complete verse (Colossians 4:2)

Following are a number of back-translations of Colossians 4:2:

  • Uma: “Be faithful [lit., remain] praying, don’t stop saying thank you to God.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “So-then about praying to God, you really ought to persevere in praying and your thoughts/minds ought to be just/simply wholehearted while you are praying. You ought/must also thank God when you pray.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “As for all of you, pray strongly and carefully guide your thinking when you pray and always give thanks to God for his kindness to you.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Persevere all of you in praying continually while also you are careful so that your thoughts don’t go-astray from what you are praying-about, and also thank God.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “This yet is more that I will say to you, be-persevering in prayer, and when you pray be thankful people. Think well what you are saying in your praying, not just doing-a-mediochre-job.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Endeavor to always pray to God. Never cease thanking God.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Colossians 4:2

For similar injunctions to be persistent in prayer see Rom 12.12, Eph 6.18, Phil 4.6, 1 Thes 5.17. Be persistent in prayer may be rendered as “continue to pray,” but more often than not a more satisfactory equivalent is “do not stop praying.”

Besides being persistent, they are to keep alert. It is difficult to know precisely what this means; it does not seem probable that it is meant literally, “keep awake” (Jerusalem Bible), but rather metaphorically, “with mind awake” as New English Bible puts it, or else, as Beare suggests, “being watchful against temptation.” Keep alert as you pray may possibly be expressed as “pay attention to what you are saying to God.”

Once more giving thanks to God is stressed as an integral part of all Christian prayer.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Colossians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1977. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .