employed as a nickname for Demosthenes. If he was a man who had many words for any occasion, we can
readily see the relationship to this abuse of verbosity in the matter of prayer.
Men actually believed that the effectiveness of their prayers was to be directly related to their length. This
was the mentality of Judaism.
6:7-8 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions
―(7) But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for
their much speaking. (8) Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have
need of, before ye ask him‖.
Babylonian Talmud, Berachot 55a: ―One who prays too intensely and too lengthily brings on himself
heartache‖.
6:9-13 "The Lord's Prayer"
―(9) After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. (10) Thy
kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. (11) Give us this day our daily bread. (12) And
forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. (13) And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen‖.
The verses, commonly known as "Lord's Prayer‖, can be paralleled to concepts found in other Jewish
sources. It is a combination of ideas already familiar to His audience:
From Matthew chapter 6 From other Jewish writings
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy
name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us
this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from
evil:
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the
glory, for ever. Amen.
Our Father who art in heaven (Babylonian Talmud;
Yoma 85b, Sotah 49b, Avot 5:20; Vayikra Rabbah ch
32.)
May God's kingdom be established during the days
of your life. (Kaddish prayer)
Do thy will above and give comfort to those below,
and to everyone his need. (Babylonian Talmud,
Berachot 29b)
One who is merciful toward others, God will be
merciful toward them. (Babylonian Talmud, Shabat
151b)
Bring me not into temptation, and lead me away from
iniquity ... and save me from the evil one.
(Babylonian Talmud, Berachot 80b)
For Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the power
and the glory and the victory and the majesty
(Tenach, 1 Chronicles 29:10)Our Father
Here, Matthew preserves the Hebrew idiom ―Our Father" which is typically Hebraic. This emphasises that we
are the Father‘s creation and that, as His children, we have a responsibility to Him. The use of the word ―our"
means that no single individual has a monopoly on YHWH and that, as His followers, we have responsibility
to one another.
This is also a family or group prayer, a prayer that is prayed by at least two believers who acknowledge the
Elohim of the Bible as their heavenly Father. We know this because the words ―our‖ and ―us‖ are used
throughout. This fact (which we are praying as a group on behalf of the Almighty‘s believers, and our own
particular responsibilities within it) lifts this prayer above ordinary prayers in which believers concentrate on
personal needs and requests. I repeat, in this prayer we are praying as a believing body to our Father. We
are not praying to an earthly father, a priest or pope; but to our Father which is in heaven. Also, it is not
merely to ―our Father‖, but to the God of our spiritual ancestors: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
As many of you know, we believers belong to the Family of the Most High and are spiritually bound together
by a common parentage.