The brief prayer known as the Lord’s Prayer is one of the
signal features of Christianity, one which crosses all political and
ideological lines within the Church. The
Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke teach that the prayer was
handed down by none other than the progenitor of the faith, Isho Nasraya, or as
he is better known to Americans, Jesus Christ.
As such it is considered sacred.
In fact, in the Early Church, at least after the catechumenate became
the regular method of initiating new members, the prayer was not revealed to
the neophytes until they had been baptized and chrismated following their
three-year, three stage process. This is
why within almost every version of the Mass/Divine Liturgy/Communion Service,
the Lord’s Prayer follows after the Eucharist which consecrates the elements.
One would think that something so sacred, so hallowed, so
sanctified would remain pure and unadulterated and as close to the original as
possible from the beginning. This being
religion, however, and Christianity having already altered many of its
teachings even before the writer of the Gospel
of Mark first put quill to parchment in Alexandria, no such luck.
This is a presentation of the more important of the many
variations of the Lord’s Prayer that have been used the past two millennia,
mostly in order of appearance, but starting out with the version most familiar
to most Americans.
Book of Common Prayer
version
This is the form of
the Lord’s Prayer with which American Christians are most familiar. It is taken from the Book of Common
Prayer of the Protestant Episcopal Church
in the U.S.A., as it has been written since its first edition in 1789. Roman Catholics and a few others usually drop
the doxology at the end.
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.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and
ever. Amen.
Earliest Gospel of Luke version
The more often seen
version in early manuscripts. The Greek word here usually translated as “daily”
is “epiousios”, and exists in the Greek-language nowhere else. Linguists surmise that translators came
across an Aramaic word that didn’t have a counterpart to translate into so they
invented one.
Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive
every one that is indebted to us. And
lead us not into temptation. Amen.
Early but rare Lucan
version
A rare version, this
is found in only a few minuscules. A
“minuscule” is a manuscript written in a small cursive script called by the
same name. However, Marcion of Sinope,
Gregory of Nyssa, Maximus the Confessor, and Tertullian all testify to this
reading; Marcion preferred it.
Father, hallowed be your name. Send your Spirit to purify
us. Give us day by day our daily
bread. And forgive us our debts; for we
also forgive every one that is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.
Amen.
Gospel of Matthew version, Greek
Translation of the
Greek into English. Note “in the
heavens” versus “in heaven”, the former being what the texts actually say.
Our Father in the heavens, 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
forgive our debtors. Lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Gospel of Luke, Codex Bezae version, Greek
Translation of the
Greek into English.
Our Father in the heavens, hallowed be your name upon us. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, as in heaven so on earth. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our
debtors. Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Gospel of the Nazarenes version
As reported by the
Church Father Jerome, where he noted the use of the word “mahar”, meaning
“tomorrow”, rather than the word for “daily”.
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 bread for
tomorrow. And forgive us our debts, as we
forgive our debtors. Lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Matthean version,
Vulgate
The main difference is
the Latin word which translates to “supersubstantial”.
Our Father in the heavens, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in
heaven. Give us this day our supersubstantial
bread. And forgive us our debts, as we
forgive our debtors. Lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Matthean version,
Byzantine
The Byzantine texts,
as opposed to the Alexandrian and the Western, adds the “complete” doxology to
the Lord’s Prayer in both Matthew and
Luke.
Our Father in the heavens, 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 forgive our
debtors. Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. For yours are
the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, unto ages of ages. Amen.
Didache version
This is the earliest version to include a doxology, albeit slightly
shorter. Although this work includes
quote directly from the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke, this
form in turn influenced later editors of those works to interpolate the
doxology. Some Boharic and Sahidic texts
of the New Testament use the same doxology as here. The document, the first of the genre known as
“church orders”, was written in the late first century CE.
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, as in heaven so on
earth. Give us this day our bread for
the morrow. Forgive us our debt, as we
also forgive our debtors. Lead us not
into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours are the power and the glory, forever. Amen.
Marcion of Sinope’s version
Taken from a scholarly reconstruction of his gospel, the Evangelikon, also known as the Gospel of the Lord, which he brought to Rome in 138 CE.
Father, let your Holy Spirit come
upon us. Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth. Give us this day your bread for the coming
day. And forgive us our sins; for we
also forgive every one that is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.
Amen.
Tertullian’s version
From his treatise On
Prayer, written in 204 in the city of
Carthage in Africa.
Our Father in the heavens, glorify your name among all
humanity. Your will be done in the heavens and on the earth. Your kingdom come. Give us this day our daily bread. Remit us our debts, as we remit our
debtors. Do not allow us to be led by
the one that tempts. Amen.
Origen’s version
From his On
Prayer, written in 233 in Caesarea
Maritimi of Syria-Palestina.
Our Father in the heavens, 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 trespasses, as
we forgive those who trespass against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Gregory of Nyssa’s version
From his Homilies on the Lord’s Prayer, written in the 370’s in Nyssa of Cappadocia.
Our Father in heaven, your holy Spirit come upon us and
cleanse us. 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; for we
also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation,
but take us away from the evil one.
Amen.
Cyprian’s version
From his Treatise
IV: On the Lord’s Prayer, written 255 in Carthage.
Our Father, let
your name be hallowed. Let your kingdom
come. Let your will be done, in heaven
and on earth. Give us this day our daily
bread. And pardon us our debts, just as
we pardon our debtors. Do not allow us
to be led into temptation. But set us
free from the evil one. Amen.
Apostolic Constitutions
version
A compilation of different church orders into one volume which was then
heavily edited, probably in Syria, in the late fourth century.
Our Father in the heavens,
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 forgive our
debtors. And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom forever. Amen. (Book VII, Chapter 24)
Eastern version, Divine Liturgy
The Byzantine version of the Lord’s Prayer as used in the Divine
Liturgy, the doxology given in italics because those words are spoken by the
priest alone.
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 the evil one. 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. Amen.
Sarum Use version, English vernacular
From a primer
published in 1860 called The Encheiridion, which was a reproduction of an early sixteenth century Sarum Use
primer complied and published prior to the split with Rome. Note the fifth clause, with “debts” instead
of “trespasses”.
Our Father which 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 out
debtors. And lead us not into
temptation; but deliver us from evil.
Amen.
First Church of
England version
From the first English Book of Common Prayer, published in 1549, with spelling as it was then. Note the lack of doxology; this was the
version in both the daily offices and the Holy Communion office. Compare the fifth clause here to that just
above; Tyndale’s English version of 1534 first translated that clause the
second way, and the Geneva and Authorized versions followed suit, and Cranmer doing
so for the first BCP was almost
certainly of even greater impact.
Oure father, whiche arte in
heaven, hallowed by thy name. Thy
kingdom come. Thy wyll by done in earth
as it is in heaven. Geve us this daye
oure dayle bread. And forgeve us oure
trespasses, as we forgeve them that trespasse against us. And leade us not into temptacion. But deliver us from evil. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment