The Lords Prayer

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p_rehbein

Senior Member
Sep 4, 2013
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Reading through the Gospels, I found myself wondering why Matthew and Luke differ in their publishing of the Lords Prayer. I'm wondering if Matthew relied on the Hebrew Translation and Luke the Greek?
Matthew, Chapter 6:

9After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

10Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

11Give us this day our daily bread.

12And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Luke, Chapter 11:
2And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.

3Give us day by day our daily bread.

4And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.

Did a "search" and found this:

Wording and Emphasis​

  • Matthew emphasizes God’s will being done on earth, protection from evil, and includes a more formal structure suitable for public teaching versefortheday.comversefortheday.com+1.
  • Luke emphasizes daily needs and forgiveness, reflecting a more personal, intimate instruction to the disciples versefortheday.comversefortheday.com+1.
  • Differences in terms: Matthew uses “trespasses” while Luke uses “sins,” and Matthew’s version includes a doxology in some traditions (“For yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever”), which is absent in Luke triumphantcross.nettriumphantcross.net+1.

The Lord’s Prayer differs in Matthew and Luke because each Gospel presents it in a distinct context, with variations in length, wording, and emphasis reflecting the audience and purpose of the teaching.

 
I'm wondering if Matthew relied on the Hebrew Translation and Luke the Greek?
I think you are on to something here! I did a search and found: Scholarly and biblical consensus
points to the conclusion that Luke, the author of the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts, was not
Jewish. He is widely recognized as the only New Testament writer who was a Gentile (a non-Jew).

Several key pieces of biblical evidence and historical context support this fact:

Paul's Testimony: In the New Testament Book of Colossians, the Apostle Paul distinguishes Luke
from his fellow workers who were Jewish. Paul explicitly refers to those Jewish colleagues as
"men... of the circumcision" and omits Luke from this group, placing him firmly in the Gentile
category (Colossians 4:10–11, 4:14).

Literary Evidence: Luke wrote using a highly polished, classical style of Greek and displayed a strong
command of the Greek language, suggesting a distinct Hellenistic background. Audience: His writings
were addressed to a man named Theophilus and were primarily focused on explaining the Christian

faith to a broader Greco-Roman (Gentile) world.
 
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G. B. Caird's commentary on Luke is now over sixty years old and may have been superseded by more recent research, but this (briefly) is what he says about the two versions of the Lord's Prayer:

A comparison with Matt 6:9-13 shows that at some points the one is more original and at some points the other. The clauses in Matthew which have no parallel in Luke can be regarded as liturgical additions. On the other hand, in the petitions for bread and forgiveness, Matthew’s precise and particular form is more likely to be original than the generalized form of Luke. Matthew has altered by addition, Luke by modification. The prayer of Jesus may tentatively be reconstructed as follows:

Father, hallowed be thy name.Thy kingdom come. Give us this day our daily bread: And forgive us our debts, as we have also forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation.