The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 1 — Section 241

-prayer a.go.inst being brought into the fulnces in the Old Syrie.c, e.n "African" text or the ·and awfulness of temptation (cf. eh. xxvi. Old Le.tin,and the Thebaic. "It we.a probably 41: po.re.lie] pasS11ges: Mark xiv. 38: Luke derived ultimately from I Chron. xxix. 11 xxii. 46). As such it ce.nnot, indeed, 11lwe.ye (Heb.), but, it may be, through the medium ·be granted, since in exceptional co.see this of some contemporary Jewish use.ge: the ma.y be po.rt of the permission given to people's response to prayers in the temple <the prince of this world. So it was in onr 1s so.id to 'have been 'Blessed be the name Lord's ce.se (cf. eh. xxvi 41, e.nd context). of the glory of his kingdom for ever ancl The words are a cry issuing from a deep ever'" (Westcott and Hort, lac. cit.). l11dccd, 11ense of our persona.I weakness e.ga.inst it was so usual for doxologies of one kind or the powers of evil Into temptation; i.e. another to be added by the Jews to pmyers, epiritue.l. External trials, e.g. persecution, that, though we cannot for one moment may be included, but only in so fe.r ne they e.ccept the words here as genuine, we must are the occasion of real temptation to the consider it very doubtful " the Lorrl's ,soul. But. Do not bring us into the full Pre.yerwasever used in Jewish circles with- force of temptation, but, instead, rescue us out e. doxology, or the.t our Lord, as Man, .now e.nd at any other time from the a.tie.ck ever intended it to be so used (cf. further, ·of the evil one ("ide infra). Thus this Taylor. • Lectures,' p. 64). At e.11 events, -clause is more the.n e. merely positive form the feeling of the Christie.n Church in using -of the preceding. It is a prayer e.gninst the doxology is fully justified by its contents; even the slight.est atte.cke of the enemy when for it ple.ces us more emphatically than ever they are made. Deli"er UB (J,iiO"a< ~p.is). The in e. right rele.tion to God. By our praise to thought is not merely preserve( O"w( ..v, T1/P''") him it induces in U8 the remembrance that or even guard ( tppovpiw, tpv>..dO"O"E<v) from it is to God's kingdom that we belong, having , possible or impending danger, but "rescue" him for King e.nd Source of le.w: the.t it is from it when it confronts us. From. If we by God's power the.t we live on earth and may press the contmst to Col. i. 13 (lp60"aTo eta.nd freed from Se.tau's gra.sp: that it is •... i1t), a.1rb suggests the.t the child of God for the furtherance of God's glory that all is no longer actue.lly in the power (I John he.a been done for us, all wrought in ns, a.ll v. 19) of the evil one, but has been already these petitions a.re now me.de and e.11 our delivered thence. The peril is, as it were, hopes and nims a.re directed. Heree.fter, RB something outside him (compe.re, however, Bengel so.ye, the whole prayer will be Chnse, lac. cit.). Euil. So e.lso the Re- doxology: "Hallowed be the Nome of our vised Version me.rgin; but tfui evil one (Re- God. His kingdom he.a come : his will is vised Version). In itseU .-oii 1ro,,.,poii might, done. He he.a forgiven UB our sins. He of course, be either neuter or mnsculine, but bns brought our temptation to e.n end ; He in view of (a) eh. xiii 19, (b) the me.ny pas- ho.s delivered us from the evil one. His is pges in the New Teste.ment where the ex- the kingdom e.nd the power and the glory pression is either certainly or probably mns- for ever. Amen." ouline: e.g. I John ii. 18, 14; v. 18, ID; Vere. 14, 15.-For if ye forgive men their John xvii. 15; 2 These. ill. 8; (o) the trespe.sses, etc. Me.tthew only. To insert ,many allusions to the mesculine reference the reason for he.ving so.id, in the Lord's of this petition shown by Bishop Light- Prayer, "o.s we forgive our debtors," empha- foot ('Revision,' ek, edit. 1891) e.nd Mr. sizes the necessity of such forgiveness (cf. Chase (loo. cit.) to exist in early Christian also eh. xviii. 21, •qq.; M&rk ii. 25; Ecclus. litero.tur&-there seems little doubt that xxviii. 2-4). Trespasses; 1ra.pa.1r:Tw/J-a.Ta, not the Revised Version is right. Chnse (loc. o,PE<A?J/J-a.Ta(ver. 12). Our Lord uses n wor<l cit.) shows that the primary notion of which would forbid any limitation to pccu- both ,roV1/p6s, and its Hebrew equiva.leut nie.ry matters. Their trespasses. Omitted :i,i, is not malignity (Trench), but worthless- by Tischeudorf, nnd bracketed by Westcott ness, essential badness. For thine is the and Hort (cf. their 'lntrod.,' p. 176). The kingdom, etc. Omitted in the Revised Ver- omission more sharply oontrasts "men" and sion on overwhelming e.uthority (e.g. K, B, "your Father." D,Z, Old Latin, Memphitic, "e.ll Greekoom- mente.tors on the Lord's Prayer except Chry- Vere. 16-18.-!lfe.tthew only. sostom nnd his followers," Westcott nud Ver. 16.-Fasting. The third in the Hort,' App., q.11.). In the 'Didaohe,' §§ viii., series of recognized religious duties (ver. I, ix., x., however, we find our doxology with note). (On tl.:e prowineuce given to fa.sting, very little other vurintion thnn the omission see• Psalms of Solomon,' iii. 9, with Ryle'e of" the kingdom,'' this itself being exple.ined a.ml James's note, a.nd Sch!ircr, II. ii. 118; in the two latter sections by the immediately cf. eh. ix. 14.) Observe (1) Christ tlocs not preceding mention of the kingdom. Similar abolish it, but rcgulo.tes it; (2) yet fe.st:ng is omissions of one or more of tho three terms, mentionod much less often in the truo toxt .,. kingdom," " power," ••glory," are found of the New Teijtameut than in that which • 234 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. [oH. VL 1--34~