The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central
Christian prayer
Christian prayer is an important activity in Christianity, and there are several different forms used for this practice.
Christian prayers are diverse: they can be completely spontaneous, or read entirely from a text, such as from a breviary, ...
which
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the
gospels
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
: a longer form within the
Sermon on the Mount
The Sermon on the Mount (anglicized from the Matthean Vulgate Latin section title: ) is a collection of sayings attributed to Jesus of Nazareth found in the Gospel of Matthew (chapters 5, 6, and 7). that emphasizes his moral teachings. It is ...
in the
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel of Matthew), or simply Matthew. It is most commonly abbreviated as "Matt." is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people and for ...
, and a shorter form in the
Gospel of Luke
The Gospel of Luke), or simply Luke (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). tells of the origins, birth, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. Together with the Acts of the Apostles, it makes up a two-volu ...
when "one of his disciples said to him, 'Lord, teach us to pray, as
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second ...
taught his disciples. Regarding the presence of the two versions, some have suggested that both were original, the Matthean version spoken by Jesus early in his ministry in
Galilee
Galilee (; he, הַגָּלִיל, hagGālīl; ar, الجليل, al-jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and Lower Galil ...
, and the Lucan version one year later, "very likely in
Judea
Judea or Judaea ( or ; from he, יהודה, Hebrew language#Modern Hebrew, Standard ''Yəhūda'', Tiberian vocalization, Tiberian ''Yehūḏā''; el, Ἰουδαία, ; la, Iūdaea) is an ancient, historic, Biblical Hebrew, contemporaneous L ...
".
The first three of the seven petitions in Matthew address God; the other four are related to human needs and concerns. Matthew's account alone includes the "Your will be done" and the "Rescue us from the evil one" (or "Deliver us from evil") petitions. Both original
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
texts contain the adjective ''
epiousios
() is a Greek adjective used in the Lord's Prayer verse "" ('Give us today our bread'). Because the word is used nowhere else, its meaning is unclear. It is traditionally translated as "daily", but most modern scholars reject that interpretat ...
'', which does not appear in any other classical or
Koine Greek
Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...
literature; while controversial, "daily" has been the most common English-language translation of this word.
Initial words on the topic from the ''
Catechism of the Catholic Church
The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' ( la, Catechismus Catholicae Ecclesiae; commonly called the ''Catechism'' or the ''CCC'') is a catechism promulgated for the Catholic Church by Pope John Paul II in 1992. It aims to summarize, in book for ...
'' teach that it "is truly the summary of the whole gospel". The prayer is used by most Christian denominations in their
worship
Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. It may involve one or more of activities such as veneration, adoration, praise, and praying. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recognition ...
; with few exceptions, the
liturgical
Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...
form is the Matthean.
Protestants
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
usually conclude the prayer with a
doxology
A doxology (Ancient Greek: ''doxologia'', from , ''doxa'' 'glory' and -, -''logia'' 'saying') is a short hymn of praises to God in various forms of Christian worship, often added to the end of canticles, psalms, and hymns. The tradition derives ...
(in some versions, "For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever, Amen"), a later addition appearing in some
manuscripts
A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in ...
of Matthew. Although theological differences and various modes of worship divide Christians, according to
Fuller Seminary
Fuller Theological Seminary is an interdenominational Evangelical Christian seminary in Pasadena, California, with regional campuses in the western United States. It is egalitarian in nature.
Fuller consistently has a student body that compri ...
professor Clayton Schmit, "there is a sense of solidarity in knowing that Christians around the globe are praying together ... and these words always unite us."
Texts
New Revised Standard Version
Relationship between the Matthaean and Lucan texts
In
biblical criticism
Biblical criticism is the use of critical analysis to understand and explain the Bible. During the eighteenth century, when it began as ''historical-biblical criticism,'' it was based on two distinguishing characteristics: (1) the concern to ...
, the absence of the Lord's Prayer in the
Gospel of Mark
The Gospel of Mark), or simply Mark (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). is the second of the four canonical gospels and of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells of the ministry of Jesus from his baptism by John the Baptist to h ...
, together with its occurrence in Matthew and Luke, has caused scholars who accept the
two-source hypothesis
The two-source hypothesis (or 2SH) is an explanation for the synoptic problem, the pattern of similarities and differences between the three Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. It posits that the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke were bas ...
logion
The term ''logia'' ( el, λόγια), plural of ''logion'' ( el, λόγιον), is used variously in ancient writings and modern scholarship in reference to communications of divine origin. In pagan contexts, the principal meaning was " oracles", ...
'' original to the
Q source
The Q source (also called Q document(s), Q Gospel, or Q; from german: Quelle, meaning "source") is a hypothetical written collection of primarily Jesus' sayings (λόγια : ). Q is part of the common material found in the Gospels of Matthew ...
. The common source of the two existing versions, whether Q or an oral or another written tradition, was elaborated differently in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.
Marianus Pale Hera considers it unlikely that either of the two used the other as its source and that it is possible that they "preserve two versions of the Lord’s Prayer used in two different communities: the Matthean in a Jewish Christian community and the Lucan in the Gentile Christian community".
If either evangelist built on the other,
Joachim Jeremias
Joachim Jeremias (20 September 1900 – 6 September 1979) was a German Lutheran theologian, scholar of Near Eastern Studies and university professor for New Testament studies. He was abbot of Bursfelde, 1968–1971.
He was born in Dresden and sp ...
attributes priority to Luke on the grounds that "in the early period, before wordings were fixed, liturgical texts were elaborated, expanded and enriched". On the other hand, Michael Goulder, Thomas J. Mosbo and Ken Olson see the shorter Lucan version as a reworking of the Matthaean text, removing unnecessary verbiage and repetition.
The Matthaean version has completely ousted the Lucan in general Christian usage, The following considerations are based on the Matthaean version.
Original Greek text and Syriac and Latin translations
Standard edition of Greek text
:Standard edition of
Syriac Syriac may refer to:
*Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic
*Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region
* Syriac alphabet
** Syriac (Unicode block)
** Syriac Supplement
* Neo-Aramaic languages a ...
text of
Peshitta
The Peshitta ( syc, ܦܫܺܝܛܬܳܐ ''or'' ') is the standard version of the Bible for churches in the Syriac tradition, including the Maronite Church, the Chaldean Catholic Church, the Syriac Catholic Church, the Syriac Orthodox Church, the ...
Vulgata Clementina
The Sixto-Clementine Vulgate or Clementine Vulgate () is the edition promulgated in 1592 by Pope Clement VIII of the Vulgate—a 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible that was written largely by Jerome. It was the second edition of the V ...
(1692)
:1. pater noster qui es in cælis
:2. sanctificetur nomen tuum
:3. adveniat regnum tuum
:4. fiat voluntas tua sicut in cælo et in terra
:5. panem nostrum supersubstantialem da nobis hodie
:6. et dimitte nobis debita nostra sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris
:7. et ne nos inducas in tentationem sed libera nos a malo
Liturgical texts: Greek, Syriac, Latin
Patriarchal Edition 1904
,
,
,
.
.
.
:Syriac liturgical
:
:''(our father who art in heaven)''
:
:''(hallowed be thy name)''
:
:''(thy kingdom come)''
:
:''(thy will be done as it is in heaven also on earth)''
:
:''(give us the bread of our need this day)''
:
:''(and forgive us our debts and our sins as we have forgiven our debtors)''
:
:''(and bring us not into temptation but deliver us from evil)''Isaiah 45:7
:
:''(for thine is the kingdom the power the glory for an age of ages amen)''
Roman Missal
:''Pater noster qui es in cælis:''
:''sanctificétur nomen tuum;''
:''advéniat regnum tuum;''
:'' fiat volúntas tua, sicut in cælo, et in terra.''
:''Panem nostrum cotidiánum da nobis hódie;''
:''et dimítte nobis débita nostra,''
:''sicut et nos dimíttimus debitóribus nostris;''
:''et ne nos indúcas in tentatiónem;''
:''sed líbera nos a malo.''
Greek texts
English versions
There are several different English translations of the Lord's Prayer from Greek or Latin, beginning around AD 650 with the Northumbrian translation. Of those in current liturgical use, the three best-known are:
* The translation in the 1662 ''Book of Common Prayer'' of the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
* The slightly modernized "traditional ecumenical" form used in the Catholic and (often with
doxology
A doxology (Ancient Greek: ''doxologia'', from , ''doxa'' 'glory' and -, -''logia'' 'saying') is a short hymn of praises to God in various forms of Christian worship, often added to the end of canticles, psalms, and hymns. The tradition derives ...
) many Protestant Churches
* The 1988 translation of the
ecumenical
Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...
English Language Liturgical Consultation The English Language Liturgical Consultation (ELLC) is a group of national associations of ecumenical liturgists in the English-speaking world. Their work has been concerned with developing and promoting common liturgical texts in English and shari ...
(ELLC)
The concluding
doxology
A doxology (Ancient Greek: ''doxologia'', from , ''doxa'' 'glory' and -, -''logia'' 'saying') is a short hymn of praises to God in various forms of Christian worship, often added to the end of canticles, psalms, and hymns. The tradition derives ...
("For thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen") is often added at the end of the prayer by Protestants. The 1662 ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) adds doxology in some of the services, but not in all. For example, the doxology is not used in the 1662 BCP at Morning and Evening Prayer when it is preceded by the
Kyrie eleison
Kyrie, a transliteration of Greek , vocative case of (''Kyrios''), is a common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, also called the Kyrie eleison ( ; ).
In the Bible
The prayer, "Kyrie, eleison," "Lord, have mercy" derives fro ...
. Older English translations of the Bible, based on late Byzantine Greek manuscripts, included it, but it is excluded in critical editions of the New Testament, such as that of the
United Bible Societies
The United Bible Societies (UBS) is a global fellowship of around 150 Bible Societies operating in more than 240 countries and territories. It has working hubs in England, Singapore, Nairobi and Miami. The headquarters are located in Swindon, Eng ...
. It is absent in the oldest manuscripts and is not considered to be part of the original text of Matthew 6:9– 13.
In the
Byzantine Rite
The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, identifies the wide range of cultural, liturgical, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Christian Church of Constantinople.
Th ...
, whenever a priest is officiating, after the Lord's Prayer he intones this augmented form of the doxology, "For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory: of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages.", and in either instance, reciter(s) of the prayer reply "Amen".
Latin Rite
Latin liturgical rites, or Western liturgical rites, are Catholic rites of public worship employed by the Latin Church, the largest particular church ''sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church, that originated in Europe where the Latin language once ...
Roman Catholic usage has never attached the doxology to the end of the Lord's Prayer. The doxology does appear in the
Roman Rite
The Roman Rite ( la, Ritus Romanus) is the primary liturgical rite of the Latin Church, the largest of the ''sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. It developed in the Latin language in the city of Rome and, while dist ...
Mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...
as revised in 1969. After the conclusion of the Lord's Prayer, the priest says a prayer known as the
embolism
An embolism is the lodging of an embolus, a blockage-causing piece of material, inside a blood vessel. The embolus may be a blood clot (thrombus), a fat globule ( fat embolism), a bubble of air or other gas (gas embolism), amniotic fluid (amniot ...
. In the official
International Commission on English in the Liturgy
The International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) is a commission set up by a number of episcopal conferences of English-speaking countries for the purpose of providing English translations of the liturgical books of the Roman Rite, th ...
(ICEL) English translation, the embolism reads: "Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil, graciously grant peace in our days, that, by the help of your mercy, we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ." This elaborates on the final petition, "Deliver us from evil." The people then respond to this with the doxology: "For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever."
The translators of the 1611
King James Bible
The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and publis ...
assumed that a Greek manuscript they possessed was ancient and therefore adopted the phrase "For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever" into the Lord's Prayer of Matthew's Gospel. However, the use of the doxology in English dates from at least 1549 with the
First Prayer Book of Edward VI
The 1549 ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the original version of the '' Book of Common Prayer'', variations of which are still in use as the official liturgical book of the Church of England and other Anglican churches. Written during the ...
which was influenced by
William Tyndale
William Tyndale (; sometimes spelled ''Tynsdale'', ''Tindall'', ''Tindill'', ''Tyndall''; – ) was an English biblical scholar and linguist who became a leading figure in the Protestant Reformation in the years leading up to his executi ...
's New Testament translation in 1526. Later scholarship demonstrated that inclusion of the doxology in New Testament manuscripts was actually a later addition based in part on Eastern liturgical tradition.
:1662 Anglican BCP
:Our Father, which art in heaven,
:Hallowed be thy Name;
:Thy kingdom come;
:Thy will be done
:in earth, as it is in heaven:
:Give us this day our
daily
Daily or The Daily may refer to:
Journalism
* Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks
* ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times''
* ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...
bread;
:And forgive us our trespasses,
:as we forgive them that trespass against us;
:And lead us not into temptation,
:But deliver us from evil;
:For thine is the kingdom,
:the power, and the glory,
:For ever and ever.
:Amen.
:Traditional Ecumenical Version
:Our Father, who art in heaven,
:hallowed be thy name;
:thy kingdom come,
:thy will be done
:on earth as it is in heaven.
:Give us this day our daily bread,
:and forgive us our trespasses,
:as we forgive those who trespass against us;
:and lead us not into temptation,
:but deliver us from evil.
:''Most Protestants conclude with the doxology:''
:For thine is the kingdom,
:and the power, and the glory,
:for ever and ever. Amen. (''or'' ...forever. Amen.)
:''At
Mass in the Catholic Church
The Mass is the central liturgical service of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, in which bread and wine are consecrated and become the body and blood of Christ. As defined by the Church at the Council of Trent, in the Mass, "the same Christ ...
the
embolism
An embolism is the lodging of an embolus, a blockage-causing piece of material, inside a blood vessel. The embolus may be a blood clot (thrombus), a fat globule ( fat embolism), a bubble of air or other gas (gas embolism), amniotic fluid (amniot ...
is followed by:''
:For the kingdom,
:the power and the glory are yours,
:now and for ever.
:1988 ELLC
:Our Father in heaven,
::hallowed be your name,
::your kingdom come,
::your will be done,
:::on earth as in heaven.
:Give us today our
daily
Daily or The Daily may refer to:
Journalism
* Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks
* ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times''
* ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...
bread.
:Forgive us our sins
::as we forgive those who sin against us.
:Save us from the time of trial
::and deliver us from evil.
:For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours
::now and for ever. Amen.
King James Version
The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and publis ...
Although Matthew 6:12 uses the term ''debts'', most older English versions of the Lord's Prayer use the term ''trespasses'', while ecumenical versions often use the term ''sins''. The last choice may be due to Luke 11:4, which uses the word ''sins'', while the former may be due to Matthew 6:14 (immediately after the text of the prayer), where Jesus speaks of ''trespasses''. As early as the third century,
Origen of Alexandria
Origen of Alexandria, ''Ōrigénēs''; Origen's Greek name ''Ōrigénēs'' () probably means "child of Horus" (from , "Horus", and , "born"). ( 185 – 253), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an early Christian scholar, ascetic, and theolog ...
used the word ''trespasses'' () in the prayer. Although the Latin form that was traditionally used in Western Europe has ''debita'' (''debts''), most English-speaking Christians (except Scottish Presbyterians and some others of the Dutch
Reformed
Reform is beneficial change
Reform may also refer to:
Media
* ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang
* Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group
* ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine
*''Reforme'' ("Reforms"), initial name of the ...
tradition) use ''trespasses''. For example, the
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland.
The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...
, the
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PC(USA), is a mainline Protestant denomination in the United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the US, and known for its liberal stance on doctrine and its ordaining of women and ...
, the
Reformed Church in America
The Reformed Church in America (RCA) is a Mainline Protestant, mainline Reformed tradition, Reformed Protestant Christian denomination, denomination in Canada and the United States. It has about 152,317 members. From its beginning in 1628 unti ...
, as well as some
Congregational
Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...
heritage churches in the
United Church of Christ
The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Calvinist, Lutheran, and Anabaptist traditions, and with approximately 4 ...
follow the version found in
Matthew 6
Matthew 6 is the sixth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. This chapter contains the central portion of the Sermon on the Mount, including the Lord's Prayer.
Text
The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is d ...
in the
King James Version
The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and publis ...
, which in the prayer uses the words ''debts'' and ''debtors''.
::King James Version (1611)
::Our father which art in heaven,
::hallowed be thy name.
::Thy kingdome come.
::Thy will be done, in earth,
::as it is in heaven.
::Give us this day our daily bread.
::And forgive us our debts,
::as we forgive our debters.
::And lead us not into temptation,
::but deliver us from evil:
::For thine is the kingdom,
::and the power, and the glory,
::for ever, Amen.
::Slightly Modernized AV/KJV Version
::Our Father, who art in heaven,
::Hallowed be thy name.
::Thy kingdom come,
::Thy will be done on earth,
::as it is in heaven.
::Give us this day our daily bread.
::And forgive us our debts,
::as we forgive our debtors.
::And lead us not into temptation,
::but deliver us from evil:
::For thine is the kingdom,
::and the power, and the glory,
::forever. Amen.
All these versions are based on the text in Matthew, rather than Luke, of the prayer given by Jesus:
Matthew 6:9–13 (
ESV
The English Standard Version (ESV) is an English translation of the Bible. Published in 2001 by Crossway, the ESV was "created by a team of more than 100 leading evangelical scholars and pastors." The ESV relies on recently published critic ...
)
:"Pray then like this: 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Luke 11:2–4 (
ESV
The English Standard Version (ESV) is an English translation of the Bible. Published in 2001 by Crossway, the ESV was "created by a team of more than 100 leading evangelical scholars and pastors." The ESV relies on recently published critic ...
)
:And he said to them, "When you pray, say: 'Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.
Analysis
Saint Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afric ...
gives the following analysis of the Lord's Prayer, which elaborates on Jesus' words just before it in Matthew's Gospel: "Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then in this way" (Mt. 6:8–9):This excerpt from Augustine is included in the Office of Readings in the Catholic
Liturgy of the Hours
The Liturgy of the Hours (Latin: ''Liturgia Horarum'') or Divine Office (Latin: ''Officium Divinum'') or ''Opus Dei'' ("Work of God") are a set of Catholic prayers comprising the canonical hours, often also referred to as the breviary, of the ...
.
Many have written biblical commentaries on the Lord's Prayer. Contained below are a variety of selections from some of those commentaries.
Introduction
This subheading and those that follow use 1662 ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) (see above)
"Our" indicates that the prayer is that of a group of people who consider themselves children of God and who call God their "Father". "In
heaven
Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...
" indicates that the Father who is addressed is distinct from human fathers on earth.
Augustine
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berbers, Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia (Roman pr ...
interpreted "heaven" (''coelum'', sky) in this context as meaning "in the hearts of the righteous, as it were in His holy temple".
First Petition
Former
archbishop of Canterbury
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...
Rowan Williams
Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth, (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet. He was the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, a position he held from December 2002 to December 2012. Previously the Bish ...
explains this phrase as a petition that people may look upon God's name as holy, as something that inspires awe and reverence, and that they may not trivialize it by making God a tool for their purposes, to "put other people down, or as a sort of magic to make themselves feel safe". He sums up the meaning of the phrase by saying: "Understand what you're talking about when you're talking about God, this is serious, this is the most wonderful and frightening reality that we could imagine, more wonderful and frightening than we can imagine."
Richard Challoner
Richard Challoner (29 September 1691 – 12 January 1781) was an English Roman Catholic bishop, a leading figure of English Catholicism during the greater part of the 18th century. The titular Bishop of Doberus, he is perhaps most famous for hi ...
writes that: "this petition hold the primary place in the Lord's prayer, because the first and principal duty of a Christian is, to love his God with his whole heart and soul, and therefore the first and principal thing he should desire and pray for is, the great honor and glory of God."
Second Petition
"This petition has its parallel in the Jewish prayer, 'May he establish his Kingdom during your life and during your days. In the gospels Jesus speaks frequently of God's kingdom, but never defines the concept: "He assumed this was a concept so familiar that it did not require definition." Concerning how Jesus' audience in the gospels would have understood him, G. E. Ladd turns to the concept's Hebrew biblical background: "The Hebrew word ''malkuth'' refers first to a reign, dominion, or rule and only secondarily to the realm over which a reign is exercised. When ''malkuth'' is used of God, it almost always refers to his authority or to his rule as the heavenly King." This petition looks to the perfect establishment of God's rule in the world in the future, an act of God resulting in the eschatological order of the new age.
Some see the coming of God's kingdom as a divine gift to be prayed for, not a human achievement. Others believe that the Kingdom will be fostered by the hands of those faithful who work for a better world. These believe that Jesus' commands to feed the hungry and clothe the needy make the seeds of the kingdom already present on earth (Lk 8:5–15; Mt 25:31–40).
Hilda C. Graef notes that the operative Greek word, ''basileia,'' means both kingdom and kingship (i.e., reign, dominion, governing, etc.), but that the English word kingdom loses this double meaning. Kingship adds a psychological meaning to the petition: one is also praying for the condition of soul where one follows God's will.
Richard Challoner
Richard Challoner (29 September 1691 – 12 January 1781) was an English Roman Catholic bishop, a leading figure of English Catholicism during the greater part of the 18th century. The titular Bishop of Doberus, he is perhaps most famous for hi ...
, commenting on this petition, notes that the kingdom of God can be understood in three ways: 1) of the eternal kingdom of God in heaven. 2) of the spiritual kingdom of Christ, in his Church upon earth. 3) of the mystical kingdom of God, in our souls, according to the words of Christ, "The kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21).
Third Petition
According to
William Barclay William Barclay may refer to:
*William Barclay (jurist) (1546–1608), Scottish jurist
*William Barclay (writer) (c. 1570–c. 1630), Scottish writer
*William Barclay (painter) (1797–1859), English miniature painter
*William Barclay (theologian) ...
, this phrase is a couplet with the same meaning as "Thy kingdom come." Barclay argues: "The kingdom is a state of things on earth in which God's will is as perfectly done as it is in heaven. ...To do the will of God and to be in the Kingdom of God are one and the same thing."
John Ortberg
John Ortberg, Jr. (born May 5, 1957) is an American evangelical Christian author, speaker, and the former senior pastor of Menlo Church in Menlo Park, California, an ECO Presbyterian church with more than 4,000 members. Ortberg has published m ...
interprets this phrase as follows: "Many people think our job is to get my
afterlife
The afterlife (also referred to as life after death) is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's identity or their stream of consciousness continues to live after the death of their physical body. The surviving ess ...
destination taken care of, then tread water till we all get ejected and God comes back and torches this place. But Jesus never told anybody – neither his disciples nor us – to pray, 'Get me out of here so I can go up there.' His prayer was, 'Make up there come down here.' Make things down here run the way they do up there."Ortberg, John Ortberg. “God is Closer Than You Think”. Zondervan, 2005, p. 176. The request that "thy will be done" is God's invitation to "join him in making things down here the way they are up there."
Fourth Petition
As mentioned earlier, the original word (''
epiousios
() is a Greek adjective used in the Lord's Prayer verse "" ('Give us today our bread'). Because the word is used nowhere else, its meaning is unclear. It is traditionally translated as "daily", but most modern scholars reject that interpretat ...
''), commonly characterized as ''daily'', is unique to the Lord's Prayer in all of ancient Greek literature. The word is almost a ''
hapax legomenon
In corpus linguistics, a ''hapax legomenon'' ( also or ; ''hapax legomena''; sometimes abbreviated to ''hapax'', plural ''hapaxes'') is a word or an expression that occurs only once within a context: either in the written record of an entire ...
'', occurring only in Luke and Matthew's versions of the Lord's Prayer, and nowhere else in any other extant Greek texts. While ''epiousios'' is often substituted by the word "daily," all other
New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...
translations from the Greek into "daily" otherwise reference ''hemeran'' (ἡμέραν, "the day"), which does not appear in this usage.
