Translation commentary on Luke 11:4

Exegesis:

kai aphes hēmin tas hamartias hēmon ‘and forgive us our sins.’ For aphiēmi cf. on 5.20; for hamartia on 1.77. The aorist tense of aphes is best understood as referring to the eschatological forgiveness in the final judgment (cf. Grundmann).

kai gar autoi aphiomen panti opheilonti hēmin ‘for we ourselves forgive anyone who owes us (anything).’ autoi means ‘we ourselves,’ ‘we on our part’ and is emphatic. aphiomen ‘we forgive’ is habitual present.

opheilō ‘to owe,’ ‘to be in debt,’ here corresponding to an Aramaic term for ‘sin.’ The idea of debt is not to be pressed.

kai mē eisenegkēs hēmas eis peirasmon ‘and do not bring us into temptation.’ Here eispherō is used in a figurative and weakened sense and denotes an unintentional act. For peirasmos cf. on 4.13. Here it is used in the passive sense and probably refers to the eschatological temptations (persecutions and tribulations) that precede the final consummation.

Translation:

Who is indebted to us, or, ‘our … debtor’ (Marathi). Where words associated with debt (for which see on 7.41) cannot be used figuratively one may shift to, ‘who is guilty towards us,’ ‘who does us evil’ (Kituba), ‘who has offended us’ (Shona 1966, rendering “sins” by ‘things by which we have offended you’).

Lead us not into temptation, or, ‘do not subject us to temptation’ (Bible de Jérusalem), “do not bring us to hard testing” (Good News Translation), or, shifting to passive or active verbal forms, ‘do not allow us to be tested’ (cf. Toraja-Sa’dan), ‘let us not fall into things that test us’ (Shona 1966), ‘do not permit that the evil One tempts/tests us, or, seduces us’ (cf. Tae’ 1933); cf. also on 8.13.

Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.

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