to plead urgently with God, and (of God) to be moved by that pleading and grant it
TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintySettled
This is a verb about urgent, persistent prayer, the kind of pleading a person presses on God when something matters deeply. Isaac pleads for his childless wife, Moses pleads for Pharaoh to be freed from the plagues, Manoah pleads to know how to raise his promised son. It is heavier and more pressing than simply asking.
What sets the word apart is that it works in two directions. In its active forms a person entreats God; in its passive form God "lets himself be entreated," meaning he is moved by the pleading and grants it. Genesis 25:21 turns on this pairing in a single sentence: Isaac entreated the LORD for his wife, and the LORD was entreated of him, and she conceived. The plea and its answer are told with the very same word.
Hebrew has a broader, more general word for praying and interceding in פלל; this one is narrower, fixed on the act of pressing a request and on whether that request is heard.
Nuances
1ato plead earnestly with God; to entreat him, often on someone else's behalf
keeps the focus on pressing a request to God and expecting him to actExo 8:9Job 22:27
Both
both name an urgent, heartfelt asking rather than a routine requestJdg 13:8
Only plead
"plead" can suggest a courtroom or a note of desperation that the Hebrew does not require
“pray”
Comparison data is not available for this English gloss yet.
“make supplication”
Comparison data is not available for this English gloss yet.
How atar differs from similar Hebrew words
פללthe general Hebrew word for praying and interceding, often as one who mediates; this word is narrower, the urgent pressing of a request and whether it is heard.
presses God to lift a specific affliction that has already struck, asking that a present calamity be taken awayExo 8:8Exo 8:28Exo 9:28Exo 10:17
carries the answer inside the word itself: it names God being moved to grant the plea, so the request and its granting are bound togetherGen 25:212Sa 21:142Sa 24:25
Both
both name appealing to God for relief and God answering: in Manasseh's captivity one word describes his praying and the other God being moved to hear2Ch 33:13
Names the giving of grace and favor itself, not only the asking: one party freely shows undeserved kindness to another, and God declares he bestows favor on whom he chooses.Exo 33:19Gen 33:5Num 6:25
As a plea it asks for mercy on someone who is in distress or guilt, the cry "have mercy on me" rather than a request for a specific outcome.Psa 51:1Psa 6:2Psa 25:16
atar in the other biblical languages
δέομαιGreek“to pray”the Greek verb for earnest petition and entreaty, the closest counterpart; it too covers urgent asking, though without this word's built-in note that the plea was granted.
turns around to describe God's answer with the very same verb: the one who prayed is heard, and God is said to be moved by the plea and to grant it.Gen 25:212Sa 24:252Ch 33:13Isa 19:22
is the standard word for pleading with God to lift a judgment already fallen, as when Pharaoh keeps begging Moses to ask the LORD to take the plague away.Exo 8:8Exo 8:28Exo 8:30
Both
both are earnest prayer to God asking him to grant one specific need: Isaac pleads for his childless wife, and the disciples are told to ask the Lord of the harvest for workers.Gen 25:21Mat 9:38
both can intercede, pleading with God on someone else's behalf: Moses prays for Pharaoh, and Simon asks Peter to pray to the Lord for him.Exo 8:30Act 8:24
is spoken to people as readily as to God: a plain "I beg you" addressed to a ruler, a court, or a whole congregation to win their agreement.Act 21:39Act 26:3Gal 4:12
is the desperate cry of someone in trouble, begging for rescue or relief in the middle of a personal crisis.Luk 5:12Luk 8:28Luk 9:38
προσεύχομαιGreek“to pray”the ordinary Greek verb for prayer in general; this Hebrew word is more specific, the urgent pleading that presses for an answer.
The word for pressing entreaty aimed at lifting a specific distress, above all pleading with God to remove a plague or judgment: Moses entreats the LORD to take away the frogs, the swarms, the hail, the locusts.Exo 8:9Exo 8:29Exo 9:28Exo 10:18
It uniquely turns around to say God "was entreated": he is prevailed upon and grants the plea, so the word carries the answer and not only the asking.Gen 25:212Sa 21:142Ch 33:13Ezr 8:23
Both
Both name earnest prayer made to God on behalf of others, one person interceding so that others are helped.Exo 8:30Act 8:15
Both are their language's ordinary verb for turning to God in prayer that he hears and answers, and each is regularly rendered "pray" in English Bibles.Gen 25:21Luk 11:1
The broad, general New Testament word for prayer of every kind, not tied to a crisis or a single request: the model prayer Jesus taught, blessing on enemies, and withdrawing alone to commune with God.Mat 6:9Mat 5:44Luk 5:16
It names Jesus praying in Gethsemane, wrestling to submit his will to the Father's, so the word reaches beyond asking for an outcome to the whole relationship of a person pouring out his heart to God.Mat 26:39Luk 22:41Mrk 1:35
It is urged as a settled, ongoing practice for believers: pray at all times and do not lose heart, pray in secret to the Father.Luk 18:1Mat 6:6
What scholars say about atar
The verb is attested in the qal and hiphil for the human act of entreaty and in the niphal for God's being entreated (allowing himself to be prevailed upon and granting the request), a reciprocal active/passive pairing displayed in the wordplay of Genesis 25:21. HALOT, BDB, and DCH agree on the core sense "pray, entreat, plead," with the niphal as tolerative/passive ("be entreated, yield to entreaty"). The etymology is uncertain: proposals include a connection with Arabic roots and, more speculatively, with terminology for sacrificial smoke or fragrance, and the prayer verb is generally kept distinct from the homonym meaning "to be abundant / superabundant" (cf. the arrogance of words in Ezekiel 35:13). The uncertainty is etymological, not semantic; the meaning is not in doubt.