Jerome
Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, th ...
by linguistic
parsing
Parsing, syntax analysis, or syntactic analysis is the process of analyzing a string of symbols, either in natural language, computer languages or data structures, conforming to the rules of a formal grammar. The term ''parsing'' comes from Lati ...
translated "ἐπιούσιον" (''
epiousios
() is a Greek adjective used in the Lord's Prayer verse "" ('Give us today our bread'). Because the word is used nowhere else, its meaning is unclear. It is traditionally translated as "daily", but most modern scholars reject that interpretat ...
'') as "''supersubstantialem''" in the Gospel of Matthew, but as "''cotidianum''" ("daily") in the Gospel of Luke. This wide-ranging difference with respect to meaning of ''epiousios'' is discussed in detail in the current ''
Catechism of the Catholic Church
The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' ( la, Catechismus Catholicae Ecclesiae; commonly called the ''Catechism'' or the ''CCC'') is a catechism promulgated for the Catholic Church by Pope John Paul II in 1992. It aims to summarize, in book for ...
'' in an inclusive approach toward tradition as well as a literal one for meaning: "Taken in a temporal sense, this word is a pedagogical repetition of 'this day', to confirm us in trust 'without reservation'. Taken in the qualitative sense, it signifies what is necessary for life, and more broadly every good thing sufficient for subsistence. Taken literally (''epi-ousios'': 'super-essential'), it refers directly to the
Bread of Life
The Bread of Life Discourse is a portion of the teaching of Jesus which appears in chapter 6 of John's Gospel ( verses 22–59) and was delivered in the synagogue at Capernaum.
The title "Bread of Life" ( grc, ἄρτος τῆς ζωῆς, ''art ...
, the
Body of Christ
In Christian theology, the term Body of Christ () has two main but separate meanings: it may refer to Jesus' words over the bread at the celebration of the Jewish feast of Passover that "This is my body" in (see Last Supper), or it may refer to ...
, the 'medicine of immortality,' without which we have no life within us."
''Epiousios'' is translated as ''supersubstantialem'' in the
Vulgate
The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible.
The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...
Matthew 6:11 and accordingly as ''supersubstantial'' in the
Douay–Rheims Bible
The Douay–Rheims Bible (, ), also known as the Douay–Rheims Version, Rheims–Douai Bible or Douai Bible, and abbreviated as D–R, DRB, and DRV, is a translation of the Bible from the Latin Vulgate into English made by member ...
Matthew 6:11.
Barclay M. Newman's ''A Concise Greek-English Dictionary of the New Testament'', published in a revised edition in 2010 by the
United Bible Societies
The United Bible Societies (UBS) is a global fellowship of around 150 Bible Societies operating in more than 240 countries and territories. It has working hubs in England, Singapore, Nairobi and Miami. The headquarters are located in Swindon, Eng ...
, has the following entry:
It thus derives the word from the preposition ἐπί (''epi'') and the verb εἰμί (''eimi''), from the latter of which are derived words such as οὐσία (''
ousia
''Ousia'' (; grc, οὐσία) is a philosophical and theological term, originally used in ancient Greek philosophy, then later in Christian theology. It was used by various ancient Greek philosophers, like Plato and Aristotle, as a primary des ...
''), the range of whose meanings is indicated in ''
A Greek–English Lexicon
''A Greek–English Lexicon'', often referred to as ''Liddell & Scott'' () or ''Liddell–Scott–Jones'' (''LSJ''), is a standard lexicographical work of the Ancient Greek language originally edited by Henry George Liddell
Henry George L ...
''.
Fifth Petition
The Presbyterian and other Reformed churches tend to use the rendering "forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors". Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans and Methodists are more likely to say "trespasses… those who trespass against us". The "debts" form appears in the first English translation of the Bible, by
John Wycliffe
John Wycliffe (; also spelled Wyclif, Wickliffe, and other variants; 1328 – 31 December 1384) was an English scholastic philosopher, theologian, biblical translator, reformer, Catholic priest, and a seminary professor at the University of O ...
in 1395 (Wycliffe spelling "dettis"). The "trespasses" version appears in the 1526 translation by
William Tyndale
William Tyndale (; sometimes spelled ''Tynsdale'', ''Tindall'', ''Tindill'', ''Tyndall''; – ) was an English biblical scholar and linguist who became a leading figure in the Protestant Reformation in the years leading up to his executi ...
(Tyndale spelling "treaspases"). In 1549 the first ''
Book of Common Prayer
The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...
'' in English used a version of the prayer with "trespasses". This became the "official" version used in Anglican congregations. On the other hand, the 1611
King James Version
The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and publis ...
, the version specifically
authorized
Authorization or authorisation (see spelling differences) is the function of specifying access rights/privileges to resources, which is related to general information security and computer security, and to access control in particular. More for ...
for the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
, has "forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors".
After the request for bread, Matthew and Luke diverge slightly. Matthew continues with a request for
debt
Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money or other agreed-upon value to another party, the creditor. Debt is a deferred payment, or series of payments, which differentiates it from an immediate purchase. The ...
s to be forgiven in the same manner as people have forgiven those who have debts against them. Luke, on the other hand, makes a similar request about
sin
In a religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered immoral, selfish, s ...
s being forgiven in the manner of debts being forgiven between people. The word "debts" () does not necessarily mean financial obligations, as shown by the use of the verbal form of the same word () in passages such as Romans 13:8. The
Aramaic
The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...
word ''ḥôbâ'' can mean "debt" or "sin". This difference between Luke's and Matthew's wording could be explained by the original form of the prayer having been in Aramaic. The generally accepted interpretation is thus that the request is for forgiveness of sin, not of supposed loans granted by God. Asking for forgiveness from God was a staple of Jewish prayers (e.g.,
Penitential Psalms
The Penitential Psalms or Psalms of Confession, so named in Cassiodorus's commentary of the 6th century AD, are the Psalms Psalm 6, 6, Psalm 32, 31, Psalm 38, 37, Psalm 51, 50, Psalm 102, 101, Psalm 130, 129, and Psalm 143, 142 (6, 32, 38, 51, 102 ...
). It was also considered proper for individuals to be forgiving of others, so the sentiment expressed in the prayer would have been a common one of the time.
Anthony C. Deane, Canon of
Worcester Cathedral
Worcester Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Worcester, in Worcestershire
Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified ...
, suggested that the choice of the word "ὀφειλήματα" (debts), rather than "ἁμαρτίας" (sins), indicates a reference to failures to use opportunities of doing good. He linked this with the
parable of the sheep and the goats
A parable is a succinct, didactic story, in prose or verse, that illustrates one or more instructive lessons or principles. It differs from a fable in that fables employ animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature as characters, whe ...
(also in Matthew's Gospel), in which the grounds for condemnation are not wrongdoing in the ordinary sense, but failure to do right, missing opportunities for showing
love
Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest Interpersonal relationship, interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of ...
to others.
"As we forgive ...". Divergence between Matthew's "debts" and Luke's "sins" is relatively trivial compared to the impact of the second half of this statement. The verses immediately following the Lord's Prayer, Matthew 6:14–15 show Jesus teaching that the forgiveness of our sin/debt (by God) is linked with how we forgive others, as in the
Parable of the Unforgiving Servant
The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (also known as ''Ungrateful Servant'', ''Unmerciful Servant'', or ''Wicked Servant'' but not to be confused with the parable of the Two Debtors) is a parables of Jesus, parable of Jesus which appears in the ...
Matthew 18:23–35, which Matthew gives later.
R. T. France
Richard Thomas France (1938–2012), known as R. T. France or Dick France, was a New Testament scholar and Anglican cleric. He was Principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, from 1989 to 1995. He also worked for the London School of Theology.
...
comments:
Sixth Petition
Interpretations of the penultimate petition of the prayer – not to be led by God into ''peirasmos –'' vary considerably. The range of meanings of the Greek word "πειρασμός" (''peirasmos'') is illustrated in New Testament Greek lexicons. In different contexts it can mean temptation, testing, trial, experiment. Although the traditional English translation uses the word "
temptation
Temptation is a desire to engage in short-term urges for enjoyment that threatens long-term goals.Webb, J.R. (Sep 2014). Incorporating Spirituality into Psychology of temptation: Conceptualization, measurement, and clinical implications. Sp ...
