Matthew 6:7

Coverdale Bible (1535)

And when ye praye, bable not moch, as ye Hethen do: for they thinke that they shalbe herde, for their moch bablynges sake.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

Προσευχόμενοι δὲ, μὴ βαττολογήσητε, ὥσπερ οἱ ἐθνικοί: δοκοῦσιν γὰρ ὅτι ἐν τῇ πολυλογίᾳ αὐτῶν εἰσακουσθήσονται.

Transliteration

Proseuchomenoi de, mē battologēsēte, hōsper the ethnikoi: dokousin gar hoti in the polylogia of them eisakousthēsontai.

Grammar Details

• *Proseuchomenoi de*: present middle participle, nominative, masculine, plural + contrastive particle - but praying
• *mē battologēsēte*: negative particle + aorist subjunctive, 2nd plural - do not use vain repetitions
• *hōsper*: comparative adverb - just as/like
• *ethnikoi*: nominative, masculine, plural - Gentiles/pagans/heathens
• *dokousin gar hoti*: present active indicative, 3rd plural + causal conjunction + declarative conjunction - for they think that
• *polylogia*: dative, feminine, singular - much speaking/wordiness
• *eisakousthēsontai*: future passive indicative, 3rd plural - they will be heard/listened to

Word Meanings

• *Proseuchomenoi*: praying/when praying/as you pray
• *battologēsēte*: use vain repetitions/babble/speak meaninglessly
• *ethnikoi*: Gentiles/pagans/non-Jews/heathens
• *dokousin*: think/suppose/believe
• *polylogia*: much speaking/wordiness/verbosity
• *eisakousthēsontai*: will be heard/will be listened to/will have their request granted

