Aramaic Word Study – Pray – Ba’ath בעית – Beth Ayin Yod Taw

Luke 22:31- 32: “And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: (32) But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.”  

Luke 22:31- 32: “And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: (32) But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.”  

This is Chapter 4 Jesus Prays For Us in my book on prayer which may be purchased on Amazon at: click link below

Palal: A Hebrew Teacher Explores Prayer: Bentorah, Chaim: 9781960024183: Amazon.com: Books

Jesus prayed for Peter. This verse has always bothered me. We are always praying to Jesus and in Jesus’s name yet

here is Jesus Himself who is praying on behalf of someone. Who is He praying to?  Is He not God? Is He praying to Himself?  Must we pray to Jesus who then relays our prayers to

God? Why did Jesus have to pray for Peter if He is God and He has all the authority and power of God. 

The answer is in that word that is rendered as prayer. In the Greek is it is the word edeethen from the root word deomai which means “I want you for myself.” In the previous verse Jesus declares to Peter that Satan desired to have him and in the next verse Jesus says: “I want you for myself.” That carries the idea of making a connection as discuss previously.  However, you can’t really translate it that way as the next phrase says “that your faith does not fail.”  I want you for myself that your faith does not fail does not seem to make much sense. 

In the Aramaic the word that is used is ba’ath which means to be frightened or excited. Ba’ath expresses an intense emotion.  I find it hard to believe Jesus was frightened for Peter. Jesus knew all things; He knew Peter would prevail. It would make more sense to say He was excited for Peter as he will see for himself that his faith will not fail. Yeah, it was going to be rough seas for Peter but it will only strengthen Him.  So, Jesus was saying; “Get ready Peter, rough roads ahead, but I am really excited to watch how this will play out when you come out on top. 

Then Jesus says a curious thing, “when you are converted.” The word converted in Greek is epistrepsas which means to return, turn from or repent.  Most modern translations say when you have turned back.  When he has turned back, he will strengthen his brethren. The Aramaic uses the word pani which is similar to the Greek but it a little clearer as to what Jesus is telling Peter. We have the same word in Hebrew and there pani means before, the face of or one’s presence. In Aramaic it has the idea of turning in the sense of being released or set free.  

What Jesus was telling Peter was that Satan desired to sift Peter like wheat, but Jesus said; “I want you, you’re mine but I am excited for you because this experience that will come to you will test you. It will only strengthen you so that you will be able to strengthen your brethren.” The word sift in Aramaic is na’ar which is to create a shaking to empty something out.  There was coming a shaking in Peter’s life by the enemy that would empty Peter of something. I am not sure what the enemy wanted to empty from Peter, but the end result was that he was emptied of all that trust in himself so that the world throughout the ages saw that his trust was in God alone.  It is interesting that in the Aramaic this is in a reflexive form so that the enemy was going to cause something to happen so that Peter would empty himself. I would guess this was the betrayal when Peter denied Jesus three times. Jesus was going to use this worst experience in Peter’s life to only strengthen his faith. This harkens back to the story of Job when the enemy appeared before God to accuse Job of serving God because God paid Him so well. The enemy was seeking permission to test Job. He could not touch Job without God’s permission just as he could not touch Peter without Jesus’ permission. So, the enemy was given permission as Jesus prayed for Peter. 

This brings me back to this idea of praying for Peter. Why did the text not use the Greek word for prayer which is proseuche? Pro has the idea of before or face to face and seuche expresses the will, a wish, desire or vow.   Instead, we have the word deomai which means “I want you for myself. Actually, deomai does express the idea of prayer because ultimately prayer is a joining together and Jesus was expressing to Peter that He wanted to be joined with Peter, but Satan was going to separate him from Jesus. 

The Aramaic uses the word pani which means to turn to and focus your attention upon. Is that also not an expression of prayer?  When Jesus said he prayed for Peter what He was saying was that he desired to be joined with Peter and have his focus directed to Him as He has directed His focus on Peter. If prayer has the idea of joining yourself or attaching yourself to someone, then yes, God also prays for us, He also joins or attaches Himself to us when we give Him permission to do so. He is ready, willing and longing to be joined with us, we just have to make the next move and pray or allow ourselves to be joined or attached to God. 

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