The Fallible Study Bible

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Matthew6:5–15

The Lord’s Prayer

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Matthew 6:5–15 — The Lord’s Prayer. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

5

And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai hotan proseuchēsthe esesthe ouk hōs hoi hypokritai hoti philousin proseuchesthai hestōtes en tais synagōgais kai en tais tōn plateiōn gōniais hopōs phanōsin tois anthrōpois amēn legō hymin apechousin ton autōn misthon

Word by word32 · parsed
ΚαὶKaiAndG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ὅτανhotanwhenG3752
√ ὅταν — whenever (implying hypothesis or more or less uncertainty)Conjunction
προσεύχησθεproseuchēstheyou prayG4336
√ προσεύχομαι — to pray to God, iVerbPresent Subjunctive Middle or Passive2nd Person Plural
ἔσεσθεesesthedo not beG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbFuture Indicative Middle2nd Person Plural
eimi: to be, exist (future indicative middle) The future indicative doing the work of a command is Semitic in flavour and matches the legal "thou shalt not" of the Decalogue. Pulpit observes that the true text is plural here and singular in v. 6, so the discourse moves from the company to the individual praying alone.
οὐκouk. . .G3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
ὡςhōslikeG5613
√ ὡς — which how, iAdverb
οἱhoitheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Plural
ὑποκριταίhypokritaihypocritesG5273
√ ὑποκριτής — an actor under an assumed character (stage-player), iNounNominative Masculine Plural
hypokritēs: an actor under an assumed character, a stage-player The root sense is theatrical before it is moral. The charge is not that the man prays badly but that he has cast himself in a part and found a stage. Geneva names the two faults of the whole paragraph as "ambition, and vain babbling," and this word carries the first of them.
ὅτιhotiForG3754
√ ὅτι — demonstrative, that (sometimes redundant)Conjunction
φιλοῦσινphilousinthey loveG5368
√ φιλέω — to be a friend to (fond of (an individual or an object)), iVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
phileō: to be fond of, to love (present indicative active) Pulpit insists the verb is not to be softened to "they are wont": Jesus names an affection, not a habit. The present tense makes it their standing disposition, and it is the disposition, not the synagogue or the posture, that is condemned.
προσεύχεσθαιproseuchesthaito prayG4336
√ προσεύχομαι — to pray to God, iVerbPresent Infinitive Middle or Passive
ἑστῶτεςhestōtesstandingG2476
√ ἵστημι — to stand (transitively or intransitively), used in various applications (literally or figuratively)VerbPerfect Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Plural
histēmi: to stand, to take a stand (perfect participle active) Cambridge records that standing was as firmly attached to prayer as sitting was to teaching, and Gill piles up rabbinic canons making standing the required posture. So the perfect participle is not the sin; it is the innocent, universal practice that the love of display converts into a pose.
ἐνeninG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
ταῖςtaistheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Feminine Plural
συναγωγαῖςsynagōgaissynagoguesG4864
√ συναγωγή — an assemblage of personsNounDative Feminine Plural
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἐνenonG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
ταῖςtaistheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Feminine Plural
τῶνtōnG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Feminine Plural
πλατειῶνplateiōnstreetG4113
√ πλατεῖα — a wide "plat" or "place", iNounGenitive Feminine Plural
plateia: a wide place, a broad open street Ellicott is careful here: this is not the word used at 6:3 but the broad, open places of the city. The hypocrite does not merely pray outdoors, he chooses the widest sightlines available.
γωνίαιςgōniaiscornersG1137
√ γωνία — an angleNounDative Feminine Plural
ὅπωςhopōsvvvG3704
√ ὅπως — what(-ever) how, iConjunction
φανῶσινphanōsinto be seenG5316
√ φαίνω — to lighten (shine), iVerbAorist Subjunctive Passive3rd Person Plural
τοῖςtoisG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Masculine Plural
ἀνθρώποιςanthrōpoisby menG444
√ ἄνθρωπος — from G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι))NounDative Masculine Plural
ἀμὴνamēnTrulyG281
√ ἀμήν — properly, firm, iHebrew Word
amēn: firm, truly (transliterated Hebrew) The interlinear tags this a Hebrew word carried whole into Greek. It fronts a verdict, not a wish: what follows is the settlement of an account.
λέγωlegōI tellG3004
√ λέγω — properly, to "lay" forth, iVerbPresent Indicative Active1st Person Singular
ὑμῖνhyminyouG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounDative 2nd Person Plural
ἀπέχουσινapechousinthey already haveG568
√ ἀπέχω — (actively) to have out, iVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
apechō: to have out, to have in full A receipt term, and the hinge of the paragraph: the same root logic governs v. 6's apodōsei (G591, to pay back). Either the crowd pays you now and in full, or the Father pays you later. There is no arrangement where both pay. Henry: if we look for the praise of men, "it is just that it should be all our reward."
τὸνtonG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
αὐτῶνautōntheirG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Plural
μισθὸνmisthonfull rewardG3408
√ μισθός — pay for service (literally or figuratively), good or badNounAccusative Masculine Singular
misthos: pay for service, wages Wages, not gift. The word will return in the Verifier's link to Romans 4:4, where misthos and opheilēma (the debt-word of 6:12) stand in one sentence: what is earned is reckoned as debt, not grace.
6

But when you pray, go into your inner room, shut your door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de sy hotan proseuchē eiselthe eis to sou tameion kai kleisas tēn sou thyran proseuxai tō sou Patri tō en tō kryptō kai ho sou Patēr ho blepōn en tō kryptō apodōsei soi

Word by word33 · parsed
δὲdeButG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
σὺsyG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounNominative 2nd Person Singular
sy: thou (nominative, emphatic) Greek does not need the pronoun with a finite verb, so its presence is stress. Against the plural theatre of v. 5, one person is singled out and sent indoors alone.
ὅτανhotanwhenG3752
√ ὅταν — whenever (implying hypothesis or more or less uncertainty)Conjunction
προσεύχῃproseuchēyou prayG4336
√ προσεύχομαι — to pray to God, iVerbPresent Subjunctive Middle or Passive2nd Person Singular
εἴσελθεeiselthegoG1525
√ εἰσέρχομαι — to enter (literally or figuratively)VerbAorist Imperative Active2nd Person Singular
eiserchomai: to enter (aorist imperative active) The first of three crisp aorists (enter, shut, pray). The prescription is a sequence of completed acts, deliberately paradoxical: Ellicott calls it "a rule which startles, and which cannot be binding literally," since our Lord's own practice was to withdraw to the hills.
εἰςeisintoG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
τὸtoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Singular
σουsouyourG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 2nd Person Singular
ταμεῖόνtameioninner roomG5009
√ ταμεῖον — akin to , to cut)NounAccusative Neuter Singular
tameion: a store-room, inner chamber A rare noun (four verses in the New Testament). Barnes describes the actual Jewish arrangement, a small room over the porch "expressly appropriated for the place of retirement," and adds the honest pastoral point that "the desire to pray, and the love of prayer, will create such places in abundance."
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
κλείσαςkleisasshutG2808
√ κλείω — to close (literally or figuratively)VerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Singular
kleiō: to shut, to close (aorist participle active) Pulpit reads the clause as an adaptation of Isaiah 26:20, and Gill points to the same passage, noting that where Isaiah uses shut doors for security, Christ uses them for secrecy.
τὴνtēnG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Feminine Singular
σουsouyourG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 2nd Person Singular
θύρανthyrandoorG2374
√ θύρα — a portal or entrance (the opening or the closure, literally or figuratively)NounAccusative Feminine Singular
πρόσευξαιproseuxai[and] prayG4336
√ προσεύχομαι — to pray to God, iVerbAorist Imperative Middle2nd Person Singular
proseuchomai: to pray to God (aorist imperative middle) The middle voice of this verb is its normal form and should not be over-read, but the shift from present (v. 5, v. 9) to aorist here is real: this is the single act behind the closed door, not the pattern of a life.
τῷtōtoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Masculine Singular
σουsouyourG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 2nd Person Singular
ΠατρίPatriFatherG3962
√ πατήρ — a "father" (literally or figuratively, near or more remote)NounDative Masculine Singular
τῷtōwho [is]G3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Masculine Singular
ἐνenvvvG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
τῷtōvvvG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Neuter Singular
κρυπτῷkryptōunseenG2927
√ κρυπτός — concealed, iAdjectiveDative Neuter Singular
kryptos: concealed, hidden Pulpit makes the sharp grammatical observation that this first phrase is "to thy Father which is in secret," not "which seeth in secret" as in the next clause. God is not first described as a watcher of hidden things but as himself hidden, so that the manner of the praying matches the manner of the One prayed to.
καὶkaiAndG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ὁhoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
σουsouyourG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 2nd Person Singular
ΠατήρPatērFatherG3962
√ πατήρ — a "father" (literally or figuratively, near or more remote)NounNominative Masculine Singular
ὁhowhoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
βλέπωνblepōnseesG991
√ βλέπω — to look at (literally or figuratively)VerbPresent Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Singular
blepō: to look at (present participle active) Present, and so continuous: the seeing never lapses, and the participle is attributive, making "the One seeing in the hidden" a title rather than an activity. Set against v. 5, this is the whole exchange of audiences: the hypocrite needs men to look, and the disciple already has a spectator who never looks away. Henry states the pastoral consequence: "there is not a secret, sudden breathing after God, but he observes it." Gill presses it into detail, that the Father "observes and takes notice of the secret breathings, pantings, desires, and requests of thy heart and lips."
ἐνenvvvG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
τῷtōwhat is doneG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Neuter Singular
κρυπτῷkryptōin secretG2927
√ κρυπτός — concealed, iAdjectiveDative Neuter Singular
ἀποδώσειapodōseiwill rewardG591
√ ἀποδίδωμι — to give away, iVerbFuture Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
apodidōmi: to give away, to pay back (future indicative active) The counterpart of apechousin in v. 5. Henry keeps the accounting from turning into merit: "It is called a reward, but it is of grace, not of debt; what merit can there be in begging?"
σοιsoiyouG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounDative 2nd Person Singular
7

And when you pray, do not babble on like pagans, for they think that by their many words they will be heard.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de Proseuchomenoi battalogēsēte mē hōsper hoi ethnikoi gar dokousin hoti en tē autōn polylogia eisakousthēsontai

Word by word15 · parsed
δὲdeAndG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ΠροσευχόμενοιProseuchomenoi[when] you prayG4336
√ προσεύχομαι — to pray to God, iVerbPresent Participle Middle or PassiveNominative Masculine Plural
βατταλογήσητεbattalogēsētedo not babble onG945
√ βαττολογέω — to stutter, iVerbAorist Subjunctive Active2nd Person Plural
battologeō: to stutter, to babble (aorist subjunctive active) The verb occurs only here in the New Testament. Benson traces it to battos, "a stutterer, or foolish talker," and to the prince of the Cyrenaeans of that name; Barnes reports the other derivation, from a Greek poet of "endless repetitions." The derivations differ; the sense does not. Note the aorist subjunctive with μὴ: a prohibition against ever falling into the act, not against a habit already in progress.
μὴmē. . .G3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
ὥσπερhōsperlikeG5618
√ ὥσπερ — just as, iAdverb
οἱhoiG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Plural
ἐθνικοίethnikoipagansG1482
√ ἐθνικός — national ("ethnic"), iAdjectiveNominative Masculine Plural
ethnikos: national, ethnic, Gentile One of four verses in the canon carrying this rare word, and the Verifier links all of them. Gill makes the uncomfortable observation that the Jews were guilty of the same fault, "had they not, there would not have been any need of such advice." The insult is therefore aimed inside the covenant, not outside it.
γὰρgarforG1063
√ γάρ — properly, assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensificationConjunction
δοκοῦσινdokousinthey thinkG1380
√ δοκέω — compare the base of G1166 (δεικνύω)) of the same meaningVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
dokeō: to think, to suppose The verb of opinion, not knowledge. The whole heathen error sits in this word: a theory about how prayer works, which Ellicott says "assumes that the object of prayer was to change the will of God, or to inform Him of what He did not know before."
ὅτιhotithatG3754
√ ὅτι — demonstrative, that (sometimes redundant)Conjunction
ἐνenbyG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
τῇtēG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Feminine Singular
αὐτῶνautōntheirG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Plural
πολυλογίᾳpolylogiamany wordsG4180
√ πολυλογία — loquacity, iNounDative Feminine Singular
polylogia: loquacity, much speaking Hapax in the New Testament. Benson quotes Campbell to widen it past mere repetition to "every thing, in words, that may justly be called vain, idle, or foolish," and then states the measure himself: all the words in the world are not equivalent to one holy desire.
εἰσακουσθήσονταιeisakousthēsontaithey will be heardG1522
√ εἰσακούω — to listen toVerbFuture Indicative Passive3rd Person Plural
eisakouō: to listen to, to hear out (future indicative passive) A rare compound, only five verses in the canon. Pulpit catches the force of the preposition: "In the continuance (ἐν) of their external action lies their hope of being fully heard." The Verifier's other occurrences (Luke 1:13, Acts 10:31, Hebrews 5:7) all show the same verb used of prayer that actually was heard out, and in none of them is length the reason.
8

Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

oun mē homoiōthēte autois gar ho hymōn Patēr oiden hōn echete chreian pro tou hymas aitēsai auton

Word by word17 · parsed
οὖνounG3767
√ οὖν — (adverbially) certainly, or (conjunctionally) accordinglyConjunction
μὴmē[Do] notG3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
ὁμοιωθῆτεhomoiōthētebe likeG3666
√ ὁμοιόω — to assimilate, iVerbAorist Subjunctive Passive2nd Person Plural
homoioō: to assimilate, to make like (aorist subjunctive passive) The passive is the whole point: nobody sets out to become a heathen in prayer, but practices assimilate the people who keep them. The same root will name the kingdom parables later in Matthew, where things are "made like" what they are compared to.
αὐτοῖςautoisthemG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
γὰρgarforG1063
√ γάρ — properly, assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensificationConjunction
ὁhovvvG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ὑμῶνhymōnyourG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 2nd Person Plural
ΠατὴρPatērFatherG3962
√ πατήρ — a "father" (literally or figuratively, near or more remote)NounNominative Masculine Singular
οἶδενoidenknowsG1492
√ εἴδω — used only in certain past tenses, the others being borrowed from the equivalent G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι) and G3708 (ὁράω)VerbPerfect Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
eidō: to know (perfect indicative active, present in force) JFB warns against generalizing the clause: it is said not of God as "the general Father of mankind" but to disciples, the poor in spirit and the mourners of chapter 5. Ellicott builds the whole theology of petition on this verb, conceding that logically the question "why pray at all?" "never has been, and never can be, answered," and offering only partial solutions.
ὧνhōnwhatG3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounGenitive Neuter Plural
ἔχετεecheteyouG2192
√ ἔχω — to hold (used in very various applications, literally or figuratively, direct or remoteVerbPresent Indicative Active2nd Person Plural
χρείανchreianneedG5532
√ χρεία — employment, iNounAccusative Feminine Singular
chreia: employment, need, necessity The object of the Father's knowledge is need, not merit and not request. Cambridge answers the obvious objection briefly and well: we are still bound to express our wants, because expressing them is the proof of the faith and dependence that are the conditions of prayer.
πρὸprobeforeG4253
√ πρό — "fore", iPreposition
τοῦtouG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Neuter Singular
ὑμᾶςhymasyouG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative 2nd Person Plural
αἰτῆσαιaitēsaiaskG154
√ αἰτέω — to ask (in genitive case)VerbAorist Infinitive Active
aiteō: to ask, to request (aorist infinitive active) This is the first appearance in the unit of the ordinary verb for asking, and it arrives only to be placed after God's knowing. Everything that follows in vv. 9 to 13 is therefore asking that adds nothing to the Father's information, which is exactly why it can be so short.
αὐτόνautonHimG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
9

