Development of the Lord's Prayer

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.