The Lord's Prayer, part 2 of 3

This post is a continuation from my initial post found here. This section of the paper discusses the many petitions and one of the words that is sometimes difficult to translate.

The second and third petitions are inseparable because they speak about things that cannot be distinguished: kingdom of God and the will of God. St. Luke contains combines the two petitions into one: “Thy kingdom come.”[11] St. Matthew includes the petition: “Thy will be done.”[12] One must presume that God’s will is that the kingdom will come through the incarnate son: Jesus Christ. In many commentaries and spiritual classics, the use of the word kingdom refers not to the kingdom here and now on earth, but rather the eschatological kingdom that is to come at the parousia. St. Cyprian writes: “Hence he who dedicates himself to God and to Christ, longs not for the kingdom of earth, but for the kingdom of Heaven.”[13] Later on in St. Matthew’s gospel, Jesus states, “Not every one who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”[14] This helps the reader get a broad view of what the kingdom is and this is why St. Matthew places the will of the Father and the kingdom to come together. One thing that St. Matthew does not address at this particular moment is how one does the will of the Father, but later on the gospel he alludes to how God’s will is obeyed. St. Cyprian gives a unique insight into how to follow God’s will, “We ask not that God may do His own will, but that we may be enabled to do what He wills should be done by us.”[15] I think that St. Cyprian is getting at the fact that we must discern and do God’s will and this will bring about the kingdom of God on earth.

The next phrase in the Lord’s Prayer near the middle of both St. Matthew and St. Luke’s accounts and this gives a great amount of emphasis. There is little to compare in the English translation because St. Matthew reads: “Give us this day our daily bread.” [16] St. Luke’s account reads: “Give us each day our daily bread.” [17] I previously mentioned that there are some questions about how St. Jerome translated this passage into Latin and how the Latin was translated into English. The question of translation occurs with the two words ‘daily bread.’ The Greek text of St. Matthew’s gospel uses the words τὸν ἐπιούσιον. The prefix ἐπι has many uses depending on the case that it is being used in and in this case it is used in the accusative case, which means that the word ἐπιούσιον is being used as the direct object of the sentence. The word ούσιον is derived from ουσία and means nature, substance or essence. The literal meaning of the word ἐπιούσιον is ‘the substance for the day’ and there are three different ways that this phrase can be taken. The first is that the substance is “Necessary or needful for existence.”[18] The second has the meaning of “For the current day.” [19] The third has the connotation of being “For the coming or following day.”[20] This meaning also points to the warning that Jesus gives about the future persecutions that the Church will encounter. Allison and Davies note the fact that the Fathers would have used either the first or third meanings whereas most modern scholars are more approving of the third meaning. The way that St. Jerome translated St. Matthew’s account of τὸν ἐπιούσιον is what many scholars have spent much time and energy on. St. Jerome uses the Latin word supersubstantialem, which has a different connotation than τὸν ἐπιούσιον. The word ‘supersubstantialem’ translates as super abundant bread and since each of the gospels are written after the death and resurrection of Jesus, it would seem that the author of the gospel is referring to the Eucharist. The vulgate text of St. Matthew contains the word supersubstantialem, whereas St. Luke’s gospel contains the word cotidianum. The word cotidianum is very similar to the connotation of τὸν ἐπιούσιον and simply means occurring every day or being used as in a daily custom. In both St. Matthew and St. Luke’s account there is a double emphasis on the word day and this points to something unique about the daily bread that the early Church was pleading for from the Father. St. Augustine comments on this part of St. Matthew: “Here then the saints ask for perseverance of God, when they pray that they may not be separated from the body of Christ, but may abide in that holiness, committing no crime.”[21] The double emphasis on the word day not only shows how important the daily bread is but it also shows that frequent reception of the Eucharist and the other sacraments is beneficial to our spiritual life.

Footnotes

11 Synopsis of the Four Gospels. New York: American Bible Society, 1982. pp.57

12 ibid

13 Aquinas, Thomas. Catena Aurea-Gospel of St. Matthew. Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal Library, 2000. pp. 180

14 Synopsis of the Four Gospels. New York: American Bible Society, 1982. pp. 63

15 Aquinas, Thomas. Catena Aurea-Gospel of St. Matthew. Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal Library, 2000. pp. 181

16 Synopsis of the Four Gospels. New York: American Bible Society, 1982. pp. 57

17 ibid

18 Allison, Dale C. and Davies, W.D. The Gospel According to Saint Matthew. International Critical Commentary. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark Ltd. 1988. pp. 607

19 ibid

20 Allison, Dale C. and Davies, W.D. The Gospel According to Saint Matthew. International Critical Commentary. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark Ltd. 1988. pp. 608

21 Aquinas, Thomas. Catena Aurea-Gospel of St. Matthew. Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal Library, 2000. pp. 182