ΧΙ. τ. ΚΑΙ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ εἶναι αὐτὸν ἐν τόπω τινὶ προσευχόµενον, ὡς ἐπαύσατο, εἶπέ τις τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ πρὸς αὐτόν, “Κύριε, δίδαξον ἡμᾶς προσεύχεσθαι, καθὼς καὶ Ιωάννης ἐδίδαξε τοὺς
μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ.”
2. Εἶπε δὲ αὐτοῖς, “΄ Ὅταν προσεύχησθε, λέγετε,
Πάτερ ἡμῶν 6 ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς,' ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου: ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου" γενηθήτω τὸ θέληµά σου, ds ἐν οὐρανῶ, καὶ ἐπὶ
lypeov... doubtless from Mt.
along with me in the work (cf. Rom. viii. 26)—Ver. 41. θορυβάζῃ (from θόρυβος, an uproar; τυρβάζῃ T. R., from τύρβη, similar in meaning, neither form again in N. T.), thou art bustled, gently spoken and with a touch of pity. —tept πολλά: a great day in that house. Every effort made to entertain Jesus worthily of Him and to the credit of the house.—Ver. 42. ὀλίγων δέ ἐστιν χρεία ἢ ἑνός. With this reading the sense is: there is need of few things (material) ; then, with a pause—or rather of one thing (spiritual). Thus Jesus passes, as was His wont, easily and swiftly from the natural to the spiritual. The notion that it was beneath the dignity of Jesus to refer to dishes, even as a stepping stone to higher things, is the child of conventional reverence.—rthy ἀγαθὴν µερίδα, the good portion, conceived of as a share in a banquet (Gen. xlili. 34). Mary, having chosen this good portion, may not be blamed (yap), and cannot be deprived of it, shall not with my sanction, in deference to the demands of a lower vocation.
CHAPTER XI. LESSON ON PRAYER. DiscouRSES IN SELF-DEFENCE.—VV. 1-13 contain a lesson on prayer, consist- ing of two parts: first, a form of prayer suggesting the chief objects of desire (vv. 1-4); Second, an argument enforc- ing perseverance in prayer (vv. 5-13). Whether the whole was spoken at one time or not cannot be ascertained ; all one can say is that the instructions are thoroughly coherent and congruous, and might very well have formed a single lesson.
Vv. 1-4. The Lord’s Prayer with a historical introduction (Mt. vi. 7-15).— ἐν τόπῳ tit: neither the place nor the time of this incident is indicated with even approximate exactness. It is simply stated that it happened when Jesus was at acertain place, and when He was praying (προσευχόµενον). Why the narrative comes in here does not
ουρανοις omitted in NBL 1, 22 al. Orig. Tert. syr. sin. ; comes in
clearly appear. I have suggested else- where (The Parabolic Teaching of Christ, Preface to the Third Edition) that the parable of the Good Samaritan, the story of Martha and Mary and the Lesson on Prayer form together a group having for their common heading: “at school with Jesus,”’ exhibiting under three types the scholar’s burden, the Teacher’s meekness, and the rest-bringing lesson, so giving us Lk.’s equivalent for Mt.’s grucious invitation (chap. xi. 28-30). I am now inclined to think that Schola Christi might be the heading not merely for these three sections but for the whole division from ix. 51 to xviii. 14, the con- tents being largely didactic.—tts T. pad. : a later disciple, Meyer thinks, who had not heard the Teaching on the Hill, and who got for answer to his request a repetition of the Lord’s Prayer, given by Mt. as part of the Sermon on the Mount. This conjecture must go for what it is ν/οτίἩ.---καθὼς καὶ ᾿Ιωάννης: the fact here stated is not otherwise known: no trace of a Johannine liturgy ; but the statement in itselfis very credible: prayer like fasting reduced to system in the Baptist’s circle—Ver. 2. Aéyere, say, but not implying obligation to re- peat regularly the ipszssima verba. The divergence of Lk.’s form from that of Mt., as given in critical editions of the N. T., is sufficient evidence that the Apostolic Church did not so understand their Lord’s will, and use the prayer bearing His name as a formula. Inter- preters are not agreed as to which of the two forms is the more original. For my own part I have little doubt that Lk.’s is secondary and abbreviated from the fuller form of Mt. The very name for God—Father—without any added epithet is sufficient proof of this; for Jesus was wont to address God in fuller terms (vide x. 21), and was not likely to give His disciples a form beginning so abruptly. Lk.’s form as it stands in W.AH. is as follows: