The Lord’s Prayer is certainly the best known prayer in Christianity. When asked how we should pray, Jesus himself taught it this way. We find the Lord’s Prayer twice in the Gospels: once in Matthew 6 and once in Luke 11. There are minor differences between the two versions. Here is the translation of the text in the Gospel of Matthew.
9 o toki e ni:
lipu pi toki pona pi jan Matajo 6,9-13
mama mi o! sina lon sewi. nimi sina o kama sewi.
10 nasin lawa sina o kama. wile sina o kama lon sewi. sama la ona o kama lon ma.
11 tenpo ni la o pana e pan wile mi tawa mi
12 o weka e wile pana mi sama ni: mi weka e wile pana tan jan ante.
13 o lawa ala e mi tawa utala insa. taso o weka e mi tan ike.
o toki e ni:
lipu pi(toki pona) pi(jan [ma:tawa.jo:])
mama mi o!
sina lon sewi
nimi sina o kama sewi
nasin lawa sina o kama
wile sina o kama lon sewi
sama la
zz zz ona o kama lon ma
tenpo ni la
zz zz o pana e pan wile mi tawa mi
o weka e wile pana sama ni
zz zz mi weka e wile pana tan jan ante
o lawa ala e mi tawa utala insa
taso o weka e mi tan ike
I noticed a few things. Please let me know if I am misinterpreting it. If so, someone probably needs to find a way to keep it from being misinterpreted in the future, especially since I want this project to succeed as much as many of you guys do, and if there’s a bunch of misinterpretation, then I doubt many people will take this projects seriously which would be kinda sad.
In this translation, “my sins” or “my debts” is translated as “wile pana mi” which to me translates as “my giving desires” or “my desires of giving” which sounds more like “a desire to give” than “sins” or “debts”. I am unable to think of a way this could translate to mean either of these. I do prefer the translation of “sin” rather than “debts” anyways due to the fact that this is more likely metaphorical than literally talking about god forgiving us for taking money from him.
The last sentence “taso o weka e mi tan ike” to me translates as “but, get rid of me because of evilness” which doesn’t correlate much at all to what most translations actually talk about. It’s reading too much into the English and forgets that yeah, technically “tan” means from, but it doesn’t mean English’s from as it usually means more like “because of” or “caused by” or “the reason”. The simplified English phrase really boils down to, “get rid of the evil that is in me” which I would translate as “taso, o weka e ike lon insa mi”
mi wile ala e ni: sina kama pilin ike tan nimi mi. mi wile pona taso. pona tawa sina a!
Thank you very much for your comment. We really appreciate it. You’re right that the translation leaves some room for interpretation. That’s typical for Toki Pona. We discussed the verses a lot while translating them. Especially with complex words, it’s important to consider the larger context of the biblical texts. For example, the ‘debts’ (φειλήματα) refer to the concept of sacrifice in the Jewish context (Yom Kippur gained great importance in the postexilic period) to restore communication with God. Our modern concept of ‘sin’ doesn’t quite capture this. So ‘debt’ doesn’t mean a bad deed, but rather what humans have to ‘give’ to God in sacrifice, because God has promised atonement in it. That’s why we chose wile pana: ‘remove our requirement to give’.
We are looking for people like you who are interested in exploring such questions in depth. You are cordially invited to join our project!
Hello, if you are asking for feedback, I must say that I agree with Lake.
“o weka e ike mi sama la mi weka e ike pi jan ante.” based on the grammar of (10) but safer is more classical “, o weka e ike mi li sama ni: mi weka e ike pi jan ante.”
“Emptying / getting rid” is shorter than “moving far” “weka e ike tan jan ante (pi pali ike (pi tawa mi)) ”
10 is understandable but how about “o kama lon sewi sama lon ma”?
Greetings. Pona tawa sina ale.
jan Pilo o!
Thank you for your comment!
Each verse is translated by at least three people: a translator, a proofreader, and a language specialist (in this case, Koiné Greek). Additionally, the process is overseen by a theological advisor. This ensures that the translations reflect the original meaning as accurately as possible. These translations can sometimes be surprising and may even differ from conventional translations in other languages. Fun fact: the discussion of verse 10 includes over 200 messages.
However, this doesn’t mean that there aren’t other ways to translate a verse. We warmly invite everyone to participate!