Ask the Rabbi: What about the Lord's Prayer?

I am LOVING the interaction, the comments, the questions! Thank yo so much! Keep 'em coming!

Yesterday's Rambling brought a note from a very missed friend from whom I have not heard in months. She asked a great question, one with which I am actually well-familiar! And I thought perhaps more of you might also like to read my reply.

My friend asked me, "I don't know if you have the Our Father anywhere in Hebrew or Aramaic (if you read that too) but I've been told when translating Hebrew there are no "ands, buts etc". So could you give me an interpretation of the phrase "Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil". For some reason, it bothers me that we would ask Spirit/Father not to "lead us" into temptation "but" deliver us...... in my mind why is it either or? I want to say "leave us "and" deliver us. Thoughts????"

So, let's dig in!

The well-known prayer of Jesus isn't in Hebrew per se, although it has recently been translated into that by those who have translated the Christian testament into Hebrew. It wasn't originally in Hebrew because the language of the day in Jesus' time was Aramaic, as she noted. Only the priests and Jewish head honchos of that day knew Hebrew. It was already the language of scholars rather than the common language, because of the Roman occupation and Arabic population of the land.

As Mark Hathaway notes, "Jesus himself lived in a culture very different from our own, and to some extent that is revealed in the language he spoke; Aramaic (sometimes also referred to as Syriac) is a Semitic tongue closely related to both Hebrew and Arabic. It is still spoken today in a few isolated parts of Iraq and Syria, although it is gradually disappearing. It is also used as a liturgical language in several Eastern-rite Catholic and Orthodox Churches."

Since I do not know Aramaic, I must defer to the knowledge and expertise par excellence in this area of two Aramaic scholars who have done extensive work in this area. Mark Hathaway which I just quoted, and Neil Douglas-Kotz. Neil wrote an entire book dedicated to the deeper meaning of this Aramaic prayer of Jesus, Prayers of the Cosmos: Meditations on the Aramaic Words of Jesus (Harper Collins, 1990) by Neil Douglas-Klotz. I highly recommend this work.

I point to his informative web page here:

https://abwoon.org/library/learn-aramaic-prayer/

Neil translates the particular phrase my friend mentions about not being led into temptation and being delivered from evil as "Don’t let us enter forgetfulness, but free us from unripeness."

It makes more sense when we read the entire prayer in its context. They are not literal translations, but rather something between a poetic translation and "midrash" based on the ancient roots of the Aramaic words of the prayer. In other words, it is best understood in its cultural context and colloquial use.

In the line "And do not put us to the test, but deliver us from evil", the sense being conveyed is that we pray that we not let ourselves be distracted from the true purpose of our lives by that which is essentially trivial; we ask that we not be seduced by superficiality and materialism.

Aramaic scholar Mark Hathaway, writes, "In Aramaic, "evil" (bisha) is conceived in terms of an action which is unripe, of a fruit that is either immature or rotten. This calls us to be sensitive to the moment at hand, to carry out the right action at the right time. Hence, we pray: "But let us not be captive to uncertainty, nor cling to fruitless pursuits" or "Do not let us be seduced by that which would divert us from our true purpose, but illuminate the opportunities of the present moment."

Other renditions of this phrase by Mark Hathaway, are:

"Do not let us be seduced by that which would divert us from our purpose, but make us sensitive to the moment at hand"

"And do not let superficiality cause us to vacillate, but rather free us from all that impedes growth."

"Do not let us lose ourselves in distraction, but by the way of the breath, lead us into mindfulness."

"Let us not be enmeshed in the nets of illusion, but illuminate the opportunities of the present moment."

"But let us not be captive to uncertainty, nor cling to fruitless pursuits."


You can find Hathaway's translations on this page: http://visioncraft.org/aramaic/index.htm

I highly recommend reading his informative article here as well: http://visioncraft.org/aramaic/intro.htm


I think this gives a lot of information in answer to my friend's question. I hope you have found it interesting as well!


I love getting questions or further ideas to discuss! Bring 'em on!