Luke 11:1-6

Instructions on Prayer

11:1 Now ¹  Jesus ²  was praying in a certain place. When ³  he stopped, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John ⁴  taught ⁵  his disciples.” 11:2 So he said to them, “When you pray, ⁶  say:

Father, ⁷  may your name be honored; ⁸ 

may your kingdom come. ⁹ 

11:3 Give us each day our daily bread, ¹⁰ 

11:4 and forgive us our sins,

for we also forgive everyone who sins ¹¹  against us.

And do not lead us into temptation.” ¹² 

11:5 Then ¹³  he said to them, “Suppose one of you ¹⁴  has a friend, and you go to him ¹⁵  at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, ¹⁶  11:6 because a friend of mine has stopped here while on a journey, ¹⁷  and I have nothing to set before ¹⁸  him.’

[11:1]  ¹ tn Grk “And it happened that while.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[11:1]  ² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:1]  ³ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[11:1]  ⁴ sn John refers to John the Baptist.

[11:1]  ⁵ sn It was not unusual for Jewish groups to have their own prayer as a way of expressing corporate identity. Judaism had the Eighteen Benedictions and apparently John the Baptist had a prayer for his disciples as well.

[11:2]  ⁶ sn When you pray. What follows, although traditionally known as the Lord’s prayer, is really the disciples’ prayer. It represents how they are to approach God, by acknowledging his uniqueness and their need for his provision and protection.

[11:2]  ⁷ tc Most mss, including later majority (A C D W Θ Ψ 070 ˹³ 33^vid Ï it), add ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς (Jhmwn Jo en toi" oujranoi", “our [Father] in heaven”) here. This makes the prayer begin like the version in Matt 6:9. The shorter version is read by Ì⁷⁵ א B (L: + ἡμῶν) 1 700 pc as well as some versions and fathers. Given this more weighty external evidence, combined with the scribal tendency to harmonize Gospel parallels, the shorter reading is preferred.

[11:2]  ⁸ tn Grk “hallowed be your name.”

[11:2]  ⁹ tc Most mss (א A C D W Θ Ψ 070 ˹³ 33^vid Ï it) read at the end of the verse “may your will be done on earth as [it is] in heaven,” making this version parallel to Matt 6:10. The shorter reading is found, however, in weighty mss (Ì⁷⁵ B L pc), and cannot be easily explained as arising from the longer reading.

[11:3]  ¹⁰ tn Or “Give us bread each day for the coming day,” or “Give us each day the bread we need for today.” The term ἐπιούσιος (epiousio") does not occur outside of early Christian literature (other occurrences are in Matt 6:11 and Didache 8:2), so its meaning is difficult to determine. Various suggestions include “daily,” “the coming day,” and “for existence.” See BDAG 376 s.v.; L&N 67:183, 206.

[11:4]  ¹¹ tn Grk “who is indebted to us” (an idiom). The picture of sin as debt is not unusual. As for forgiveness offered and forgiveness given, see 1 Pet 3:7.

[11:4]  ¹² tc Most mss (א¹ A C D W Θ Ψ 070 ˹³ 33 Ï it sy^c,p,h) add “but deliver us from the evil one,” an assimilation to Matt 6:13. The shorter reading has better attestation (Ì⁷⁵ א*^,2 B L 1 700 pc vg sa Or). Internally, since the mss that have the longer reading here display the same tendency throughout the Lord’s Prayer to assimilate the Lukan version to the Matthean version, the shorter reading should be regarded as authentic in Luke.

[11:5]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[11:5]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “Who among you will have a friend and go to him.”

[11:5]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “he will go to him.”

[11:5]  ¹⁶ tn The words “of bread” are not in the Greek text, but are implied by ἄρτους (artou", “loaves”).

[11:6]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “has come to me from the road.”

[11:6]  ¹⁸ sn The background to the statement I have nothing to set before him is that in ancient Middle Eastern culture it was a matter of cultural honor to be a good host to visitors.