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Apropos the BHE question "but" deliver us from evil.

Some scholars like Jack Kilmon have attempted a retro-translation of the Lord's Prayer into Aramaic, the language believed to have been spoken by Jesus. Kilmon has reached the conclusion that Jesus taught the prayer in the form of a poem, in rhyming verses ! https://www.historian.net/newindex.html

Now, the English text of Lord's Prayer we have today, does comprise a few lines that are presented in the form of verses of a poem, for instance: Holy be your name ( Let your name be Holy) ; forgive us our sins ( forgive our sins/ forgive us for our sins) ; lead us not into temptation ( do not lead us into temptation ) .

Of course, poems once translated, tend to lose rhyme and rhythm. But see the beauty of the Aramaic prayer:

Aboon Dbashmayo (Our Father who art in Heaven) Nethcadash shmokh (hallowed be thy name). teethe malkoothokh, (thy Kingdom come), nehwe sebyonokh, (thy will be done) aykano Dbashmayo off bar’o. (on earth as it is in heaven).Hab lan lahmo dsoonconan yawmono, (Give us this day our daily bread). washbook lan howbain wahtohain (and forgive us our trespasses) aykano doff hnan shbakn il hayobain (as we forgive those who trespass against us) lo thaalan il nessyoono (and lead us not into temptation) elo fasson men beesho (but deliver us from evil) metool ddeelokhee malkootho, (for thine is the kingdom) ou haylo ou Teshbohto, (and the power, and the glory) loalam olmen Amin. (for ever and ever. Amen.)

My question therefore is : Did Jesus teach the Lord's Prayer in poetic verses ?

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    This question is asking about what we do not know rather than what is known.
    – Dottard
    Commented yesterday
  • Thanks, Dottard. For what we know, we have Google; for what we don't , we have the scriptures and traditions .
    – Kadalikatt Joseph Sibichan
    Commented yesterday

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We don't know for sure exactly how Jesus taught it.

Reading the Lord's Prayer as Greek Poetry

It is not certain how closely it approximates words Jesus spoke, nor on how many occasions he prayed such a prayer, nor in which languages. Nor do we know for certain on what sources Matthew relied, or precisely how his text relates to a similar version in the early Christian Teaching of the Twelve Apostles (ch. 8), or a shorter version in Luke (11. 2-4). We depend instead on what is found in the Greek of Matthew.

What we have is poetry. Is what we have exactly as Jesus taught it? We don't know for sure. Our sources may have taken Jesus' words exactly as given. Our sources may have taken Jesus' words and arraigned them into a poem.

It is reasonable to think that Jesus prayed this prayer often. Jesus was sharing one of his favorite prayers with his disciples. It is also reasonable to think that Jesus may have had different versions with slightly different wording driven by different life events.

The prayer we have today was originally written in Greek. Taking what we have and guessing at the original Aramaic introduces interesting translation problems.

It may be best to focus on the intent, the spirit, the meaning we have, rather than trying to reconstruct an impossible to be sure of original. And, to apply what we learn from the prayer to how we live. In this way re-reading the prayer will teach us more the longer we live it.

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