The Lord's Prayer

Around 2000 years ago, on a hillside overlooking the Sea of Galilee, Jesus recited a short prayer to his followers on how to pray. This prayer is recorded in the Gospel of Luke and Mathew written in a final form approximately in 85AD. But the longer version from the Book of Matthew has become the standard in daily prayers for Christians worldwide. Most Christians are taught this prayer at a very early age and continue to recite it throughout their lives.

Ok, now we take it from the New Testament (Matthew 6:9-13 ESV).

It says, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."

One sec, I missed the last part, right?  "For thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen."

No. Jesus never said that last part.  Interesting, isn’t it? 

Take a look at some of our modern translations, ESV, NIV.  The feel of the Lord's Prayer that we so often recite is not there.  Look at Matthew's version (6:9-13) and read Luke's version (11:2-4).  Now, take a look at an old King James translation.  You'll likely find the doxology inserted at the end of verse 13 of Matthew 6.

The question we now ask is "why"?  Why is it in some translations and not in others?

You know why? Because, the earliest Greek manuscripts do not contain those words,

and was added to the Gospels as a result of its use in the liturgy of the early church. For this reason, it is not included in many modern translations.

Now, have a look at one of the original translation of this prayer from Aramaic. See, what Jesus said and taught, and how translations over the centuries have changed dramatically sometimes even altering the original meaning of a particular text.

In short, the less it looks like the Lord’s Prayer as you know it, more likely it is to be a free paraphrase or interpretation rather than a translation.

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Why do people Generalize?

Generalization is an inherent to human nature, and for good reason. We can’t help it. And the judgment is personal, individual. Such stereotyping is practiced by almost everyone. But we are smart creatures. We know not put tomatoes in fruit salad. we understand the power of wind and the water. We have the wisdom to understand what is eatable and what not to eat.

Unfortunately that’s bit tricky when it comes to people. In society we often hear stereotypes about others, although they are questionable, but here are some stereotypes that I had heard and read in the past.

British are too proud. Australians have no culture. Blondes are dumb. Chinese are straight in business. Jews are greedy. Dutch are stingy. Americans have fat arses. Arabs are not trustworthy. French are considered the worst drivers...

In India - Tamilians are slaves. Mharashtrians are not ambitious. Bongs are selfish. Keralites are not be trusted. Sindhis are kanjoos (stingy). Beware the Brahmins. Gujus are business mined. Sardars are stupid.

These are all narrow-minded labels the society put, however it does detract from the credibility of the message that the person is transmitting. I think it is very important to understand others by not misjudging them. It’s not easy, needs a lot of practice and courage to do so.

I do sometimes, bitching people. But knowing it’s wrong, and trying to do my best to stop such stereotyping and generalization is the first step.



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