The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is typically translated in English as “joy” or “happiness” is translated in the HausaCommon Language Bible idiomatically as farin ciki or “white stomach.” In some cases, such as in Genesis 29:11, it is also added for emphatic purposes.
Other languages that use the same expression include Southern Birifor (pʋpɛl), Dera (popolok awo), Reshe (ɾipo ɾipuhã). (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
The Greek in the referenced verses that is translated as “pray” or “prayer” in English is translated in the German translation by Fridolin Stier (1989) as “(offer) supplications” (Flehrufe (abhalten) / flehen).
Following are a number of back-translations of Philippians 1:4:
Uma: “And every time I pray, my heart is always glad to pray for you all.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “And every time I pray to God for you, I am joyful/glad in my liver,” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And when I pray for you I am very happy,” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Because starting-from when you began to believe until now, you have been helping me in my work which is to make-known the good news. Therefore extreme is my happiness when I pray for you.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “It’s true, I am always mentioning you all in prayer, and every time I pray for you, my mind/inner-being is happy,” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “When I pray to God concerning you, I really rejoice.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
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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 choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).
This verse is sometimes regarded as parenthetical because Paul’s thanksgiving is not mentioned again until verse 5 (cf. Luther), but this conclusion is unnecessary, for the following reasons. First, there is no need to mention the object of thanksgiving in verse 5, since it is already implicit in the phrase “every time I think of you” (v. 3). Good News Translation makes the object explicit by supplying “for you,” thus “I thank my God for you every time I think of you.” Secondly, there is no evidence that verse 4 is a digression, since it connects rather naturally both with what precedes and with what follows. Both “thanksgiving” (v. 3) and “supplication” (v. 4; the word translated pray in Good News Translation) are essential components of prayer. Furthermore, verse 5 gives the reason for the “joy” mentioned in verse 4. Finally, the sense of “joy,” being the dominant tone in this letter (1.18, 25; 2.2, 17, 18, 28, 29; 3.1; 4.1, 4, 10), is not likely to be parenthetical in Paul’s thought.
The word translated pray (a noun in Greek) is not the usual word for prayer. Its essential component is “supplication” (American Standard Version [American Standard Version] “in every supplication of mine”). The supplication Paul continuously makes is for you all. One cannot fail to be impressed by the repeated use of “all,” “each,” or “every” in this letter, especially when the Philippian church is referred to (1.4, 7, 8, 25; 2.17; 4.21). The word seems to be related to Paul’s constant exhortations to unity (1.27; 2.1-4; 4.2, 3, 5, 7, 9). The repeated reference to all the members of the Philippian church is intended to remind them of the danger of divisions, which is the one negative element in Paul’s general feeling of satisfaction with respect to that group of believers. One should not conclude that the use of “all” is meaningless and may be left untranslated (cf. PhillipsNew American Bible).
In verse 3 the phrase for you must be understood in the sense of “because of you,” but in verse 4 for you all must be understood in the sense of “on behalf of you all.” I pray for you must be expressed in some instances as “I pray to God that he will help you” but in others it maybe sufficient simply to say “I speak to God about you.”
The semantic elements in the expression I pray with joy must be reversed in some languages, for example, “I am happy when I pray” or “I feel joy in my praying.” In some languages this joy may be expressed idiomatically as “my heart dances as I pray,” or “my abdomen is content as I talk with God.”
Quoted with permission from Luo, I-Jin. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Philippians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1977. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
In 1:3–4 Paul strongly emphasized that he was happy and thankful for the Philippians. In Greek emphasis could be shown by repetition, and in these verses Paul repeated the idea of “all” (every time, all my prayers, all of you, always) and the idea of “prayer.” Try to find a natural way to show this emphasis in your language.
In every prayer for all of you, I always pray with joy: Paul meant that whenever he prayed for the Philippians, he prayed for all of them with joy. The emphasis of the verse is on Paul’s joy. Make sure your translation does not imply that sometimes Paul only prayed for some of the Philippians and then he was not joyful. It may be necessary to make the meaning clear by saying something like:
Every time I pray for you, I ask God to help all of you and I always rejoice.
In every prayer: This is literally “in every prayer of mine.” It could be translated as “every time I pray.” It may indicate that Paul prayed for the Philippians at each of his set times of prayer.
prayer…pray: In Greek these are both the noun meaning “supplication.” It may be necessary to translate both of them with a verb meaning “to pray, beg, ask God for help.” Paul was asking God to help the Philippians. The word you use for prayer should include the concept of asking God for something.
Although the word for prayer occurs twice in the original Greek, in your language it may be unnatural to repeat the word. If that is the case, perhaps the same meaning can be obtained by using one verb or two synonyms (see Display).
with joy: This means “with happiness,” “joyfully” or “because I am happy.”
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
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