Have You Ever Wondered?

The Lord’s Prayer is repeated in liturgical services worldwide. The text of the prayer is a synthesis of Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4. Three modifications have been made. Fifth Petition “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” The Greek word ὀφειλήματα (opheilēmata) occurs only in Matthew 6:12. and is literally translated as “debts”. It is clear from the following verses 14 and 15 in the Matthew version that “debts” was referring to sins – not financial obligations. The version in Luke 11:4 also makes it clear that debts refer to sins. In order to remove any confusion of “debts “meaning financial obligation, William Tyndale substituted the word “trespasses” in his 1529 English translation from the Greek. Sixth Petition “And lead us not into temptation,” The wording of the sixth petition has been the most problematic for theologians over the centuries. The Greek word εἰσενέγκῃς (eisenenkēs) occurs only in the two records of the Lord’s Prayer: Mt 6:9-13 and Luke 11: 2-24. In both cases the English translation is “lead”. The other cognates of the verb are translated “bring”. In either case, the strict translation of the Greek suggests that the believer is led into temptation by external force – not self-direction. But clearly, God would not intentionally lead a believer into “temptation” or “trial”. It was Satan – not God – who led Jesus into temptation (Mt 41-11; Mark 1:12-15; Luke 4:1-13). From a literal translation of the Greek, it is difficult to shift the meaning of the verb εἰσενέγκῃς (eisenenkēs) from an external force to internal responsibility. But surely, God “leading” or “bringing” a believer into “temptation” or “trial” is inconsistent with the character of God. As a result, non-literal translation has been inserted to say, “don’t let us yield to temptation,” (NLT) or “Do not let us fall into temptation.” (Spanish NIV). While there is no clear explanation for this apparent contradiction, it is possible that it was a translational error in the original Greek. It is thought that Jesus primarily spoke Aramaic rather than Greek. The gospel accounts, however, were written in Greek. Matthew was apparently written between 50 -70 AD and Luke between 60 -80 AD. This would mean an interval of 20 -60 years after Jesus delivered the prayer. Is it possible that the amanuenses who transcribed the gospels for Matthew and Luke were less fluent in Aramaic? That might account for the controversial selection of the Greek verb εἰσενέγκῃς (eisenenkēs). Terminal Doxology For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen. This doxology is not present in the original translations from the Greek. It was not uncommon to end liturgical services with a doxology, particularly in the Eastern Church. This particular doxology is a variation of the doxology present in the Didache (1st or 2nd Century AD). It likely was recited at the end of recitation of the Lord’s Prayer in the early church. The first addition of the doxology to the prayer in a printed Bible was probably the Tyndale Bible translations dating to 1529. It is present in some protestant Bible translations, but not in the most common Roman Catholic Bibles.