The Lord's Prayer is the only prayer that Jesus Christ himself taught his disciples. It is recounted in two Gospels. It is the best-known prayer of Christians and unites Christians worldwide. At the same time, it is thoroughly Jewish and closely related to other Jewish prayers. In this series, we want to explore the Jewish roots of the Lord's Prayer in more detail.
By Kees de Vreugd, translation by Marie-Louise Weissenböck
“Lord, teach us to pray,” one of Jesus’ disciples asks in a particular situation: “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” (Luke 11:1) This request was appropriate for a Jewish disciple of his time. The disciple is referring to John the Baptist, who himself taught his disciples to pray. The Jewish Talmud also includes teachers who teach their students to pray. One example is Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus (late 1st century), who taught a short prayer: “Do your will in heaven above and give peace to those who fear you on earth below, and do what is good in your eyes. Blessed are you, God, who hears prayer.”
Jesus teaches his disciples the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6 and Luke 11). It is the perfect prayer that has understandably and rightly occupied a central place in the Church throughout the centuries. It also appears in one of the oldest Christian writings besides the New Testament, the Didache (the teaching of the apostles, late 1st century).
Our Father in heaven…
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever.
Amen.
(Translation after Martin Luther from Matthew 6:9–13)
Although the Lord's Prayer is the central Christian prayer, it is thoroughly Jewish. In this series of articles, we want to explore this in particular. Both in structure and theme, it is closely related to other Jewish prayers. The three-part structure of adoration, supplication, and concluding praise is also found, for example, in the so-called Eighteen Benedictions, the prayer that Jews recite daily and which is therefore often simply called Tefillah, or prayer, without any further elaboration.
It is noteworthy that the concluding praise is absent from Luke's Gospel; it also does not appear in the ancient manuscripts of Matthew. However, it is present in the Didache, to which Matthew is closely related. This may indicate that it was already common practice to include it in the first century. The Didache also prescribes praying the Lord's Prayer three times a day. This corresponds to the Jewish prayer practice of that time and of today, which in turn is based on the worship in the Temple. Three times a day, the usual sacrifices were offered in the Temple, and prayers were always offered during these sacrifices. In this sense, we can also understand Paul's exhortation to persevere in prayer: namely, to persevere in daily prayer.
A Father in Heaven – “… who you are in heaven”
Jesus reminds his disciples of God's most intimate relationship with a people, his relationship with Israel. Israel knows God as Father. God revealed himself in this way when Israel was in slavery in Egypt: "My son, my firstborn, is Israel." God himself reminds Israel of this: "Out of Egypt I called my son" (Hosea 11:1). And in Deuteronomy 14:1, Moses says to Israel: "You are the sons of the Lord God." God's fatherhood points to his love for his people, whom he freed from slavery.
In Jewish prayers, God is frequently addressed as Father. This was true then and remains true today. Even the early rabbis in the Talmud taught that one should turn one's heart to the Father in Heaven. The expression "Our Father, Our King" often appears in Jewish prayers, such as in the prayers for the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah. These prayers express God's love and his care for our existence. God is a Father who knows all our needs. And to give another, more contemporary example: The prayer for the State of Israel begins with the words "Our Father in Heaven, Rock of Israel and its Deliverer.".
The plural "the heavens" is a Semiticism. The Hebrew word for heaven, "shamayim," only appears in the plural. Heaven is the dwelling place of God. In New Testament times, it had even become a name for God, because then, as now, the Jews did not pronounce God's name. Therefore, Matthew always speaks of the Kingdom of Heaven, by which he means nothing other than the Kingdom of God, God's rule in heaven and on earth.
Jesus teaches us to pray: “Our Father.” As a worshipper, one is never alone. One prays together with others, even when praying in one's own room (see Matthew 6:6). God is the Father of Israel, as we have already learned. When Jesus teaches this prayer to his twelve Jewish disciples, it is primarily a prayer of Israel. Therefore, when we pray this prayer, we pray together with Israel, with anxiety, with wonder, and with gratitude for his grace.
This article first appeared in our newspaper "Israelaktuell," issue 138. You can order the newspaper here . We would also be happy to send you several copies for distribution.
