Of Plumb Lines, Tin, and Mistranslated Scriptures

Of Plumb Lines, Tin, and Mistranslated Scriptures

Marissa

Sometimes, we see something in scripture that we really like. A specific word or phrase in a specific translation speaks to us, and we get excited about that phrase. For example, in the KJV Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no vision the people perish.” I’ve heard quite a few people use that to say that if we can’t visualize our end goal, we’ll fail. But more modern translations often say something like “prophecy” (LEB), “prophetic vision” (NET), or “revelation” (WEB) because those are closer to the meaning of the Hebrew word chazon (H2377). “Vision” was a perfectly good translation of chazon in 1611 (in the sense of “I’ve seen a vision”), but English meanings have shifted enough that it’s no longer the best word to use and can lead to misinterpretation.

I recently came across another verse where something similar happened. In Amos 7, English translations typically talk about a “plumb line” that God placed in the midst of His people Israel. It’s an analogy that many like. A plumb line is “a line (as of cord) that has at one end a weight (such as a plumb bob) and is used especially to determine verticality” (Merriam-Webster). People have taken this analogy and run with it, and you can find dozens of articles and sermons talking about God’s plumb line and wondering if we measure up. But when I read this passage in the New English Translation, they used the word “tin” instead. It’s such a dramatically different translation that I dug into it more to see how that happened and to try and figure out what Amos 7 means.

Image of crumpled tin foil overlaid with text from Amos 7:7-8, NET version: He showed me this: I saw the Lord standing by a tin wall holding tin in his hand.   The Lord said to me, “What do you see, Amos?” I said, “Tin.” The Lord then said,“Look, I am about to place tin among my people Israel. I will no longer overlook their sin.”
Image by Rita Rózsa from Pixabay

How Did We Get to “Pumb Line?”

First, let’s take a look at the Bible verses in question. Here is how it reads in a translation that uses plumb line:

Thus he showed me and behold, the Lord stood beside a wall made by a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. Yahweh said to me, “Amos, what do you see?”

I said, “A plumb line.”

Then the Lord said, “Behold, I will set a plumb line in the middle of my people Israel. I will not again pass by them any more. The high places of Isaac will be desolate, the sanctuaries of Israel will be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”

Amos 7:7-9, WEB

And here it is in the New English Translation:

He showed me this: I saw the Lord standing by a tin wall holding tin in his hand.  The Lord said to me, “What do you see, Amos?” I said, “Tin.” The Lord then said,

“Look, I am about to place tin among my people Israel.
I will no longer overlook their sin.
Isaac’s centers of worship will become desolate;
Israel’s holy places will be in ruins.
I will attack Jeroboam’s dynasty with the sword.”

Amos 7:7-9, NET

Obviously, these are two very different translations that lead to very different interpretations of this verse. Thankfully, the NET is very good about documenting the translators’ choices and sharing the reasoning behind them in footnotes. Here’s part of what they say about the tin vs. plumb line translation:

The Hebrew word אֲנָךְ (ʾanakh), “tin,” occurs only in this passage (twice in verse 7 and twice in verse 8). The meaning “tin” is based on its Akkadian cognate annaku. The traditional interpretation of these verses (reflected in many English versions) assumed that אֲנָךְ meant “lead.” Since lead might be used for a plumb line, and a plumb line might be used when building wall, the “lead” wall was assumed to be a wall built “true to plumb” while God holds a “lead” weighted plumb line in his hand. In this view the plumb line represents a standard of evaluation. This understanding developed before Akkadian was deciphered and the type of metal clearly identified for annaku. (In Hebrew “lead” is עֹפֶרֶת; ʿoferet.) 

NET footnote on Amos 7:7

One of my go-to Hebrew dictionaries confirms that the “plumb line” translation is based on the assumption that anak means “plummet, plumb, lead-weight” (BDB; H594). It still seems like quite a leap to go from a word that you think means “lead” to translating it as “plumb line.” I guess translators didn’t think lead on its own made sense, so they tried to think of what lead might be used for in the context of a wall. Since lead weights could be used on plumb lines, and plumb lines would be used to make a wall vertical, we ended up with the plumb line translation in Amos 7. But then scholars did more work with the Akkadian language and learned the Hebrew anak most likely means “tin” instead of “lead.” Now we’re back to the problem of figuring out why God would give a prophet a vision of God holding a relatively soft type of metal while standing next to a wall made of the same metal, then say He’s going to put that metal in the midst of His people.

Image of a stone wall overlaid with text from Isaiah 28:16-17, NET version: “Look, I am laying a stone in Zion, an approved stone, set in place as a precious cornerstone for the foundation. The one who maintains his faith will not panic. I will make justice the measuring line, fairness the plumb line.”
Image by meineresterampe from Pixabay

What Might “Tin” Mean?

If “plumb line” changes to “tin,” then the traditional interpretations of this scripture don’t make sense anymore. Assuming that “tin” is the correct translation, what could it mean? The NET footnote suggests a few possibilities:

Some view the tin wall and piece of tin as symbolic. If the tin wall of the vision symbolizes Israel, it may suggest weakness and vulnerability to judgment. … Their citadels, of which the nation was so proud and confident, are nothing more than tin fortresses. Various proposals depend on selecting some quality about tin and suggesting a role for that in this context. However, it is more likely that this is a case of a sound play like the next vision in Amos 8:1-2 (see also Jer 1:11-14). With the presentation technique of a sound play, the vision is not the prophecy, only the occasion for the prophecy. God gets the prophet to say a certain sound and then spins the prophecy off that. See the note at 7:8.

NET footnote on Amos 7:7

The sound play isn’t something you can easily translate, so it’s hard to see it when we read Amos in English. The NET translators hint at it by rhyming “tin” with “sin” (“Look, I am about to place tin among my people Israel. I will no longer overlook their sin” [Amos 7:8, NET]), but it’s still not obvious unless you either read Hebrew or have resources like the NET Bible to point out what’s happening in the original language.

While the sound play does sound like a reasonable explanation, the possible interpretation linked to characteristics of tin also makes sense in context. Amos 7:7-9 is just one of three visions that the Lord shows Amos in sequence. The first two both involve Yahweh revealing a judgement against Israel, first a plague of locusts and then one of consuming fire. Both times, Amos begs for a reprieve because Israel is too “small” or “weak” to withstand such punishment. Both times, Yahweh decides not to use that punishment (Amos 7:1-6). It could be that the weakness of tin is linked with the weakness that Amos identifies in Israel. Though Israel is weak, the Lord “will no longer overlook their sin” and eventually the holy places and kings will be destroyed (Amos 7:7-9).

Are There Any “Plumb Line” Scriptures?

Image of a pendulum weight on a chain overlaid with blog's title text and the words, "How do we respond when we learn that a Bible verse means something different than we first thought?"
Image from Pixabay

If you really liked the “plum line” analogy, you might find it disappointing to learn about the “tin” translation. But there is one other verse where “plumb line” is a good translation.

 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says, “Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone of a sure foundation. He who believes shall not act hastily. I will make justice the measuring line, and righteousness the plumb line. The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters will overflow the hiding place.”

Isaiah 28:16-17, WEB

Here, “plumb line” is translated from mishqeleth. It means “level, leveling tool or instrument, plummet” (BDB; H4949). It’s a tool used in building, which makes sense because the context is Yahweh laying the Messiah as the foundation stone for the house He planned to build with the New Covenant church (Eph. 2:20; 1 Pet. 2:5-7).

Yahweh measures the house He’s building using instruments of justice and righteousness. We can still say that He places a plumb line in His people and expects us to measure up to His standards; we just shouldn’t use Amos 7 as the scriptural support for that idea.

As we discussed last week, all scripture is God-breathed. Sometimes, though, the involvement of fallible human beings–or even just the natural evolution of language–can muddy the meaning, especially in translation. If we learn that there’s a more accurate translation of a scripture that’s closer to the original intent, then that’s the one we should go with. We shouldn’t just accept any new interpretation blindly, but with careful investigation and prayer it’s usually possible to discern which translation(s) are more accurate when there’s a significant difference between them.

