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NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat_6:5-15
5"When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 6But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. 7And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. 8So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. 9Pray, then, in this way:
'Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
11Give us this day our daily bread.
12And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
[For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]'
14For if you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions."
Mat_6:5 "for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues" The common posture for Jewish prayer was standing with arms and face lifted to heaven with the eyes open. The issue is not the position of the body, but the exhibitionist attitude of the heart.
▣ "and on the street corners" The Jews in Jerusalem during Jesus' time prayed at three specific times during the day. Two of these times were 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. when certain sacrifices (the continual) were being offered in the Temple; to these times they added high noon. Some self-righteous leaders would arrange to find themselves in public, crowded places at these set times, so that all could see their piety.
▣ "so that they may be seen by men" This is literally " to shine before men." Believers are admonished to let their lights shine before people, but the purpose is that God, not themselves, be glorified (cf. Mat_6:2; Mat_5:16 and Joh_12:43; Php_2:15). See hyperlink at Mat_6:2.
▣ "Truly" See Special Topic at Mat_5:18.
Mat_6:6
NASB "go into your inner room"
NKJV, NRSV "go into your room"
TEV "go to your room"
NJB "go to your private room"
This referred to a storeroom (cf. Luk_12:24). This was from a Greek term that etymologically meant "to cut," which implied a separate or partitioned room (cf. Mat_24:26; Luk_12:3). This would have been the only room with a door.
hyperlink
Mat_6:7
NASB "meaningless repetition"
NKJV "vain repetitions"
NRSV "heap up empty phrases"
TEV "a lot of meaningless words"
NJB "babble"
This word is used only here in the NT. Its meaning is uncertain. Notice the variety with which English versions translate this term! Jesus and Paul repeated prayers (cf. Mat_26:44; 2Co_12:8). Possibly the translation "meaningless phrases" is best. For possible biblical examples of the use of liturgical prayers, see 1Ki_8:26 and Act_19:34. The issue is not the number of times a person repeats a phrase, but the faithful/trusting/believing heart of the speaker.
Mat_6:8 "you" In context this emphatic pronoun is in contrast to two groups: (1) the pagans of Mat_6:7 or (2) the legalistic Pharisees of Mat_6:5.
CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTS TO Mat_6:9-15
A. This sample prayer was first entitled "The Lord's Prayer" by Cyprian, a.d. 250. However, the prayer was for Jesus' disciples; the title, "The Model Prayer," is a better characterization.
B. The Model Prayer is made up of seven phrases. The first three relate to God. The last four relate to a person's need.
C. This prayer was possibly Jesus' reapplication of the Ten Commandments to His day. The Beatitudes also possibly relate to the Ten Commandments (Decalog). Matthew depicted Jesus as the second Moses. Paul used the same type of OT analogy by referring to Jesus as the second Adam (cf. Rom_5:12-21; 1 Corinthians 15; Php_2:6-11).
D. The Model Prayer is stated in imperatives. They are examples of entreaty imperatives of request. We do not command God.
E. Luke's version is much shorter. It is found in Mat_11:2-4 and not in the Sermon on the Plain, Matthew 6, which is the parallel to Matthew 5-7. The textually-controversial doxology of Mat_6:13 b is also missing from Luke's version.
Mat_6:9
NASB, NRSV "Pray, then, in this way"
NKJV "in this manner, therefore, pray"
TEV "This, then, is how you should pray"
NJB "So you should pray like this"
"Pray" is a present imperative which is a lifestyle command that denotes continuous, habitual action. This prayer was meant to be an example, not necessarily a set form. The scope and attitude of the prayer are far more important than the specific words. This can be illustrated by the fact that Luke's version in Mat_11:2-4 is different. Jesus may have taught this prayer often but in slightly different forms.
▣ "our" This prayer is for the gathered community, as well as private prayer. We are a family with one Abba, Father! In light of this, Mat_6:14-15 make much more sense.
▣ " Father" Father does not refer to sexual generation or chronological sequence, but the intimate personal relationships within a Jewish home. The OT background is Deu_32:6, Psa_103:13, Isa_63:16, Mal_2:10; Mal_3:17. This concept of God as Father was not a major theme in the OT nor in the rabbinical writings. It is astonishing that believers can call YHWH "Father" (cf. Rom_8:15) through their faith relationship with Jesus! See Special Topic at Mat_5:16.
Mat_6:9-10 "hallowed. . .come. . .done" These are all aorist imperatives. Also they are all placed first in the Greek sentence for emphasis. The placement, the tense, and the mood all speak of urgency and emphasis. This is how believers should reverence God. The phrase "on earth as it is in heaven" refers to all three of these verbs.
▣ "Hallowed" This term is from the root "holy" (cf. Heb_10:29) and meant "honored," " respected," or "held in high esteem." The verb comes first in the Greek sentence for emphasis. This verb is found in the Synoptic Gospels only four times (cf. Mat_6:9; Mat_23:17; Mat_23:19; Luk_11:2).
Mat_6:9 "name" This stood for the character and personality of God (cf. Eze_36:22; Joe_2:32). His name is to be made known in this fallen world by the obedience of His children (cf. Isa_29:23).
Mat_6:10 "Your kingdom come" God was invoked in His capacity as King. This was a prayer for God's control of earth as He has of heaven. God's kingdom was expressed in the NT as both (1) present reality (cf. Mat_4:17; Mat_12:28; Luk_17:21) and (2) a future consummation (cf. Mat_6:10; Mat_13:2 ff.; Luk_11:2; Joh_18:36). This statement expresses the paradox of God's rule which will be consummated with the Second Coming, but present now in the lives of true disciples. See Special Topic at Mat_4:17.
Mat_6:11 "Give us" As the first three petitions dealt with how believers are to respect God, the next four deal with how they want God to treat them.
▣ "this day" God wants His children to live by faith in Him daily. One OT example was that the manna was given daily (cf. Exo_16:13-21). In the Middle East bread is baked early every day and either eaten or dried hard by nightfall. Today's bread will not do for tomorrow.
▣ "daily" This was a rare Greek word. It was used
1. in the Egyptian papyri of a master giving a slave enough food to accomplish an assigned task
2. possibly a Greek idiom "for necessary food for today" (" bread of our necessity")
3. the Tyndale Commentary on Matthew has "Give us the necessary strength so that life's trials do not become for us occasions of spiritual temptations," p. 74.
Tertullian translated it "daily." The word was used in the NT only here and in the parallel in Luk_11:3.
▣ "bread" Several possibilities of how "bread" should be understood.
1. literal bread
2. the Lord's Supper (cf. Act_2:46)
3. the Word of God, the Bible (cf. Mat_4:4; Luk_4:4)
4. the Living Word, Jesus (cf. Joh_6:41; Joh_6:48; Joh_6:51; Joh_6:55)
5. the Messianic banquet (cf. Luk_14:15)
Option one fits the context best. However, metaphorically it represented God's provision for all of life's needs.
Mat_6:12
NASB, NRSV,
NJB "have forgiven"
NKJV, TEV "forgive"
There is a Greek manuscript variation at this point related to the tense of the second use of the verb, "forgive." The aorist is found in MSS à *, B, Z, the Vulgate, and Peshitta. All other Greek MSS and ancient versions have the present. The term meant "to send away" or "to wipe away," both of which express OT metaphors relating to forgiveness.
▣ "debts" The parallel in Luk_11:4 has "sins." First century Judaism used "debts" (opheilçmata) as an idiom for "sins" (hamartias). In Mat_6:14-15 another term is used, "trespasses" (paraptômata). All of these refer to rebellion against God. Sin puts us in rebellion against the God of righteousness and holiness. There is a price to be paid for rebellion!
▣ "as we also have forgiven our debtors" This is an aorist active indicative. As God forgives believers they are able to forgive others (cf. Mat_18:35)! One sign of our personal relationship with God through Christ is that we begin to emulate His actions.
Mat_6:13
NASB, NKJV "do not lead us into temptation"
NRSV "do not bring us to the time of trial"
TEV "do not bring us to hard testing"
NJB "do not put us to the test"
This is a negative aorist active subjunctive. This grammatical construction meant "do not ever begin an action." There has been much discussion about this verse as compared with Jas_1:13, concerning God's agency in testing. There is a play on the connotation of two Greek words translated "test" or "try." The one here and in Jas_1:13 has the connotation of testing for the purpose of destroying [peirasmo]; the other has a connotation of testing for the purpose of strengthening [dokimazo]. God does not test believers so as to destroy, but to strengthen. See Special Topic at Mat_4:1.
Possibly this referred to the intense governmental and legal trials of that day (cf. Mat_26:41; Mar_13:8). C. C. Torrey in The Four Gospels, pp. 12, 143. translates it as "keep us from failing under trial" (cf. Luk_22:40).
NASB "from evil"
NKJV, NRSV,
JB"from the evil one"
TEV, NJ"from the Evil One"
It is impossible grammatically to determine whether this term was masculine (see Special Topic at Mat_4:5) or neuter. This same form referred to Satan in Mat_5:37; Mat_13:38, and Joh_17:15. This same ambiguous form appears in Mat_5:37; Mat_6:13; Mat_13:19; Mat_13:38; Joh_17:15; 2Th_3:3; 1Jn_2:13-14; 1Jn_3:12; 1Jn_5:18-19.
▣ The Doxology of Mat_6:13 b is not found in (1) the parallel of Luk_11:2-4; (2) the ancient Greek uncial manuscripts à , B, D, or (3) the commentaries of Origen, Cyprian, Jerome, or Augustine. There are several forms of this doxology in the different Greek manuscripts of Matthew. It probably was added from 1Ch_29:11-13 as the Lord's prayer began to be used in liturgical ways by the early Church. It was not original. Roman Catholic liturgy omits it because it is not in the Vulgate. A. T. Robertson commented on this text in his Word Pictures in the New Testament, "The Doxology is placed in the margin of the Revised Version. It is wanting in the oldest and best Greek manuscripts. The earliest forms vary much, some shorter, some longer than the one in the Authorized Version. The use of a doxology arose when this prayer began to be used as a liturgy to be recited or to be chanted in public worship. It was not an original part of the Model Prayer as given by Jesus," p. 55. The UBS4 rates the omission as "A" (certain).
Mat_6:14-15 Mat_6:14-15 are the conclusion to the Model Prayer. They do not assert that our actions earn our salvation, but they should give evidence of our salvation (two third class conditional sentences). They are not the basis, but the results (cf. Mat_5:7; Mat_18:35; Mar_11:25; Luk_6:36-37; Jas_2:13; Jas_5:9). As we pray this prayer, "our Father," we must live out this familial truth in our dealings with covenant brothers.
Mat_6:14 "transgressions" This is literally "to fall to one side." This meant, as do most of the words for sin in Hebrew and in Greek, a deviation from a standard, which is the character of God. It implied a conscious act of crossing a set boundary.