How Jewish is the Lord's Prayer?

Great Debates
1

A memorial service for a well-known academic was held shortly after his death. Near the end of the program, his elderly secretary spoke. She ended by asking the audience to join her in reciting the Lord’s Prayer, an apparently well-intentioned but quite disconcerting request since she knew the deceased was Jewish. Reactions ranged from repressed rage to confusion to attempts to smooth over and excuse her conduct. One of the comments meant to “smooth things over” was a statement that there is nothing in the actual language of the Lord’s Prayer which is inherently Christian or contrary to Jewish principles.

The secretary’s action was of course very wrong, but I was struck by the statement about the Lord’s Prayer being fully compatible with Judaism, and I have thought about it ever since.

Here is the King James Version English for the prayer from Matthew (very similar to the modern form):

Our Father
Which art in heavan,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done
in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we forgive
our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil:
[For thine is the kingdom, and the power,
and the glory, for ever. Amen.][Not in original Greek texts.]

Here is a nice link to a brief concordance of the two biblical versions of the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew and Luke) in various English translations, with a bit of commentary.

Jesus of course spoke Aramaic. Formal Jewish prayers are in Hebrew. The site linked mentions the Kaddish and the Shemoneh Esreh [?] as Jewish prayers with roughly similar structures which pre-date the Lord’s Prayer.

The Dead Sea Scrolls have recently revealed alternate forms of beatitudes, another literary form once thought to be unique to the gospels.

So, was the Lord’s Prayer out of step in any way with Jewish teachings of the time or today? (Is there any issue with the forgiveness language, for instance?) Would informal Jewish prayers (not those designed for use in the Temple or by priests, but those used daily by ordinary people) have been in Aramaic? (Was the mere fact of an instruction in direct prayer, bypassing priestly intermediaries, a challenge to the Judaism of the day?) Is it likely that the Lord’s Prayer was unique in either content or style? Just how Jewish is the Lord’s Prayer?

[Flipped coin–GD beat GQ.]

2

Quite frankly, the language seems pretty neutral, and does not seem inherently out of line with standard Jewish prayers. However, since the prayer itself is a quote from the Christian “New Testament,” which Jews consider to be a heretical document, it is certainly inappropriate to use for a Jewish person.

3

I don’t see anything in the prayer that’s contradictory to Judaism either. As you pointed out, also, there are Aramaic prayers. Direct prayer, also, does have a major part in Judaism, even though some prayers need a minyan. I can’t think of any prayers that need to be said in the presence of a kohanim, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Can you think of any, Chaim?

4

The vast majority of Jewish prayers are in Hebrew. There isn’t really a distinction made between formal and informal prayers - besides, the priests (back in the days of the Temple) didn’t really do that much praying, since their job was more making sacrifices. A few prayers are in Aramaic. The prime example of this would be the Kaddish, which is perhaps one of the most formal prayers. It must be said only when there is a quorum, and everyone must stand if they hear it. I don’t really know if there was a dichotomy between the prayers of the less educated (and perhaps unable to read Hebrew) or not back then, since I don’t think too many records of such things survive. (In Europe, many of the women were not taught Hebrew and prayed more personal and informal prayers in Yiddish. These were called tchinas. I don’t know if there was some cognate among non-European Jews.) It certainly wouldn’t have been heretical or unusual to make a personal prayer without a priestly intermediary. Many of the prayers said daily were written before the building of the second Temple (approximately 400 BCE), and presumeably, people were saying them throughout the time that it existed. Personal prayer was around before that, too (see the story of Hannah in the beginning of Samuel I (her innovation was praying silently, not privately), which is before the building of the first Temple, so it’s probably about 850 or 900 BCE).
The language itself seems OK - while it is not exactly how I would express the concepts, similar ones are certainly a part of Jewish prayers. Of course, like Chaim said, the source makes it a problem.
I can’t think of anything offhand that requires the presense of a Kohen other than the priestly blessing said on holidays. That’s something that can only be said by a Kohen (it’s in Numbers somewhere but I don’t have it handy), so if there’s no Kohen present, nobody says it.