Featured image by Cloé Gérard from Pixabay

Song Recommendation: “Word of God Speak” by MercyMe

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When God Breathes

When God Breathes

Marissa

There are a few verses that talk about God’s breath. In 2 Timothy 3:26, Paul makes a famous statement about scripture. He says, “Every scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, correction, and for training in righteousness” (NET). Some translations use the more literal wording, “Every Scripture is God-breathed” (WEB). Another well-known verse describes God breathing life into Adam at creation, making him a living being.

The “God-breathed” translation of 2 Timothy 3:26 is what caught my eye to study this week, but there’s a lot more to this topic than I’d first realized. In both Greek and Hebrew, the words for breath are also connected to spirit and life. Amazing things happen when God breathes into something or breathes something out.

Life in the Word

In 2 Timothy 3:26, the Greek word translated “inspired by God” or “God-breathed” is theopneustos: theos (God) + pneo (breathe, blow). This is the only time that compound word is used in the Bible. Theos is, obviously, used frequently. Pneo is a verb that appears eight times, always in reference to literal wind blowing (Matt. 7:25, 27; Luke 12:55; John 3:8; 6:18; Acts 27:40; Rev. 7:1). In one of those verses, though, Jesus references wind to make a point about the spirit.

“Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must all be born from above.’ The wind blows (pneo) wherever it will, and you hear the sound it makes, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit (pneuma).”

John 3:7-8, NET

Pneo is the root word for pneuma, which is translated into English as “spirit” and appears 385 times in the New Testament. Usually, the word refers to God’s holy spirit or to the spirit in human beings, though it can also be translated “wind” or “breath.” If you’re like me, then this line of thought might have you thinking of a verse way back in Genesis.

The Lord God formed the man from the soil of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

Genesis 2:7, NET

This is another place where God breathed into something. In the first verse we looked at, He breathed out scriptures. In this verse, He’s breathing into man and turning him into a living being. This particular Hebrew phrase “breath of life” (nishmat khayyim) only appears here, but nishamah shows up in other places as well. This surprised me; I thought the only word for spirit/breath/wind was ruach (roughly equivalent to Greek pneuma) and the only word for soul/living thing/breathe was nephesh (roughly equivalent to Greek psuche). The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament states that neshama “is frequently found in combination with ruah ‘spirit’ and seems synonymous with nepesh” (TWOT entry 1433a) (see Job 27:3; 33:4; Ecc. 12:7; Is 42:5; Dan. 5:23).

The Spirit (ruach) of God has made me,
    and the breath (neshamah) of the Almighty gives me life.

Job 33:4, NET

There is life in God’s breath. Interestingly, there’s also a strong connection between life and the God-breathed scriptures. In the Old Testament, God revealed that His words bring life to people (Deut. 8:3; 32:46-47; Prov. 4:4). Jesus even quoted one of those verses when resisting Satan’s temptation, saying, “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4, NET). Other New Testament verses talk about the spirit and word as living, life-giving forces (John 6:63; Heb. 4:12; 1 Peter 1:23). There’s something special and uniquely powerful about God-breathed words and the life that God breathes into humanity.

Image of a waterfall flowing over rocks overlaid with text from John 6:63, NRSVA version: "“It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”
Image by Ivelin Donchev from Pixabay

Come To the Word

As I started pondering God-breathed words, another passage that I’ve been meaning to study came to mind. This passage doesn’t talk about breath specifically, but it does talk about the words that come out of God’s mouth.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    and your ways are not my ways,” says Yahweh.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways,
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.
For as the rain comes down and the snow from the sky,
    and doesn’t return there, but waters the earth,
    and makes it grow and bud,
    and gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
so is my word that goes out of my mouth:
    it will not return to me void,
    but it will accomplish that which I please,
    and it will prosper in the thing I sent it to do.

