Luke 11:3

Give us day by day our daily bread The prayer (i) acknowledges that we are indebted to God for our simplestboons; (ii) asks them for all;(iii) asks them only day by day; and (iv) asks for no more, Proverbs 30:8; John 6:27. St Luke's version brings out the continuity of the gift (Be giving day by day); St Matthew's its immediate need (Give to-day). The word rendered -daily" is epiousion,of which the meaning is much disputed. For a brief discussion of its meaning, see Excursus IV.; but that this prayer is primarilya prayer for needful earthly sustenance has been rightly understood by the heart of mankind.

our sins -Trespasses" is not in our Bible, but comes, as Dr Plumptre notices, from Tyndale's version. St Matthew uses the word -debts," which is impliedin the following words of St Luke: "For indeed we ourselves remitto every one who owethto us." Unforgiving, unforgiven, Matthew 18:34-35; Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:13. The absence of any mention here of the Atonement or of Justification is, as Godet observes, a striking proof of the authenticity of the prayer. The variations are, further, a striking proof that the Gospels are entirely independent of each other.

lead us not into temptation God permits us to be tempted (John 17:15; Revelation 3:10), but we only yield to our temptations when we are "drawn away of our own lust and enticed" (James 1:14). But the temptations which God permits us are only human (ἀνθρώπινοι ),not abnormal or irresistible temptations, and with each temptation He makes also the way to escape (καὶ τὴν ἔκβασιν ,1 Corinthians 10:13). We pray, therefore, that we may not be tried above what we are able, and this is defined by the following words: Our prayer is, Let not the tempting opportunity meet the too susceptible disposition. If the temptation comes, quench the desire; if the desire, spare us the temptation. See on Luke 4:2.

but deliver us from evil Rather, from the Evil One. The article, it is true, would not necessitate this translation, but it seems to be rendered probable by the analogy of similar prayers among the Jews. The last three clauses for daily bread, forgiveness, and deliverance, cover the past, present, and future. "All the tones of the human breast which go from earth to heaven, sound here in their key-notes" (Stier). There is no doxology added. Even in St Matthew it is (almost certainly) a liturgical addition, and no real part of the Lord's Prayer.