How does "Lead us not into temptation" need to be interpreted?
Upvote:3
The word lead is nearly as unambiguous in Greek as it is in English - εἰσφέρω (eispherō) - and the word for temptation - πειρασμός (peirasmos) - can mean temptation towards evil, just as in English. It should be noted, though, that whereas in the preceding verse - forgive us our debts (Matthew 6:12), or forgive us our sins (Luke 11:4) - the Evangelists write in the imperative mood in Greek (i.e. as a sort of command), both Matthew and Luke use the subjunctive mood in the following verse. What we normally see as lead us not into temptation could just as well be rendered may you not lead us into temptation, or perhaps may you never lead us into temptation.
While one might be tempted [sorry] to read a meaning of "test" rather than "tempt" into peirasmos, I don't think this is the best approach here. Instead, one should probably also see and lead us not into temptation in opposition to the other clause in the verse, but deliver us from evil (or the evil one - the Greek can be read either way and was).
In his lengthly sermon on just this verse, Cyril of Alexandria - a 4th century Greek speaking to Greeks - explained:
There is a certain close connection in the clauses: for plainly it follows from men not being led into temptation, that they are also delivered from evil; or perchance, were any one to say, that the not being led into it is the same as the being delivered from it, he would not err from the truth.1
In other words, Cyril is saying that the way to understand the verse is that it is a supplication to God to deliver one from evil in general and not - "God forbid" one might add - into temptation.
1. Commentary on the Gospel According to Luke, Sermon LXXVII
More post
- 📝 What is the history behind Angelus prayer?
- 📝 Were the 12 apostles all Jewish?
- 📝 Is there such a thing as moral neutrality in Catholic thought?
- 📝 Location of the tabernacle in Catholic churches?
- 📝 Looking for the right Church
- 📝 What did Jesus mean when He said we must "eat His flesh and drink His blood"?
- 📝 Movies and Music during Lent for Orthodox Christians
- 📝 What did Papias mean when he wrote how Mark did not write "in order" about what Jesus said or did?
- 📝 Did Jesus ever directly say he would die as a voluntary sacrifice? If so, was it double sense?
- 📝 What should I expect at a Roman Catholic funeral?
- 📝 What other customary Catholic fasting periods are there aside from Lent?
- 📝 Does Jesus’ purification after death apply to all or just to him?
- 📝 What is the difference between a professing and a non-professing Christian with regards to their faith, beliefs, etc?
- 📝 What if Hell isn't a punishment?
- 📝 According to the LDS church, why was Jesus Christ born when he was born?
- 📝 Robber Councils in Eastern Orthodoxy
- 📝 Why is Sedevacantism false?
- 📝 The Legitimacy Of The Mark 15:34 And Matthew 27:46 Accounts Of Jesus' Words
- 📝 Do the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches observe different dates for Pascha?
- 📝 Does the Catholic Church officially recognize Protestants as Christians?
- 📝 Why are the Psalms numbered this way in some Catholic Bibles?
- 📝 What is the Biblical support for praying for the dead?
- 📝 Does Presbuteros mean priest?
- 📝 What is the difference between lust and sexual desire?
- 📝 What is the purpose of life according to Catholic and Orthodox Churches?
- 📝 What are the arguments for and against the Anglican Covenant?
- 📝 Why did Mary need to remain a virgin during pregnancy according to those who deny the perpetual virginity doctrine?
- 📝 Exorcism and repentance
- 📝 What is the Scriptural support for the Catholic Church's "depositum fidei"?
- 📝 How did Thomas Aquinas view grace as opposed to the church fathers?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 How does "Lead us not into temptation" need to be interpreted?
- 📝 How does not the communion of the Saints invalidate the need for the bodily ressurection?
- 📝 How does repentance fit into the doctrine of sola fide ("by faith alone")?
- 📝 If God doesn't tempt us, why does the Lord's Prayer petition Him to "lead us not into temptation"?
- 📝 How does fasting affect violent situations not under my control?
- 📝 How does our work on this earth transfer into the new earth when God returns?
- 📝 HOW does the existence of the Universe make those who do not worship God to be "without excuse"?
- 📝 How does the feast of Corpus Christi fit into the church calendar?
- 📝 How does the Hebrew Roots movement handle Paul's statements which imply Christians should not be enslaved to the Jewish Law?
- 📝 How does the New Testament define a Christian and a non-Christian, a brother in Christ and not a brother in Christ?
- 📝 If one's entry into the church is solemnized by baptism, then how does one leave the church?
- 📝 How do Arminians understand the doctrine of Unlimited Atonement in a way that does not make God unjust?
- 📝 How does one go to Confession before receiving the Eucharist if I am not Catholic?
- 📝 How does leaving a 'gift at the altar' reconcile with reformed views of the need to 'approach the throne of grace' in everything?
- 📝 How does intercession of saints and Exodus 20:3 not clash?
- 📝 How does the gospel turn justice into a defender of the guilty?
- 📝 If Orthodox Christians must repent of any act of violence, how does this not entail pacifism?
- 📝 How is "abstain from things strangled" not contradictory to "Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man"?
- 📝 From a non-Trinitarian perspective, how would you show that the Bible does not teach that the Son is equal with the Father?
- 📝 How do Trinitarians respond to Mark 13:32 which indicates that the Holy Spirit does not know something?
- 📝 How does Proverbs 2:21-22 not disprove "once saved, always saved"?
- 📝 How does Protestantism defend the adoption of practices and beliefs not found in the Bible?
- 📝 How does John Owen account for scriptures which state that justification by faith is not through the law?
- 📝 How Does Catholicism Refute the Reasons Muslims Claim That Jesus Was Not Crucified?
- 📝 Of the 1752 Catholic Canon Laws, how many does the average Catholic need to be aware of in order to practice faithfully?
- 📝 How does Calvinism explain how an omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent creator could NOT have a plan for universal salvation?
- 📝 How does Christianity traditionally explain the need to subject the Israelites to slavery in Egypt?
- 📝 According to Jehovah's Witnesses, why does the word Jehovah not get inserted into the Bible until Genesis 2:4?
- 📝 How does God tolerating evil not make Him evil?
- 📝 Where in the Bible does God permit us to create? How would science fit into this?