pray / prayer

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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:

  • “beg” or “ask,” (full expression: “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)
  • “cause God to know” (Huichol)
  • “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)
  • “speak to God” (Shilluk) (source: Nida 1964, p. 237)
  • “talk together with Great Above One (=God)” (Mairasi) (source: Enggavoter, 2004)
  • “call to one’s Father” (San Blas Kuna) (source: Claudio and Marvel Iglesias in The Bible Translator 1951, p. 85ff. )
  • “beg” (waan) (Ik). 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.

See also Nehemiah’s prayer (image).

complete verse (1 Peter 4:7)

Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Peter 4:7:

  • Uma: “The end of the world with all its contents has almost come. That is why you must be on the watch and make your hearts clear, so that you have-opportunity pray.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Soon the end of this world will come therefore watch out/be careful and cause your thoughts/minds to be good so that you can pray to God.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “The end of the world is not very far away. And because of that it is necessary that your thinking be correct. It is also necessary that you carefully see to your behaviour so that your praying to God might be proper.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “The ending-time of everything is near, so you should be reflective/thinking and limit (i.e. not do to excess) what you do so that your praying will be good.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “The end of the world is coming near. Therefore it’s necessary that you conduct-yourselves-properly and be self-controlled, so that you can persevere in your prayers.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Every day comes closer to the day that the earth will end. Therefore control your thoughts and understand well how to pray to God.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on 1 Peter 4:7

This verse starts with the Greek particle de (“but” or “and”), which has the dual function of marking a new section and of connecting this new section with the previous one. As already stated above, it is the mention of imminent judgment in verse 5 which leads to the affirmation in verse 7.

Most translations leave this Greek particle out, and signal the beginning of a new section by either the use of a section heading or by beginning a new paragraph.

The end of all things refers to the expected end of the world, which will be ushered in by the second coming of Jesus Christ. It is part of early Christian belief that on the day of Christ’s second coming, all human history will come to an end, the earth, together with everything in it, will pass away, and Jesus Christ will rule as the victorious and triumphant King (compare 1.5, 6; 4.13, 17; 5.1, 10). Furthermore, the early Christians believed that this event was near, which means that they expected it to happen in the very near future, perhaps the next day or the next month, but most surely during their own lifetime. The Greek word translated near is actually a perfect verb (literally “has drawn near”), and is the same word used in the preaching of Jesus about the Kingdom of God (compare Mark 1.15). Many translations capture this aspect of immediacy by their restructurings (for example, New English Bible “The end of all things is upon us”; Jerusalem Bible “Everything will soon come to an end”; Barclay “It will not be long now until the end of the world comes”).

It is quite impossible in a number of languages to translate literally The end of all things as a statement related to events, for a literal rendering would simply mean a particular end of all objects. What is involved is a reference to the end of all that is happening, so that The end of all things is near must be rendered in some languages as “all that is now happening will soon come to an end” or “… will cease” or “… will happen no longer.”

It is perhaps important to note that Peter, in contrast with the apocalyptic sections of the Gospels (for example, Mark 13 and parallels; compare 1 Thes 4.15-18), simply states the belief in the imminent end of the world, without mentioning any accompanying signs. However, in conformity with other passages pertaining to this eschatological event, Peter draws out the ethical implications of such a belief, particularly in terms of proper Christian attitude and behavior (compare Matt 24.45–25.13; Mark 13.33-37; Rom 13.11-14; etc.). So he advised them, first of all, to be self-controlled and alert. (For alert, see 1.13.) The two verbs are close synonyms, with the first one (Greek sophroneō “to keep one’s head”) referring to the control of one’s mental faculties (compare Revised Standard Version “keep sane”), and the second (Greek nephō) putting emphasis on sobriety (Jerusalem Bible “a sober mind”) and watchfulness (compare Knox “keep your senses awake”). But the two verbs together denote complete control of oneself, resulting in calmness, sobriety, self-control, sensibleness, steadiness.

In some languages it may be possible to translate You must be self-controlled as literally “you must control yourselves,” but normally You must be self-controlled is expressed in more figurative language, “you must be in command of what you do” or “you must not let your thoughts go in every direction” or “you must not let your heart wander away.” Similarly, alert may be rendered as “always ready” or “be constantly watchful in your hearts” or “keeping your mind awake.”

To be able to pray translates a prepositional phrase (literally “into prayer”) connected with either alert, or more probably with both the preceding imperatives. The preposition “into” may be interpreted as temporal, in which case Peter is saying that they should be self-controlled and alert when they pray, or during their prayers (compare Revised Standard Version “keep sane and sober for your prayers”; Knox “keep your senses awake to greet the hours of prayer”). More probably, however, it expresses purpose, in which case Peter is saying that the purpose of their possessing self-control and sobriety is so that they will be able to pray better.

If one interprets the Greek phrase literally “into prayer” as expressing purpose, it may be necessary to expand somewhat the implications of the rendering to be able to pray. What Peter is trying to say is that one should be self-controlled and alert in order to be able to pray properly, and therefore one may translate to be able to pray as “in order to be able to pray as you should.”

Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The First Letter from Peter. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .