The Lord's Prayer (Le Pater Noster), byJames Tissot
TheLord's Prayer, also known by itsincipitOur Father (Greek:Πάτερ ἡμῶν,Latin:Pater Noster), is a centralChristian prayer attributed toJesus. It contains petitions to God focused on God's holiness,will, andkingdom, as well as human needs, with variations across manuscripts and Christian traditions.
Two versions of this prayer are recorded in thegospels: a longer form within theSermon on the Mount in theGospel of Matthew, and a shorter form in theGospel of Luke when "one of his disciples said to him, 'Lord, teach us to pray, asJohn taught his disciples.'"[1] Scholars generally agree that the differences between the Matthaean and Lucan versions of the Lord's Prayer reflect independent developments from a common source. The first-century textDidache (at chapter VIII) reports a version closely resembling that of Matthew and the modern prayer. It ends with theMinor Doxology.[2]
Theologians broadly view the Lord's Prayer as a model that aligns the soul with God's will, emphasizingpraise, trust, andethical living. The prayer is used by mostChristian denominations in theirworship and, with few exceptions, theliturgical form is the Matthean version. It has been set to music for use in liturgicalservices.
Since the 16th century, the Lord's Prayer has been widely translated and collected to comparelanguages across regions and history. The Lord's Prayer shares thematic and linguistic parallels with prayers and texts from various religious traditions—including theHebrew Bible, Jewish post-biblical prayers, and ancient writings like theDhammapada and theEpic of Gilgamesh—though some elements, such as "Lead us not into temptation," have unique theological nuances without direct Old Testament counterparts. Music from 9th centuryGregorian chants to modern works byChristopher Tin has used the Lord's Prayer in various religious and interfaith ceremonies.
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 originalGreek texts contain the adjectiveepiousion; while controversial, 'daily' has been the most common English-language translation of this word.Protestants usually conclude the prayer with adoxology (in some versions, "For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever, Amen"), a later addition appearing in somemanuscripts of Matthew. The Eastern Orthodox version is: 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 the ages of ages. Amen.
Relationship between the Matthaean and Lucan texts
Inbiblical criticism, the absence of the Lord's Prayer in theGospel of Mark, together with its occurrence in Matthew and Luke, has caused scholars who accept thetwo-source hypothesis (against otherdocument hypotheses) to conclude that it is probably alogion original to theQ source.[6] According toW.D. Davies andDale Allison, it is also possible than one version was present in Q and another from theM source or theL source, though they do not view the notion that Luke's version used Matthew as plausible.[7] 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".[8] Davies and Allison find this theory to be possible as well.[9]
If either source built on the other,Joachim Jeremias attributes priority to Matthew on the grounds that "in the early period, before wordings were fixed, liturgical texts were elaborated, expanded and enriched".[10] 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.[11]
The Matthaean version is the one most common in general Christian usage.[12]
και μη εισενεγκης ημας εις πειρασμον αλλα ρυσαι ημας απο του πονηρου
και μη εισενεγκης ημας εις πειρασμον αλλα ρυσαι ημας απο του πονηρου
The majority percentage of the verbs areaorist imperatives. In the first part of the prayer there are third person passive imperatives, while in the last one there are second person active imperatives.[14]
Original Greek text and Syriac and Latin translations
The text given here is that of the latest edition ofGreek New Testament of the United Bible Societies and in the Nestle-AlandNovum Testamentum Graece.[15] Most modern translations use a text similar to this one. Most older translations are based on aByzantine-type text withἐπὶ τῆς γῆς in line 5 (verse 10) instead ofἐπὶ γῆς, andἀφίεμεν in line 8 (verse 12) instead ofἀφήκαμεν, and adding at the end (verse 13) the doxologyὅτι σοῦ ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία καὶ ἡ δύναμις καὶ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. ἀμήν.
πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς(páter hēmôn ho en toîs ouranoîs)
ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου(hagiasthḗtō tò ónomá sou)
ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου(elthétō hē basileía sou)
γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς(genēthḗtō tò thélēmá sou hōs en ouranô(i) kaì epì gês)
There are four editions of the Vulgate:[17] theSixtine Vulgate, theSixto-Clementine Vulgate, theNova Vulgata, and theStuttgart Vulgate. The Clementine edition varies from theNova Vulgata in this place only in punctuation and in having"ne nos inducas" in place of"ne inducas nos". The Stuttgart Vulgate has"qui in caelis es" in place of"qui es in caelis";"veniat" in place of"adveniat";"dimisimus" in place of"dimittimus"; and"temptationem" in place of"tentationem".
pater noster qui es in cælis
sanctificetur nomen tuum
adveniat regnum tuum
fiat voluntas tua sicut in cælo et in terra
panem nostrum supersubstantialem da nobis hodie
et dimitte nobis debita nostra sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris
et ne nos inducas in tentationem sed libera nos a malo[a]
The doxology associated with the Lord's Prayer in Byzantine Greek texts is found in fourVetus Latina manuscripts, only two of which give it in its entirety. The other surviving manuscripts of the Vetus Latina Gospels do not have the doxology. The Vulgate translation also does not include it, thus agreeing with critical editions of the Greek text.
Lord's Prayer from the 1845 illuminated book ofThe Sermon on the Mount, designed byOwen Jones
There are several different English translations of the Lord's Prayer from Greek or Latin, beginning around AD 650 with theNorthumbrian translation. Of those in current liturgical use, the three best-known are:
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 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.
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, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen. (or ...forever. Amen.)
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 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.
The concludingdoxology ("For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever") is representative of the practice of concluding prayers with a short, hymn-like verse that exalts the glory of God. Older English translations of the Bible, based on late Byzantine Greek manuscripts, included it, but it is absent in the oldest manuscripts and is not considered to be part of the original text ofMatthew 6:9–13.[29] The translators of the 1611King James Bible assumed that a Greek manuscript they possessed was ancient and therefore adopted the text into the Lord's Prayer of the Gospel of Matthew. The use of the doxology in English dates from at least 1549 with theFirst Prayer Book of Edward VI which was influenced byWilliam Tyndale's New Testament translation in 1526.
In theByzantine Rite, 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.",[k] and in either instance, reciter(s) of the prayer reply "Amen".
The CatholicLatin liturgical rites have never attached the doxology to the end of the Lord's Prayer. The doxology does appear in theRoman RiteMass as revised in 1969. After the conclusion of the Lord's Prayer, the priest says a prayer known as theembolism. In the officialInternational Commission on English in the Liturgy (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."[23]
Augustine of Hippo gives the following analysis of the Lord's Prayer, which elaborates on Jesus' words just before it in the Gospel of Matthew: "Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then in this way" (Matthew 6:8–9):[30]
We need to use words (when we pray) so that we may remind ourselves to consider carefully what we are asking, not so that we may think we can instruct the Lord or prevail on him.When we say: "Hallowed be your name", we are reminding ourselves to desire that his name, which in fact is always holy, should also be considered holy among men.[...] But this is a help for men, not for God.[...] And as for our saying: "Your kingdom come," it will surely come whether we will it or not. But we are stirring up our desires for the kingdom so that it can come to us and we can deserve to reign there.[...] When we say: "Deliver us from evil," we are reminding ourselves to reflect on the fact that we do not yet enjoy the state of blessedness in which we shall suffer no evil.[...] It was very appropriate that all these truths should be entrusted to us to remember in these very words. Whatever be the other words we may prefer to say (words which the one praying chooses so that his disposition may become clearer to himself or which he simply adopts so that his disposition may be intensified), we say nothing that is not contained in the Lord's Prayer, provided of course we are praying in a correct and proper way.
This excerpt from Augustine is included in the Office of Readings in the CatholicLiturgy of the Hours.[31]
Many have written biblical commentaries on the Lord's Prayer.[32][33][34][35] Contained below are a variety of selections from some of those commentaries.
This subheading and those that follow use the 1662Book of Common Prayer (BCP) (see above)
Our Father, which art in heaven
"Our" indicates that the prayer is that of a group of people who consider themselves children of God and who call God their "Father". "Inheaven" indicates that the Father who is addressed is distinct from human fathers on earth.[36]
Augustine interpreted "heaven" (coelum, sky) in this context as meaning "in the hearts of the righteous, as it were in His holy temple".[37]
Formerarchbishop of CanterburyRowan Williams 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."[38]
Richard Challoner writes that: "[t]his petition claims the first 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 ought to desire and pray for is, the great honor and glory of God."[39]
"This petition has its parallel in the Jewish prayer, 'May he establish his Kingdom during your life and during your days.'"[40] 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."[41] Concerning how Jesus' audience in the gospels would have understood him,George Eldon Ladd turns to the concept's Hebrew biblical background: "The Hebrew wordmalkuth [...] refers first to a reign, dominion, or rule and only secondarily to the realm over which a reign is exercised. [...] Whenmalkuth is used of God, it almost always refers to his authority or to his rule as the heavenly King."[42] 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.[43]
The Catholic Church believes that, by praying the Lord's prayer, a Christian hastens theSecond Coming.[44] Like the church, some denominations 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.[45] 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, 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).[46]
According toWilliam Barclay, this phrase is a couplet with the same meaning as "Thy kingdom come". Barclay argues that "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."[47]
John Ortberg interprets this phrase as follows: "Many people think our job is to get myafterlife 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."[48]Stephen Cottrell makes the same point in his reflections on "Thy Kingdom Come": "the promise of the gospel isn't really us going up to heaven, but heaven coming down to earth".[49] 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".[48]
As mentioned earlier, the original wordἐπιούσιος (epiousion), commonly characterized asdaily, is unique to the Lord's Prayer in all of ancient Greek literature. The word is almost ahapax legomenon, occurring only in Luke and Matthew's versions of the Lord's Prayer, and nowhere else in any other extant Greek texts. Whileepiousion is often substituted by the word "daily", all otherNew Testament translations from the Greek into "daily" otherwise referencehemeran (ἡμέραν, "the day"), which does not appear in this usage.[citation needed]
Jerome by linguisticparsing translated "ἐπιούσιον" (epiousion) as "supersubstantialem" in the Gospel of Matthew, but as "cotidianum" ("daily") in the Gospel of Luke. This wide-ranging difference with respect to meaning ofepiousion is discussed in detail in the currentCatechism of the Catholic Church 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 theBread of Life, theBody of Christ, the 'medicine of immortality,' without which we have no life within us."[50]
Epiousion is translated assupersubstantialem in theVulgate Matthew 6:11[51] and accordingly assupersubstantial in theDouay–Rheims Bible Matthew 6:11.[52]
Barclay M. Newman'sA Concise Greek-English Dictionary of the New Testament, published in a revised edition in 2010 by theUnited Bible Societies, has the following entry:
ἐπι|ούσιος, ον (εἰμί) of doubtful meaning,for today;for the coming day;necessary for existence.[53]
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), the range of whose meanings is indicated inA Greek–English Lexicon.[54]
AlthoughMatthew 6:12 uses the termdebts, most older English versions of the Lord's Prayer use the termtrespasses, while ecumenical versions often use the termsins. The last choice may be due toLuke 11:4,[55] which uses the wordsins, while the former may be due toMatthew 6:14 (immediately after the text of the prayer), where Jesus speaks oftrespasses. As early as the third century,Origen of Alexandria used the wordtrespasses (παραπτώματα) in the prayer.
