The Lord’s Prayer

... in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.  Amen.  Through the prayers of our holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us.  Amen.  Glory to You, our God, Glory to You.

O Heavenly King, the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, You are everywhere and fill all things, Treasury of blessings, and Giver of life: come and abide in us, and cleanse us from every impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.

Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us (three times).

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it is now, was in the beginning, and ever shall be, world without end.  Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

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[1] ἡμῖν τὰ ὀφειλήματα[2] ἡμῶν, ὡς καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀφίεμεν[3] 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 (τῶν αἰώνων).  Ἀμήν.][4]

Ἐὰν γὰρ ἀφῆτε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὰ παραπτῶματα[5] αὐτῶν, ἀφήσει καὶ ὑμῖν ὁ Πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ οὐράνιος.  Ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ἀφῆτε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις [τὰ παραπτῶματα αὐτῶν,][6] οὐδὲ ὁ Πατὴρ ὑμῶν ἀφήσει τὰ παραπτώματα ὑμῶν.

Our Father in the heavens,

It was sanctified, Your name.  It came, Your kingdom.  He was born, Your Will.  As in heaven, also on the earth.  You gave us our manna bread today.  You forgave our debts; as we [must] also forgive our debtors.  You did not lead us into calamity; even so, You delivered us from the evil.[7]

[Because Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the Glory, unto the ages (of ages).  Amen.]

For if you have forgiven men their trespasses, then Your heavenly Father will forgive you.  Yet if you have not forgiven [men their trespasses], neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.  Lord have mercy (twelve times)[8].[9]

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[1] ἄφες, second person singular, aorist active imperative of ἀφίημι: excuse, forgive.  We tend to translate the Greek past tense as an English present tense.  Here we take the view that the Greek past tense should be translated as an English past tense.  It is, of course, impossible to have an imperative mood past tense in English.  We believe that imperative mood is a misnomer in Greek; that a more appropriate, descriptive title would be the emphatic mood.  Moreover, we believe that voice is a critical element for grasping the Greek mindset; translating the voice out of the verb is once again destructive for grasping the Greek mindset.

[2] ὀφειλήματα: debt, duty.  The idea of duty, and being excused from performing a duty implies the specific failure to keep the Decalogue, which is the specific duty of both Jews and Christians.

[3] ἀφίεμεν, first person plural, present active indicative of ἀφίημι: excuse, forgive.  Alexandrian text has ἀφήκαμεν, first person plural, aorist active indicative of ἀφίημι.  This appears to be a Byzantine annotation to incorporate the theological tense with the verses that follow immediately after the prayer.  This appears to be best understood as a contrast between what God has already done and what we must yet do, as the following verses indicate.  The Byzantine text must be taken as a note that clarifies any misunderstanding that might arise from the original Alexandrian text.

[4] Alexandrian text omits the entire sentence.  We have now taken the position that the Alexandrian text is the text of the New Testament; that the Byzantine text is the very important fourth century notation of the master students of Scripture from the Byzantine community.  These master students are the best students of the Greek Bible that the world has ever known; it is vital to the life of The Church that their opinions not be neglected.  It is even possible that their notations publish misplaced autograph scraps.  The work of the Byzantine master students is far more important than any commentary, and is rightly included with the Alexandrian text.  This particular sentence is a Byzantine liturgical tradition, the reasonable response to the prayer.  However, this response exists universally throughout the practice of the Church, and the prayer sounds strange without it.  It is an appropriate antiphon to the prayer.

[5] παραπτῶματα or παραπτώματα: stumbling, fault, offense, transgression.  The step of sinners is on slippery ground (Deuteronomy 32:35).  The change in inflection from circumflex to acute is possibly musical, its exact use is lost to us.  It is more likely that the Byzantine culture would reflect correct musical tonalities.  This argument cuts both ways, but it is not a translatable difference.

[6] The phrase, τὰ παραπτῶματα αὐτῶν, is included in both the Byzantine and B.  Its absence in א leaves that which is to be forgiven open and unspecified, which implies forgive everything, even corrupt and deliberate acts of aggression and violence.  Since the very salvation of the forgiven, insists that they must be a forgiving people, it would appear that forgiving all, is the correct view; that א maintains the correct New Testament text; and that B preserves a Byzantine notation.  That being said, the Byzantine notation requiring that the least little thing be forgiven, inadvertently opens the door to the idea that major breaches of the Law, ὀφειλήματα, are not necessarily forgiven: this false conclusion is impossible, because we have already forgiven ὀφειλέταις as well.  The Byzantine notations force us to weigh these implications very carefully, so that each of us ensures that we come to God without any minute shred of unforgiven offense clinging to us.

[7] At Your Son’s cross, burial, victory over hell, resurrection, ascension, and future coming in glory.  Join us mortals here on earth to your Son’s work, so that we may participate in it with joy immortal.

O Christ, God-man, You have done all these things for us by your mighty works in life and in death.  Enable us to enter into the majesty of your prayer, by receiving Your most-pure Body and like precious Blood.  Empower us to be obedient to its beauty and goodness, that we might become a truly forgiving people.  Inspire us to behold its glory, so that we might be evermore like You in all that we think, say and do, both now and ever and unto the ages of ages.  Amen.

[8] Because such forgiveness is impossible among men, we continually cry out for God’s mercy, so that He would complete our forgiveness, and elevate it to His Divine level.  It is God like forgiveness to which we aspire.

[9] If you have been blessed or helped by any of these meditations, please repost, share, or use any of them as you wish.  No rights are reserved.  They are designed and intended for your free participation.  They were freely received, and are freely given.  No other permission is required for their use.