Lord's Prayer

The Lord's Prayer' (sometimes known by its first two Latin words as the Pater Noster, in Greek as the ', or the English equivalent Our Father) is probably the best-known prayer in the Christian religion.

According to the New Testament, the prayer was given by Jesus of Nazareth as a response to a request from the Apostles for guidance on how to pray.

The prayer is excerpted from the book of Matthew (6:9-13), where it appears as part of the Sermon on the Mount. A similar prayer is found in Luke 11:2-4.

Most Christian theologians argue that Jesus would have never used this prayer himself, for it specifically asks for forgiveness of sins (or more literally for cancellation of debts), and in most schools of Christian thought, Christ never sinned. However since it says "forgive us our debts", not "forgive me my debts", some claim that Christ might have prayed it by way of identifying himself with the common plight of man and of asking for the forgiveness of the sins of his disciples.

The doxology (For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.) was probably not present in the original version of the prayer, but rather was added to the Gospels as a result of its use in the liturgy of the early church. For this reason, it is not included in many modern translations.

The text of the Lord's Prayer

Although Jesus would have taught the prayer in Aramaic or Hebrew, the earliest texts we have are in Greek. See Wikisource:Religious texts for the Lord's Prayer in other languages.

Greek

In Koinē Greek (from which all others are directly or indirectly translated):

Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς

ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου·

ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου·

γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου,

ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς·

τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δὸς ἡμῖν σήμερον·

καὶ ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰ ὀφελήματα ἡμῶν,

ὡς καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀφίεμεν τοῖς ὀφειλέταις ἡμῶν·

καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν,

ἀλλὰ ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ.

[Ὅτι σοῦ ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία καὶ ἡ δύναμις καὶ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας·]

ἀμήν.

Transliterated:

Pater hēmōn, ho en tois ouranois

hagiasthētō to onoma sou;

elthetō hē basileia sou;

genethetō to thelēma sou,

hōs en ouranōi, kai epi tēs gēs;

ton arton hēmōn ton epiousion dos hēmin sēmeron;

kai aphes hēmin ta opheilēmata hēmōn,

hōs kai hēmeis aphiemen tois opheiletais hēmōn;

kai mē eisenenkēis hēmas eis peirasmon,

alla rhusai hēmas apo tou ponērou.

[Hoti sou estin hē basileia, kai hē dúnamis, kai hē doxa eis tous aiōnas;]

amēn.

English

Although numerous variations exist, this version, from the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, is a fairly well known example:

Apart from four minor words and some capital letters, this is essentially the same as the 1662 Book of Common Prayer: the earlier version had "which art in Heaven", "in Earth", and "them that trespass".

The use of the word "trespasses" instead of "debts" as in Matthew 6:12 may be due to the use of the word in the explanation that follows the prayer in Matthew 6:13,14, "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." Even in the third century, Origen used the word trespasses (paraptômata) in the prayer. However, the Established Presbyterian Church of Scotland uses "debts" and "debtors" in the prayer.

The doxology (indicated in square brackets in the texts above) is almost certainly not part of the original prayer, but a later addition. It is frequently omitted or separated from the main body of the prayer.

Other English versions are available at Wikisource.

See also

• Amen
• Lord's Prayer in Eucharistic theology
• The meaning of "our daily bread"

External links

• Catholic Encyclopedia Reference to the Lord's Prayer
• The Lord's Prayer in Hebrew (with audio)
• The Lord's Prayer in 1,310 languages
• The Lord's Prayer in Aramaic including sound clip