So then, this is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

oun Houtōs hymeis proseuchesthe hēmōn Pater ho en tois ouranois Hagiasthētō to sou onoma

Word by word14 · parsed
οὖνounSo thenG3767
√ οὖν — (adverbially) certainly, or (conjunctionally) accordinglyConjunction
ΟὕτωςHoutōsthis is howG3779
√ οὕτω — in this way (referring to what precedes or follows)Adverb
ὑμεῖςhymeisyouG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounNominative 2nd Person Plural
προσεύχεσθεproseuchestheshould prayG4336
√ προσεύχομαι — to pray to God, iVerbPresent Imperative Middle or Passive2nd Person Plural
proseuchomai: to pray (present imperative middle or passive) Present, against the aorist imperative of v. 6: here the command is to a continuing practice. Pulpit argues at length that Luke 11:2-4 preserves the original occasion and that Matthew gives the prayer "as fully developed," which is a real critical claim and should be held as such, not as certainty.
ἡμῶνhēmōnOurG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 1st Person Plural
egō: I, me (genitive first person plural) "Of us," not "of me," and Benson presses the point that the plural is commanded "even in secret prayer, to put us in mind that we are all brethren." The man who was just sent alone into a store-room is given a prayer he cannot pray in the singular.
ΠάτερPaterFatherG3962
√ πατήρ — a "father" (literally or figuratively, near or more remote)NounVocative Masculine Singular
patēr: father (vocative masculine singular) The only vocative in the unit. Ellicott holds that the Aramaic "Abba" behind it so impressed itself on the church that, like Amen and Hosanna, it passed untranslated into Gentile prayer (Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:6). He is equally careful that the Fatherhood of God was not new: Exodus 4:22, Jeremiah 31:9, Hosea 11:1, Isaiah 64:8. What is new is who is licensed to say it, and on what ground.
ὁhoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleVocative Masculine Singular
ἐνeninG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
τοῖςtoisG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Masculine Plural
οὐρανοῖςouranoisheavenG3772
√ οὐρανός — the skyNounDative Masculine Plural
ἉγιασθήτωHagiasthētōhallowed beG37
√ ἁγιάζω — to make holy, iVerbAorist Imperative Passive3rd Person Singular
hagiazō: to make holy, to hallow (aorist imperative passive) The passive leaves the agent unnamed, which is why the petition can be read two ways at once: let God hallow his name, and let it be hallowed by all. Barnes takes the second: God's name is essentially holy already, so the petition asks that it be everywhere esteemed so. Cambridge adds the sting: each petition "implies an obligation to carry out on our own part what we pray God to accomplish."
τὸtoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Neuter Singular
σουsouYourG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 2nd Person Singular
ὄνομάonomanameG3686
√ ὄνομα — a "name" (literally or figuratively) (authority, character)NounNominative Neuter Singular
onoma: a name, and so authority and character Benson: "The name of God is a Hebraism for God himself, his attributes, and his works," and to sanctify it is to hold it in the highest veneration and to show that veneration in dispositions, words and actions. So the first thing the prayer asks for is not a thing but a reputation, and not ours. Cambridge adds the hook that runs through all six petitions: each one "implies an obligation to carry out on our own part what we pray God to accomplish," which means the man praying this clause has just volunteered to be part of its answer.
10

Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

hē sou basileia Elthetō to sou thelēma Genēthētō kai epi gēs Hōs en ouranō

Word by word14 · parsed
ἡhēG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Feminine Singular
σουsouYourG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 2nd Person Singular
βασιλείαbasileiakingdomG932
√ βασιλεία — properly, royalty, iNounNominative Feminine Singular
basileia: royalty, kingly rule, kingdom The noun is rule before it is realm. Gill records that the older Jewish form of this petition ran "let the kingdom of thy Messiah come," and that Christ drops "Messiah" from it, which Gill reads as a quiet announcement that the Messiah has arrived. That is a real inference from a real liturgical parallel, and worth weighing even by readers who will not follow Gill's whole scheme.
ἘλθέτωElthetōcomeG2064
√ ἔρχομαι — to come or go (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)VerbAorist Imperative Active3rd Person Singular
erchomai: to come or go (aorist imperative active) JFB traces the kingdom's coming through stages: present wherever men walked with God, "at hand" when Messiah appeared, founded by his death, "gloriously come" at Pentecost, and still to come. His conclusion is the honest one for a petition: it "must not cease to ascend so long as one subject of it remains to be brought in."
τὸtoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Neuter Singular
σουsouYourG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 2nd Person Singular
θέλημάthelēmawillG2307
√ θέλημα — a determination (properly, the thing), iNounNominative Neuter Singular
thelēma: a determination, a will, the thing willed Gill distinguishes God's secret will, which is always done, from his revealed will, which is what can be prayed for, and Benson quotes Whitby to the same effect: we do not pray that God may do his own will. The distinction is the only thing that keeps the petition from being empty.
ΓενηθήτωGenēthētōbe doneG1096
√ γίνομαι — to cause to be ("gen"-erate), iVerbAorist Imperative Passive3rd Person Singular
ginomai: to come into being, to be generated (aorist imperative passive) The passive of a verb of becoming, not of doing. Pulpit: "God's will is always in ideal until it is accomplished in act." Ellicott presses the paradox that follows: the petition "assumes that even the will of God is in part dependent on our wills, that it will not be done unless we so pray," and he answers it only by accepting the paradox.
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἐπὶepionG1909
√ ἐπί — properly, meaning superimposition (of time, place, order, etcPreposition
γῆςgēsearthG1093
√ γῆ — soilNounGenitive Feminine Singular
ὩςHōsas [it is]G5613
√ ὡς — which how, iAdverb
hōs: as, in the manner that A small word carrying the measure of the whole petition. It does not ask that earth improve but that earth match a standard already kept elsewhere.
ἐνeninG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
οὐρανῷouranōheavenG3772
√ οὐρανός — the skyNounDative Masculine Singular
11

Give us this day our daily bread.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

dos hēmin sēmeron Ton hēmōn ton epiousion arton

Word by word8 · parsed
δὸςdosGiveG1325
√ δίδωμι — to give (used in a very wide application, properly, or by implication, literally or figurativelyVerbAorist Imperative Active2nd Person Singular
didōmi: to give (aorist imperative active) Not sell, not lend. Henry: "The greatest of men must be beholden to the mercy of God for their daily bread." The aorist asks for one day's supply at a time, which is the grammatical shape of the trust the petition is teaching.
ἡμῖνhēminusG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounDative 1st Person Plural
σήμερονsēmeronthis dayG4594
√ σήμερον — on the (iAdverb
sēmeron: today, on this day Against Luke's "day by day." Pulpit concedes the tautology problem: if epiousion means "for the coming day," then "bread for the coming day give us today" says nearly the same thing twice, which is one of the better arguments against that derivation.
ΤὸνTonG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
ἡμῶνhēmōnourG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 1st Person Plural
τὸνtonG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
ἐπιούσιονepiousiondailyG1967
√ ἐπιούσιος — tomorrow'sAdjectiveAccusative Masculine Singular
epiousios: tomorrow's, or for subsistence, or over and above substance Effectively without parallel in Greek. Ellicott, alone among the voices here, argues for the highest sense, panis supersubstantialis, on the strength of Matthew 4:4, John 4:32 and John 6:27-58; JFB calls that reading "quite unnatural" and says it robs the Christian of his one petition for bodily need. Gill reports that Jerome found the Hebrew Gospel of the Nazarenes reading "tomorrow"; Benson reports Theophylact and Chrysostom reading "sufficient for our sustenance." The honest position is that the church has never agreed, and this synthesis does not settle it.
ἄρτονartonbreadG740
√ ἄρτος — bread (as raised) or a loafNounAccusative Masculine Singular
artos: bread, a loaf The Verifier's strongest link in the unit runs through this word together with epiousios to Luke 11:3. That the two occurrences of the coined adjective in the whole canon sit in the two versions of one prayer is itself the evidence that the word was made for this sentence.
12

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai aphes hēmin ta hēmōn opheilēmata Hōs hēmeis kai aphēkamen tois hēmōn opheiletais

Word by word13 · parsed
ΚαὶKaiAndG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἄφεςaphesforgiveG863
√ ἀφίημι — an intensive form of , to go)VerbAorist Imperative Active2nd Person Singular
aphiēmi: to send away, to let go, to release (aorist imperative active) The same verb will carry vv. 14 and 15 four more times, and is the single most repeated content word in the unit. The Verifier links it to Luke 11:4. Note what is absent: no ground is pleaded for the release. Pulpit observes flatly, "No plea is urged, for the atonement had not yet been made."
ἡμῖνhēminusG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounDative 1st Person Plural
τὰtaG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Plural
ἡμῶνhēmōnourG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 1st Person Plural
ὀφειλήματαopheilēmatadebtsG3783
√ ὀφείλημα — something owed, iNounAccusative Neuter Plural
opheilēma: something owed, a debt Two verses in the whole canon carry this noun, and the other is Romans 4:4, where it stands with misthos, the "pay" of 6:5. Ellicott traces the metaphor to its root: duty and debt "are, it may be noted, only different forms of the same word. A duty unfulfilled is a debt unpaid." Gill is precise about what is owed: "the proper debts we owe to God are love, obedience, and gratitude," and in default of those, punishment.
ὩςHōsasG5613
√ ὡς — which how, iAdverb
ἡμεῖςhēmeisweG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounNominative 1st Person Plural
καὶkaialsoG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἀφήκαμενaphēkamenhave forgivenG863
√ ἀφίημι — an intensive form of , to go)VerbAorist Indicative Active1st Person Plural
aphiēmi: to release (aorist indicative active) Cambridge states the grammar and its consequence together: the aorist means "an act of forgiveness on man's part is past before he prays to receive forgiveness." JFB immediately guards it from becoming merit, insisting that our forgiving is not "the proper ground of God's forgiveness of us," only the condition without which the request is an insult.
τοῖςtoisG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Masculine Plural
ἡμῶνhēmōnourG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 1st Person Plural
ὀφειλέταιςopheiletaisdebtorsG3781
√ ὀφειλέτης — an ower, iNounDative Masculine Plural
opheiletēs: an ower, a debtor A person, not an account. Barnes limits the application honestly: this is not chiefly about money, though he adds that a debt whose exaction would crush a widow or an orphan falls under it too. Gill extends it to "the injuries of enemies, the unkindness of friends, all sorts of offences."
13

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai eisenenkēs hēmas mē eis peirasmon Alla rhysai hēmas apo tou ponērou

Word by word12 · parsed
ΚαὶKaiAndG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
εἰσενέγκῃςeisenenkēsleadG1533
√ εἰσφέρω — to carry inward (literally or figuratively)VerbAorist Subjunctive Active2nd Person Singular
eispherō: to carry inward (aorist subjunctive active) A rare verb, eight verses in the canon, and the Verifier links it to Luke 11:4. The difficulty everyone feels is real: JFB concedes "it is certain that God does bring His people... into circumstances both fitted and designed to try them," and answers it not by softening the verb but by reading the petition as a prayer against being sucked in by our own will, "which Peter needed to ask, but did not ask."
ἡμᾶςhēmasusG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative 1st Person Plural
μὴmēnotG3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
mē: not, lest The negative belongs with the subjunctive verb, not with a noun. Barnes reads the whole construction as permissive, "Do not 'suffer' us, or 'permit' us, to be tempted to sin," comparing Psalm 141:4, and grounding the move on James 1:13.
εἰςeisintoG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
πειρασμόνpeirasmontemptationG3986
√ πειρασμός — a putting to proof (by experiment (of good), experience (of evil), solicitation, discipline or provocation)NounAccusative Masculine Singular
peirasmos: a putting to proof, trial or temptation Twenty verses in the canon. Gill sorts the kinds at length: trials from God (Abraham, Job), solicitations from Satan, the pressures of the world in poverty and in riches, and a man's own heart. His summary of the petition is exact: "We are not here taught to pray against temptations at all... but that they may not have the power over us."
ἈλλὰAllabutG235
√ ἀλλά — properly, other things, iConjunction
ῥῦσαιrhysaideliverG4506
√ ῥύομαι — compare G4511 (ῥύσις))VerbAorist Imperative Middle2nd Person Singular
rhyomai: to draw to oneself, to rescue The middle voice fits the sense Cambridge gives, drawing to oneself. Pulpit notes that ἀπὸ rather than ἐκ suggests the peril is now outside the child of God, who has already been brought out of the enemy's power.
ἡμᾶςhēmasusG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative 1st Person Plural
ἀπὸapofromG575
√ ἀπό — "off," iPreposition
τοῦtoutheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Neuter Singular
πονηροῦponērouevil [one]G4190
√ πονηρός — hurtful, iAdjectiveGenitive Neuter Singular
ponēros: hurtful, worthless, evil Pulpit makes the lexical point that the primary notion of both πονηρός and Hebrew רע "is not malignity (Trench), but worthlessness, essential badness." JFB resists narrowing the last petition to the devil precisely because it is "that on which all our desires die away," and hears Paul alluding to it at 2 Timothy 4:18. The ambiguity is in the Greek and is preserved here rather than resolved.
14

For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

gar Ean aphēte tois anthrōpois ta autōn paraptōmata ho hymōn ho ouranios Patēr aphēsei kai hymin

Word by word16 · parsed
γὰρgarForG1063
√ γάρ — properly, assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensificationConjunction
ἘὰνEanifG1437
√ ἐάν — a conditional particleConjunction
ἀφῆτεaphēteyou forgiveG863
√ ἀφίημι — an intensive form of , to go)VerbAorist Subjunctive Active2nd Person Plural
aphiēmi: to send away, to release (aorist subjunctive active) The fourth of six occurrences of this verb in vv. 12 to 15. Gill explains what a full release involves: "forgetting, as well as forgiving; not upbraiding them with former offences; and even without asking pardon, and though there might be no appearance of repentance."
τοῖςtoisG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Masculine Plural
ἀνθρώποιςanthrōpoismenG444
√ ἄνθρωπος — from G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι))NounDative Masculine Plural
anthrōpos: a human being, man Gill hears the emphasis in the noun at v. 15 and it works here too: men are on a level with one another, while the Father is not obliged to us at all, so a refusal between equals makes a request to a superior absurd.
τὰtaG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Plural
αὐτῶνautōntheirG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Plural
παραπτώματαparaptōmatatrespassesG3900
√ παράπτωμα — a side-slip (lapse or deviation), iNounAccusative Neuter Plural
paraptōma: a side-slip, a lapse, a deviation Chosen deliberately over the debt-word of v. 12, and it is the source of the "trespasses" in the liturgical form of the Prayer, which does not stand in v. 12 at all. The image is not of an unpaid account but of a foot going off the path.
ὁhoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ὑμῶνhymōnyourG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 2nd Person Plural
ὁhoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
οὐράνιοςouraniosheavenlyG3770
√ οὐράνιος — celestial, iAdjectiveNominative Masculine Singular
ΠατὴρPatērFatherG3962
√ πατήρ — a "father" (literally or figuratively, near or more remote)NounNominative Masculine Singular
patēr: father Barnes states the practical shape of the obligation: forgive "even if the offence be committed seventy times seven times," treat the unrepentant offender kindly, harbour no malice, and stand ready to declare him forgiven when he asks. Benson immediately guards the clause from being read as a whole doctrine of salvation: repentance, fruits worthy of it, and faith working by love are "absolutely necessary" too.
ἀφήσειaphēseiwill also forgiveG863
√ ἀφίημι — an intensive form of , to go)VerbFuture Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
καὶkai. . .G2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ὑμῖνhyminyouG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounDative 2nd Person Plural
15

But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive yours.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de ean aphēte mē tois anthrōpois ta autōn paraptōmata oude ho hymōn Patēr aphēsei ta hymōn paraptōmata

Word by word17 · parsed
δὲdeButG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ἐὰνeanifG1437
√ ἐάν — a conditional particleConjunction
ἀφῆτεaphēteyou do not forgiveG863
√ ἀφίημι — an intensive form of , to go)VerbAorist Subjunctive Active2nd Person Plural
aphiēmi: to send away, to release (aorist subjunctive active) The fifth and sixth occurrences of this verb fall in this verse. Poole is careful with what the condition does and does not establish: forgiving our brethren is not all that God requires for pardon, "the contrary is plain from several other texts," but without it "God will not forgive us."
μὴmē. . .G3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
τοῖςtoisG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Masculine Plural
ἀνθρώποιςanthrōpoismenG444
√ ἄνθρωπος — from G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι))NounDative Masculine Plural
τὰtaG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Plural
αὐτῶνautōntheirG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Plural
παραπτώματαparaptōmatatrespassesG3900
√ παράπτωμα — a side-slip (lapse or deviation), iNounAccusative Neuter Plural
οὐδὲoudeneitherG3761
√ οὐδέ — not however, iAdverb
oude: not however, neither The small correlative that makes v. 15 the exact negative of v. 14. Between them they turn the single clause of v. 12 into a rule stated twice, positively and negatively, which JFB reads as the deliberate emphasis of the whole discourse on this one point.
ὁho{will}G3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ὑμῶνhymōnyourG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 2nd Person Plural
ΠατὴρPatērFatherG3962
√ πατήρ — a "father" (literally or figuratively, near or more remote)NounNominative Masculine Singular
ἀφήσειaphēseiforgiveG863
√ ἀφίημι — an intensive form of , to go)VerbFuture Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
aphiēmi: to release (future indicative active) The future here is the same form as the promise in v. 14, now negated. Gill will not let it become a doctrine of earned pardon: an unforgiving man is not told that he has forfeited a purchase but that "your Father has not given you a true sense of the pardon of your sins, nor can you be certain that he will."
τὰtaG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Plural
ὑμῶνhymōnyoursG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 2nd Person Plural
παραπτώματαparaptōmata. . .G3900
√ παράπτωμα — a side-slip (lapse or deviation), iNounAccusative Neuter Plural
paraptōma: a side-slip, a lapse The repetition of the noun is what makes the sentence bite. The offences you will not release and the offences you want released are called by one name.

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. The theatre and the store-room — 6:5-6

The charge is not posture and not place. Cambridge records that "The posture of standing was as closely associated with prayer as that of sitting was with teaching," and Gill fills three paragraphs with rabbinic canons requiring it, down to Maimonides ruling that a man in a cart must stand if he can. JFB grants the same and then names the hinge: "this conspicuous posture opened the way for the ostentatious." What Greek adds is the verb φιλοῦσιν (G5368). Pulpit refuses to soften it: "Not to be translated 'they are wont.' Our Lord points out the cause of this their custom." It is an affection, and the aorist passive φανῶσιν (G5316) tells what the affection is for, to be lit up before men. Ellicott supplies the picture that makes it recognisable, the worshipper "standing apart as if absorbed in prayer, while secretly glancing round to watch the impression which he might be making." Against that, v. 6 sends one person, emphatically singular, into a ταμεῖόν (G5009), which Ellicott insists is "the store-closet of thy house... the place which seemed to men least likely." Barnes, following Hackett, describes the actual room over the porch. Gill and Pulpit both hear Isaiah 26:20 behind the shut door. The ledger words settle it: ἀπέχουσιν (G568) is a receipt marked paid in full, and ἀποδώσει (G591) is the Father paying back. Henry keeps the accounting from becoming merit: "It is called a reward, but it is of grace, not of debt; what merit can there be in begging?"

ii. Stammering, and the Father who already knows — 6:7-8

The second fault has its own coined verb. Ellicott, JFB, Cambridge, Barnes, Benson and Pulpit all agree that βατταλογήσητε (G945) imitates a stammer, and Ellicott would render it "Do not stutter out your prayers, do not babble them over." Every one of them then rushes to say what is not forbidden. Geneva: "Long prayers are not condemned, but vain, needless, and superstitious ones." Poole: our Saviour "continued all night in prayer to God." Cambridge: what is forbidden is "the belief that the efficacy of prayer consists in such repetition." Ellicott names the mechanism precisely: many words "gave to prayer a quantitative mechanical force... If fifty failed, a hundred might succeed," which assumes the object of prayer is to change God's will or inform him. And Gill, who is no friend to the Gentiles here, turns the charge inward anyway: the Jews were guilty of the same, "had they not, there would not have been any need of such advice." Then v. 8 removes the ground under the practice with a perfect tense, οἶδεν (G1492), knowledge already complete. JFB narrows the comfort deliberately: this is said not of God as the general Father of mankind but of the disciples described in the Beatitudes. Ellicott lets the resulting question stand unanswered: why pray at all? "Logically, it may be, the question never has been, and never can be, answered."

iii. Thus therefore: Name, kingdom, will — 6:9-10

Three third-person aorist imperatives in a row, Ἁγιασθήτω, Ἐλθέτω, Γενηθήτω, commands addressed not to the hearer but to a state of affairs. Poole sees the unity: "These three first petitions are of great cognation one to another... the sum is, Let God be glorified." Henry counts the same division, three petitions for God's honour and three for our concerns. The vocative Πάτερ is the door. Cambridge states what it changes: "It is of the essence of Christian prayer that God should be addressed as a Father to whose love we appeal, not as a God whose anger we appease." Ellicott is careful that the name was not new, citing Exodus 4:22, Jeremiah 31:9, Hosea 11:1 and Isaiah 64:8, and that it had already entered Jewish liturgy; Gill quotes the Jewish prayers that say "our Father which art in heaven" outright. What is new is the plural Benson notices, "our" even in the closet, so that the man just sent into a store-room alone is handed a prayer he cannot pray in the singular. On the kingdom, Gill records the older Jewish form, "let the kingdom of thy Messiah come," and observes that Christ drops "Messiah" from it. On the will, Pulpit hears Genesis 1:3 in Γενηθήτω: "Let thy will come into complete existence." Ellicott refuses the Stoic reading, that this is submission to destiny, and Whitby through Benson refuses the empty one, that we ask God to do what God does anyway.

iv. Bread, debts, testing — 6:11-13

Here the prayer turns, and JFB notes that the movement reverses: the first three petitions descend from God to his kingdom to his will, the rest ascend from a day's food to final deliverance. The first word of the second half is the one nobody can translate. Ellicott: ἐπιούσιον (G1967) "is found nowhere else" and "must have been coined." Cambridge: "it is not found in any classical author." Pulpit lays out the derivations and kills two of them on form. On what it means, the voices split openly: Ellicott argues for supersubstantial bread on the strength of John 6, and JFB calls that "quite unnatural" and a robbery of the Christian's one petition for his body. This synthesis does not adjudicate. Then ὀφειλήματα (G3783), a noun in only two verses of the canon, and Ellicott's compressed etymology: "A duty unfulfilled is a debt unpaid." Cambridge insists the aorist ἀφήκαμεν puts our forgiving before our asking; JFB insists just as hard that it is not the ground of God's. Benson, quoting Macknight, states the conditional at full voltage. Finally πειρασμόν (G3986), which Ellicott says covers both trial and enticement, and which Barnes and Gill both handle by noting that God tempts no man (James 1:13), so the petition must ask not to be brought into the power of the test. JFB's reading is the most exact: a prayer against being drawn of our own will into temptation, the thing Peter needed to ask in the high priest's courtyard and did not.

v. The one clause He came back to — 6:14-15

Of six petitions, one is reopened after the prayer ends, and the word changes: παραπτώματα (G3900, a side-slip, a lapse) instead of ὀφειλήματα. Pulpit notes the reason: our Lord "uses a word which would forbid any limitation to pecuniary matters." JFB sees the deliberateness of the return: "it is the one point in it which He comes back upon... for the purpose of solemnly assuring us that the divine procedure in this matter of forgiveness will be exactly what our own is." The commentators then work hard to keep this from becoming a doctrine of earned pardon. Benson: "We are not to infer from this, that the forgiving of injuries alone will entitle us to pardon. Surely not." Gill: forgiving is not the procuring cause, which is Christ's blood, but it "enters into the character, and is descriptive of the persons" to whom pardon is made known. Poole: without it "God will not forgive us," and it is a piece of the obedience and gratitude we owe. Geneva puts it as a proverb: "They that forgive wrongs, to them sins are forgiven, but revenge is prepared for them that take revenge." Ellicott gives the reason that makes the condition non-arbitrary: "the temper that does not forgive is ipso facto incompatible with the temper of the penitent."

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

⚙ This is the tool's own fallible reading, offered to be tested by Scripture and not to be received as authority. Read the unit as one account book and the seams stop being seams. In v. 5 the hypocrites ἀπέχουσιν (G568), they have drawn their pay in full and signed the receipt; in v. 6 the Father ἀποδώσει (G591), he pays back; in v. 12 we ask him to ἄφες (G863) our ὀφειλήματα (G3783), to strike out what is owed. Three transactions, one vocabulary. The Verifier's rarest link in the unit, the two-verse noun opheilēma, lands on Romans 4:4, where Paul sets misthos (the "pay" of 6:5) against grace: to the man who works, the pay is reckoned not as gift but as debt. That is the choice the whole passage makes concrete. A prayer performed for men is work, and work is paid in the currency it was done for, immediately and completely. A prayer spoken to a Father behind a shut door is not work and cannot be paid; it can only be answered. And the one clause Jesus reopens after the prayer closes is the one about cancelling other people's accounts, because a man still holding a hundred pence has not understood what kind of transaction he just asked to be part of. Held this way, the hardest sentences soften without being weakened. "As we also have forgiven" is not a rate of exchange (Poole: "not as perfectly, but in like manner as we") but evidence that the debtor has stopped thinking like a creditor. And the petition nobody can translate, epiousion, sits exactly where it belongs: the first thing asked for after the Name, the kingdom and the will is a single day's bread, requested by people who have just been told the Father already knows. Not information. Not payment. A hand held out by someone who has finally given up the ledger. Where this reading presses the commentators past what they say, it is ours and it is fallible; the sourced facts under it are theirs.

Prayer is not a performance with God for an excuse; it is a debtor speaking to a Father who has already read the bill.

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The word coined for one sentence: ἐπιούσιος and Luke's prayer verbal / quotation: confirmed

The adjective ἐπιούσιος (G1967) stands in exactly two verses of the New Testament, Matthew 6:11 and Luke 11:3, and the Verifier's frequency count is the plainest possible evidence for Ellicott's claim that the word "must have been coined for the purpose." Luke 11:4 carries the same load for the next two petitions: aphiēmi (G863), peirasmos (G3986), and eispherō (G1533, in only eight verses). Pulpit sets out the full critical case that Luke preserves the older occasion and Matthew the developed form, with "day by day" and "sins" against "this day" and "debts"; Cambridge holds the reverse, that Luke's text in the English versions "has probably been supplemented by additions from St Matthew." The link itself is not in doubt; which version is prior is.

Luke 11:3 · Luke 11:4

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G1967 ἐπιούσιος (in 2 vv, the only two occurrences in the canon), G740 ἄρτος (in 89 vv), G1325 δίδωμι (in 378 vv) at Luke 11:3; and G863 ἀφίημι (in 131 vv), G3986 πειρασμός (in 20 vv), G1533 εἰσφέρω (in 8 vv) at Luke 11:4. Greek to Greek, and the rarity of ἐπιούσιος carries the tier

Pay and debt in one sentence: Romans 4:4 verbal / quotation: confirmed

Two words govern the money language of this unit: μισθός (G3408), the "pay" the hypocrites draw in full at v. 5, and ὀφείλημα (G3783), the "debt" we ask to have cancelled at v. 12. The Verifier finds both of them together in a single verse elsewhere, Romans 4:4, and opheilēma occurs in only two verses in the whole New Testament, so the pairing is not accidental vocabulary. Paul's sentence there sets what is earned against what is given. Ellicott, working only from Matthew, reaches the same distinction from the other end: the Pharisaic alternative was "to score up an account of good works, as part payment, and therefore as a set-off, reducing the amount of debt." JFB describes forgiveness here as "the wiping or crossing out from His 'book of remembrance' of all entries against us." The link is lexical and real; the theological synthesis drawn from it is ours.

Romans 4:4

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G3783 ὀφείλημα (in 2 vv, one of the rarest links available in this unit) and G3408 μισθός (in 28 vv). Greek to Greek. This is a rare shared lexeme, not a quotation of Matthew by Paul, and no citation is claimed

The store-room: ταμεῖον across the Gospels verbal / quotation: confirmed

The room Jesus names in v. 6 is ταμεῖον (G5009), a noun the Verifier finds in only four verses. Cambridge tracks the other renderings directly: "The Greek word in the original is translated (1) 'Secret Chambers,' ch. Matthew 24:26; (2) 'Storehouse,' Luke 12:24." At Luke 12:3 it is the place where a thing is whispered that will be proclaimed on the housetops, which is the exact inversion of v. 6, where a thing done in the hidden is repaid by a Father who sees there. At Matthew 24:26 the inner chamber is where false Christs are falsely said to be. The one word gathers a whole pattern of concealment: the barn that stores, the room that hides a secret, the room that hides an imposter, and the closet where the only witness is God.

Matthew 24:26 · Luke 12:3 · Luke 12:24

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexeme G5009 ταμεῖον (in 4 vv, rare), with G3761 οὐδέ (in 129 vv) at Luke 12:24 and G1437 ἐάν (in 311 vv) at Matthew 24:26. Greek to Greek; a rare shared word, not a quotation, and the thematic inversion noted above is ⚙ synthesis

ἐθνικός: the insult that turns around structural / thematic: confirmed

ἐθνικοί (G1482) at v. 7 is a rare word, four verses in the canon, and the Verifier finds every one of the others. At Matthew 5:47 the ethnics are the measure of an affection that costs nothing; at Matthew 18:17 the unrepentant brother is to be treated as one; at 3 John 1:7 the missionaries take nothing from them, and that verse also shares onoma (G3686), the name hallowed in v. 9. Gill makes the use of the word uncomfortable rather than comfortable: the fault named here was one "the Jews were guilty of" too, "had they not, there would not have been any need of such advice." Barnes notes that the word simply means "the nations," those outside. The pattern across the four verses is that the outsider is never a safe comparison for the hearer; he is a mirror.