5

I think the equivalent in Judaism is not the Kaddish but rather the Sh’ma. I would venture to say that the words are known by every Jew with even a cursory knowledge of the religion. It is a one line deal, though:

Hear O Israel, our God is the Lord, our God is one.

It is also used by many as a personal prayer, said in times of peril and before death. I don’t know if this is a correct use of it, nor do I know if it can be said without a minyan. Maybe someone else here can enlighten me.

Also, to address the OP, as a Jew, I can see how it could be quite insulting. If a Jew passes away, and the speaker offers a prayer meant as a prayer to Christ (even if the text is ambigious), many would see that as a tacit acknowledgement that a Jewish prayer is not good enough. I think a moment of silence would have been much more appropriate in that circumstance.

6

Sorry, I haven’t thought about the english translation of the Sh’ma in a while:

Hear O Israel, Our Lord is God, Our Lord is One.

7

A Catholic’s two cents worth.

A lot depends on the circumstances, how well the people in question knew each other, and where the prayer was offered.

Now, on one hand, there is NOTHING in the Lord’s prayer that, per se, could be perceived as anti-semitic. There is nothing in the prayer that a Jew could not say without violating his religion. In the same way, if I were in the presence of Moslems, there are certainly many Moslem prayers I could say without feeling I had betrayed my Christian faith.

On the other hand… if a Jewish friend of mine had died, and his family asked me to say a few words at the funeral, I would NEVER dream of reciting the Lord’s Prayer in the synagogue. Even though I COULD make a semi-plausible case for it, I know deep down that it would make a lot of people uncomfortable, and that’s the last thing I’d want to do under the circumstances.

So, the Christian who offered the prayer probably WAS a bit out of line. On the other hand, it SEEMS as if the “crime” was committed with the best of intentions, and without any malice. So… forgiveness is probably called for. This was only a small faux pas, like saying “God bless you” to an atheist.

On the other hand, SUPPOSE there was a local rabbi who had done outstanding work with a variety of charities, and who had earned the love and admiration of Christians, Jews, Moslems and Hindus alike. If this rabbi died, and the local Catholic preist or Protestant minister announced at church, “Rabbi Morris Berkowitz died this evening. He was a great man and a good friend, and we’re all going to miss him. In his honor, let’s join hands and say the Lord’s Prayer together.”

Would THAT offend anyone? Would Rabbi Berkowitz scowl from Heaven? I doubt it. In THAT context, though the rabbi was Jewish, I suspect he’d be touched that people loved him enough to pray for him at all.

On a practical level? If you know the person who said the Lord’s Prayer… you are free to approach that person privately, and say (as gently and politely as you can), “I think it was wonderful that you loved ___, and wanted to pray for him. But, you know, he was Jewish, and so were his family and nearly all his friends. If this kind of thing ever happens again, you might want to remember that not everybody is a Christian. Maybe you could improvise a more inclusive prayer.”

8

This is actually off the subject, but something that has always stuck me about the Lords Prayer. Jesus was asked “How should we pray?” and he then recited the Lord’s Prayer. The prayer is addressed directly to God, not to any intermediary. It does not mention “sins”; ask for favors; go on and on and on or end with “in the name of”. There is not one Christian minister that uses the Lords Prayer as a guide to how a prayer should be given. If it wasn’t right there in the gospel of Matthew, I don’t think it would be acceptable to the Christian faith. If you haven’t guessed I am a liberal “Christian”.

9

I’m very Jewish, but not in the least religious.
Here’s my 2 cents
In this particular case, I don’t think anyone would/could have a problem with the old woman receiting the Lords Prayer. She probably had good intentions, and I’m sure the deceased didn’t mind.
I doubt many Jews would consider it part of the Jewish religion; its not in the Torah. The Torah IS THE BOOK for Jews, if it didn’t happen in the Torah, it didn’t happen.
(so they say) But unless you run into some religious zealot,
I think most people might seem it inappropriate (i cant spell) but no harm no foul

but that’s just me.;j

10

So, we didn’t really land on the moon. Huh. ;j

11

take it with a grain of salt, monty.
Ya gotta remember the Torah is a HISTORICAL BOOK
like the New Testament