We go next to Matthew VI:9, which is parallel to Luke XI:2, The Our Father/Pater Noster/Avinu. The Pater Noster (let's start calling it the Avinu) is very, very striking in Hebrew:
Avinu shebashamayim yitkadash shmecha
"Yitkadash shmecha." Let Your name be made holy. Because from this blessing all the others will flow. A world in which the Name is revered and respected, will be a world in which all Life is revered and respected, and in which we respect each other. It is a path to a better world.
Tavo malchutecha
May your kingdom come. (Replacing the rule of unethical imposters and usurpers who poison our existence because of their greed and lust for power.)
Yeaseh ritzoncha kmo bashamayim ken baaretz
May your will be done as in the heavens, so also on the earth.
Et-lechem chuqenu ten-lanu hayom
Give us this day our daily bread
Us'lach-lanu et-chovotenu kaasher salachnu gam-anachnu l'chayavenu
Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors
V'al-t'viyenu liy'dey nisayon kiy im-chaltzenu min-hara'
And do not lead us into the hands of temptation, but deliver us from evil,
[Kiy l'cha hamamlakhah v'hag'vurah v'hatipheret l'ol'mey olamiym] amen
[for Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.] Amen.
(This is a transliteration from Franz Delitzsch's nineteenth-century translation of the New Testament into Hebrew.)
This beloved and ancient prayer has survived in three editions: that of Matthew, that of Luke, and that of the Didache. Somehow, the canonical (Greek) text grew out of this development, and that is what we want to shed light on.
So far as I can tell, the oldest version is that in Luke. Here is Luke's version (Lk. 11:2-4), according to modern scholarship:
Father,
hallowed be thy name,
thy 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.
I happen to believe that the original of this prayer was taught in Aramaic, and such a version has survived in the Sinaitic Palimpsest (Syr-s). I'll show it first in Hebrew letters, easier for me to write than Estrangelo (classical Syriac script):
So far as I can tell, the oldest version is that in Luke. Here is Luke's version (Lk. 11:2-4), according to modern scholarship:
Father,
hallowed be thy name,
thy 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.
I happen to believe that the original of this prayer was taught in Aramaic, and such a version has survived in the Sinaitic Palimpsest (Syr-s). I'll show it first in Hebrew letters, easier for me to write than Estrangelo (classical Syriac script):
אבא נתקדש שמך ותאתא מלכותך ׃ 2
והב לן לחמא אמינא דכליום ׃ 3
ושבך לנ חטהין ואף אנחנן שבקין אנחנן לכל דחיב לן ולא תעלן לנסיונא ׃ 4
This is essentially the short, Lukan version, and it sounds something like:
abba netqaddash sh'mak watite malkutak
wahab lan lahma amyna d'kulyum.
wash'buq lan n'tahayn 'ap ennahnan sh'baqn l'kul d'hayyabin lan w'la ta'lan l'nesyuna.
But we should not suppose that this minimalist, Lukan version was widely known or available to all. It did survive, though, in the Vulgate:
Pater sanctificetur nomen tuum
adveniat regnum tuum
panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis cotidie
et dimitte nobis peccata nostra
siquidem et ipsi dimittimus omni debenti nobis
et ne nos inducas in temptationem.
Pater sanctificetur nomen tuum
adveniat regnum tuum
panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis cotidie
et dimitte nobis peccata nostra
siquidem et ipsi dimittimus omni debenti nobis
et ne nos inducas in temptationem.
English translation of the Vulgate Latin:
Father, may your name be made holy,
may your kingdom come,
give us daily our daily bread,
and forgive us our sins,
as we also forgive all those indebted to us,
and do not lead us into temptation.
We almost lost that shorter, Lukan version, but it survived in the Codex Vaticanus ("B"), the Codex Sinaiticus ("א"), the Sinaitic Palimpsest ("Syr-s") and in Papyrus 75. It also survived in the Vulgate, probably because Jerome used "B." It is significant that all of these sources are fourth-century, except P75, which is third-century. By the late fifth century, we see (from Syr-c, the Curetonian Syriac) that the shorter, Lukan version of the prayer had been swamped by a longer version intended to harmonize it with the Matthaean version. From there, the longer version got into the (Byzantine) Textus Receptus, and from there into countless other translations, including the KJV. Had the texts mentioned above not survived (most were either discovered or began to be studied in the nineteenth century), we would probably have lost Luke's original version, and an important part of the textual history of the New Testament would have been lost.