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".[57]
The "debts" form appears in the first English translation of the Bible, byJohn Wycliffe in 1395 (Wycliffe spelling "dettis"). The "trespasses" version appears in the 1526 translation byWilliam Tyndale (Tyndale spelling "treaspases"). In 1549 thefirstBook of Common Prayer in English used a version of the prayer with "trespasses". This became the "official" version used in Anglican congregations. On the other hand, the 1611King James Version, the version specificallyauthorized for theChurch of England, 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 fordebts 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 aboutsins being forgiven in the manner of debts being forgiven between people. The word "debts" (ὀφειλήματα) does not necessarily mean financial obligations, as shown by the use of the verbal form of the same word (ὀφείλετε) in passages such as Romans 13:8.[58] TheAramaic wordḥôbâ can mean "debt" or "sin".[59][60] 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.[61] Asking for forgiveness from God was a staple of Jewish prayers (e.g.,Penitential Psalms). 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.[citation needed]
Anthony C. Deane, Canon ofWorcester Cathedral, 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 theparable of the sheep and the goats (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 showinglove to others.[62][63]
"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[64] show Jesus teaching that the forgiveness of our sin/debt (by God) is linked with how we forgive others, as in theParable of the Unforgiving Servant Matthew 18:23–35,[65] which Matthew gives later.R. T. France comments:
The point is not so much that forgiving is a prior condition of being forgiven, but that forgiving cannot be a one-way process. Like all God's gifts it brings responsibility; it must be passed on. To ask for forgiveness on any other basis is hypocrisy. There can be no question, of course, of our forgiving being in proportion to what we are forgiven, as 18:23–35 makes clear.
— R. T. France, The Gospel According to Matthew: An Introduction and Commentary[66]
Interpretations of the penultimate petition of the prayer – not to be led by God intopeirasmos – vary considerably. The range of meanings of the Greek word "πειρασμός" (peirasmos) is illustrated in New Testament Greek lexicons.[67] In different contexts it can mean temptation, testing, trial, experiment. Although the traditional English translation uses the word "temptation" andCarl Jung saw God as actually leading people astray,[68] 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."[69] Some see the petition as an eschatological appeal against unfavourableLast Judgment, a theory supported by the use of the word "peirasmos" in this sense in Revelation 3:10.[70] Others see it as a plea against hardtests described elsewhere in scripture, such as those ofJob.[l] It is also read as: "Do not let us be led (by ourselves, by others, by Satan) into temptations".Tertullian comments: "For the completeness of so brief a prayer He added — in order that we should supplicate not touching the remitting merely, but touching the entire averting, of acts of guilt — Lead us not into temptation: that is, suffer us not to be led into it, by him (of course) who tempts; but far be the thought that the Lord should seem to tempt, as if He either were ignorant of the faith of any, or else were eager to overthrow it. Infirmity and malice are characteristics of theDevil...The final clause, therefore, is consonant, and interprets the sense of Lead us not into temptation; for this sense is, But convey us away from the Evil One." (On Prayer, Ch. VIII)[71][72] Coherently, SaintCyprian of Carthago translates Matthew 6:9 as follows:And suffer us not to be led into temptation; but deliver us from evil. (On the Lord's Prayer, n. 7)[73]
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[74] and Luke 22:40[75] in connection with the prayer of Jesus in Gethsemane.[76]
In a conversation on the Italian TV channelTV2000 on 6 December 2017,Pope Francis commented that the then Italian wording of this petition (similar to the traditional English) was a poor translation. He said "the French" (i.e., theBishops' Conference of France) had changed the petition to "Do not let us fall in/into temptation". He was referring to the 2017 change to a newFrench version,Et ne nous laisse pas entrer en tentation ("Do not let us enter into temptation"), but spoke of it in terms of theSpanish translation,no nos dejes caer en la tentación ("do not let us fall in/into temptation"), that he was accustomed to recite inArgentina before his election as Pope. He explained: "I am the one who falls; it's not him [God] pushing me into temptation to then see how I have fallen".[78][79][80]Anglican theologian Ian Paul said that such a proposal was "stepping into a theological debate about the nature of evil".[81]
In January 2018, after "in-depth study", theGerman Bishops' Conference rejected any rewording of their translation of the Lord's Prayer.[82][83]
In November 2018, theEpiscopal Conference of Italy adopted a new edition of theMessale Romano, theItalian translation of theRoman Missal. One of the changes made from the older (1983) edition was to render this petition asnon abbandonarci alla tentazione ("do not abandon us to temptation").[84][85] This was approved by Pope Francis; however, there are no current plans to make a similar change for the English translation as of 2019[update].[needs update][82] The Italian-speakingUnion of Methodist and Waldensian Churches maintains its translation of the petition:non esporci alla tentazione ("do not expose us to temptation").[86]