Matthew 5:47 · Matthew 18:17 · 3 John 1:7

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexeme G1482 ἐθνικός (in 4 vv, rare), plus G5618 ὥσπερ (in 36 vv) and G1437 ἐάν (in 311 vv) at Matthew 18:17, and G3686 ὄνομα (in 214 vv) at 3 John 1:7. Greek to Greek, and the rare shared word would carry a verbal tier; it is held at structural because what this thread actually claims is a pattern in how the outsider functions across the four verses, which is ⚙ synthesis, not a verbal dependence

Heard out, and not for length: εἰσακούω structural / thematic: confirmed

The pagans of v. 7 suppose that εἰσακουσθήσονται (G1522), that they will be heard out, because of the quantity of their words. The verb is rare, five verses in the canon, and the Verifier finds the others. At Luke 1:13 a prayer is heard out and a name is given; at Acts 10:31 a prayer is heard out and alms are remembered; at Hebrews 5:7 the one who offered up prayers with strong crying and tears is heard out, and the stated reason there is reverence, not volume. In none of the places where this verb reports a prayer actually heard is length the cause. That the three positive instances all attach the hearing to something other than quantity is our observation, not a claim of literary dependence, so the tier is held below verbal.

Luke 1:13 · Acts 10:31 · Hebrews 5:7

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexeme G1522 εἰσακούω (in 5 vv), with G3686 ὄνομα (in 214 vv) at Luke 1:13. The shared word is genuinely rare and Greek to Greek, but the link being drawn here is a pattern in how the verb is used, not a quotation, so the tier is deliberately downgraded

The threefold refrain: alms, prayer, fasting structural / thematic: confirmed

Verse 5 does not begin a new subject. It is the second panel of a triptych, and the Greek gives the frame away: ὅταν (G3752) plus the hypocrites plus ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἀπέχουσιν τὸν μισθὸν αὐτῶν occurs at 6:2 of almsgiving, at 6:5 of prayer, and at 6:16 of fasting, with apechō (G568) in only nineteen verses of the canon. JFB simply cross-references ("See on Mt 6:2") and Pulpit annotates each clause "ver. 2, note," both treating the three as one form. Barnes states the equivalence: "Hypocrites manifested the same spirit about prayer as almsgiving; it was done in public places." JFB adds at 6:15 that the Lord "now returns to the subject of Unostentatiousness... in order to give one more illustration of it, in the matter of fasting," which makes the prayer section, and the Lord's Prayer inside it, a long parenthesis within a fixed threefold structure.

Matthew 6:2 · Matthew 6:16

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G568 ἀπέχω (in 19 vv), G281 ἀμήν (in 104 vv), G3752 ὅταν (in 119 vv) at both Matthew 6:2 and Matthew 6:16. A repeated formula within one discourse, that is, a shared pattern rather than a quotation, so structural rather than verbal

Standing to pray, and forgiving while you stand: Mark 11:25 structural / thematic: confirmed

Mark 11:25 joins the two halves of this unit that Matthew keeps apart, the posture of standing prayer from v. 5 and the forgiving of offences from vv. 12, 14 and 15. Poole cites it for the ordinariness of standing ("to pray standing was usual, Mark 11:25"), and Pulpit cites it for the same. JFB cites it for the forgiveness clause, and Pulpit lists it again at vv. 14 and 15. Gill and Barnes both note that Mark 11:26, where it is read, repeats the negative form of Matthew 6:15 almost exactly. The shared lexemes the Verifier reports here are common words, so the link is carried by the combination of subject matter and the parallel sentence structure, not by rare vocabulary, and the tier reflects that.

Mark 11:25

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G3752 ὅταν (in 119 vv) and G4336 προσεύχομαι (in 80 vv), both common, so the lexical evidence alone cannot support a verbal tier. The link rests on the shared pattern (standing prayer plus the forgiveness condition) noted by Poole, JFB and Pulpit

Baal from morning until noon: the model of much speaking structural / thematic: confirmed

Four of the commentators reach for one Old Testament scene to illustrate v. 7. Barnes: "An example of this we have in 1 Kings 18:26; 'They called on Baal from morning until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us!'" Gill, Benson and Ellicott cite the same episode, and Poole adds Elijah's mockery at 1 Kings 18:27, "as if their god had been asleep, or gone a journey." Ellicott pairs it with Acts 19:34, the two hours of shouting for Artemis at Ephesus. The point of the prophet's mockery is precisely the point of v. 8: volume is a theory about the god being addressed. A God who already knows what you need before you ask cannot be shouted awake. This is a cross-Testament link and cannot be scored on shared Strong's numbers, because the Hebrew and Greek lexicons do not meet.

1 Kings 18:26 · Acts 19:34

basis: Not a Verifier lexeme link: 1 Kings 18:26 is Hebrew and Matthew 6:7 is Greek, so no shared Strong's number can be computed and a verbal tier is impossible in principle. The basis is the shared motif of quantity as a theory of prayer, recorded independently by Barnes, Gill, Benson, Ellicott and Poole, all of whom cite this passage at this verse. Acts 19:34 (Greek) is added on Ellicott's authority as a second instance of the same motif, not as a lexical link

Enter thy chambers and shut thy doors: Isaiah 26:20 structural / thematic: confirmed

Pulpit reads v. 6 as "An adaptation of Isaiah 26:20 (cf. also 2 Kings 4:33)," and Gill independently sends the reader to the same verse, with the sharp observation that in Isaiah the shut door expresses security while here it expresses secrecy. Pulpit presses the transposition further: "The prophet's language describing the action befitting a time of terror is used by our Lord to express what ought to be the normal practice of each of his followers," and notes that the widow of 2 Kings 4:4-5 shut the door before the oil was multiplied. The Revised Version's "inner chamber" for ταμεῖόν was chosen, Pulpit says, as "more readily suggesting the passage in Isaiah to the English reader." No shared Strong's evidence can be produced across the Testaments here, and the commentators themselves say "adaptation," not quotation.

Isaiah 26:20 · 2 Kings 4:33

basis: Cross-Testament (Hebrew to Greek), so no shared Strong's lexeme can be computed and a verbal tier cannot be scored even though Pulpit calls v. 6 an adaptation of Isaiah 26:20. The recorded basis is the shared action (enter, shut the door, wait on God) named independently by Pulpit and Gill, with 2 Kings 4:33 added on Pulpit's citation

The doxology: liturgy that became text flagged: verify source

The clause "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen" is not in BSB's text of v. 13, and the commentators in this brief divide over it exactly as the manuscripts do. Ellicott: "The whole clause is wanting in the best MSS. and in the earlier versions, and is left unnoticed by the early Fathers." Cambridge: "This doxology is not supported by high MS. authority, it was doubtless an insertion from the liturgy." Pulpit adds the detail: omitted by א, B, D, Z, the Old Latin and the Memphitic, and by all Greek commentators on the Prayer except Chrysostom and his followers, yet present in the Didache, and probably derived from 1 Chronicles 29:11, possibly through a contemporary Jewish temple response. Barnes, Benson, Poole and Gill all comment on it as text. The link to 1 Chronicles 29:11 is reported by Pulpit from Westcott and Hort and concerns a clause of contested provenance, so it is flagged rather than confirmed.