" and
Carl Jung
Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung's work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, philo ...
saw God as actually leading people astray, Christians generally interpret the petition as not contradicting James 1:13–14: "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God', for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire." Some see the petition as an eschatological appeal against unfavourable
Last Judgment
The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...
, a theory supported by the use of the word "''peirasmos''" in this sense in Revelation 3:10. Others see it as a plea against hard ''tests'' described elsewhere in scripture, such as those of
Job
Work or labor (or labour in British English) is intentional activity people perform to support the needs and wants of themselves, others, or a wider community. In the context of economics, work can be viewed as the human activity that contr ...
. It is also read as: "Do not let us be led (by ourselves, by others, by Satan) into temptations". Since it follows shortly after a plea for daily bread (i.e., material sustenance), it is also seen as referring to not being caught up in the material pleasures given. A similar phrase appears in Matthew 26:41 and Luke 22:40 in connection with the prayer of Jesus in Gethsemane.
Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he ...
, the founder of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...
, in a translation of the Holy Bible which was not completed before his death, used: "And suffer us not to be led into temptation".
In a conversation on the Italian TV channel
TV2000
TV2000 is an Italy-based broadcasting network that carries Roman Catholic-themed programming, available on digital terrestrial television in Italy and owned by the Italian Episcopal Conference, the conference of the Catholic bishops of Italy.
L ...
on 6 December 2017,
Pope Francis
Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...
commented that the then Italian wording of this petition (similar to the traditional English) was a poor translation. He said "the French" (i.e., the
Bishops' Conference of France
The Bishops' Conference of France (french: Conférence des évêques de France) (CEF) is the national episcopal conference of the bishops of the Catholic Church in France.
Presidents
Presidents of the Assembly of Cardinals and Archbishops of Fr ...
) had changed the petition to "Do not let us fall in/into temptation". He was referring to the 2017 change to a new
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
version, ''Et ne nous laisse pas entrer en tentation'' ("Do not let us enter into temptation"), but spoke of it in terms of the
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
translation, ''no nos dejes caer en la tentación'' ("do not let us fall in/into temptation"), that he was accustomed to recite in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
before his election as Pope. He explained: "I am the one who falls; it's not him odpushing me into temptation to then see how I have fallen".Padre Nostro - Settima puntata: 'Non ci indurre in tentazione' at 1:05.
Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
theologian Ian Paul said that such a proposal was "stepping into a theological debate about the nature of evil".
In January 2018, after "in-depth study", the
German Bishops' Conference
The German Bishops' Conference (german: Deutsche Bischofskonferenz) is the episcopal conference of the bishops of the Roman Catholic dioceses in Germany. Members include diocesan bishops, coadjutors, auxiliary bishops, and diocesan administrator ...
rejected any rewording of their translation of the Lord's Prayer.Hannah Brockhaus, "Holy See confirms changes to Italian liturgical translation of Our Father, Gloria" (Catholic News Agency, 7 June 2019).
In November 2018, the
Episcopal Conference of Italy
The Italian Episcopal Conference ( it, Conferenza Episcopale Italiana) or CEI is the episcopal conference of the Italian bishops of the Catholic Church, the official assembly of the bishops in Italy.
The conference was founded in 1971 and carrie ...
adopted a new edition of the ''Messale Romano'', the
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
translation of the
Roman Missal
The Roman Missal ( la, Missale Romanum) is the title of several missals used in the celebration of the Roman Rite. Along with other liturgical books of the Roman Rite, the Roman Missal contains the texts and rubrics for the celebration of the m ...
. One of the changes made from the older (1983) edition was to render this petition as ''non abbandonarci alla tentazione'' ("do not abandon us to temptation"). The Italian-speaking
Union of Methodist and Waldensian Churches
The Union of Methodist and Waldensian Churches ( it, Unione delle Chiese Metodiste e Valdesi) is an Italian united Protestant denomination.
It was founded in 1975 upon the union of the Waldensian Evangelical Church (a Calvinist church with pre-R ...
maintains its translation of the petition: ''non esporci alla tentazione'' ("do not expose us to temptation").
In May 2019, Pope Francis officially approved a change to the sixth petition, replacing "lead us not into temptation" with "do not let us fall into temptation."
Seventh Petition
Translations and scholars are divided over whether the final word here refers to "
evil
Evil, in a general sense, is defined as the opposite or absence of good. It can be an extremely broad concept, although in everyday usage it is often more narrowly used to talk about profound wickedness and against common good. It is general ...
" in general or "the evil one" (the
devil
A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of t ...
) in particular. In the original Greek, as well as in the Latin translation, the word could be either of neuter (evil in general) or masculine (the evil one) gender. Matthew's version of the prayer appears in the
Sermon on the Mount
The Sermon on the Mount (anglicized from the Matthean Vulgate Latin section title: ) is a collection of sayings attributed to Jesus of Nazareth found in the Gospel of Matthew (chapters 5, 6, and 7). that emphasizes his moral teachings. It is ...
, in earlier parts of which the term is used to refer to general evil. Later parts of Matthew refer to the devil when discussing similar issues. However, the devil is never referred to as ''the evil one'' in any known Aramaic sources. While
John Calvin
John Calvin (; frm, Jehan Cauvin; french: link=no, Jean Calvin ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system ...
accepted the vagueness of the term's meaning, he considered that there is little real difference between the two interpretations, and that therefore the question is of no real consequence. Similar phrases are found in John 17:15 and Thessalonians 3:3.
Doxology
Content
The
doxology
A doxology (Ancient Greek: ''doxologia'', from , ''doxa'' 'glory' and -, -''logia'' 'saying') is a short hymn of praises to God in various forms of Christian worship, often added to the end of canticles, psalms, and hymns. The tradition derives ...
sometimes attached to the prayer in English is similar to a passage in 1 Chronicles 29:11 – "Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all." It is also similar to the paean to
King Nebuchadnezzar
Nebuchadnezzar II (Babylonian cuneiform: ''Nabû-kudurri-uṣur'', meaning "Nabu, watch over my heir"; Biblical Hebrew: ''Nəḇūḵaḏneʾṣṣar''), also spelled Nebuchadrezzar II, was the second king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, ruling ...
of Babylon in Daniel 2:37 – "You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory".
The doxology has been interpreted as connected with the final petition: "Deliver us from evil". The kingdom, the power and the glory are the Father's, not of our antagonist's, who is subject to him to whom Christ will hand over the kingdom after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power (1 Corinthians 15:24). It makes the prayer end as well as begin with the vision of God in heaven, in the majesty of his name and kingdom and the perfection of his will and purpose.
Origin
The doxology is not included in Luke's version of the Lord's Prayer, nor is it present in the earliest manuscripts (papyrus or parchment) of Matthew, representative of the Alexandrian text, although it is present in the manuscripts representative of the later
Byzantine text
In the textual criticism of the New Testament, the Byzantine text-type (also called Majority Text, Traditional Text, Ecclesiastical Text, Constantinopolitan Text, Antiocheian Text, or Syrian Text) is one of the main Textual criticism#New Testamen ...
. Most scholars do not consider it part of the original text of Matthew. The
Codex Washingtonianus
The Codex Washingtonianus or Codex Washingtonensis, designated by W or 032 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), ε 014 ( Soden), also called the ''Washington Manuscript of the Gospels'', and ''The Freer Gospel'', contains the four biblical gospels an ...
, which adds a doxology (in the familiar text), is of the early fifth or late fourth century. New translations generally omit it except as a footnote.
The ''
Didache
The ''Didache'' (; ), also known as The Lord's Teaching Through the Twelve Apostles to the Nations (Διδαχὴ Κυρίου διὰ τῶν δώδεκα ἀποστόλων τοῖς ἔθνεσιν), is a brief anonymous early Christian tr ...