Translations and scholars are divided over whether the final word here refers to "evil" in general or "the evil one" (thedevil) 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 theSermon on the Mount, 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 asthe evil one in any known Aramaic sources. WhileJohn Calvin 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[88] and Thessalonians 3:3.[89][90]
Thedoxology sometimes attached to the prayer in English is similar to a passage in1 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."[91][92] It is also similar to the paean toKing Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon inDaniel 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".[93][92][94]
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.[95][96][97][98]
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,[99] representative of the Alexandrian text, although it is present in the manuscripts representative of the laterByzantine text.[100] Most scholars do not consider it part of the original text of Matthew.[101][102] TheCodex Washingtonianus, which adds a doxology (in the familiar text), is of the early fifth or late fourth century.[103][104] New translations generally omit it except as a footnote.[105][106]
TheDidache, 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).[94][107][108] C. Clifton Black, although regarding theDidache as an "early second century" text, nevertheless considers the doxology it contains to be the "earliest additional ending we can trace".[107] Of a longer version,[m] Black observes: "Its earliest appearance may have been in Tatian'sDiatessaron, a second-century harmony of the four Gospels".[92] The first three editions of theUnited Bible Societies text cited theDiatessaron for inclusion of the familiar doxology in Matthew 6:13, but in the later editions it cites theDiatessaron for excluding it.[109][specify] TheApostolic Constitutions added "the kingdom" to the beginning of the formula in theDidache, thus establishing the now familiar doxology.[110][111][112]
In theByzantine Rite, 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.",[n] and in either instance, reciter(s) of the prayer reply "Amen".
Adding a doxology directly following the Our Father is not part of the liturgical tradition of theRoman Rite nor does the LatinVulgate of St.Jerome contain the doxology that appears in late Greek manuscripts. However, it is recited since 1970 in the Roman RiteOrder of Mass, not as part of the Lord's Prayer but separately as a response acclamation after theembolism developing the seventh petition in the perspective of the Final Coming of Christ.
In most Anglican editions of theBook of Common Prayer, the Lord's Prayer ends with the doxology unless it is preceded by theKyrie eleison. This happens at the daily offices of Morning Prayer (Mattins) and Evening Prayer (Evensong) and in a few other offices.[o]
The vast majority ofProtestant churches conclude the Lord's Prayer with the doxology.
Gessner's idea of collecting translations of the prayer was taken up by authors of the 17th century, includingHieronymus Megiserus (1603) and Georg Pistorius (1621).Andreas Müller (Orientalist) in 1680 published an enlarged collection of 82 versions of the prayer, under the pseudonym 'Thomas Ludekenius'[113][114], of which three were in fictionalphilosophical languages.In 1700, Müller's collection was re-edited byB. Mottus asOratio dominica plus centum linguis versionibus aut characteribus reddita et expressa.This edition was comparatively inferior, but a second, revised edition was published in 1715 byJohn Chamberlayne.This 1715 edition was used by Gottfried Hensel in hisSynopsis Universae Philologiae (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 also published a collection with more than 100 entries.[115]
These collections continued to be improved and expanded well into the 19th century;Johann Christoph Adelung andJohann Severin Vater in 1806–1817 published the prayer in "well-nigh five hundred languages and dialects".[116]
Samples of scripture, including the Lord's Prayer, were published in 52 Asian languages, most of them not previously found in such collections, translated by the brethren of theSerampore Mission and printed at the mission press there in 1818.[citation needed]
During the 2020–2021jubilee ofSaint Joseph,Pope Francis signed a decree that granted the plenaryindulgence to those who shall contemplate the Lord's Prayer for at least 30 minutes.[117]
RabbiAron Mendes Chumaceiro says that nearly all the elements of the prayer have counterparts in theJewish Bible andDeuterocanonical books: the first part inIsaiah 63:15-16 ("Look down from heaven and see, from your holy and beautiful habitation... for you are our Father")[121] andEzekiel 36:23 ("I will vindicate the holiness of my great name...")[122] and38:23 ("I will show my greatness and my holiness and make myself known in the eyes of many nations..."),[123] the second part inObadiah 1:21 ("Saviours shall go up to Mount Zion to rule Mount Esau, and the kingdom shall be the LORD's")[124] and1 Samuel 38:18 ("...It is the LORD. Let him do what seems good to him."),[125] the third part inProverbs 30:8 ("...feed me with my apportioned bread..."),[126] and the fourth part inBook of Sirach 28:2 ("Forgive your neighbour the wrong he has done, and then your sins will be pardoned when you pray.").[127] "Deliver us from evil" can be compared withPsalm 119:133 ("...let no iniquity get dominion over me.").[128][129]
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,[130] and told David, "Go, number Israel and Judah," an action that David later acknowledged as sin;[131] and the testing of Job in theBook of Job.
