Comments on: Lead Us Not Into Temptation

By: Gary Hausman

Gary Hausman — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 01:05:15 +0000

Might it be helpful to consider punctuation ?
the total context of the disciple’s prayer ?

Our Father …
may your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven…

lead us…( pause ) not into temptation/trial but deliver us from Evil …

for…
Thine is the Kingdom ( where your will is done ) and the Power and the Glory Forever

The emphasis then shifts to be one seeking His leadership - and then away from our own weakness to temptation, to His deliverance; because Evil is real.

Consider our Lord’s temptation as the Son of Man ( Matt.4:1ff ,) His comments in Gethsemane as
He cautioned watch,pray lest we fall into temptation; be watchful for the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak …
Jesus takes ‘temptation’ seriously for His followers.
Evil is real, we are weak, safety is in our Father’s leadership, Power. Our destiny is Forever - His will.
Thus is it necessary to play with the words or the phraseology?

I don’t know Greek I thus may be way off. Yet even the KJV when pausing after ‘and lead us …’ then using ‘not into temptation but deliver us from evil’ as a complete commentary phrase seems for me to dissolve the conundrum.

All your thoughts have been very helpful.
thk u
blsgs
glh

By: embee

embee — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 15:10:45 +0000

I’ve always struggled with this line as well — it made me teach myself NT Greek so I could figure out what is going on. The verb form is a bit of a strange one — subjunctive mood (sometimes translated with “would” in English) which has a variety of different possible translations. One possibility that works for me is: “You would not lead us into temptation, but you deliver us from evil”.

Bottom line - the mood of this verb (subjunctive) is not so straightforward that you would automatically translate it as “do not lead”. While it is true that when the subjunctive is negated, it is often translated as an an imperative, this does not always have to be the case.

[This is very helpful! thank you! - PB]

By: M. Lara

M. Lara — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 19:49:44 +0000

You make an excellent point. As usual. Plus, I always find that “not into temptation” is a teenie bit of a tongue-twister for me. Is it just me?

By: Ann

Ann — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 16:31:55 +0000

There’s a lot of scriptural tradition that says that God does “test” us or allow us to be tested. And the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness where he was tempted. Be that as it may, I prefer the contemporary-language version in our Episcopal Book of Common Prayer (1979): “Save us from the time of trial.” Yeah, that’s what I pray for.

By: Kevin Holsapple

Kevin Holsapple — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:45:04 +0000

Hello Fausto,
I am delighted that you remember me (could you tell me your former “nom de plume?) I am no longer “down east”; I am in a parish on the Gulf Coast of Florida. As you can see, I still “slum” in the UU blogosphere. “Peacebang” has a catholic streak, whether or not she recognizes it.

By: will shetterly

will shetterly — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:35:44 +0000

I just came across this, in James 1:

13When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.

By: Kristen

Kristen — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 19:15:55 +0000

My church translates this as “lead us not into trial, but deliver us from the evil one.” That’s trial in a legal, juridical sense. Don’t let me end up in the defendant’s seat in that courtroom because that will not end well for me at all. But through the atoning work of Christ (including but not limited to Calvary) it is possible to avoid the trial and be delivered from the Evil One (who is the one who wants to lead us into temptation, trial, and all sorts of other bad things).

I can only say two things in Greek so I can’t go back to primary sources on this one, but smart people who know many things tell me it’s a better translation so I pass that along to you.

I really enjoy your blog — thanks for tolerating the occasional comments from my friendly but non-Unitarian self.

By: PeaceBang

PeaceBang — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 19:11:21 +0000

Kristin F wrote to me offline to contribute this:

Regarding the Lord’s Prayer thing. My church recites it a little differently than is typical — “lead us not into TRIAL but deliver us from THE EVIL ONE.” I am assured that this is actually a much better translation and these folks know Greek and I do not.

That’s not “trial” in the sense of hardship but “trial” in a legal, juridical sense. We’re praying to be spared from the defendant’s seat in a courtroom — because the end of that trial will not end up well for us. Through the atoning work of Christ (in my view including but certainly not limited to Calvary), we can avoid the trial.

We would agree with you wholeheartedly that an image of God as sneakily leading us into temptation is a very bad and wrong image.

I myself cannot vouch for the translation one way or the other but they our pastors are smart folks who know many things so I pass that along.

I find your blog really interesting — thanks for putting up with the occasional comment from non-Unitarian me.

You are always welcome to comment, Kristen! Thanks! PB

By: fausto

fausto — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:21:28 +0000

Hey, Fr. Kevin! Nice to run across you again. I enjoyed chatting with you on another UU message board a few years ago, when I was using another nom de plume. You still hanging out down East?

By: Kevin Holsapple

Kevin Holsapple — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 23:49:06 +0000

“Lead us not” is a straighforward English translation of a straightforward bit of Greek. “Temptation” is an English word that once translated the Greek (peirasmon) very well, but has now shifted its meaning. “Temptation” in this context does not mean that God is trying to seduce us into committing a sin. It has more the sense of a difficulty, and is related the word “temper” as in “tempered” steel. So, the most literal contemporary translation might be: “lead us not into difficulty.”
For my part, I like the old one way way better. [Thank you for this, very helpful! - PB]