Paragraph 6:9–13
In this paragraph, Jesus gave his disciples a model prayer to show them how he would like them to pray. Many English speaking Christians call this prayer “The Lord’s Prayer.”
Several English versions print each part of this prayer on a different line. For example:
9Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10your kingdom come,
your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
11Give us this day our daily bread,
12and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
When you prepare the book of Matthew for printing, you will have to decide how to format this prayer.
6:9a
So then, this is how you should pray: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as So then also means “therefore” or “so” (as in the NET Bible). This conjunction introduces the conclusion to what was said in 6:7–8. The words that follow in 6:9b–13 are an example of how to pray.
this: The pronoun this refers ahead to the whole prayer in 6:9b–13.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
So you should pray like this: (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
Therefore, when you pray to God, here is the way to do it:
-or-
So, when you talk to God, say this:
6:9b
Our Father: Here Jesus addressed God as Our Father. If it is not clear that Jesus was referring to God, you may need to make it explicit. For example:
Our Father ⌊God⌋
-or-
⌊God⌋ our Father
in heaven: The words in heaven refer to God living there.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
⌊who is/lives⌋ in heaven
-or-
⌊God⌋ our heavenly Father
6:9c–13b
Verses 6:9c–13b are a series of requests to God. In Greek, these requests are third person commands. In some languages, when praying to a deity, requests are expressed very politely. For example:
We pray/request that your name be hallowed
-or-
Our request is that your name be hallowed
-or-
Please help us to hallow your name
You should translate these requests in a way that is natural for people making requests to God.
6:9c
hallowed be Your name: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as hallowed be Your name is a prayer. It is a prayer that God would cause his name to be recognized/honored as holy. In some languages there may be a more natural way to begin a prayer. For example:
May your holy name be honored (Good News Translation)
-or-
we pray/ask that your name be recognized as holy
In some languages it may be more natural to remove the passive verb and say who should honor the name of God. It is possible to supply either “we/us” or “everyone.” For example:
help us to honor your name (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
⌊we pray that⌋ everyone will honor your name.
hallowed be: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as hallowed comes from the same Greek word as “holy.” It means “make or cause ⌊something⌋ to be holy.”
This verb is passive. The text does not specify who should make God’s name holy. This action involves both God and people. God makes his name holy by revealing to people that he is holy. He is completely perfect and sinless and is worthy of awe. People make God’s name holy by honoring or treating him as the holy God who deserves their worship and obedience.
If possible, translate this clause in a way that both God and people can be understood as the ones who make God’s name holy. Here are some other ways to do this:
• Use a passive verb, as in the previous two examples.
• Use an active verb. For example:
cause ⌊people⌋ to recognize that your name is holy
-or-
reveal ⌊to everyone⌋ that you are holy so that they will recognize you as the only God
-or-
help us to honor your name (Contemporary English Version)
If you need to specify that either God or people are the ones who make God’s name holy, it is recommended that you specify people. For example:
we pray that ⌊all people⌋ would honor/respect your holy name
-or-
may ⌊all people⌋ recognize that you are holy
Your name: In Jewish thinking, a person’s name represented the person himself. When people honored someone’s name, it was the same as honoring him. If this would not be understood in your language, it may be necessary to translate the meaning of name. For example:
may you be honored as the holy ⌊God⌋
-or-
may ⌊people⌋ treat you with the respect you deserve as God
-or-
⌊we ask that⌋ you will cause ⌊men to say⌋, “You are holy”
© 2023 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.