1 Chronicles 29:11

basis: The clause on which this link depends is absent from the earliest manuscripts of Matthew 6:13 and is not in the BSB text of this unit, so the provenance is disputed at the source. Pulpit reports the derivation from 1 Chronicles 29:11 (Hebrew) as Westcott and Hort's suggestion, "it may be, through the medium of some contemporary Jewish usage"; being cross-Testament it could not be tiered verbal in any case. Flagged so that no reader treats the doxology, or this link, as settled

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The Son lends out his own address ancient/widely-held

The single vocative of the unit, Πάτερ (G3962, v. 9), is the word Jesus uses of God for himself. Ellicott records that the underlying Aramaic "Abba" so impressed itself on the church that, like Amen and Hosanna, it went untranslated into Gentile prayer, and he points to Mark 14:36, where Jesus prays it in Gethsemane, and to Romans 8:15 and Galatians 4:6, where the same cry is the Spirit's work in adopted sons. Ellicott is careful that the Fatherhood of God was not an innovation: Exodus 4:22, Jeremiah 31:9, Hosea 11:1, Isaiah 64:8, and Gill quotes Jewish prayers already saying "our Father which art in heaven." What is new is not the name but the licence. Ellicott: the right to use it "had its ground in the union with the Eternal Son, which makes us also sons of God." JFB says the same from the other side, that the Old Testament glimpses are "the back parts" compared with "the 'open face' of our Father revealed in Jesus." ⚙ The unit's grammar quietly supports them: the one who teaches the prayer never joins it. He says "you pray," and the prayer he hands over says "our Father" and "forgive us our debts," which Ellicott himself hesitates over as words the sinless one could use.

Mark 14:36 · Romans 8:15 · Galatians 4:6

The bread that cannot be settled, and the Bread of Life ancient/widely-held

Cambridge ends its note on v. 11 with a flat christological claim: "the spiritual meaning cannot be excluded, Christ the Bread of Life is the Christian's daily food." Ellicott builds the same reading argumentatively, from Matthew 4:4 ("Man shall not live by bread alone"), John 4:32 ("I have meat to eat that ye know not of"), and John 6:27-58, and concludes that the petition asks for "the 'Bread from heaven, which giveth life unto the world,'" with the Eucharistic bread as its symbol. Benson reports Erasmus, Heylin "and many others, following the fathers" taking it spiritually as well as materially, and the Vulgate's panis supersubstantialis is Jerome's own attempt at the same. But this reading is contested by the very voices gathered here. JFB calls it "quite unnatural" and says it robs the Christian of his one petition for bodily need. Pulpit judges the spiritual use "a legitimate application" of words that "in themselves refer only to material food," while noting the Didache made that application by the end of the first century. ⚙ The honest report is that a christological reading of this petition is ancient and widely held, and also genuinely disputed, and the word itself is too obscure to settle it.

Matthew 4:4 · John 4:32 · John 6:27-58

He prayed this petition himself, and it was not granted ancient/widely-held

Of all the clauses in the prayer, the one the Gospels show Jesus praying in his own words is the sixth. Ellicott makes the connection twice: the language of v. 13 is "even as our Lord prayed, 'If it be possible, let this cup pass away from me' (Matthew 26:39)," and he adds that "It is hardly possible to read the prayer without thinking of the recent experience of 'temptation' through which our Lord had passed." JFB locates the petition's real target in the same scene from the disciples' side, at Matthew 26:41: "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation," and identifies the man who failed to pray it, Peter, pressing into the high priest's hall of his own accord and falling there. ⚙ Put together, the sourced observations describe something the passage does not say outright: the Teacher of this petition prayed it, in those words, and the answer was no. Benson notes on Matthew 6:13 that temptations are appointed for the exercise of piety and that James 1:2 tells us to rejoice in them; Cambridge concedes that James 1:2 is "not really contradictory" but that "no one can think of temptation without dread." The prayer therefore teaches a fear that is honest and a submission that is not stoic, and it was demonstrated before it was taught.

Matthew 26:39 · Matthew 26:41 · James 1:13

Two ledgers, and who settles the second novel

⚙ This reading is ours and is offered as novel: the sourced parts are the lexicon and the commentators, the shape put on them is not theirs. The unit runs on one commercial vocabulary. The hypocrite ἀπέχει (G568), he has his receipt; the Father ἀποδώσει (G591), he pays back; the debtor asks that his ὀφειλήματα (G3783) be released. The Verifier's rarest link in the unit takes that two-verse noun to Romans 4:4, where it stands with misthos, the very "pay" of v. 5, in Paul's distinction between wages earned and grace given. Two accounts are therefore open in this passage: one that men can close themselves, by being seen, and one that they cannot. Pulpit notices what is missing from the request to close the second: "No plea is urged, for the atonement had not yet been made." That is the gap. Gill, commenting on v. 14, names what fills it later: forgiveness whose "procuring cause" is "the blood of Christ" and whose application is "the advocacy of Christ." JFB describes the act itself in the same ledger terms, "the wiping or crossing out from His 'book of remembrance' of all entries against us." The prayer, on this reading, is taught with its own ground still future, which is why it can ask for cancellation without offering payment, and why the only condition attached is that the man asking has stopped collecting.

Romans 4:4 · Matthew 18:23-35

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

  • Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
  • Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
  • Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
  • Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory (1871)
  • John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
  • Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1810s)
  • Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
  • Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
  • The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

Text. The Scripture is BSB (CC0); the interlinear, parses and Strong's numbers are the Berean data supplied in the brief, and nothing here corrects them. Three places in this unit have live textual questions that the commentators themselves raise. (1) At v. 13 the doxology, "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen," is absent from BSB and from the interlinear, and the voices agree on why: Ellicott says it "is wanting in the best MSS. and in the earlier versions, and is left unnoticed by the early Fathers"; Cambridge calls it "doubtless an insertion from the liturgy"; Pulpit lists א, B, D, Z, the Old Latin and the Memphitic against it, and notes it was already in the Didache. Barnes, Benson, Poole and Gill all comment on it as if it were text, because they worked from the Received Text. We have not treated it as text, and we have not pretended the question is closed. (2) At v. 8 Pulpit reports that א and B read "God your Father," a reading Westcott and Hort bracket, and Pulpit himself argues the insertion is original. BSB does not carry it. (3) At vv. 4 and 6 the word "openly" is, Ellicott says, "probably... an interpolation," and BSB omits it; the older commentators expound it.

What is genuinely uncertain. The adjective ἐπιούσιος (G1967) at v. 11 occurs in only two verses of the entire canon, both of them this prayer, and in no classical author. The brief's own lexicon glosses it "tomorrow's"; Pulpit sets out three derivations and eliminates two on morphological grounds; Ellicott argues for "supersubstantial" and JFB rejects that reading outright; Gill reports Jerome finding "tomorrow" in the Hebrew Gospel of the Nazarenes; Benson reports Theophylact and Chrysostom reading "sufficient for sustenance." We have recorded the dispute and refused to settle it, and the translation "daily" should be read as a long-standing convention rather than a known equivalent. At v. 13 the Berean parse tags πονηροῦ (G4190) as Genitive Neuter Singular, which would favour "from evil"; the genitive forms of the masculine and neuter are identical, and the commentators divide, with Ellicott, Barnes and Pulpit for "the evil one" and Cambridge and JFB for the neuter. We have reported the parse as given and reported the division.

Sources and limits. All ✦ excerpts are contiguous verbatim substrings resolved by code from the brief's raw text, cited by author tag; several entries in the brief (Barnes at v. 6, Ellicott at vv. 9 and 11, Benson at vv. 9 and 13, Gill at vv. 9, 10 and 13, JFB at vv. 9 and 13, Pulpit at v. 9) are capped, so those authors may say more on those verses than is visible here. Henry's note is a single block covering 6:9-15 and cannot be quoted verse by verse; Poole at vv. 7 and 14 simply cross-refers to his own note on the following verse; JFB at vv. 14 and 15 cross-refers to v. 12; Geneva's notes at several verses are the bare text with no gloss. Thread bases are the Verifier's computed shared Strong's lexemes with their frequencies, quoted in each badge. Three threads here cross the Testaments (1 Kings 18:26, Isaiah 26:20, 1 Chronicles 29:11) and no shared Strong's number can exist for them, so none is tiered verbal regardless of how close the commentators think the relation is. Everything marked ⚙, including the sola reading, the fourth christ entry and the thematic patterns drawn across the ταμεῖον, ἐθνικός and εἰσακούω threads, is machine synthesis: fallible, and offered to be tested against the Word.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)