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 (Luke 22:44)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 22:44:

  • Noongar: “Jesus began to pain more greatly and he prayed much more earnestly. His sweat fell, dripping to the ground like blood.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “He exerted-great-effort praying, because he felt great suffering/sorrow. His sweat dripped to the ground like blood.]]” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Because his liver was very grieved, he prayed very hard, therefore his sweat was like blood dripping on the ground.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And at that time Jesus became very sorrowful and he prayed all the harder to God, and his sweat dropped out just like blood.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “And in this exceeding hardship of his, he persevered still-more to pray, and his sweat, it was like blood dripping to the soil.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “His inside was churning terribly. Therefore he prayed with great intensity (lit. using up all that was in his mind/inner-being). Pitter-pattering on the ground was his sweat which was dripping which had blood in with it now.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Italian (La Sua Parola è Vita): “In anguish he prayed even more intensely, sweat dripped copiously, as if it were blood from a wound.” (Cotrozzi 2019 explains: “Luke merely wants to highlight Jesus’ emotional strain ‘as so intense that he perspired profusely as a result. The sweat beads multiplied on his body like flowing clumps of blood and dropped to the earth.’”)

pronoun for "God"

God transcends gender, but most languages are limited to grammatical gender expressed in pronouns. In the case of English, this is traditionally confined to “he” (or in the forms “his,” “him,” and “himself”), “she” (and “her,” “hers,” and “herself”), and “it” (and “its” and “itself”).

Modern Mandarin Chinese, however, offers another possibility. Here, the third-person singular pronoun is always pronounced the same (tā), but it is written differently according to its gender (他 is “he,” 她 is “she,” and 它/牠 is “it” and their respective derivative forms). In each of these characters, the first (or upper) part defines the gender (man, woman, or thing/animal), while the second element gives the clue to its pronunciation.

In 1930, after a full century with dozens of Chinese translations, Bible translator Wang Yuande (王元德) coined a new “godly” pronoun: 祂. Chinese readers immediately knew how to pronounce it: tā. But they also recognized that the first part of that character, signifying something spiritual, clarified that each person of the Trinity has no gender aside from being God.

While the most important Protestant and Catholic Chinese versions respectively have opted not to use 祂, some Bible translations do and it is widely used in hymnals and other Christian materials. Among the translations that use 祂 to refer to “God” were early versions of Lü Zhenzhong’s (呂振中) version (New Testament: 1946, complete Bible: 1970). R.P. Kramers (in The Bible Translator 1956, p. 152ff. ) explains why later versions of Lü’s translation did not continue with this practice: “This new way of writing ‘He,’ however, has created a minor problem of its own: must this polite form be used whenever Jesus is referred to? Lü follows the rule that, wherever Jesus is referred to as a human being, the normal ta (他) is written; where he is referred to as divine, especially after the ascension, the reverential ta (祂) is used.”

In Kouya, Godié, Northern Grebo, Eastern Krahn, Western Krahn, and Guiberoua Béte, all languages of the Kru family in Western Africa, a different kind of systems of pronouns is used (click or tap here to read more):

In that system one kind of pronoun is used for humans (male and female alike) and one for natural elements, non-liquid masses, and some spiritual entities (one other is used for large animals and another one for miscellaneous items). While in these languages the pronoun for spiritual entities used to be employed when referring to God, this has changed into the use of the human pronoun.

Lynell Zogbo (in The Bible Translator 1989, p. 401ff. ) explains in the following way: “From informal discussions with young Christians especially, it would appear that, at least for some people, the experience and/or concepts of Christianity are affecting the choice of pronoun for God. Some people explain that God is no longer ‘far away,’ but is somehow tangible and personal. For these speakers God has shifted over into the human category.”

In Kouya, God (the Father) and Jesus are referred to with the human pronoun ɔ, whereas the Holy Spirit is referred to with a non-human pronoun. (Northern Grebo and Western Krahn make a similar distinction.)

Eddie Arthur, a former Kouya Bible translation consultant, says the following: “We tried to insist that this shouldn’t happen, but the Kouya team members were insistent that the human pronoun for the Spirit would not work.”

In Burmese, the pronoun ko taw (ကိုယ်တော်) is used either as 2nd person (you) or 3rd person (he, him, his) reference. “This term clearly has its root in the religious language in Burmese. No ordinary persons are addressed or known by this pronoun because it is reserved for Buddhist monks, famous religious teachers, and in the case of Christianity, the Trinity.” (Source: Gam Seng Shae in The Bible Translator 2002, p. 202ff. )

In Thai, the pronoun phra`ong (พระองค์) is used, a gender-neutral pronoun which must refer to a previously introduced royal or divine being. Similarly, in Northern Khmer, which is spoken in Thailand, “an honorific divine pronoun” is used for the pronoun referring to the persons of the Trinity (source: David Thomas in The Bible Translator 1993, p. 445 ). In Urak Lawoi’, another language spoken in Thailand, the translation often uses tuhat (ตูฮัด) — “God” — ”as a divine pronoun where Thai has phra’ong even though it’s actually a noun.” (Source for Thai and Urak Lawoi’: Stephen Pattemore)

The English “Contemporary Torah” addresses the question of God and gendered pronouns by mostly avoiding pronouns in the first five books of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (unless God is referred to as “lord,” “father,” “king,” or “warrior”). It does that by either using passive constructs (“He gave us” vs. “we were given”), by using the adjective “divine” or by using “God” rather than a pronoun.

Some Protestant and Orthodox English Bibles use a referential capitalized spelling when referring to the persons of the Trinity with “He,” “His,” “Him,” or “Himself.” This includes for instance the New American Standard Bible or The Orthodox New Testament, but most translations do not. Two other languages where this is also done (in most Bible translations) are the closely related Indonesian and Malay. In both languages this follows the language usage according to the Qur’an, which in turn predicts that usage (see Soesilo in The Bible Translator 1991, p. 442ff. and The Bible Translator 1997, p. 433ff. ).

See also first person pronoun referring to God.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Gender of God .

Translation: Chinese

在现代汉语中,第三人称单数代词的读音都是一样的(tā),但是写法并不一样,取决于性别以及是否有生命,即男性为“他”,女性为“她”,动物、植物和无生命事物为“它”(在香港和台湾的汉语使用,动物则为“牠”)。这些字的部首偏旁表明了性别(男人、女人、动物、无生命事物),而另一偏旁通常旁提示发音。

到1930年为止,基督教新教《圣经》经过整整一百年的翻译已经拥有了十几个译本,当时的一位圣经翻译者王元德新造了一个“神圣的”代词“祂”,偏旁“礻”表示神明。一般汉语读者会立即知道这字的发音是tā,而这个偏旁表示属灵的事物,因此他们明白这个字指出,三位一体的所有位格都没有性别之分,而单单是上帝。

然而,最重要的新教圣经译本(1919年的《和合本》)和天主教圣经译本(1968年的《思高圣经》)都没有采用“祂”;虽然如此,许多其他的圣经译本采用了这个字,另外还广泛出现在赞美诗和其他基督信仰的书刊中。(资料来源:Zetzsche)

《吕振中译本》的几个早期版本也使用“祂”来指称“上帝”;这个译本的《新约》于1946年译成,整部《圣经》于1970年完成。克拉默斯(Kramers)指出:“‘他’的这种新写法(即‘祂’)产生了一个小问题,就是在指称耶稣的时候,是否一律使用这个敬语代词?《吕振中译本》遵循的原则是,在称呼耶稣这个人的时候,用一般的‘他’,而在称呼耶稣神性的时候,特别是升天之后的耶稣,则用尊称‘祂’。”

Translator: Simon Wong

Honorary "rare" construct denoting God (“pray”)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, ino-rare-ru (祈られる) or “pray” is used.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Luke 22:44

Exegesis:

kai genomenos en agōnia ‘and becoming greatly distressed, or, anguished.’

agōnia ‘anxiety,’ ‘anguish,’ ‘distress.’

ektenesteron prosēucheto ‘he prayed more fervently.’

ektenōs ‘eagerly,’ ‘fervently.’

kai egeneto ho hidrōs autou hōsei thromboi haimatos ‘and his sweat became like drops of blood.’

hidrōs ‘sweat,’ ‘perspiration.’

thrombos ‘small amount of blood,’ ‘clot,’ here ‘drop.’

katabainontos epi tēn gēn lit. ‘going down to the ground,’ hence ‘falling on the ground,’ going with haimatos.

Translation:

Being in an agony, or, ‘in great anguish/distress,’ ‘his heart was oppressed’ (Uab Meto). The vehemence of the emotion may colour the rendering of the verb, cf. e.g. ‘broken with anguish’ (cf. Navajo). The phrase indicates cause, cf. ‘his agony made him pray’ (Sranan Tongo).

More earnestly, or, ‘even more intensely and seriously,’ i.e. than previously.

Falling down upon the ground, though grammatically going with ‘blood,’ may in translation often better be taken with ‘drops,’ and then be rendered, ‘trickled/dripped to the ground’ (Balinese).

Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Luke 22:44

22:44a

And: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as And is a common conjunction that is often translated as “and,” “but,” or “then.” In some languages it may be natural to indicate a contrast here. Even though the angel gave Jesus strength in 22:43, Jesus was still in great distress. In some languages a conjunction will not be needed. Connect 22:43 and 22:44 in a natural way in your language.

in His anguish: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as anguish refers here to the agony that Jesus felt as he thought about the terrible torment that he must endure. He knew that he would be punished for the sins of mankind. These thoughts caused him overwhelming grief. The suffering that he felt caused both mental and physical pain.

Some other ways to translate the phrase in His anguish are:

he felt great suffering/agony
-or-
in this exceeding hardship of his

In some languages there may be an idiom to describe this. For example:

his liver was very grieved
-or-
he was filled with anguish/grief

22:44b

He prayed more earnestly: This clause is a comparison. Jesus was already praying in 23:41–42. After the angel strengthened him in 22:43, he prayed more fervently and urgently. He put much strength, effort, and longing into his prayer. Some other ways to translate this clause are:

Jesus prayed even harder (New Century Version)
-or-
he prayed more intensely/fervently

In some languages it may be more natural to translate without using a comparison. For example:

He was praying very fervently (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
He prayed so urgently that

In some languages there may be an idiom to express this. For example:

He poured out his soul in prayer

prayed more earnestly: As 22:42 indicates, Jesus prayed to God, his Father. In some languages it is necessary to make this clear. For example:

spoke more earnestly ⌊to God
-or-
begged ⌊his father God⌋ more urgently
-or-
he prayed all the harder to God

22:44c

His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground: This clause is a simile. There are two ways to interpret it:

(1) It indicates that Jesus’ sweat was like blood falling to the ground. It implies that he was sweating so much that drops of sweat fell to the ground as blood does when a person is bleeding. For example:

…his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood. (New Living Translation (2004))

(Berean Standard Bible, New Living Translation (2004), Contemporary English Version, New Jerusalem Bible)

(2) It indicates that Jesus’ sweat became bloody. Some scholars believe that Jesus began to bleed and that blood mixed with his sweat and fell to the ground. For example:

…His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground. (New American Standard Bible)

(New American Standard Bible)

Most English versions are ambiguous. If it is natural in your language, you can translate it so that either interpretation may be understood. If you need to be specific, it is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).

drops of blood: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as drops occurs only here in the New Testament. It refers to very small amounts of a liquid. Blood or sweat often form drops and sit on the skin like little separate bits of liquid. In English these bits are called drops or “beads” (“beads of sweat”). Languages have different words to describe very small amounts of blood. Use a natural word in your language to describe this.

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