Biblical Root of the Word: Pray
by
Lewis Turner
If most of us were asked to define prayer, probably the majority would say ‘askingGod for something’. Unfortunately thatmay be the limit of our understanding of prayer
There is much more to prayer and the Hebrew language used in writing the Old Testamentin the Bible is a good place to go to teach us about prayer.
In the Bible, in the Old Testament, which was originally written in Hebrew, theword used for prayer is tephillah written תְּפִלָּה. It meansintercession, supplication; Inimplication - a hymn. Many of thePsalms in the Bible are actually prayers. A closer examination of the word tephillah we find the root word palalwritten written: פָּלַל. It means to judge; by extension to intercede,pray: entreat, judge(-ment), make pray(-er,-ing), make supplication. From these meanings, it is evident that arelationship exists that implies a relationship that has communication throughprayer.
Looking at the meaning of these two Hebrew words, the meaning of both words, tephillahand palal includes the definition: intercession and supplication.[1] From this it is clear that the concept ofintercession in prayer has been around for thousands of years. Perhaps our translation of it in recent yearshas not conveyed the full meaning of the word pray that we see in Hebrew. To pray includes intercessory prayer, it alsoincludes supplication.
To Christ, prayer in the Temple,Synagogue, or Church is very important and so much so that Christ quoted Is56:7 in Matt 21:13 telling us that “My house shall be called the house ofprayer.” Christ placed great importanceon prayer. Perhaps we should expand ourconcept of prayer to include the full Biblical meaning of prayer.
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