Isaiah 55:8-11, WEB

I think this passage helps us see another connection between the two God-breathed verses (Gen. 2:7 with God breathing life into man and 2 Tim. 3:26 with Him breathing out scriptures). God has breathed out His words and breathed life into us; what happens when these two God-breathed things meet? In other words, when you (who have life because God breathed into humanity) encounter the words that God breathes out of His mouth, what happens?

Image of a waterfall, overlaid with blog's title text and the words, "Amazing things happen when God breathes into something or breathes something out."
Image by Jon Pauling from Pixabay

God says that His word “will not return to me void, but it will accomplish that which I please, and it will prosper in the thing I sent it to do.” Another possible translation would be, “it accomplishes what I desire, and succeeds in what I commission it with” (NET footnote on Is. 55:11). God’s word will have the effect that He desires. But when His word comes to us, He doesn’t force us to do things against our will. If we don’t respond, His word can go prosper in someone else who’s more willing to listen. That’s what happened for the Jewish people who rejected Jesus as the Messiah (Acts 13:45-46; Rom. 11).

You people have never heard his voice nor seen his form at any time, nor do you have his word residing in you, because you do not believe the one whom he sent. You study the scriptures thoroughly because you think in them you possess eternal life, and it is these same scriptures that testify about me, but you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life.

John 5:37-40, NET

Scriptures by themselves don’t give full and abundant life. For that, we also need a relationship with the One who breathed the scriptures–with the Word of God (John 1:1-5, 14) who is also the Word of life (1 John 1:1) and “has the words of eternal life” (Jn. 6:68).

Scripture is God-breathed. Our physical lives are God-breathed. If we want eternal life, we need God to breathe into us again, making His words, spirit, and life part of us. And we need to respond to His work in us, making sure that His word doesn’t end up “void” in us because of our apathy, neglect, or hostility. By responding to God’s breathed-out words and the life He’s breathing into humanity in the right way, we strengthen our relationship with Him and participate in the redemptive, transforming work that He’s doing here on earth.

Featured image by Karl Egger from Pixabay

Song Recommendation: “I Can Hear Your Voice” by Jean Watson with Michael W. Smith

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Do Not Lead Us Into Temptation, but Deliver Us From the Evil One

Do Not Lead Us Into Temptation, but Deliver Us From the Evil One

Marissa

I’ve missed a couple weeks of blogging since our daughter was born, but I’m hoping to get back to weekly posts soon. For now, bi-weekly might be more doable (we’ll see how things go). Today’s post is our final study of Jesus’s model prayer. We’ve been focusing on the version in Matthew, which is part of the Sermon on the Mount where He’s talking about good and bad examples for how to pray (Matt. 6:5-15). There’s also a near-identical prayer recorded in Luke, where Jesus responded to a disciple’s request that Jesus teach them to pray (Luke 11:1-13).

So pray this way:
Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored,
may your kingdom come,
may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

Matthew 6:9-13, NET

Luke’s version is a little shorter than the one in Matthew, and the final line there simply reads, “And do not lead us into temptation” (see NET footnotes on manuscript evidence for a shorter reading in Luke). Whichever recorded version we’re looking at, we can think of this prayer as a helpful outline for our own prayers. And if we want to include this “do not lead us into temptation” sentiment when we pray, it’s helpful to understand what it does (and doesn’t) mean.

Image of people praying together overlaid with text from John 17:15, NET version: “I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but that you keep them safe from the evil one."
Image by Claudine Chaussé from Lightstock

Do Not Lead Us Into Temptation

The last line of this prayer is a little tricky to interpret, at least at first glance, in light of other scriptures. James 1:13 says, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one” (NET). The English translation of Matthew 6, at least, makes it appear that Jesus is advising us to pray against something (God leading us into temptation) that wouldn’t happen anyways. Looking at another piece of prayer advice that He gave his disciples helps clear this confusion up.