Above, I gave a Syriac (Christian Aramaic) text (from the Oldest Old Syriac, Syr-s) of Luke's original version.
We have no version that short for Matthew. The shortest that we have is that in Shem-Tob's Hebrew Matthew. It goes like this:
Our father, may your name be sanctified;
Above, I gave a Syriac (Christian Aramaic) text (from the Oldest Old Syriac, Syr-s) of Luke's original version.
We have no version that short for Matthew. The shortest that we have is that in Shem-Tob's Hebrew Matthew. It goes like this:
Our father, may your name be sanctified;
may your kingdom be blessed;
may your will be done in the heavens and on earth.
Give our bread continually.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us,
and do not lead us into the power of temptation, but keep us from all evil, amen.
One notices that it says OUR father, and not just Father as in the Lukan version. It says "in heaven/the heavens, which the Lukan prayer does not. It says "heavens" (plural) because this word is always plural in Hebrew, In common with all versions, it says "may your name be sanctified." It also says "may your kingdom be "blessed," instead of "come." In common with all the earlier versions, it says "sins" instead of "debts." It says (uniquely) "the POWER of temptation" (literally, "the hands" of temptation, which is the idiomatic way to say this in Hebrew) and it mentions "all evil" instead of "evil" or "the evil one" (or nothing at all, as in the Lukan version). It has no ending mentioning kingdom, or power, or glory (or all three, as in the Byzantine texts). Finally, it ends with "amen," as Jewish prayers should.
It is these variations that I want to track in this trajectory through time, I will condense the various points so that I can represent them graphically.
Luke Shem-Tob Didache "k" Syr-s Vulgate .
Father Our Our Our Our Our
kingdom kingdom blessed in heaven in heavens heaven heavens
daily bread will done kingdom come kingdom [lacuna] kingdom
forgive sins bread continually will done will will
temptation forgive sins daily bread daily bread supersubstantial bread
no ending power of temptation forgive debt forgive debts forgive debts
evil temptation temptation temptation
no ending evil one evil evil
amen power&glory power no ending
Syr-c "D" Canon. Gk. Mt.
Our Our Our
in heaven heavens in heaven
kingdom kingdom kingdom
wishes will will
continual bread continual bread daily bread
forgive debts forgive debts forgive debts
temptation test temptation
evil one evil evil
.kingdom&glory no ending kingdom, power, glory
amen
The above table is a graphical version of the Matthaean version of the Pater Noster. One can see the general tendency for the prayer to become more elaborate. There is doubt at certain points, notably with regard to the dating of the Didache. It exists in one Greek document, which is clearly from the Byzantine period, but it is believed to reflect Church practices of 40-120 CE. The Two Ways portion of the Didache is Jewish in origin, and a copy was found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. But in its Byzantine dress it can tell us little or nothing about the earliest history of the prayer.
To my mind, at least, the omission of "Our" in the Lukan version may indicate translation from Aramaic, and indeed it existed in that form into the late fourth century (Syr-s), as I showed earlier. The form "our father" (avinu) would be the more common in Hebrew. It is likely that, in the stage of oral transmission, not only the Our Father but all of Rabbi Yeshua's teaching was in Aramaic.
The earliest texts have "sins" rather than "debts," but "debts" predominated in the Matthaean version of the prayer by the late fourth century (Vulgate).
We see that the earliest texts had no fancy ending (kingdom, power, and glory). The earliest to have even part of such an ending would probably be "k" (Codex Bobiensis) with only "power," which never made it into the Vulgate. The full additional ending was a feature of Byzantine texts, which became the basis of the Textus Receptus or Received Text. The ending appears to be a reference to 1 Chron 29:11-13, but it could not be called a quotation. The Byzantine texts, which were exceedingly numerous, became the basis of most Protestant translations. The Catholics, on the other hand, had the Vulgate, which had the benefit of better and more ancient readings, including those of "B" (Codex Vaticanus), which modern scholars consider to be the best of all, along with a few others such as "א" (Codex Sinaiticus).
