructures entirely: “who imagine that the more they say the more likely they are to be heard.” Barclay translates “Their idea is that God will hear their prayers because of their length.” Translators may also render for their many words as “because they said many words when they prayed” or “because they prayed for such a long time.” Or they may well have “they imagine that using so many words will make God give them what they pray for.”
Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .