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3. τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δίδου ἡμῖν τὸ καθ' ἡμέραν. The prayer (i) acknowledges that we are indebted to God for our simplest boons; (ii) asks them for all; (iii) asks them only day by day; and (iv) asks for no more, Pro 30:8; Joh 6:27. St Luke’s version (δίδου) brings out the continuity of the gift (Be giving day by day); St Matthew’s (δός) its immediate need (Give to-day). The meaning of ἐπιούσιον is much disputed. For a brief discussion of its meaning, see Excursus IV.; but that this prayer is primarily a prayer for needful earthly sustenance has been rightly understood by the heart of mankind. Some of the suggested renderings are ‘to-morrow’s bread’ Meyer, following St Jerome who compared it to the Hebrew לחם מחר; ‘bread to come,’ or ‘needful bread,’ Maclellan; ‘bread in sufficiency’ De Wette; ‘bread for our sustenance’ Alford.
τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν. ‘Trespasses’ is not in our Bible, but comes, as Dr Plumptre notices, from Tyndale’s version. St Matthew uses the word ‘debts,’ which is implied in the following words of St Luke: “For indeed we ourselves remit to every one who oweth to us.” Unforgiving, unforgiven, Mat 18:34-35; Eph 4:32; Col 3:13. The absence of any mention here of the Atonement or of Justification is, as Godet observes, a striking proof of the authenticity of the prayer. The variations are, further, a striking proof that the Gospels are entirely independent of each other.
ἀφίομεν. This form is used as though the verb were ἀφίω. Comp. ἤφιε Mar 1:34; Mar 11:16, σύνιον for συνίεσαν Hom. Il. I. 273. The tense requires less explanation than the aorist used by St Matthew.
μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν. God permits us to be tempted (Joh 17:15; Rev 3:10), but we only yield to our temptations when we are “drawn away of our own lust and enticed” (Jam 1:14). But the temptations which God permits us are only human (ἀνθρώπινοι), not abnormal or irresistible temptations, and with each temptation He makes also the way to escape (καὶ τὴν ἔκβασιν, 1Co 10:13). We pray, therefore, that we may not be tried above what we are able, and this is defined by the following words: Our prayer is, Let not the tempting opportunity meet the too susceptible disposition. If the temptation comes, quench the desire; if the desire, spare us the temptation. See on Luk 4:2.
[ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ.] See critical note; and comp. Ps. 17:49 (LXX[241]) ἀπὸ ἀνδρὸς ἀδίκου ῥύσῃ με. ‘From the Evil One.’ The article, it is true, would not necessitate this translation, but it seems to be rendered probable by the analogy of similar prayers among the Jews. The last three clauses for daily bread, forgiveness, and deliverance, cover the present, past, and future. “All the tones of the human breast which go from earth to heaven, sound here in their key-notes” (Stier). There is no doxology added. Even in St Matthew it is (almost certainly) a liturgical addition, and no real part of the Lord’s Prayer.
[241] LXX. Septuagint.