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 TestamentBook of Psalms.[132]
On the other hand,Andrew Wommack says that the Lord's Prayer "technically speaking... isn't even a true New Testament prayer". The only evidence or argument he offers readers, however, is to "notice that it's not prayed in the name of Jesus."[133]
In post-biblical Jewish prayer, especially Kiddushin 81a (Babylonian).[134] "Our Father which art in heaven" (אבינו שבשמים,Avinu shebashamayim) is the beginning of many Hebrew prayers.[135] "Our Father who art in heaven" and "hallowed be thy name" are reflected in theKaddish (where it says: "May His great name be hallowed in the world which He created, according to His will, and may He establish His Kingdom...)".[136] "Lead us not into sin" is echoed in the "morning blessings" of Jewish prayer. A blessing said by some Jewish communities after theeveningShema 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." None of these liturgical prayers, however, can be dated to beforeJesus Christ.[137][138]
Various composers have incorporated the Lord's Prayer into a musical setting for utilization duringliturgical services for a variety of religious traditions as well asinterfaith ceremonies. Included among them are:
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".[153]
American songwriter and arrangerBrian Wilson set the text of the Lord's Prayer to an elaborateclose-harmony arrangement loosely based onMalotte's melody. Wilson's group,The Beach Boys, would return to the piece several times throughout their recording career, most notably as theB-side to their 1964 single "Little Saint Nick."[154] The bandYazoo used the prayer interspersed with the lyrics of "In My Room" on the albumUpstairs at Eric's.[155]
In the 2002 filmSpider-Man,Norman Osborn, as the Green Goblin, attacks and injuresAunt May while she is in the middle of saying the Lord's Prayer, causing her hospitalization.
In July 2023, Filipinodrag queen and formerDrag Den contestantPura Luka Vega drew controversy online for posting a video of themselves dressing up as Jesus Christ and dancing to apunk rock version ofAma Namin, the Filipino version of the Lord's Prayer. The video was also condemned by several Philippine politicians and theCatholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines.[157]
^In theNova Vulgata, the official Latin Bible of the Catholic Church, the last word is capitalized, indicating that it is a reference toMalus (the Evil One), not tomalum (abstract or generic evil).
^TheGreek Orthodox Church uses a slightly different Greek version. which can be found in many liturgical texts, e.g., theDivine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom ([1] Greek Orthodox Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom), as presented in the[2] 1904 text of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and various Greek prayer books and liturgies. This is the Greek version of the Lord's Prayer most widely used for prayer and liturgy today, and is similar to other texts of theByzantine text-type used in older English Bible translations, with ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς instead of ἐπὶ γῆς on line 5 and ἀφίεμεν instead of ἀφήκαμεν (present rather than aorist tense) in line 8. Whenever a priest is officiating, he replies with 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.",[b] and in either instance, reciter(s) of the prayer reply "Amen".