Give our bread continually.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us,
and do not lead us into the power of temptation, but keep us from all evil, amen.
One notices that it says OUR father, and not just Father as in the Lukan version. It says "in heaven/the heavens, which the Lukan prayer does not. It says "heavens" (plural) because this word is always plural in Hebrew, In common with all versions, it says "may your name be sanctified." It also says "may your kingdom be "blessed," instead of "come." In common with all the earlier versions, it says "sins" instead of "debts." It says (uniquely) "the POWER of temptation" (literally, "the hands" of temptation, which is the idiomatic way to say this in Hebrew) and it mentions "all evil" instead of "evil" or "the evil one" (or nothing at all, as in the Lukan version). It has no ending mentioning kingdom, or power, or glory (or all three, as in the Byzantine texts). Finally, it ends with "amen," as Jewish prayers should.
It is these variations that I want to track in this trajectory through time, I will condense the various points so that I can represent them graphically.
Luke Shem-Tob Didache "k" Syr-s Vulgate .
Father Our Our Our Our Our
kingdom kingdom blessed in heaven in heavens heaven heavens
daily bread will done kingdom come kingdom [lacuna] kingdom
forgive sins bread continually will done will will
temptation forgive sins daily bread daily bread supersubstantial bread
no ending power of temptation forgive debt forgive debts forgive debts
evil temptation temptation temptation
no ending evil one evil evil
amen power&glory power no ending
Syr-c "D" Canon. Gk. Mt.
Our Our Our
in heaven heavens in heaven
kingdom kingdom kingdom
wishes will will
continual bread continual bread daily bread
forgive debts forgive debts forgive debts
temptation test temptation
evil one evil evil
.kingdom&glory no ending kingdom, power, glory
amen
The above table is a graphical version of the Matthaean version of the Pater Noster. One can see the general tendency for the prayer to become more elaborate. There is doubt at certain points, notably with regard to the dating of the Didache. It exists in one Greek document, which is clearly from the Byzantine period, but it is believed to reflect Church practices of 40-120 CE. The Two Ways portion of the Didache is Jewish in origin, and a copy was found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. But in its Byzantine dress it can tell us little or nothing about the earliest history of the prayer.
To my mind, at least, the omission of "Our" in the Lukan version may indicate translation from Aramaic, and indeed it existed in that form into the late fourth century (Syr-s), as I showed earlier. The form "our father" (avinu) would be the more common in Hebrew. It is likely that, in the stage of oral transmission, not only the Our Father but all of Rabbi Yeshua's teaching was in Aramaic.
The earliest texts have "sins" rather than "debts," but "debts" predominated in the Matthaean version of the prayer by the late fourth century (Vulgate).
We see that the earliest texts had no fancy ending (kingdom, power, and glory). The earliest to have even part of such an ending would probably be "k" (Codex Bobiensis) with only "power," which never made it into the Vulgate. The full additional ending was a feature of Byzantine texts, which became the basis of the Textus Receptus or Received Text. The ending appears to be a reference to 1 Chron 29:11-13, but it could not be called a quotation. The Byzantine texts, which were exceedingly numerous, became the basis of most Protestant translations. The Catholics, on the other hand, had the Vulgate, which had the benefit of better and more ancient readings, including those of "B" (Codex Vaticanus), which modern scholars consider to be the best of all, along with a few others such as "א" (Codex Sinaiticus).
In studying this simple but wonderful prayer, I am struck by how close it is to Hebrew idiom and Jewish tradition. In it there are echoes of the Kaddish, and some of the blessings of the Amidah (a rather lengthy prayer that observant Jews say three times a day). Some believe that it is a boiled-down version of the latter. I shall leave that for others to decide, and say only that the Our Father/Pater Noster/Avinu is thoroughly Jewish in tone and spirit.
Original text Copyright © 2022 by Donald C. Traxler aka Donald Jacobson Traxler.
