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For Yours is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory Forever. Amen.
12 Jul2010
In Matthew 6:13, the words above are not contained in some early copies of the Bible. How are we to understand this? What does this mean for us? Here is an attempt to look at the issue Biblically.
Matthew 6:13 is treated differently by different Bibles:
- Some translations include the longer prayer without brackets
- Some translations include the longer prayer with brackets
- Some translations do not include the longer prayer but give a note to explain the reason.
- Some translations do not include the longer prayer and do not give a note.
ISSUE: The words in question seem to function as a conclusion to the prayer.
- Removing the words in question would seem to have a more abrupt end to the prayer. It would no longer fully represent the expected form of a prayer. So, it would make more sense to keep the longer form.
APPLICATION: Say it through from beginning to end as a prayer.
- Yet, if vss. 9-13 are just a list of things to pray to God instead of an actual prayer, then a conclusion is not needed. Or, is it possible that using the word “Amen” at the end of a prayer is more a practice of Christians of today instead of 1st century Israel. In either case, the shorter form would be justified.
APPLICATION: Use the items in the prayer speckled throughout your prayers.
ISSUE: The theological content of the prayer is at stake.
- In content, the words of declaring God’s power and glory forever are not stated earlier in the prayer. Thus, the longer form should be kept.
APPLICATION: It is equally important to declare God’s power and glory forever as it is to make supplication.
- Yet, the words in question are similar to the previous words “Your kingdom come, Your will be done.” So, removing the words would not really remove any theological content that is not contained in the prayer already. Thus, the shorter form would be justified.
APPLICATION: Declaring God’s power and glory is good, but for this prayer, it’s not the primary focus.
ISSUE: The words in question are of a different type than the rest of the prayer
- The words in question are a declaration of God’s greatness. The prior phrases focus on requests on behalf of God(name be hallowed by men, kingdom come, will be done) as well as requests on behalf of man(bread, debts, temptation). To end with words of praise would be a third type to this. To not include the words in question would be missing an important part of the prayer.
APPLICATION: We should have both Adoration as well as Supplication when we pray.
- Yet, since the prior phrases are all requests, the words of praise do not fit the prayer and thus the shorter form would be justified.
APPLICATION: This prayer gives examples of Supplication and does not discuss Adoration.
EXPLORE ON YOUR OWN:
- How does your Bible treat Matt 6:13?
- Consider the issues above. Which seem to be stronger arguments?
- Study the use of the word “Amen” in the Bible. How is it used?
- Does it make a difference if the longer phrase is used? How so?
- Is this a “do-or-die” issue? Or, is it something that people can have different opinions on?
- In: Uncategorized
4 Responses to For Yours is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory Forever. Amen.
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Pastor Green
July 14th, 2010 at 12:22 pm
This is an issue of identifying the most likely original text from all of the different handwritten Greek manuscripts we have (there are thousands).
As you know, the Bible was handwritten and hand copied for centuries. This led to copying errors. Some are simple to understand, such as the copyist skipped a line, used a different spelling, or updated the copy to reflect different grammar. For example, would you copy: “Doest the Lord speakest thusly?” or change it to read, “Does the Lord talk like this?”
When making a handwritten copy, errors are inevitable. It is remarkable not that we have such errors, but how few there are. Those copying the Bible were generally very careful to be accurate. The invention of the printing press and the first major book printed using movable type, the Gutenberg Bible, did not occur until the 1450s. Yet, even printed books have errors, just fewer of them.
The field of study that scholars use to decide which ancient manuscript is most likely to not have been changed is known as Textual Criticism. It is a lot of work to learn the rules for textual criticism and then to examine all of the variants and finally make a decision that can be explained to other scholars as to what the most likely original reading is.
A much easier way for you to get a handle on a particular passage is to use the notes on the NET Bible. Note 19, for Matthew 6:13, follows. (The various ancient manuscripts are identified by the letters and numbers in parenthesis.) What matters to you is the conclusion, “The phrase was probably composed for the liturgy of the early church and most likely was based on 1 Chr 29:11-13; a scribe probably added the phrase at this point in the text for use in public scripture reading.”
19 tc Most mss (L W Θ 0233 Ë13 33 Ï sy sa Didache) read (though some with slight variation) ὅτι σοῦ ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία καὶ ἡ δύναμις καὶ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας, ἀμήν (“for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, amen”) here. The reading without this sentence, though, is attested by generally better witnesses (א B D Z 0170 Ë1 pc lat mae Or). The phrase was probably composed for the liturgy of the early church and most likely was based on 1 Chr 29:11-13; a scribe probably added the phrase at this point in the text for use in public scripture reading (see TCGNT 13-14). Both external and internal evidence argue for the shorter reading.
Source: http://net.bible.org/bible.php?book=Mat&chapt...
maggie
July 14th, 2010 at 6:19 pm
I never knew that extra bit until praying it in a non-Catholic church. When I learned it in a Catholic church (way back when I was a child), it just ended, ". . . deliver us from evil. Amen."
James
July 17th, 2010 at 5:28 am
Also, though there may have been a few minor copy errors over the centuries, these are often just updates in grammar, etc. That is, the Bible we have is substantially equivalent to the original manuscript. Not only that, but the Bible stands distinctly apart from other old books of its age. That is, compared to other old books such as the Illiad and the Odyssey, the Bible shows itself amazingly far more accurate from a textual evidence perspective. For a popular level discussion, I've always enjoyed the section from Josh McDowell's "A Ready Defense".
http://www.christianbook.com/a-ready-defense-josh...
For a more academic reading, I find Beale's "The Erosion of Inerrancy in Evangelicalism" to be an excellent presentation of evidence for the inerrancy of scripture.
http://books.google.com/books?id=jpLHcaKXD5IC&...