'', generally considered a first-century text, has a doxology, "for yours is the power and the glory forever", as a conclusion for the Lord's Prayer (''Didache'', 8:2). C. Clifton Black, although regarding the ''Didache'' as an "early second century" text, nevertheless considers the doxology it contains to be the "earliest additional ending we can trace". Of a longer version, Black observes: "Its earliest appearance may have been in Tatian's ''
Diatessaron
The ''Diatessaron'' ( syr, ܐܘܢܓܠܝܘܢ ܕܡܚܠܛܐ, Ewangeliyôn Damhalltê; c. 160–175 AD) is the most prominent early gospel harmony, and was created by Tatian, an Assyrian early Christian apologist and ascetic. Tatian sought to comb ...
'', a second-century harmony of the four Gospels". The first three editions of the
United Bible Societies
The United Bible Societies (UBS) is a global fellowship of around 150 Bible Societies operating in more than 240 countries and territories. It has working hubs in England, Singapore, Nairobi and Miami. The headquarters are located in Swindon, Eng ...
text cited the ''Diatessaron'' for inclusion of the familiar doxology in Matthew 6:13, but in the later editions it cites the ''Diatessaron'' for excluding it. The ''
Apostolic Constitutions
The ''Apostolic Constitutions'' or ''Constitutions of the Holy Apostles'' (Latin: ''Constitutiones Apostolorum'') is a Christian collection divided into eight books which is classified among the Church Orders, a genre of early Christian litera ...
'' added "the kingdom" to the beginning of the formula in the ''Didache'', thus establishing the now familiar doxology.
Varied liturgical use
In the
Byzantine Rite
The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, identifies the wide range of cultural, liturgical, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Christian Church of Constantinople.
Th ...
, whenever a priest is officiating, after the last line of the prayer he intones the doxology, "For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory: of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages.", and in either instance, reciter(s) of the prayer reply "Amen".
Adding a doxology to the Our Father is not part of the liturgical tradition of the
Roman Rite
The Roman Rite ( la, Ritus Romanus) is the primary liturgical rite of the Latin Church, the largest of the ''sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. It developed in the Latin language in the city of Rome and, while dist ...
nor does the Latin
Vulgate
The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible.
The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...
of St.
Jerome
Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, th ...
contain the doxology that appears in late Greek manuscripts. However, it is recited since 1970 in the Roman Rite
Order of Mass
Order of Mass is an outline of a Mass celebration, describing how and in what order liturgical texts and rituals are employed to constitute a Mass.
The expression Order of Mass is particularly tied to the Roman Rite where the sections under that ...
, not as part of the Lord's Prayer but separately as a response acclamation after the
embolism
An embolism is the lodging of an embolus, a blockage-causing piece of material, inside a blood vessel. The embolus may be a blood clot (thrombus), a fat globule ( fat embolism), a bubble of air or other gas (gas embolism), amniotic fluid (amniot ...
developing the seventh petition in the perspective of the Final Coming of Christ.
In most Anglican editions of the ''
Book of Common Prayer
The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...
'', the Lord's Prayer ends with the doxology unless it is preceded by the
Kyrie eleison
Kyrie, a transliteration of Greek , vocative case of (''Kyrios''), is a common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, also called the Kyrie eleison ( ; ).
In the Bible
The prayer, "Kyrie, eleison," "Lord, have mercy" derives fro ...
. This happens at the daily offices of Morning Prayer (
Mattins
The Daily Office in Anglican churches focuses the traditional canonical hours on daily services of Morning Prayer (also called Matins or Mattins, especially when chanted) and Evening Prayer (called Evensong, especially when celebrated chorally) ...
) and Evening Prayer (
Evensong
Evensong is a church service traditionally held near sunset focused on singing psalms and other biblical canticles. In origin, it is identical to the canonical hour of vespers. Old English speakers translated the Latin word as , which became ...
) and in a few other offices.
The vast majority of
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
churches conclude the Lord's Prayer with the doxology.
Use as a language comparison tool
In the course of
Christianization
Christianization ( or Christianisation) is to make Christian; to imbue with Christian principles; to become Christian. It can apply to the conversion of an individual, a practice, a place or a whole society. It began in the Roman Empire, conti ...
, one of the first texts to be translated between many languages has historically been the Lord's Prayer, long before the full Bible would be translated into the respective languages. Since the 16th century, collections of translations of the prayer have often been used for a quick comparison of languages. The first such collection, with 22 versions, was ''Mithridates, de differentiis linguarum'' by
Conrad Gessner
Conrad Gessner (; la, Conradus Gesnerus 26 March 1516 – 13 December 1565) was a Swiss physician, naturalist, bibliographer, and philologist. Born into a poor family in Zürich, Switzerland, his father and teachers quickly realised his tale ...
(1555; the title refers to
Mithridates VI of Pontus
Mithridates or Mithradates VI Eupator ( grc-gre, Μιθραδάτης; 135–63 BC) was ruler of the Kingdom of Pontus in northern Anatolia from 120 to 63 BC, and one of the Roman Republic's most formidable and determined opponents. He was an e ...
who according to
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...
was an exceptional polyglot).
Gessner's idea of collecting translations of the prayer was taken up by authors of the 17th century, including
Hieronymus Megiserus
Hieronymus Megiser (c.1554 in Stuttgart – 1618 or 1619 in Linz, Austria) was a German polymath, linguist and historian.
Career
From 1571 he studied at the University of Tübingen, and was a favourite student of the humanist and philologist Ni ...
Thomas Lüdeken
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the Ap ...
, Officina Rungiana, 1680. of which three were in fictional
philosophical language
A philosophical language is any constructed language that is constructed from first principles. It is considered a type of engineered language. Philosophical languages were popular in Early Modern times, partly motivated by the goal of revising nor ...
s.
Lüdeken quotes as a ''Barnum Hagius'' as his source for the exotic scripts used, while their true (anonymous) author was Andreas Müller.
In 1700, Lüdeken's collection was re-edited by B. Mottus as ''Oratio dominica plus centum linguis versionibus aut characteribus reddita et expressa''.
This edition was comparatively inferior, but a second, revised edition was published in 1715 by John Chamberlain.
This 1715 edition was used by Gottfried Hensel in his ''
Synopsis Universae Philologiae
''Synopsis Universae Philologiae'' is an early work on comparative linguistics by Gottfried Hensel (''Godofredus Henselius''; 1687–1767), a rector in Hirschberg (Jelenia Góra), Lower Silesia.
Its full title reads: ''Synopsis universae phil ...
'' (1741) to compile "geographico-polyglot maps" where the beginning of the prayer was shown in the geographical area where the respective languages were spoken.
Johann Ulrich Kraus
Johann Ulrich Kraus (also ''Krauss, Krauß'', 1655–1719) was an early German illustrator, engraver and publisher in Augsburg.
He was a student of Melchior Küsel (1626- ca.1683), who was in turn a student of Matthäus Merian the Elder. Kra ...
also published a collection with more than 100 entries.
These collections continued to be improved and expanded well into the 19th century;
Johann Christoph Adelung
Johann Christoph Adelung (8 August 173210 September 1806) was a German grammarian and philologist.
Biography
He was born at Spantekow, in Western Pomerania, and educated at schools in Anklam and Berge Monastery, Magdeburg, and the University ...
and
Johann Severin Vater
Johann Severin Vater (; May 27, 1771, Altenburg – March 16, 1826, Halle) was a German theologian, biblical scholar, and linguist.
Biography
He was a student and professor at Jena and Halle. In 1809, he became professor at Königsberg. In 182 ...
in 1806–1817 published the prayer in "well-nigh five hundred languages and dialects".
Samples of scripture, including the Lord's Prayer, were published in 52 oriental languages, most of them not previously found in such collections, translated by the brethren of the
Serampore
Serampore (also called ''Serampur'', ''Srirampur'', ''Srirampore'', ''Shreerampur'', ''Shreerampore'', ''Shrirampur'' or ''Shrirampore'') is a city of Hooghly district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarter of the Srirampor ...
Mission and printed at the mission press there in 1818.
Comparisons with other prayer traditions
The book ''The Comprehensive New Testament'', by T.E. Clontz and J. Clontz, points to similarities between elements of the Lord's Prayer and expressions in writings of other religions as diverse as the ''
Dhammapada
The Dhammapada (Pāli; sa, धर्मपद, Dharmapada) is a collection of sayings of the Buddha in verse form and one of the most widely read and best known Buddhist scriptures. The original version of the Dhammapada is in the Khuddaka ...
'', the ''
Epic of Gilgamesh
The ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' () is an epic poetry, epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia, and is regarded as the earliest surviving notable literature and the second oldest religious text, after the Pyramid Texts. The literary history of Gilgamesh ...
'', the ''
Golden Verses
The ''Golden Verses'' ( grc-gre, Χρύσεα Ἔπη, ; la, Aurea Carmina) are a collection of moral exhortations comprising 71 lines written in dactylic hexameter. They are traditionally attributed to Pythagoras.
Overview
The exact origins o ...
'', and the Egyptian ''
Book of the Dead
The ''Book of the Dead'' ( egy, 𓂋𓏤𓈒𓈒𓈒𓏌𓏤𓉐𓂋𓏏𓂻𓅓𓉔𓂋𓅱𓇳𓏤, ''rw n(y)w prt m hrw(w)'') is an ancient Egyptian funerary text generally written on papyrus and used from the beginning of the New Kingdom ...
''. It mentions in particular parallels in 1 Chronicles.
Rabbi Aron Mendes Chumaceiro says that nearly all the elements of the prayer have counterparts in the
Jewish Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach" ''
Deuterocanonical books
The deuterocanonical books (from the Greek meaning "belonging to the second canon") are books and passages considered by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and the Assyrian Church of the East to be ...
: the first part in Isaiah 63 ("Look down from heaven and see, from your holy and beautiful habitation… for you are our Father") and Ezekiel 36 ("I will vindicate the holiness of my great name…") and 38 ("I will show my greatness and my holiness and make myself known in the eyes of many nations…"), the second part in Obadiah 1 ("Saviours shall go up to Mount Zion to rule Mount Esau, and the kingdom shall be the LORD's") and 1 Samuel 3 ("…It is the LORD. Let him do what seems good to him."), the third part in Proverbs 30 ("…feed me with my apportioned bread…"), the fourth part in Sirach 28 ("Forgive your neighbour the wrong he has done, and then your sins will be pardoned when you pray."). "Deliver us from evil" can be compared with Psalm 119 ("…let no iniquity get dominion over me.").
Chumaceiro says that, because the idea of God leading a human into temptation contradicts the righteousness and love of God, "Lead us not into temptation" has no counterpart in the Jewish Bible/Christian Old Testament. However, the word "πειρασμός", which is translated as "temptation", can also be translated as "test" or "trial", making evident the attitude of someone's heart, and in the Old Testament God tested Abraham, and told David, "Go, number Israel and Judah," an action that David later acknowledged as sin; and the testing of Job in the
Book of Job
The Book of Job (; hbo, אִיּוֹב, ʾIyyōḇ), or simply Job, is a book found in the Ketuvim ("Writings") section of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), and is the first of the Poetic Books in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. Scholars ar ...
.
Reuben Bredenhof says that the various petitions of the Lord's Prayer, as well as the doxology attached to it, have a conceptual and thematic background in the Old Testament
Book of Psalms
The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived f ...
.
On the other hand,
Andrew Wommack
Andrew Wommack is an American conservative charismatic TV evangelist and faith healer. He founded Andrew Wommack Ministries in 1978 and Charis Bible College (originally Colorado Bible College) in 1994.
History
Wommack started to preach in 196 ...
says that the Lord's Prayer "technically speaking… isn't even a true New Testament prayer".
In post-biblical Jewish prayer, especially Kiddushin 81a (Babylonian). "Our Father which art in heaven" (אבינו שבשמים, ''Avinu shebashamayim'') is the beginning of many Hebrew prayers. "Hallowed be thy name" is reflected in the
Kaddish
Kaddish or Qaddish or Qadish ( arc, קדיש "holy") is a hymn praising God that is recited during Jewish prayer services. The central theme of the Kaddish is the magnification and sanctification of God's name. In the liturgy, different version ...
. "Lead us not into sin" is echoed in the " morning blessings" of Jewish prayer. A blessing said by some Jewish communities after the
evening
Evening is the period of a day that starts at the end of the afternoon and overlaps with the beginning of night. The exact times when evening begins and ends depend on location, time of year, and culture, but it is generally regarded as beginn ...
''
Shema
''Shema Yisrael'' (''Shema Israel'' or ''Sh'ma Yisrael''; he , שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל ''Šəmaʿ Yīsrāʾēl'', "Hear, O Israel") is a Jewish prayer (known as the Shema) that serves as a centerpiece of the morning and evening Jewis ...
'' includes a phrase quite similar to the opening of the Lord's Prayer: "Our God in heaven, hallow thy name, and establish thy kingdom forever, and rule over us for ever and ever. Amen."
In popular culture
As with other prayers, the Lord's Prayer was used by cooks to time their recipes before the spread of clocks. For example, a step could be "simmer the broth for three Lord's Prayers".
Bee Wilson
Beatrice Dorothy "Bee" Wilson (born 7 March 1974) is a British food writer, journalist and the author of seven books on food-related subjects as well as a campaigner for food education through the charity TastEd. She writes the 'Table Talk' colu ...
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often called a genius for his novel approaches to pop composition, extraordinary musical aptitude, and m ...
set the text of the Lord's Prayer to an elaborate
close-harmony
A chord is in close harmony (also called close position or close structure) if its notes are arranged within a narrow range, usually with no more than an octave between the top and bottom notes. In contrast, a chord is in open harmony (also c ...
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...
, would return to the piece several times throughout their recording career, most notably as the
B-side
The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...
to their 1964 single "
Little Saint Nick
"Little Saint Nick" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys first released as a single on December 9, 1963. Written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, the Christmas song applies hot-rod themes to Santa Claus and his sleigh.
The single peaked ...
." The band Yazoo used the prayer interspersed with the lyrics of "In My Room" on the album ''
Upstairs at Eric's
''Upstairs at Eric's'' is the debut studio album by English synth-pop duo Yazoo (known in North America as Yaz). It was released on 16 August 1982 by Mute Records. It was produced by the band and E.C. Radcliffe, with assistance from Mute labe ...
''.
It is also possible to sing the melody of
Auld Lang Syne
"Auld Lang Syne" (: note "s" rather than "z") is a popular song, particularly in the English-speaking world. Traditionally, it is sung to bid farewell to the old year at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve. By extension, it is also often ...
to the words in this prayer.
Images
File:St Mary's Church, Mundon, Lord's Prayer.jpg, 18th-century painting of the Lord's Prayer, on the north side of the chancel of St Mary's Church, Mundon, Essex.
File:The Lord's prayer LCCN2004662429.jpg, The Lord's Prayer, ink and watercolor by John Morgan Coaley, 1889. Library of Congress.
File:Lord's prayer fragment from Lindisfarne Gorpels.png, Lord's Prayer fragment from
Lindisfarne Gospels
The Lindisfarne Gospels (London, British Library Cotton MS Nero D.IV) is an illuminated manuscript gospel book probably produced around the years 715–720 in the monastery at Lindisfarne, off the coast of Northumberland, which is now in the B ...
, f. 37r, Latin text, translated in Northumbrian dialect of the Old English.
File:Teeline-Lords-prayer.png, The text of the
English Language Liturgical Consultation The English Language Liturgical Consultation (ELLC) is a group of national associations of ecumenical liturgists in the English-speaking world. Their work has been concerned with developing and promoting common liturgical texts in English and shari ...
version of the Lord's Prayer, written in
Teeline Shorthand
Teeline is a shorthand system developed in 1968 by James Hill (stenographer), James Hill, a teacher of Pitman Shorthand. It is accepted by the National Council for the Training of Journalists, which certifies the training of journalists in the Un ...
and in Latin script for comparison.
