Category Archives: The Lord’s Prayer

The Lord’s Prayer – Two Additions to the Study

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Job 23:12 and Proverbs 30:8 have a phrase that caught my attention – Daily bread. When Jesus taught the Prayer, provisions was the first petition after acknowledging God and praising Him. In Matthew and Luke, the Greek word is epiousios. It was translated daily bread, but since that was the first time it was used in Greek the exact meaning is vague. I was surprised to find the phrase daily bread was not used that many times in the Bible. The Hebrew gives you the idea of a legal amount and that is enough to cover you for that day. Strong’s Hebrew: 2706. חֹק (choq) — Statute, decree, ordinance, law, regulation

As leaders of the government Nehemiah and Solomon had daily food allotments. There are many times that food, supplies, and provisions are given to and for people going on trips or to war. Use those as search words; be flexible as those terms change with translators and when they were writing. My take-away is simple, God is interested in your wellbeing and wants to take care of you.

The other addition to the study is a precursor to the Lord’s Prayer. I grew-up in a denominational church that included the afterthought to Luke’s version of the prayer in all of its writings and study helps.  1 Chronicles 29:11 is a prayer from David when he was rejoicing that the people were giving to the building of the temple. It sounded like the beginning and the end of the prayer I grew-up with.

1 Chronicles 29:11 Thine, O Lord is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. (KJV)

Lord’s Prayer – Forever

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Matthew 6: 13b – For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen 

Well, this sentence appears to have been added to the copies of Matthew and Luke. If you start reading the internet the theories abound as to why. One that was echoed several times was it made Luke sound more like the prayer in Matthew. The denomination I grew up in used this line. I want to say there was an additional “ever” at the end, but that might just have been me.

Yes, there are differences in the manuscripts of the Gospels over the centuries. Check your footnotes as many times these slight additions or missing words will be noted. The NIV (1984) documents lines and phrases that appear to have been added or not in all ancient manuscripts – Matthew 24:36, 23:13, 21:44, 19:29, 18:15, 17:20, 16:2 and 3, 15:14, and 6, 12:47, 6:13, 5:44 and 22, 26:28, 27:35 and 46. (Guess how I explored that thought?)

Another fact I looked into this morning was the original languages the Gospels were written in. Since I have pointed out in 6:11 about epiousious and how special of a word it is; I will point out that Matthew’s first copies were written in Hebrew.

Here are some resources:

John’s first manuscripts are in Greek.

People have definite opinions on the meaning of Revelation 22:18 and 19. With this prayer I see a well-traveled and often said petition to the Father. The slight variations, I feel, reflect years of repetition through various cultures and languages. It is hard to image that the prayer was used from Ireland to India and the Arctic Circle to the Equator hundreds of years before the Great Bible ever made it to paper.

Lord’s Prayer – Deliver Us

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Matthew 6: 13 And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. (NASB) Luke 11:4b does not have “but deliver us from evil”.

As I have studied this portion of the Lord’s Prayer and its various words and their meanings from the Greek, I have had a feeling that how you view Father God will influence your feelings about these twelve words. The various forms of the Greek words with their jots and tittles do dictate what word the translator may use, and the King James version is what is most accepted. Unless you have an Exodus 34:6 and 7 knowledge of our Father, and see the good things Nehemiah 9 tells that God did for His Children; I fear that it is easy to use this verse to project wrong thinking towards God.

Psalm 23 gives you an idea of God’s leading, yes, I have made reference to this Psalm for His epiousious provision. Verses 2-4 talks about leading by quiet waters and through the valley of the shadow of death. The path of righteousness is special; it is a well-marked track (See H4570).  Strong’s Hebrew: 4570. מַעְגָּל (magal or magalah) — Path, track, course, circuit

The Greek words deserve a good look. I am not putting these in order, so use the links if you want to go further. Matthew 6:13 Greek Text Analysis

There is a “legal” side in this part also, I see this in #G 4506. We asked for His Kingdom to come, and this part does show the mission of bringing us to Him and away from the evil one. These last few posts have talked about provision, forgiveness, and now the mission of His Kingdom.

Lord’s Prayer – Forgive, Sin/Debts

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Matthew 6:12 and Luke 11:4a focuses on two things: forgive and sins/debits. No, these are not perfectly identical. Luke’s version is longer and gives more details. I suggest you use Mounce or do a text analysis and compare our translations with the Greek. A major difference between Matthew and Luke is that Luke uses two words for sins. Here are some of the words you will see in these two versions of the Lord’s Prayer.

Matthew 6:12 MOUNCE – and forgive us our sins, as we also – Bible Gateway

Luke 11:4 MOUNCE – and forgive us our sins, for we – Bible Gateway

In non-biblical Greek writings, the words forgive, sin, and debit are frequently found in legal and commercial matters. This complements Jesus’ last utterance on the cross of a single Greek word. That single word was tetelestai, that is everything, everyone, and all has been paid for, and any debit has been taken care of in the future. THANK YOU, LORD JESUS.

This legal side of righteousness reminds me of the verses of Exodus 34:6-7 and Nehemiah 9:17 where the attributes of God are given. Him being willing to forgive us is just one of the things He is and does.

The Lord’s Prayer and Psalm 23

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I have had a season of studying on bread, The Lord’s Prayer, epiousious, and I have looked at Psalm 23. These all came together when I thought about epiousious and the Lord preparing a table for me. The Father’s message about His Kingdom does not change, He may say it in a different way but the meaning is the same.

As I am learning how to use columns in WordPress this is visually off. It is the NASB translation; I have added the different effects to show how I think the sections relate.

Our Father, who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

Your kingdom come.
Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.

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Give us this day our daily bread.

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And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

The Lord is my shepherd,


I will not be in need.
He lets me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For the sake of His name. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.


You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You have anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.


Certainly goodness and faithfulness will follow me all the days of my life,
And my dwelling will be in the house of the Lord forever.