Shmayya means the sky, the heavens, the heights. The word is always plural in form, so the Qala says the heavens where most translations say heaven. In the Prayer it is followed closely by shma, name, and the two words sound alike.
| Form | Pattern | Script | Standard | Qala rendering |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| shmayya | plural/dual emphatic: the only form it takes | שמיא ܫܡܰܝܳܐ | sky, heaven | the heavens |
| dbashmayya | d- "who is" + b- "in" + shmayya | דבשמיא ܕ݁ܒ݂ܰܫܡܰܝܳܐ | who is in heaven | of the heavens (Matthew 6:9) |
| bashmayya | b- "in" + shmayya | בשמיא ܒ݁ܰܫܡܰܝܳܐ | in heaven | in the heavens (Matthew 6:20) |
| shma | separate noun, paired here by sound | שמא ܫܡܐ | name | name (bshemi: "in my name," Matthew 18:20) |
In the Gospels shmayya appears only as a noun, a fixed plural that takes prefixes such as b- (in), d- (of, who is), and l- (toward).
Look up at the sky for one full minute. Then say aloud the opening words of the Prayer, abun dbashmayya, our Father of the heavens.