The Lord's Prayer

My wife came across an interesting website dealing with the Lord’s Prayer. If you go to this site, www.thenazareneway.com/lords_prayer.htm , you will find several translations of this well-known prayer. In Christianity, it is revered as the prayer given by Jesus to his followers. Christ’s words were translated into Greek, to Latin, to Old English, into King James English and finally to a modern English version of the prayer.

The Lord's Prayer Dated (1700- )

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.

Those of us brought up in the Christian faith, grew up reciting these familiar words in church, but just how did we arrive at this particular translation? If we consider that Christ himself spoke the Aramaic language (a language still spoken today in parts of Lebanon and Syria), how would a direct translation read? The problem is that Aramaic can be translated on many different levels with many words having more than one meaning. The website presents several of these translations from the original Aramaic. To the upper left is a copy of the original Aramaic text and below one of those translations:

The Prayer To Our Father (in the original Aramaic)

Abwûn

"Oh Thou, from whom the breath of life comes,
d'bwaschmâja

who fills all realms of sound, light and vibration.
Nethkâdasch schmach

May Your light be experienced in my utmost holiest.
Têtê malkuthach.

Your Heavenly Domain approaches.
Nehwê tzevjânach aikâna d'bwaschmâja af b'arha.

Let Your will come true - in the universe (all that vibrates)just as on earth (that is material and dense).
Hawvlân lachma d'sûnkanân jaomâna.

Give us wisdom (understanding, assistance) for our daily need,
Waschboklân chaubên wachtahên aikânadaf chnân schwoken l'chaijabên.

detach the fetters of faults that bind us, (karma)like we let go the guilt of others.
Wela tachlân l'nesjuna

Let us not be lost in superficial things (materialism, common temptations),
ela patzân min bischa.

but let us be freed from that what keeps us off from our true purpose.
Metol dilachie malkutha wahaila wateschbuchta l'ahlâm almîn.

From You comes the all-working will, the lively strength to act,the song that beautifies all and renews itself from age to age.
Amên.

Sealed in trust, faith and truth.(I confirm with my entire being)

I find it extremely interesting that much of our modern faith and understanding of that faith come to us from translations made by men, religious scholars and filtered by years of human history. Can we ever really know Christ’s actual words and their intended meaning?

FOOD for THOUGHT...