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 will examine the Jewish roots of the Lord's Prayer in more detail.
By Kees de Vreugd, translation by Marie-Louise Weissenböck
"For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory."
The Lord's Prayer, as we know it, concludes with a threefold hymn of praise, just as it began with three prayers for the revelation of God's power. Comparing this to the version in Luke 11, we find that Luke omits this hymn. It is also absent from Matthew in a number of ancient and important Greek manuscripts. However, it does appear in the Didache (Teaching of the Apostles), an important early Christian text from the early second century AD. Jewish prayers always conclude with a hymn of praise. This was no different in the early communities of (mostly) Jews who followed Jesus.
The praise focuses on God. The coming of his kingdom has already been prayed for. In the concluding praise, this is reaffirmed. "Yours is the kingdom." God is king. He reigns. This is mentioned very often in the Psalms. His ruling power is manifest on earth as in heaven. And when we express this, we acknowledge his kingship and submit to him.
“And power”: When Jesus stands before the high priest on the night he is betrayed, he testifies: “You will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power.” (Matthew 26:64) In the language of that time, this is also a description of God himself on his heavenly throne.
“And glory”: God is surrounded by splendor and majesty. His glory is his divine radiance, which shines through everything. In the Bible, it is the description of his presence, especially in the tabernacle and later in the temple, but also when God revealed himself at Sinai and in the desert. This glory looks like a consuming fire (Exodus 24:17). Post-biblical Jewish sources speak in this context of the Shekhinah, the presence of God (Shekhinah means “dwelling”).
The three praises thus describe God in all his divine power and majesty, so to speak, on all levels – in heaven and on earth. God is king, he reigns with power, and his glory fills the whole earth (Isaiah 6).
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)
For all eternity
“For eternity”: What is eternity? All praise is always due to God. This is a central theme in the Bible. In the Jewish Kaddish prayer (Kaddish means sanctification), which is very similar to the Lord’s Prayer, the line appears: “May his great name be blessed for all eternity.” Psalm 113:2 says: “Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore.” A Jewish interpretation here means “from this time forth,” that is, in the present, and “forevermore” means in the future. And so Daniel says: “Blessed be the name of God from everlasting to everlasting.” Paul writes: “To him (God) be glory forever and ever.” (Galatians 1:5)
Paul was and remained a Jew. He uses the same phrase in Greek as in the Aramaic Kaddish prayer: "for all eternity." In Greek, the word is *aion*, in Hebrew and Aramaic, *olam*. The Greek *aion* means era, period, but also vitality and longevity. In the latter sense, it is the translation of the Hebrew *olam*. In the Bible, *olam* almost always means eternity. It generally refers to a long period of time. In post-biblical Hebrew, it also means "world.".
According to rabbinic explanation, the word olam is related to the verb "to hide." Olam actually means "that which is hidden." It is even perceived as if God were hiding in or behind this world. This hiddenness is the essence of everything. The 19th-century German rabbi Sr. Hirsch wrote that not only the future and the past, but even the present is essentially hidden from us. And yet, according to Ecclesiastes, humankind has a glimpse of it: "...he has also set eternity in their hearts, yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end." (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
The praise with which the Lord's Prayer concludes actually summarizes the entire prayer. It is the assurance that God's kingship, his power, and his glorious presence will endure forever, on earth as in heaven.
Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4 of this series appeared in our newspaper “Israelaktuell”, 3rd + 4th quarter 2024 as well as 1st and 2nd quarter 2025.
This article first appeared in our newspaper "Israelaktuell," issue 142. You can order the newspaper here . We would also be happy to send you several copies for distribution.
