Matthew 6:9
Encyclopedia
Matthew 6:9 is the ninth verse of the sixth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew
in the New Testament
and is part of the Sermon on the Mount
. This verse is the opening of the Lord's Prayer
, one of the best known parts of the entire New Testament.
In the King James Version of the Bible
the text reads:
The World English Bible
translates the passage as:
For a collection of other versions see BibRef Matthew 6:9
The verse opens with an instruction to pray in the manner that follows. This opening makes clear that this is not a prayer to be given by Jesus himself, rather it is one to be spoken by his followers. This is important to Christian theology as the prayer mentions forgiveness for sins, and Jesus is held to be sinless. How specific Jesus' instruction a matter of some debate. The prayer that follows has been repeated word for word millions of times, but some scholars believe that Jesus was here giving a general guideline for what prayers should contain rather than a specific prayer. That the New Testament gives other prayers, including a similar one in Luke, is one indication that different wordings are acceptable. The New Testament also reports Jesus disciples praying on several occasions, but never describes them using this prayer.
The opening pronoun is plural, which France notes indicates that the prayer was likely intended for communal worship, rather than private repetition. The New Testament also makes clear that father
is a title used by disciples to refer to God. Only those already redeemed should use it, and this prayer is thus for those already converted.
Matthew's wording here reflects that of Jewish works of this period. Luke's very similar prayer at Luke 11:2-4 far more radically has simply Father, rather than our Father, a usage unheard of in Jewish literature of the period. Matthew's our Father makes the relationship somewhat more distant, and more acceptable to Jewish sensibilities. The word translated as father is abba. This is a somewhat informal term that would have been used by young children to address their father. However, it was a term that adult children would sometimes use, and a general term of reverence for any elder male in a community. Boring writes that papa would be a more literal translation, and be closer to the sense of the original.
"Hallowed by thy name" is similar to a portion of the synagogue prayer known as the Qaddish. The Greek word for hallowed was a rare one, and like the English term almost only found in a Biblical context. It means to honour or revere, but also to worship and glorify. In Judaism the name of God is of extreme importance, and honouring the name central to piety. Hendriksen
notes that in this era names were not simply labels, but were seen as true reflections of the nature of the object. Thus revering God's name is the equivalent of revering God. One view is that this petition is thus calling for obedience to God and to His commands. Green argues that the hallowing of God's name is deliberately the first among the three petitions in the prayer, in order to reassert the primacy of God over all other things.
Hallowed is in the passive voice
and future tense
, which makes it unclear how this hallowing is meant to occur. One interpretation is that this is a call for all believers to honour God's name. For those who see the prayer as primarily eschatological the prayer is instead a call for the end times when God's power will ensure his name is universally honoured, and that this petition is not necessarily advice for the present.
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
in the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
and is part of the Sermon on the Mount
Sermon on the Mount
The Sermon on the Mount is a collection of sayings and teachings of Jesus, which emphasizes his moral teaching found in the Gospel of Matthew...
. This verse is the opening of the Lord's Prayer
Lord's Prayer
The Lord's Prayer is a central prayer in Christianity. In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, it appears in two forms: in the Gospel of Matthew as part of the discourse on ostentation in the Sermon on the Mount, and in the Gospel of Luke, which records Jesus being approached by "one of his...
, one of the best known parts of the entire New Testament.
In the King James Version of the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
the text reads:
- After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father
- which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
The World English Bible
World English Bible
The World English Bible is a public domain translation of the Bible that is currently in draft form. Work on the World English Bible began in 1997 and was known as the American Standard Version 1997...
translates the passage as:
- Pray like this: ‘Our Father in heaven,
- may your name be kept holy.
For a collection of other versions see BibRef Matthew 6:9
The verse opens with an instruction to pray in the manner that follows. This opening makes clear that this is not a prayer to be given by Jesus himself, rather it is one to be spoken by his followers. This is important to Christian theology as the prayer mentions forgiveness for sins, and Jesus is held to be sinless. How specific Jesus' instruction a matter of some debate. The prayer that follows has been repeated word for word millions of times, but some scholars believe that Jesus was here giving a general guideline for what prayers should contain rather than a specific prayer. That the New Testament gives other prayers, including a similar one in Luke, is one indication that different wordings are acceptable. The New Testament also reports Jesus disciples praying on several occasions, but never describes them using this prayer.
The opening pronoun is plural, which France notes indicates that the prayer was likely intended for communal worship, rather than private repetition. The New Testament also makes clear that father
Father
A father, Pop, Dad, or Papa, is defined as a male parent of any type of offspring. The adjective "paternal" refers to father, parallel to "maternal" for mother...
is a title used by disciples to refer to God. Only those already redeemed should use it, and this prayer is thus for those already converted.
Matthew's wording here reflects that of Jewish works of this period. Luke's very similar prayer at Luke 11:2-4 far more radically has simply Father, rather than our Father, a usage unheard of in Jewish literature of the period. Matthew's our Father makes the relationship somewhat more distant, and more acceptable to Jewish sensibilities. The word translated as father is abba. This is a somewhat informal term that would have been used by young children to address their father. However, it was a term that adult children would sometimes use, and a general term of reverence for any elder male in a community. Boring writes that papa would be a more literal translation, and be closer to the sense of the original.
"Hallowed by thy name" is similar to a portion of the synagogue prayer known as the Qaddish. The Greek word for hallowed was a rare one, and like the English term almost only found in a Biblical context. It means to honour or revere, but also to worship and glorify. In Judaism the name of God is of extreme importance, and honouring the name central to piety. Hendriksen
William Hendriksen
William Hendriksen was a New Testament scholar and writer of Bible commentaries. He was born in Tiel, Gelderland, but his family moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1911. Hendriksen studied at Calvin College and Calvin Theological Seminary before obtaining an S.T.D...
notes that in this era names were not simply labels, but were seen as true reflections of the nature of the object. Thus revering God's name is the equivalent of revering God. One view is that this petition is thus calling for obedience to God and to His commands. Green argues that the hallowing of God's name is deliberately the first among the three petitions in the prayer, in order to reassert the primacy of God over all other things.
Hallowed is in the passive voice
Passive voice
Passive voice is a grammatical voice common in many of the world's languages. Passive is used in a clause whose subject expresses the theme or patient of the main verb. That is, the subject undergoes an action or has its state changed. A sentence whose theme is marked as grammatical subject is...
and future tense
Future tense
In grammar, a future tense is a verb form that marks the event described by the verb as not having happened yet, but expected to happen in the future , or to happen subsequent to some other event, whether that is past, present, or future .-Expressions of future tense:The concept of the future,...
, which makes it unclear how this hallowing is meant to occur. One interpretation is that this is a call for all believers to honour God's name. For those who see the prayer as primarily eschatological the prayer is instead a call for the end times when God's power will ensure his name is universally honoured, and that this petition is not necessarily advice for the present.