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Galilean transliteration of the Lord's Prayer Avvon d-bish-maiya, nith-qaddash shim-mukh. |
Matthew 6:9-13
"(Therefore, this is how you shall pray:) |
NB! Regarding the words "serene" and "serenity." In the English language translations, the words "khobein" and "khayaween" have been translated as: sins, transgressions, or debts. If the prayer was first recorded in Greek, as is commonly believed in the West, then why couldn't the translators arrive at one translation of the word? You might say that this is not an important point, but it is. What are we supposed to forgive: sins, transgressions or debts? Can we forgive sins? There are different types of transgressions and debts, what are we really required to do?
Here's another point: in the following two verses after the prayer, Jesus goes on to teach in Matthew 6:14-15, "For if you forgive people their foolishnesses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive people [their foolishnesses,] your Father will also not forgive you."
Jesus uses another word in the above two verses, namely "sakh-loota," which means "foolishness" or "fault." The first word in the prayer itself, however, is different; it refers to being forgiven of the obligation for our actions or for something we owe (thus, we are taught to pray: leave us serene.) And with the following word, "khayaween," we ask to be forgiven this sense of obligation, (therefore, we're being taught to pray for serenity.) Now we can understand where the confusion arises in the Greek to English translations, if we study the original words of the prayer in the Ancient Aramaic.