Fæder ure þu þe eart on heofonum si þin nama gehalgod tobecume þin rice gewurþe þin willa on eorðan swa swa on heofonum urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us to dæg and forgyf us ure gyltas swa swa we forgyfað urum gyltendum and ne gelæd þu us on costnunge ac alys us of yfele soþlice.
Lord’s Prayer in Old English (450-1100)
For those who have ears to hear:
The Lord’s Prayer, more properly termed “The Disciple’s Prayer”, has always meant a lot to me.
If you read the context, Jesus said to avoid repetition:
“But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions,
as the heathen do: for they think that they
shall be heard for their much speaking.”
Truly, I believe it to be a model prayer and not a magic spell to be recited word for word. That being said, truly it is a beautiful model and very succinct.
Apart from the grammatically strange beginning in the KJV “Our Father WHICH art” often reworded in modern English “Our Father WHO art” because, after all, who actually still speaks seventeenth century English? I have several friends who believe the KJV is the ONLY translation which is inspired by God and trustworthy. Even they don’t actually talk to each other in 17th century vernacular: “I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself and falls on the other.”
Every living language changes over time and even the KJV wasn’t the first English Bible. Tyndale’s 1525 version, had it not been burned, would have needed updating in order to be readable and understood by the time 1611 rolled around. If, indeed, the KJV English Bible is the only correct translation what happens to the rest of the world who can’t read English?
Thankfully, we actually have good copies of the best manuscripts which were used specifically to translate the KJV, the Stephanus textus receptus being one good example.
But let’s get back to the prayer. The Roman Catholic Church, the Episcopal Church (Church of England) and Lutheran Church (German) use the wording “forgive us our trespasses”. Other denominations use another translation: “forgive us our debts”. Both seem to hint at the true meaning but a better wording would be “forgive us our transgressions”.
Sins are transgressions against the Torah (God’s law). This is the meaning that Jesus would have been focusing on. Debt is simply financial and trespassing is more about property.
“Forgive us our transgressions as we forgive those who transgress against us.”