Referenced Verses

• Eccl 5:2-3 : 2 Be not hastie with thy mouth, & let not thine hert speake eny thige rashly before God. For God is in heauen, & thou vpon earth, therfore let thy wordes be fewe. 3 For where moch carefulnesse is, there are many dreames: & where many wordes are, there men maye heare fooles.
• Eccl 5:7 : 7 And why? where as are many dreames & many wordes, there are also dyuerse vanities: but loke yt thou feare God.
• 1 Kgs 18:26-29 : 26 And they toke the bullock which he gaue them, & prepared it, & called vpon the name of Baal from the mornynge vntyll the noone daye, and sayde: O Baal heare vs. But there was nether voyce ner answere. And they hopped aboute the altare, as their vse was to do. 27 Now whan it was noone daye, Elias mocked them, and sayde: Crye loude. For he is a god, peradueture he is musynge, or hath somwhat to do, or is gone some iourneye, or happlye he slepeth, so that he wolde be waked vp. 28 And they cried loude, and prouoked the selues with knyues & botkens, (as their maner was) tyll ye bloude folowed. 29 But whan ye noone daye was past, they prophecied vntyll the tyme that the meatofferynge shulde be offered, & there was nether voyce ner answere, ner one to regarde them.
• Matt 26:44 : 44 And he left them, and wente forth agayne, and prayed the thirde tyme, sayenge the same wordes.
• 1 Kgs 8:26-54 : 26 Now thou God of Israel, let yi worde be verified, which thou hast promysed vnto my father Dauid thy seruaunt. 27 For thynkest thou yt God dwelleth vpon earth? Beholde, the heauens and the heauens of all heauens maye not contayne the: how shulde then this house do it, that I haue buylded? 28 But turne the vnto the prayer of thy seruaunt, and to his supplicacion (O LORDE my God) that thou mayest heare the thankesgeuynge and prayer, which thy seruaunt maketh before the this daye, 29 so that thine eyes be open ouer this house night and daye, euen ouer this place (wherof thou saydest: My name shall dwell there.) That thou mayest heare the prayer which thy seruaut maketh in this place, 30 & heare the intercession of yi seruaunt & of thy people of Israel, which they shall make here in this place of thy habitacion in heauen: and whan thou hearest it, be gracious. 31 Whan eny ma synneth agaynst his neghboure, and taketh vpon him an ooth wherwith he byndeth him selfe, and ye ooth commeth before thine altare in this house, 32 then heare thou in heaue, and se that thy seruauntes haue right, to condemne the vngodly, and to brynge his waye vpon his owne heade, and to iustifie the righteous, to geue him acordinge to his righteousnes. 33 Whan thy people of Israel is smytten before their enemies (whyle they haue synned agaynst the) and yf they turne vnto the and knowlege thy name, & make their prayer and intercession vnto the in this house, 34 the heare thou them in heauen, and be mercifull vnto the synne of thy people of Israel, and brynge them agayne into the londe, yt thou hast geuen vnto their fathers. 35 Whan the heauen is shut vp, so yt it rayneth not (for so moch, as they haue synned agaynst the) and yf they make their prayer in this place, and knowlege thy name, and turne from their synnes wha thou troublest them, 36 heare thou them then in heauen, and be mercifull vnto the synnes of thy seruauntes, and of thy people of Israel, that thou mayest shewe them the good waye, wherin they shulde walke, and let it rayne vpon the londe that thou hast geuen thy people to inheritaunce. 37 Whan a derth, or pestilence, or drouth, or burnynge, or greshopper or catirpiller, is in their londe, or whan his enemye layeth sege to his portes in the londe, or whan eny other plage or disease happeneth, 38 who so euer then maketh his prayer and peticion, whether it be eny other men or thy people of Israel (which the are aware of their plage) euery one in his hert, and spredeth out his handes vnto this house: 39 Heare thou then in heauen in the seate where thou dwellest, and be mercifull, & se that thou geue euery one acordinge as he hath walked, like as thou knowest his hert (for thou onely knowest the hert of all the children of men) 40 that they maye allwaye feare the, as longe as they lyue in the lande, which thou hast geuen vnto oure fathers. 41 And whan eny straunger, that is not of thy people of Israel, commeth out of a farre countre for thy names sake 42 (for they shall heare of thy greate name, and of thy mightie hade, and of thy outstretched arme) and commeth to make his prayer in this house, 43 heare thou him then in heauen, euen in the seate of thy dwellynge, and do all for the which that straunger calleth vpon the, that all the nacions vpon earth maye knowe thy name, and that they maye feare the, as thy people of Israel do: and that they maye knowe, how that this house which I haue buylded, is named after thy name. 44 Whan thy people go forth to the battayll agaynst their enemyes, the waye that thou shalt sende them and shall praye vnto the LORDE towarde the waye of the cite which thou hast chosen, and towarde the house that I haue buylded vnto thy name, 45 heare thou then their prayer and peticion in heauen, and execute iudgment for them. 46 Whan they synne agaynst the (for there is no ma that synneth not) & thou be wroth, and delyuer the vnto their enemyes, so that they cary them awaye captyue in to the enemyes londe farre or nye, 47 and yf they remembre them selues in the londe where they are captyue, and turne, and make their intercession vnto the in the londe of their captyuite, and saye: We haue synned, & done amysse, and haue bene vngodly, 48 and so turne vnto ye with all their hert, and with all their soule in the lode of their enemies (which led them awaye captyue) and make their prayer vnto the towarde the waye of their londe, that thou hast geuen vnto their fathers, euen towarde the cite which thou hast chosen, and towarde the house that I haue buylded vnto thy name: 49 then heare thou their prayer and supplicacion in heauen, from the seate of thy dwellynge, and execute iudgment for them, 50 and be mercifull vnto thy people that haue synned agaynst the, and vnto all their trespaces, wherwith they haue transgressed agaynst the, and graunte the mercy in the sighte of them which led them awaye presonners, that their enemyes maye be mercyfull vnto them: 51 for they are thy people, and thyne enheritaunce, whom thou broughtest out of Egipte, from the yron fornace: 52 that thine eyes maye be open vnto the peticion of thy seruaunt, and of thy people of Israel, that thou maiest heare them in all thinges for the which they shall call vpon the 53 (for thou O LORDELORDE) hast sundered them out to be an inheritaunce vnto thy selfe, from amoge all the nacions vpon earth, acordinge as thou saydest by Moses thy seruaunt, whan thou broughtest oure fathers out of Egipte. 54 And wha Salomon had ended all this prayer and peticion before the LORDE, he rose vp from the altare of the LORDE, and lefte of from knelynge and holdynge out of handes towarde heauen,
• Matt 26:39 : 39 And he wente forth a litle, and fell flat vpon his face, and prayed sayenge: O my father, yf it be possible, let this cuppe passe fro me: neuertheles not as I wil but as thou wilt.
• Matt 26:42 : 42 Agayne, he wete forth the seconde tyme and prayed, sayenge: O my father, yf this cuppe can not passe awaye fro me (excepte I drynke of it) thy will be fulfilled.
• Dan 9:18-19 : 18 O my God, enclyne thine eare, and herken (at the leest for thine owne sake) open thine eyes: beholde how we be desolated, yee and the cite also, which is called after thy name: For we do not cast oure prayers before the in oure owne rightuousnesse, no: but only in thy greate mercies. 19 O LORDE, heare: O forgeue LORDE: O LORDE considre, tary not ouer longe: but for thine owne sake do it, O my God: for thy cite and thy people is called after thy name.
• Matt 6:32 : 32 After all soch thynges do the heithen seke. For youre heauenly father knoweth, that ye haue nede of all these thynges.
• Matt 18:17 : 17 Yf he heare not them, tell it vnto the congregacion. Yf he heare not the cogregacion, holde him as an Heithen and Publican.
• Acts 19:34 : 34 But whan they knewe that he was a Iewe, there arose a shoute of all, and cried the space of two houres: Greate is Diana of the Ephesians.