Preface.

...but [that one] must not pray in a false, hypocritical, insincere, or undevout manner like a heathen Original: Heide. Neumann uses this term to refer to non-Christians or pagans of the biblical era, specifically those whose prayer rituals were perceived as mechanical.; they already believed that previously as Jews Original: Juden.. Or, if Christ Original: Christus. had indeed wanted to speak of such faults in prayer, he would perhaps, according to his custom, have preferred to say "like the Pharisees" Original: Phariseer. and not "like the heathens." For the hypocritical Pharisees A Jewish sect during the time of Jesus, often criticized in the New Testament for outward displays of piety., who were always boasting with useless long prayers Original: Gebethen., would have provided him with enough examples so that he would not have needed to look for another far away among the heathens.

It is, therefore, something else entirely, and something specific to the heathens, of which he now speaks. Namely, their babbling Original Greek: βαττολογεῖν (battologein). This term refers to speaking in a repetitive, stammering, or empty-headed way, often linked to the idea of "beating around the bush" with many words.. He explicitly mentions this by name. I must therefore, in this discourse, not allow my thoughts to focus on anything else. But babbling much Original: viel plappern., as it is written in the Bible, does not mean to pray without devotion Original: Andacht. or from a false, deceitful, hypocritical, or otherwise evil heart; rather, it only means a