Good Morning Yamon Ki Yesepar and Nevim Arith Hayomim:

Matthew 6:13: “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

Yesterday in church we all recited the Lord’s Prayer.  It is probably the most common prayer recited and is recited in every Mass around the world and throughout most of the Protestant churches in the world.  No matter what group I am with, it is usually a sure bet that most if not all the members of those groups know this prayer.  Some may have a little different spin on the prayer, such as leaving off the last words: “For thine is the kingdom and power and glory forever,”   but all seem to recite the same words in Matthew 6:13: “And lead us not into temptation.”  Rarely does anyone question this phrase, particularly in light of James 1:13 which tells us that God cannot tempt man with evil.   It sure nuff sounds like a contradiction to me.

This seeming contradiction has been debated in the Western world for centuries and it seems no one can really give a conclusive answer, other than to read into the text or offer an opinion.  At least I have agonized over this for many years and yesterday was another example and having my spirit quickened when we recited this prayer. Once again I found myself saying right in this middle of this prayer to my most High and Holy God, “What the duce does this mean?”

As such an annoying question keeps popping up every time I use this prayer to spend some serious bonding time with my Creator, I decided to sit down with my Peshitta (Aramaic Bible)  rather than my Greek New Testament and for once and for all settle this issue at least in my own mind and spirit.  To be sure the Peshitta is written in the Southern or Chaldean dialect of Aramaic and not the Northern or Galilean dialect that Jesus spoke, but the two are much more closely related than they are to the Greek. Besides the Greek clearly renders this as καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν.  Clearly this passage in the Greek is saying: “Do not bring us into temptation.”  The word for temptation in the Greek is peirasmos which in the Bible and in extra Biblical literature such as the works of Plato and Aristotle clearly indicates trial, testing, temptation, calamity or affliction.  To read this in the Greek alone would
clearly put us into a contradiction with Matthew 6:13 and James 1:13.  This fact that both are verses 13 seems to confirm an unlucky display of a seeming contradiction.  But say, this is the year 2013 and in the 13th year of this new century I am looking forward to some good things.   Yesterday was January 13 when I finally determined to end my frustration over this verse 13; even Taylor Swift loves the number 13 for crying out loud, so perhaps there is some redeeming value to the number 13 after all.

The Pershitta renders this as ܘܠܐ ܬܥܠܢ ܠܢܤܝܘܢܐ  (sorry it’s backwards – computer clich) lo tanlan nisyona which could be rendered as “keep us from sin” or “don’t let us be in want.”  The word temptation is nisyona in the Aramaic which really has the idea of worldly living or materialism.   It is to be noted that this phrase is preceded by the words: “Give us this day our daily bread.”  It is possible that what we are to pray is: “Give us this day our daily bread but don’t let us fall into worldly living or materialism.”  The word that is rendered in English as lead  is tanlan.  Aramaic has three words for lead – davar, nagad, shabal, none of which are used here.  Tanlan  carries the idea of permitting or allowing.  We are asking God not to lead us into temptation but not to allow us to fall into temptation.

A real danger in receiving our daily bread from God is that we are never satisfied, like the children of Israel in the wilderness.  We get tired of the manna and desire the cucumbers, grapes  and other luxury items we had in Egypt.  We begin to want to eat our daily bread on a gold plate with a silver spoon in the dining room of a mansion delivered in our Mercedes.  Of course such a notion pretty well flies in the face of our Western materialistic culture which suggest such things are our ultimate goal in life, when our real goal is to declare the love, power and the Word of God to the world.  Perhaps  that is why we prefer the Greek rendering rather than the Aramaic.

The next phrase: “deliver us from evil” seems to follow this line of thought.  The word “deliver” in Aramaic is pasan which really means to separate.  The word “evil” is beesha  which is directly parallel to the Greek word used ponerou and has the idea of error, mistake or deep trouble.  Both words could also be personified to be rendered as evil one.   In either case we are asking God to separate us from that which would separate us from Him and His call upon our lives.

Ok, I know I am flying in the face of 2,000 years of Western Christian thinking and tradition in the Greek rendering of the Lord’s Prayer by following an Aramaic rendering, but hey, most of you who read this are former students of mine and I remind you that when you use the original Hebrew or Aramaic to study the Word of God, you are using it to allow God to speak to you personally.   I mean this rendering works for me.  The next time I spend a little bonding time with my dear Friend and Companion and recite His prayer, I am not going to have it interrupted by the thought: “I don’t even know what I am talking about.”