Luke 11:2

πάτερ. This is the reading of אBL Ti[229] W.H[230] ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς is read by ACD La[231]

[229] Ti. Tischendorf.
[230] W.H. Westcott and Hort.
[231] La. Lachmann.

After ἡ βασιλεία σου, אACD La[232] read γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, which is omitted by BL Ti[233] W.H[234]

[232] La. Lachmann.
[233] Ti. Tischendorf.
[234] W.H. Westcott and Hort.

2. ὅταν προσεύχησθε, λέγετε, Πάτερ. ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ had already been enshrined in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:9-13), but it was now more formally delivered as a model. Various parallels for the different petitions of the Lord’s Prayer have been adduced from the Talmud, nor would there be anything strange in our Lord thus stamping with His sanction whatever was holiest in the petitions which His countrymen had learnt from the Spirit of God. But note that (1) the parallels are only to some of the clauses (e.g. not to the fourth and fifth); (2) they are most distant and imperfect; (3) there can be no certainty as to their priority, since even the earliest portion of the Talmud (the Mishna) was not committed to writing till the second century after Christ; (4) they are nowhere blended into one incomparable petition. The transcendent beauty and value of the lessons in the Lord’s Prayer arise from (i) the tone of holy confidence:—it teaches us to approach God as our Father (Romans 8:15), in love as well as holy fear; (ii) its absolute unselfishness:—it is offered in the plural, not for ourselves only, but for all the brotherhood of man; (iii) its entire spirituality: of its seven petitions, one only is for any earthly boon, and that only for the simplest; (iv) its brevity and absence of all vain repetitions (Ecclesiastes 5:2); (v) its simplicity, which requires not learning, but only holiness and sincerity for its universal comprehension. For these reasons the Fathers called it, ‘the Epitome of the Gospel’ and ‘the pearl of prayers.’

πάτερ. There is no prayer so addressed in the O.T. and in Isaiah 63:16 the application of the title is general, not individual.

[ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς.] Psalms 11:4. This clause, as well as “Thy will be done, as in heaven, so also upon the earth,” and “but deliver us from the evil,” are wanting in some MSS., and may be additions from the text of St Matthew. If so, the prayer would stand thus: O Father! Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation. The variations shew (as Meyer says) that the prayer was not slavishly used as a formula by the Apostolic Church; but rather as a model. Perhaps St Luke followed a shorter and earlier oral tradition.

ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου. i.e. sanctified, treated as Holy. “Holy, Holy, Holy” is the worship of the Seraphim (Isaiah 6:3). The ‘name’ of God is used for all the attributes of His Being.

ἐλθάτω ἡ βασιλεία σου. In Hellenistic Greek by a false analogy with the first aorist, we find such forms as ἐλθάτω, ἔλθατε, Esther 5:4 (LXX[240]). Proverbs 9:5. There seems to have been an early gloss, or reading, “Thy Holy Spirit come upon us, and purify us” (mentioned by St Gregory of Nazianzus).

[240] LXX. Septuagint.

[γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου.] This was the one rule of the life of Christ, John 5:30; John 6:38.

[ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ.] “Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word,” Psalms 103:20.