File:OLAFTAW.jpg, Lord's Prayer written in
Syriac Syriac may refer to:
*Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic
*Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region
* Syriac alphabet
** Syriac (Unicode block)
** Syriac Supplement
* Neo-Aramaic languages a ...
.
File:Отче Наш Глаголица Кирилица 03.03.2020.png, Lord's Prayer, three versions from left to right: (1) from
Codex Zographensis The ''Codex Zographensis'' (or ''Tetraevangelium Zographense''; scholarly abbreviation ''Zo'') is an illuminated Old Church Slavonic canon manuscript. It is composed of 304 parchment folios; the first 288 are written in Glagolitic containing Gospe ...
in Glagolitic script (1100s); (2) from
Codex Assemanius
(scholarly abbreviation ''Ass'') is a rounded Glagolitic Old Church Slavonic canon evangeliary consisting of 158 illuminated parchment folios, dated to early 11th century. The manuscript is created in the Ohrid Literary School of the First Bulgari ...
in
Glagolitic script
The Glagolitic script (, , ''glagolitsa'') is the oldest known Slavic alphabet. It is generally agreed to have been created in the 9th century by Saint Cyril, a monk from Thessalonica. He and his brother Saint Methodius were sent by the Byzan ...
(1000s); (3) from
Gospels of Tsar Ivan Alexander
The Gospels of Tsar Ivan Alexander, Tetraevangelia of Ivan Alexander, or Four Gospels of Ivan Alexander ( bg, Четвероевангелие на (цар) Иван Александър, transliterated as ''Chetveroevangelie na (tsar) Ivan Aleks ...
in Bulgarian
Cyrillic script
The Cyrillic script ( ), Slavonic script or the Slavic script, is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic languages, Slavic, Turkic languages, Turkic, Mongolic languages, ...
(1355).
See also
*
Al-Fatiha
Al-Fatiha (alternatively transliterated Al-Fātiḥa or Al-Fātiḥah; ar, ألْفَاتِحَة, ; ), is the first ''surah'' (chapter) of the Quran. It consists of 7 '' ayah'' (verses) which are a prayer for guidance and mercy. Al-Fatiha i ...
*
Amen
Amen ( he, אָמֵן, ; grc, ἀμήν, ; syc, ܐܡܝܢ, ; ar, آمين, ) is an Abrahamic declaration of affirmation which is first found in the Hebrew Bible, and subsequently found in the New Testament. It is used in Jews, Jewish, Christia ...
*
Church of the Pater Noster
The Church of the Pater Noster (french: Église du Pater Noster) is a Roman Catholic church located on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. It is part of a Carmelite monastery, also known as the Sanctuary of the Eleona (french: Domaine de l'Eleona ...
on the
Mount of Olives
The Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet ( he, הַר הַזֵּיתִים, Har ha-Zeitim; ar, جبل الزيتون, Jabal az-Zaytūn; both lit. 'Mount of Olives'; in Arabic also , , 'the Mountain') is a mountain ridge east of and adjacent to Jeru ...
, Jerusalem
*
Discourse on ostentation
Matthew 6 is the sixth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. This chapter contains the central portion of the Sermon on the Mount, including the Lord's Prayer.
Text
The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is d ...
, a portion of the
Sermon on the Mount
The Sermon on the Mount (anglicized from the Matthean Vulgate Latin section title: ) is a collection of sayings attributed to Jesus of Nazareth found in the Gospel of Matthew (chapters 5, 6, and 7). that emphasizes his moral teachings. It is ...
*
Five Discourses of Matthew
In Christianity, the term Five Discourses of Matthew refers to five specific discourses by Jesus within the Gospel of Matthew.''The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown: An Introduction to the New Testament'' by Andreas J. Köstenberger, L. Scott Kell ...
*
Hail Mary
The Hail Mary ( la, Ave Maria) is a traditional Christian prayer addressing Mary, the mother of Jesus. The prayer is based on two biblical passages featured in the Gospel of Luke: the Angel Gabriel's visit to Mary (the Annunciation) and Mary's ...
*
High Priestly Prayer
In the New Testament, chapters 14–17 of the Gospel of John are known as the Farewell Discourse given by Jesus to eleven of his disciples immediately after the conclusion of the Last Supper in Jerusalem, the night before his crucifixion.''Joh ...
*
Prayer in the New Testament
Christian prayer is an important activity in Christianity, and there are several different forms used for this practice.
Christian prayers are diverse: they can be completely spontaneous, or read entirely from a text, such as from a breviary, ...
*
Rosary
The Rosary (; la, , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), also known as the Dominican Rosary, or simply the Rosary, refers to a set of prayers used primarily in the Catholic Church, and to the physical string of knots or b ...
* ''
Didache
The ''Didache'' (; ), also known as The Lord's Teaching Through the Twelve Apostles to the Nations (Διδαχὴ Κυρίου διὰ τῶν δώδεκα ἀποστόλων τοῖς ἔθνεσιν), is a brief anonymous early Christian tr ...
'', an early book of rituals which mentions saying the prayer three times daily
* ''
Novum Testamentum Graece
(''The New Testament in Greek'') is a critical edition of the New Testament in its original Koine Greek, forming the basis of most modern Bible translations and biblical criticism. It is also known as the Nestle–Aland edition after its mos ...
'', the primary source for most contemporary New Testament translations
* ''
Textus Receptus
''Textus Receptus'' (Latin: "received text") refers to all printed editions of the Greek New Testament from Erasmus's ''Novum Instrumentum omne'' (1516) to the 1633 Elzevir edition. It was the most commonly used text type for Protestant denomi ...
''
*
List of New Testament verses not included in modern English translations
These New Testament verses not included in modern English translations are verses of the New Testament that exist in older English translations (primarily the King James Version), but do not appear or have been relegated to footnotes in later v ...
The Anchor Bible Series
The Anchor Bible Series, which consists of a commentary series, a Bible dictionary, and a reference library, is a scholarly and commercial co-venture which was begun in 1956, with the publication of individual volumes in the commentary series. Ove ...
.'' New York: Doubleday & Co., 1971.
* Augsburger, Myron. ''Matthew.'' Waco, Texas: Word Books, 1982.
* Barclay, William. ''The Gospel of Matthew: Volume 1 Chapters 1–10.'' Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press, 1975.
* Beare, Francis Wright. ''The Gospel According to Matthew.'' Oxford: B. Blackwell, 1981.
*
*
* Brown, Raymond E. The Pater Noster as an Eschatological Prayer '' article in ''Theological Studies'' (1961) Vol. 22, pp. 175–208: from the website of Marquette University; also reprinted in ''New Testament Essays'' (1965)
* Clark, D. ''The Lord's Prayer. Origins and Early Interpretations'' (''Studia Traditionis Theologiae'', 21) Turnhout: Brepols Publishers, 2016,
*
*
* Filson, Floyd V. ''A Commentary on the Gospel According to St. Matthew.'' London: A. & C. Black, 1960.
* Fowler, Harold. ''The Gospel of Matthew: Volume One.'' Joplin: College Press, 1968
* France, R.T. ''The Gospel According to Matthew: an Introduction and Commentary.'' Leicester: Inter-Varsity, 1985.
* Hendriksen, William. ''The Gospel of Matthew.'' Edinburgh:
Banner of Truth Trust
The Banner of Truth Trust is an Evangelical and Calvinist, Reformed non-profit" ...
, 1976
* Hill, David. ''The Gospel of Matthew.'' Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1981
*
* "Lilies in the Field." ''A Dictionary of Biblical Tradition in English Literature.'' David Lyle Jeffrey, general editor. Grand Rapids: W.B. Eerdmans, 1992.
* Lewis, Jack P. ''The Gospel According to Matthew.'' Austin, Texas: R.B. Sweet, 1976.
* Luz, Ulrich. ''Matthew 1–7: A Commentary.'' trans. Wilhlem C. Linss. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1989.
* Morris, Leon. ''The Gospel According to Matthew.'' Grand Rapids: W.B. Eerdmans, 1992.
*
*
* Schweizer, Eduard. ''The Good News According to Matthew.'' Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1975
* Underhill, Evelyn, ''Abba. A meditation on the Lord's Prayer'' (1940); reprint 2003.