^Syriac liturgical text adds "and our sins" to some verses in Matthew 6:12 and Luke 11:4.
^Syriac "deliver" relates with "Passover", thus Passover means "deliverance": Exodus 12:13.
^"And" is absent in between the words "kingdom, power, glory". The Old SyriacCuretonian Gospel text varies: "for thine is the kingdom and the glory for an age of ages amen".
^Didache finishes the prayer just with duality of words[clarification needed] "for Thine is the Power and the Glory for ages" without any "amen" in the end. Old Syriac text ofCuretonian Gospels finishes the prayer also with duality of words "for Thine is the Kingdom and the Glory for age ages. Amen"
^The version of the Lord's Prayer most familiar to Western European Christians until theProtestant Reformation is that in theRoman Missal, which has had cultural and historical importance for most regions where English is spoken. The text is used in theRoman Riteliturgy (Mass,Liturgy of the Hours, etc.). It differs from the Vulgate in havingcotidianum in place ofsupersubstantial. It does not add the doxology: this is never joined immediately to the Lord's Prayer in the Latin liturgy or the Latin Bible, but it appears, in the formquia tuum est regnum, et potestas, et gloria, in saecula, in theMass of theRoman Rite, as revised in 1969, separated from the Lord's Prayer by the prayer,Libera nos, quaesumus... (theembolism), which elaborates on the final petition,Libera nos a malo (deliver us from evil). Others have translated the doxology into Latin asquia tuum est regnum; et potentia et gloria; per omnia saecula or…in saecula saeculorum.
^In editions of the Roman Missal prior to that of 1962 (the edition ofPope John XXIII) the wordcotidianum was spelledquotidianum.
^For instance, inMorning Prayer the doxology is included in the Lord's Prayer in the Introduction, but not in the Prayers after the Apostles' Creed because it is preceded by theKyrie eleison.
^Hilda C. Graef,St. Gregory of Nyssa: The Lord's Prayer and the Beatitudes (Ancient Christin Writers, No. 18), Paulist Press (New York: 1954), n. 68, p. 187.
^Cf.[3] Barclay M. Newman,A Concise Greek-English Dictionary of the New Testament, Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, United Bible Societies 2010ISBN978-3-438-06019-8. Partial preview.
^Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Kittel & Friedrich eds., abridged in one volume by Geoffrey W. Bromiley (Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, Mich; 1985), pp. 746–50, gives use of ὸφείλωopheilo (to owe, be under obligation), ὸφειλήopheile (debt, obligation) and two other word forms used in the New Testament and outside the New Testament, including use in Judaism.
^Augustin Backer, Alois Backer,Bibliothèque des écrivains de la compagnie de Jésus ou notices bibliographiques, vol. 5, 1839,304f.
^Mithridates oder allgemeine Sprachenkunde mit dem Vater Unser als Sprachprobe in bey nahe fünf hundert Sprachen und Mundarten, 1806–1817, Berlin, Vossische Buchlandlung, 4 volumes. Facsimile edition, Hildesheim-Nueva York,Georg Olms Verlag, 1970.
^Zavalniuk A. F. Mykola Leontovych. Lysty, dokumenty, dukhovni tvory. Do 130-yi richnytsi vid dnia narodzhennia/ Vydannia druhe, doopratsovane i dopovnene. Vinnytsia: Nova Knyha, 2007. - 272 с., ноти, іл. ISBN 978-966-382-085-9
Clontz, T.E.; Clontz, Jerry (2008).The Comprehensive New Testament with complete textual variant mapping and references for the Dead Sea Scrolls, Philo, Josephus, Nag Hammadi Library, Pseudepigrapha, Apocrypha, Plato, Egyptian Book of the Dead, Talmud, Old Testament, Patristic Writings, Dhammapada, Tacitus, Epic of Gilgamesh. Cornerstone.ISBN978-0-9778737-1-5.
Council of Trent (1829). "Part IV: The Lord's Prayer".The Catechism of the Council of Trent. Translated by Donovan, James. Baltimore: Lucas Brothers.
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