pray / prayer

The Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin, and Greek that is translated as “pray” (or “prayer”) in English is often translated as “talking with God” (Central Pame, Tzeltal, Chol, Chimborazo Highland Quichua, Shipibo-Conibo, Kaqchikel, Tepeuxila Cuicatec, Copainalá Zoque, Central Tarahumara).

Other solutions include:

  • “to beg” or “to ask,” (full expression: “to ask with one’s heart coming out,” which leaves out selfish praying, for asking with the heart out leaves no place for self to hide) (Tzotzil)
  • “to cause God to know” (Huichol)
  • “to raise up one’s words to God” (implying an element of worship, as well as communication) (Miskito, Lacandon) (source of this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Shilluk: “speak to God” (source: Nida 1964, p. 237)
  • Mairasi: “talk together with Great Above One (=God)” (source: Enggavoter, 2004)
  • San Blas Kuna: “call to one’s Father” (source: Claudio and Marvel Iglesias in The Bible Translator 1951, p. 85ff. )
  • Ik: waan: “beg.” Terrill Schrock (in Wycliffe Bible Translators 2016, p. 93) explains (click or tap here to read more):

    What do begging and praying have to do with each other? Do you beg when you pray? Do I?

    “The Ik word for ‘visitor’ is waanam, which means ‘begging person.’ Do you beg when you go visiting? The Ik do. Maybe you don’t beg, but maybe when you visit someone, you are looking for something. Maybe it’s just a listening ear.

    When the Ik hear that [my wife] Amber and I are planning trip to this or that place for a certain amount of time, the letters and lists start coming. As the days dwindle before our departure, the little stack of guests grows. ‘Please, sir, remember me for the allowing: shoes, jacket (rainproof), watch, box, trousers, pens, and money for the children. Thank you, sir, for your assistance.’

    “A few people come by just to greet us or spend bit of time with us. Another precious few will occasionally confide in us about their problems without asking for anything more than a listening ear. I love that.

    “The other day I was in our spare bedroom praying my list of requests to God — a nice list covering most areas of my life, certainly all the points of anxiety. Then it hit me: Does God want my list, or does he want my relationship?

    “I decided to try something. Instead of reading off my list of requests to God, I just talk to him about my issues without any expectation of how he should respond. I make it more about our relationship than my list, because if our personhood is like God’s personhood, then maybe God prefers our confidence and time to our lists, letters, and enumerations.”

In Luang it is translated with different shades of meaning (click or tap here to read more):

  • For Acts 1:14, 20:36, 21:5: kola ttieru-yawur nehla — “hold the waist and hug the neck.” (“This is the more general term for prayer and often refers to worship in prayer as opposed to petition. The Luang people spend the majority of their prayers worshiping rather than petitioning, which explains why this term often is used generically for prayer.”)
  • For Acts 28:9: sumbiani — “pray.” (“This term is also used generically for ‘prayer’. When praying is referred to several times in close proximity, it serves as a variation for kola ttieru-yawur nehla, in keeping with Luang discourse style. It is also used when a prayer is made up of many requests.”)
  • For Acts 8:15, 12:5: polu-waka — “call-ask.” (“This is a term for petition that is used especially when the need is very intense.”)

Source: Kathy Taber in Notes on Translation 1/1999, p. 9-16.

complete verse (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Thessalonians 5:17:

  • Uma: “keep praying,” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “You should always pray to God.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Since you have become one with Jesus Christ, what God wants you to do is: always rejoice; always pray; always give thanks to God no matter what happens to you.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Pray also continually.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “and always be prayerful too.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Pray to God always.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on 1 Thessalonians 5:16 – 5:18

The verse divisions in this section are inconsistent. The three imperatives in these verses are no more and no less closely linked than the four imperatives of verse 14. This is what God wants from you in your life in union with Christ Jesus refers to all the imperatives, not alone to be thankful in all circumstances.

Be joyful always. Paul has already mentioned the joy of the Thessalonian Christians (1.6) and the joy he had received from them (2.20; 3.9). There is nothing contradictory about his now telling them to be joyful; it is another example of the “do even more” motif which occurs in various passages (e.g. 4.10). In some languages it is anomalous to command anyone to be joyful, since the experience of joy is regarded as being dependent upon outside circumstances over which one has no control. The implication of Paul’s statement is that real joy depends upon one’s relation to God, which is permanent and unchanging. Since the Thessalonians were admonished to give evidence to this important and lasting relation, an equivalent in some languages may be “always wear a happy face,” “let your happy heart be known,” or “let the song within your insides be heard.”

Pray at all times is literally (King James Version) “pray without ceasing.” There is an element of rhetorical exaggeration here, as in Romans 12.12 and Colossians 4.2 (cf. Ephesians 6.18). Rigaux comments: “(Paul) does not ask them to recite prayers all day long; he asks that they should feel the need of turning to God, not only when important things are happening but at all times.” Paul means “never give up praying” (cf. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). Pray is a general term which includes all forms of prayer, not only petition and intercession for oneself and others. In order to avoid the implication that the believer should be constantly in prayer to God, one may say “be ready to speak to God at all times,” or “speak to God on any and all occasions.”

Be thankful (cf. 1.2; 3.9). In translation it may be necessary to specify that the thanksgiving is addressed to God. Circumstances is not explicit in the text, and it is equally possible that “at all times” is intended. The Greek is quite general, and the translation should therefore not be too narrow in its reference. The meaning of verses 16, 17, and 18 is closely parallel, though for stylistic reason the words are different in the original. Be thankful in all circumstances may be equivalent in some languages to “be thankful to God regardless of circumstances,” or “… despite whatever may happen.”

This is what God wants from you in your life in union with Christ Jesus. This sentence raises two problems, the first related to from you and the second related to in union with Christ Jesus. Revised Standard Version reflects the form of the Greek.

On the first question, translators are generally divided into three groups. The first group, represented by Good News Translation Jerusalem Bible Knox Barclay Translator’s New Testament (cf. Bijbel in Gewone Taal Bible en français courant Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch Biblia Dios Habla Hoy), thinks that Paul is speaking about what God demands of or from the Thessalonians, namely, a life full of joy, prayer, and thanksgiving. Translator’s New Testament, for example, translates “this is what God wants you to do as Christians.” The second group, represented by Revised Standard Version Moffatt Phillips New English Bible Zürcher Bibel, thinks that Paul is referring to what God wills for them, that is, what he intends and makes possible for them. New English Bible, for example, translates, “this is what God in Christ wills for you.” The third group, including King James Version (cf. Luther 1984 Le Nouveau Testament. Version Synodale La Sainte Bible: Nouvelle version Segond révisée Traduction œcuménique de la Bible), chooses a vague compromise solution, “this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

The first solution fits in well with Paul’s long series of imperatives and makes a good transition to verse 19: “This is what God expects of you; (19) therefore….” On the other hand, the second solution also makes a good transition to verse 19. On this interpretation, verses 18b-19 would describe, not what is required from the Thessalonians, but (like 1.3-6 on a wider scale) what becomes possible through the working together of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The second alternative is also a slightly more natural translation of the Greek. However, Good News Bible‘s solution cannot be ruled out. The third solution tends to produce an unclear translation with less impact than the original, in which from you or “for you” is in an emphatic position at the end of the sentence.

The translator’s decision on this first problem will influence his translation of “in Christ Jesus.” Good News Translation‘s in your life is not explicit in the text. The choice is between (1) linking “in Christ Jesus” with “God” or “will of God” and (2) linking this phrase with “you.” The first alternative would fit in better with New English Bible‘s solution of the first problem; the second alternative would be more natural if Good News Bible‘s solution of the first problem were chosen. The options may be summarized as follows: (see diagram|fig:Table_1TH5-16.htm)

If A is chosen, other possibilities, in addition to Good News Translation‘s in your life in union with Christ Jesus, are Barclay‘s “the way in which God wishes you who are Christians to live,” Bible en français courant‘s “your life with Jesus Christ,” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch‘s “that is what God wants from those who are bound together with Jesus Christ,” or simply “from those who belong to Jesus Christ.”

This is what God wants from you in your life in union with Christ Jesus may be require some restructuring, for example, “this is how God wants you to live as persons who belongs to Christ Jesus.” This latter expression may be necessary since “in Christ Jesus” may seem quite meaningless. If one attempts to follow the New English Bible interpretation, namely, “this is what God in Christ wills for you,” a problem arises since the three admonitions which immediately precede are not things which are given to persons, but things which the persons themselves should do. The equivalent would be more or less “this is the kind of experience which God wants for you.” The phrase “in Christ” would then express that this is the provision which God, who was in Christ or who operated through Christ, was desirous of providing for the believers. In some languages the closest equivalent may be “God did this by means of Christ,” or “God does this by means of Christ.”

“Jesus Christ” and Christ Jesus are commonly used by Paul without any distinction of meaning; the translator should feel free to use the more natural order in the receptor language. Christ here, as normally in Paul’s writings, is a name, not the title “Messiah,” (see the notes on 1.1).

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1976. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator's Notes on 1 Thessalonians 5:17

5:17

Pray without ceasing: This does not mean that believers should pray many times a day or that they should do nothing but pray. Rather it means that believers should “keep on praying, be always ready to pray” instead of just doing so at set times or on special occasions.

without ceasing: The Greek word adialeiptōs, which means without ceasing or “continually,” is the word emphasized in this sentence. See the note on 5:15b above. You should emphasize this in your translation in the way that is natural in your language.

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