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OET (OET-LV) But you whenever you_may_be_praying, come_in into the private_room of_you and having_shut the door of_you, pray to_the father of_you, who is in the secret, and the father of_you, the one seeing in the secret, will_be_giving_back to_you.
OET (OET-RV) Instead, when you pray, go into a private room and shut the door, then pray to your father who’s not visible to you. Then your father who sees everything will reward you.
For many years, English versions and Christians have commonly referred to Matthew 5–7 as “The Sermon on the Mount.” In some translations, it may be helpful to include a heading for chapters 5–7 that is on a level above the section heading for 5:1–12.
Here are some other possible headings for this section:
The Sermon on the Mountain
The sermon that Jesus preached on a mountain
Jesus taught people on the side of a mountain/hill
In these verses, Jesus taught his disciples the manner in which they should pray. They should not pray in a way that people will see them (6:5–6). Rather, they should pray in a private place by themselves. They also should not make their prayers long by repeating the same words over and over (6:7–8).
But when you pray, go into your inner room, shut your door,
But as for you(sing), whenever you pray to God, go into your inner/private room alone, close the door,
But you, when you(plur) talk with God, go to a place where you are alone.
But when you pray: There is a contrast here. The contrast is between the public way that the hypocrites pray (in 6:5) and the private way that Jesus wants his followers to pray (in 6:6). Some English versions indicate this contrast with the word But. In addition, the word you is emphasized in Greek.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
But you, when you pray
However, you, when you pray
As for you, when you pray
you: In Greek, the pronoun you is singular. However, it refers to each person individually. In some languages, it will be more natural to use the plural form of you.
go into your inner room, shut your door: The Greek word that the BSB translates as room refers to an inner room. In other words, it is a room within a house. This refers to a private place. It is implied that the person is alone in the room. For example:
go into a room alone (CEV)
If those meanings will not be clear to people in your area, you may want to include some implied information. For example:
go into your private/inner room alone and close the door
If houses in your area do not have inside rooms, you may want to use a general expression for being alone. For example:
go into your house alone
go to where you can be alone
go to a place where there are no other people
and pray to your Father, who is unseen.
and pray to your Father who is in that secret place.
Then talk with God your Father. He is there in that secret/hidden place.
Pray to him there. God your Father is there in that place where no one can see you.
and pray to your Father, who is unseen: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as who is unseen is more literally “the one in the secret.” There are several ways to interpret this Greek phrase. The three main interpretations are:
It refers to God’s omnipresence. According to this interpretation, the focus is on God’s presence in that secret place. Jesus instructed his followers to pray in a room where no one can see them. Only God is there, and he can see them. For example:
pray to your Father who is in that secret place (NJB) (NJB, GW, and probably RSV, ESV, NASB, KJV, REB)
It refers to praying privately. According to this interpretation, the phrase is adverbial and goes with pray. Jesus said that his followers should not pray in public. Rather, they should pray in private. For example:
Pray to your Father in private. (CEV) (NET, CEV, NLT, JBP)
It refers to God’s invisibility. According to this interpretation, the focus is on the fact that no one can see God, but he can see them. For example:
pray to your Father, who is unseen (GNT) (BSB, NIV, GNT, NCV)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).
Be careful not to translate this phrase in a way that implies that there are two fathers: one who is in the secret place, and one who is somewhere else. In some languages it is more natural to translate this in two sentences. For example:
Pray to God your Father. He is there in that secret/hidden place.
Your heavenly Father is there where no one can see you. Pray to him there.
And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Then God your Father, who sees all that is done in secret/private, will reward you(sing).
He sees what you do when no one is watching. He will honor/exalt you(sing).
And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you: This clause is exactly the same as the clause in 6:4b. Translate it here as you did there.
Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-logic-contrast
σὺ δὲ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: σύ Δέ ὅταν προσεύχῃ εἴσελθε εἰς τό ταμεῖον σοῦ καί κλείσας τήν θύραν σοῦ πρόσευξαι τῷ Πατρί σοῦ τῷ ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ καί ὁ Πατήρ σοῦ ὁ βλέπων ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ ἀποδώσει σοί)
Here, the phrase But you introduces what Jesus wants each of his disciples to do in contrast to what the “hypocrites” do, which he described in the previous verse ([6:5](../06/05.md)). If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a word or phrase that introduces this kind of contrast. Alternate translation: [As for you, however]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / youcrowd
σὺ & εἴσελθε & σου & σου, πρόσευξαι & σου & σου & σοι
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: σύ Δέ ὅταν προσεύχῃ εἴσελθε εἰς τό ταμεῖον σοῦ καί κλείσας τήν θύραν σοῦ πρόσευξαι τῷ Πατρί σοῦ τῷ ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ καί ὁ Πατήρ σοῦ ὁ βλέπων ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ ἀποδώσει σοί)
Even though Jesus is speaking to many disciples, he is addressing an individual situation, so you and your are singular throughout this verse. But if the singular form would not be natural in your language for someone who was speaking to a group of people, you could use the plural forms of you and your in your translation.
Note 3 topic: translate-unknown
τὸ ταμεῖόν σου
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: σύ Δέ ὅταν προσεύχῃ εἴσελθε εἰς τό ταμεῖον σοῦ καί κλείσας τήν θύραν σοῦ πρόσευξαι τῷ Πατρί σοῦ τῷ ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ καί ὁ Πατήρ σοῦ ὁ βλέπων ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ ἀποδώσει σοί)
The inner chamber was a small, private room in a house. It could be a bedroom or a storage room. If your readers would not be familiar with this type of room, you could use the name of something similar in your area or you could use a more general term. Alternate translation: [your private area] or [your own room]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
τῷ Πατρί σου & ὁ Πατήρ σου
˱to˲_the Father who_‹is› ¬the ¬the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: σύ Δέ ὅταν προσεύχῃ εἴσελθε εἰς τό ταμεῖον σοῦ καί κλείσας τήν θύραν σοῦ πρόσευξαι τῷ Πατρί σοῦ τῷ ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ καί ὁ Πατήρ σοῦ ὁ βλέπων ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ ἀποδώσει σοί)
This is a figurative expression. God is not the Father of humans in the same actual way that he is the Father of Jesus. Even so, it would probably be best to translate Father with the same word that your language would naturally use to refer to a human father. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could indicate that this means God. Alternate translation: [to God, who is your Father, … God, who is your Father,]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
τῷ Πατρί σου τῷ ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ
˱to˲_the Father who_‹is› ¬the ¬the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: σύ Δέ ὅταν προσεύχῃ εἴσελθε εἰς τό ταμεῖον σοῦ καί κλείσας τήν θύραν σοῦ πρόσευξαι τῷ Πατρί σοῦ τῷ ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ καί ὁ Πατήρ σοῦ ὁ βλέπων ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ ἀποδώσει σοί)
Here, the phrase your Father in secret could mean that: (1) the Father is present even when a person prays in secret. Alternate translation: [to your Father who is with you in secret] (2) the Father himself is in secret, which means that no one can see or observe him. Alternate translation: [to your Father, whom no one can see] (3) the disciple should pray in secret. Alternate translation: [in secret to your Father]
Note 6 topic: translate-textvariants
ἀποδώσει σοι
˓will_be˒_giving_back (Some words not found in SR-GNT: σύ Δέ ὅταν προσεύχῃ εἴσελθε εἰς τό ταμεῖον σοῦ καί κλείσας τήν θύραν σοῦ πρόσευξαι τῷ Πατρί σοῦ τῷ ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ καί ὁ Πατήρ σοῦ ὁ βλέπων ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ ἀποδώσει σοί)
Many ancient manuscripts read will reward you. The ULT follows that reading. Other ancient manuscripts read “will reward you in the open.” If a translation of the Bible exists in your region, you may wish to use the reading that it uses. If a translation of the Bible does not exist in your region, you may wish to use the reading of the ULT.
6:6 go away by yourself: Jesus is not prohibiting corporate prayer (see 18:19-20; Luke 11:2-4) but is instructing his followers to avoid using prayer as a means of drawing attention to themselves.
OET (OET-LV) But you whenever you_may_be_praying, come_in into the private_room of_you and having_shut the door of_you, pray to_the father of_you, who is in the secret, and the father of_you, the one seeing in the secret, will_be_giving_back to_you.
OET (OET-RV) Instead, when you pray, go into a private room and shut the door, then pray to your father who’s not visible to you. Then your father who sees everything will reward you.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.
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