εἶπεν δὲ αὐτοῖς, Ὅταν προσεύχησθε λέγετε,
Πάτερ, ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου·
ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου·
2So he said to them, “When you pray, say:
Father, may your name be revered as holy.
May your kingdom come.
The Greek that is translated as “may your name be revered as holy,” “hallowed be your name” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) with lass uns und andere deinen Namen ehren und heilig halten or “may we and others honor your name and keep it holy.”
See also may your kingdom come.
The Greek that is translated in English as “your kingdom come” is translated in Auslan (Australian Sign Language) as “the time will come when God is boss.”
John Harris (in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 100ff. ) tells the genesis of this phrase: “An interesting Australian example is the phrase ‘your kingdom come,’ a well-known but incomprehensible signed passage in the Lord’s Prayer as widely used by professional signers interpreting at churches, weddings, funerals and public events. The closest back-translation of their usual signing was ‘the place (area sign) of your king (crown sign) will come.’ Having studied Luke 11:2 with the consultant, the Auslan translators came to understand the phrase as referring to the coming rule of God. They developed a new set of signs back-translated as ‘the time will come when God is boss.’ This phrase is now being picked up by the professional signers.”
In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is translated with lass uns und andere deine Herrschaft anerkennen or “may we and others acknowledge your reign.”
See also hallowed be your name.
The name of the father of John the Baptist that is transliterated as “Zechariah” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language as “beard (the sign for a patriarch)” + “mute.” (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. )
“Zechariah” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España
In French Sign Language it is “temporarily mute.” (Source: Lexique – Explications en langue des signes)
For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .
The following is a stained glass window depicting Mary’s visitation to Elizabeth. It was created by Ateliers Maréchal de Metz between 1848 and 1860 for the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Luxembourg. Zechariah is shown on the right:
Photo by Marcin Szala, hosted by Wikimedia Commons under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license
Stained glass is not just highly decorative, it’s a medium which has been used to express important religious messages for centuries. Literacy was not widespread in the medieval and Renaissance periods and the Church used stained glass and other artworks to teach the central beliefs of Christianity. In Gothic churches, the windows were filled with extensive narrative scenes in stained glass — like huge and colorful picture storybooks — in which worshipers could ‘read’ the stories of Christ and the saints and learn what was required for their religious salvation. (Source: Victoria and Albert Museum )
More information on Zechariah (New Testament figure) .
The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “alarmed,” “shaken,” “panicked,” “confounded,” “confused” or similar in English is translated in the Catholic Mandarin Chinese Sigao version with historical Chinese idioms: jīnghuāng shīcuò (驚慌失措 / 惊慌失措) and jīnghuáng shīcuò (驚惶失措 / 惊惶失措): “panicked and at a loss.” (Source: Toshikazu S. Foley in Hong Kong Journal of Catholic Studies, 2011, p. 45ff.)
The Greek that is typically translated as “will” in English is translated in Warao as obojona, a term that “includes the concepts of consciousness, will, attitude, attention and a few other miscellaneous notions.” (Source: Henry Osborn in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 74ff. .) See other occurrences of Obojona in the Warao New Testament.
In Mairasi, it is translated with “throat.” (Source: Enggavoter 2004)
See also will (of God) (Japanese honorifics).
The Greek that is translated as “my Father” in English is translated in Matumbi as Tati’ bangu’ or “my fathers.” “Our Father” is translated as “our Fathers” (and likewise “our ancestor” as “our ancestors”). Matumbi uses a majestic plural as an honorific when addressing parents. (Source: Tim Macsaveny)
See also addressing one’s or someone else’s father humbly / respectfully in Japanese (父) and Father (address for God).
The Lord’s Prayer was translated into Nyulnyul (and back-translated into English) by the German missionary Hermann Nekes in 1939.
It reads:
Our Father on top sky.
Thy name be feared.
Thou art our boss.
Men-women will listen to Thee this place earth
as the good souls of men-women listen to Thee on top sky.
Give us tucker till this sun goes down.
We did wrong; make us good.
We have good hearts to them who did us wrong.
Watch us against bad place.
Thy hands be stretched out to guard us from bad.
Source
The following is a back-translation from Noongar:
Our Father, high in your Holy Place,
your name is holy.
Let the day come
when you reign as King in our land.
We want you to become Boss of our land,
the same way you are Boss of your Holy Land.
Give us the food we eat every day.
Forgive our wrong-doing
the same way we forgive the wrong-doing people do to us.
And do not take us to the hard place of testing.
But hold us so the Devil cannot get us.
You hold the land.
You hold the power.
You hold the light.
For ever and for ever.
Amen.
Source: Bardip Ruth-Ang 2020
The following is a back-translation from Ma’anyan:
So pray [and say]: Our father who [is] in heaven:
You are the only God.
May you be worshiped and respected.
You are our King, you rule on earth, and your will be obeyed as in heaven.
Give to us today the food that we need.
Forgive us from wrong as we forgive people’s wrongs against us.
Do not let us lose faith when we are tempted
but set us free from the power of that evil one.
You [are the] king of power and glory until forever.
Amen.
(Source: Daud H. Soesilo in The Bible Translator 2007, p. 95ff. )
The following is a version of the Lord’s Prayer set to Tibetan music:
Source: gSungrab website
See also this commentary on the Lord’s Payer in Tibetan and English from the same website .
The following is a translation of the Lord’s Prayer into Afrikaans, Duruma, Makhuwa-Meetto, German, isiZulu, English, Japanese, Tharaka, isiXhosa, Portuguese, Swahili, xiTsonga, Setswana and Yoruba set to song.
From the Voices of Jubilation album, ℗ 2025 Wycliffe Bible Translators South Africa NPC. Used with permission.
In the German Gute Nachricht (Good News) translation of 1982, this occurrence of the Greek term which is translated in most English versions of “kingdom (of God or heaven)” is translated with a form of “once God finalizes his creation (or “work”) . . . ” (Wenn Gott sein Werk vollendet . . .). For an explanation of the differentiated translation in German as well as translation choices in a number of languages, see Kingdom (of God / heaven).
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