Then they went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” … Then he came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Couldn’t you stay awake for one hour? Stay awake and pray that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Mark 14:32, 37-38, NET

This is actually very similar to what Jesus told his disciples to pray in the model prayer. Both verses use the same Greek word for temptation, periasmos (G3986). This word involves putting something to the test. It’s “an experiment, attempt, trial, proving” that can include an internal or external “enticement to sin” for the purpose of making a “trial of man’s fidelity, integrity, virtue, constancy” (Thayer). In both cases, Jesus advised them to pray that this didn’t happen. Testing isn’t a pleasant experience. God will let it happen sometimes, though, when it’s for our good and when He knows we could succeed.

My brothers and sisters, consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials (periasmos), because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. …

Happy is the one who endures testing (periasmos), because when he has proven to be genuine, he will receive the crown of life that God promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each one is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires. Then when desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death. Do not be led astray, my dear brothers and sisters.

James 1:2-3, 12-16, NET

Testing serves a purpose. It can strengthen our faith, provided that we overcome the test and not give into the temptation to sin. The NET footnote on Matthew 6:13 says “The request do not lead us into temptation is not to suggest God causes temptation, but is a rhetorical way to ask for his protection from sin.” In other words, we might see this as a prayer that we not be tested but we can also see it as a prayer that if we’re tested, we won’t fail the test.

So let the one who thinks he is standing be careful that he does not fall. No trial (periasmos) has overtaken you that is not faced by others. And God is faithful: He will not let you be tried beyond what you are able to bear, but with the trial (periasmos) will also provide a way out so that you may be able to endure it.

1 Corinthians 10:12-13, NET

When God allows tests and trials, He intends for us to successfully overcome them and prove the genuineness of our faith. If we couldn’t endure the test, He wouldn’t let it happen. We need to be cautious and humble, though, and not just assume we’ve hit a point in our spiritual growth where we won’t be tempted or that we won’t fall if tempted. I think that’s also what Jesus is hinting at in the model prayer. Our prayers should include an acknowledgment that we need God’s help “delivering us from evil” to avoid sin and overcome tests when they do come.

Deliver Us From the Evil One

Image of a woman studying the Bible, overlaid with blog's title text and the words, "Jesus closes the model prayer with a request that God help us resist sin and deliver us from the evil adversary and his influences."
Image by Pearl from Lightstock

Depending on the translation you’re reading, the end of Matthew 6:13 might read “deliver us from evil” or “deliver us from the evil one.” The Greek word poneros (G4190) can mean evil in a general sense, but here “it is most likely personified since it is articular (τοῦ πονηροῦ, tou ponērou)” (NET footnote). You can see other examples of this word being personified and standing in for the devil in Matt. 13:19, 38; John 17:15; 1 John 2:13-14. One of those examples is from the prayer that Jesus prayed right before his death.

I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them safe in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one. … I have given them your word, and the world has hated them, because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but that you keep them safe from the evil one.

John 17:11, 14-15, NET

Jesus told us to pray for deliverance from evil, and he modeled that by praying the Father would keep us safe from the evil one. Jesus’s followers later wrote about God faithfully delivering us from evil people, evil deeds, and the evil one, or Satan (2 Thes .3:2-3; 2 Tim. 4.18; 1 John 5:18-19). We are also counseled to take up the armor of God to provide defense against the evil one.

Clothe yourselves with the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens. For this reason, take up the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand your ground on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand. Stand firm therefore, by fastening the belt of truth around your waist, by putting on the breastplate of righteousness, by fitting your feet with the preparation that comes from the good news of peace, and in all of this, by taking up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

Ephesians 6:11-16, NET

I have a whole book on the armor of God (Like An Anchor Study Guide: Armor of God), so we won’t go into it in too much detail in this post. But if we’re going to pray “do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one,” we need to have some understanding of what sort of evil we’re praying to be delivered from and that includes knowledge of the fight that we’re in. “The whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19), but we are people of God whom God protects, promises to strengthen against temptations, and delivers from the devil.

Quick note for those wondering why there isn’t going to be another post titled “For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever:” manuscript evidence suggests that this phrase was added at some point, possibly for use in church liturgy (NET footnote on Matt. 6:13). Since it likely wasn’t part of the original prayer, I decided not to include it in this blog series.

If you want to catch up on or reread the previous posts in this series, here are the links: “Hallowed Be Your Name,” “May Your Kingdom Come,” “May Your Will Be Done On Earth As It Is In Heaven,” “Give Us Today Our Daily Bread,” and “Forgive Us Our Debts, as We Have Forgiven Our Debtors.”

Featured image by Matt Vasquez from Lightstock

Song Recommendation: “The Lord’s Prayer” by Hillsong Worship

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Forgive Us Our Debts, as We Have Forgiven Our Debtors

Forgive Us Our Debts, as We Have Forgiven Our Debtors

Marissa

Today’s post is our 5th on Jesus’s model prayer. If you need/want to catch up on the previous posts, here are the links: “Hallowed Be Your Name,” “May Your Kingdom Come,” “May Your Will Be Done On Earth As It Is In Heaven,” and “Give Us Today Our Daily Bread.” As mentioned in those posts, we find versions of Jesus’s model prayer in two gospels. We’ve been focusing on the one in Matthew, which is part of the Sermon on the Mount when He’s talking about good and bad examples for how to pray (Matt. 6:5-15). There’s also a near-identical one in Luke, where Jesus responds to a disciple’s request that Jesus teach them to pray (Luke 11:1-13).

So pray this way:
Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored,
may your kingdom come,
may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one

Matthew 6:9-13, NET

We can think of this prayer as a helpful outline for our own prayers. We’re not locked into repeating it word-for-word; He’s showing us the way to pray rather than giving us a specific prayer to recite (though there can be a time and place for that, too, just like we can read or sing psalms other people wrote at times when we can’t think of what to say or the psalms/prayers speak to our own situations). In this post, we’re looking at the second personal request that’s part of the model prayer: “forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors.”

Image of two people's clasped hands overlaid with text from Colossians 3:12-13, NET version: “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with a heart of mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if someone happens to have a complaint against anyone else. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also forgive others.”
Image by Jantanee from Lightstock

Forgiving Debts

“Forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors” is the only point in this prayer that Jesus explains in more detail. Right after wrapping up the outline, He adds this:

“For if you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive you your sins.”

Matthew 6:14-15, NET

There are two different Greek words used here, which is reflected in the English translations “debts” and “sins.” In the prayer, the word used is opheilema, which means “that which is owed” as “a debt” (Thayer’s Dictionary, entry G3783). It’s metaphorically used of sins. “Debtors” is the related word opheiletes, which as you might guess means the person who owes something to another (Thayer; G3781). This word for debtor is also used in Matthew 18, which we’ll be looking at in a moment.

“Sin” is translated from paraptoma, which means “to fall beside or near” or “a lapse or deviation from truth and uprightness” (Thayer; G3900). When it appears in the New Testament it’s translated with English words like “trespass,” “offense,” “fault,” or “sin.” Interestingly, this still isn’t the most commonly used Greek word for sin. That would be hamartia, which means “to miss the mark” or “that which is done wrong, sin, and offense, a violation of the divine law” (Thayer; G266). Harmartia is the word used for “sin” in the version of Jesus’s model prayer that Luke records (Luke 11:4).

Despite the different words, “forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors” is clearly connected with “forgive others their sins” so your Father will forgive you. Jesus uses parallel wording to make the connection, and the word for “forgive” is the same in both cases. It’s translated from aphiemi, which means “to let go, give up a debt, forgive, to remit” (Thayer; G863). When we sin, it’s like we owe God something because we messed up. When Jesus died, He paid the penalty in our place, remitting our debts. We need to understand this sin-debt analogy if we’re going to make sense of what’s going on in this part of the model prayer.

Image of a woman reading the Bible at a table, overlaid with text from James 2:12-14, NET version: “Speak and act as those who will be judged by a law that gives freedom. For judgment is merciless for the one who has shown no mercy. But mercy triumphs over judgment.”
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The Necessity of Forgiveness

It might feel kind of weird to think that God’s forgiveness of us is conditional on our forgiveness of others. We like to think of His forgiveness and grace as something freely given that we don’t need to do anything in order to receive. But though we can’t do anything to earn His grace or forgiveness, there are some things we can do to reject them. Later in Jesus’s ministry, He shares a parable that sheds light on the connection between us forgiving others and us receiving forgiveness from God.

Then Peter came to him and said, “Lord, how many times must I forgive my brother who sins against me? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, I tell you, but seventy-seven times!

“For this reason, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves. As he began settling his accounts, a man who owed 10,000 talents was brought to him. Because he was not able to repay it, the lord ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, children, and whatever he possessed, and repayment to be made. Then the slave threw himself to the ground before him, saying, ‘Be patient with me, and I will repay you everything.’ The lord had compassion on that slave and released him, and forgave him the debt. 

Matthew 18:21-27, NET

This is mercy. The man was an opheiletes, a debtor, who was incapable of repaying what he owed. Just one talent was “equal to 6,000 denarii. One denarius was the usual day’s wage for a worker” (NET footnote on Matt. 18:24). That means for a typical worker at the time, 10,000 talents was equal to 60,000,000 day’s wages, or about 164,384 years of work. A slave could never dream of repaying that, just like human beings can never do enough to make up for the sins we’ve committed against God (Rom. 3-6). As readers or listeners, we’re supposed to appreciate just what an incredible gift this lord gave the slave.

After he went out, that same slave found one of his fellow slaves who owed him 100 silver coins. So he grabbed him by the throat and started to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ Then his fellow slave threw himself down and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will repay you.’ But he refused. Instead, he went out and threw him in prison until he repaid the debt. When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were very upset and went and told their lord everything that had taken place.  Then his lord called the first slave and said to him, ‘Evil slave! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me! Should you not have shown mercy to your fellow slave, just as I showed it to you?’ And in anger his lord turned him over to the prison guards to torture him until he repaid all he owed. So also my heavenly Father will do to you, if each of you does not forgive your brother from your heart.”

Matthew 18:28-35, NET

The fellow slave owed only 100 silver coins, or denarii, so about 3 months’ pay (NET footnote on Matt. 18:28). It’s a real debt, but compared to what the first slave owed the lord it’s a tiny sum. The difference between what the slave was forgiven and what he refused to forgive is enormous. We can see how ridiculous he’s being. But it’s just as ridiculous if we refuse to forgive another human being’s offenses against us after God has forgiven our offenses against Him.

It’s not just crazy for us to hold on to a tiny debt someone owes us when God has forgiven us a huge debt against Him. It’s dangerous. Jesus doesn’t leave room for ambiguity in interpreting this parable. The lord takes back His forgiveness, and Jesus says, “So also my heavenly Father will do to you, if each of you does not forgive your brother from your heart.” It’s exactly like He said after sharing the model prayer: “if you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive you your sins” (Matt. 6:14-15, NET). There’s an “if” in these verses, making forgiveness conditional. We need to show forgiveness if we want to receive forgiveness.

How To Let Go

Earlier, I said that aphiemi, the Greek word translated “forgive” means “to let go, give up a debt, forgive, to remit” (Thayer; G863). That’s the sense in which it usually applies to forgiveness. But it’s a complex word, and it can also mean “to send away,” “yield up,” “let alone, let be,” or “to leave, go away from one.” If we forgive, we stop holding on to the sins, offenses, debts, and trespasses of other people. We “let it alone,” send away our resentment, and walk away from what we might be owed. It’s much the same thing as our English definition of forgiveness.

Screenshot of the definition of "forgive" in the Merriam-Webster dictionary. Definitions shown include " to cease to feel resentment against (an offender)," "to give up resentment of or claim to requital," and "to grant relief from payment of"

Notice that none of the things involved with forgiveness require the other person to take action. We can grant forgiveness–let go of resentment and yield any claim to payment owed us–without the other person asking for it. In fact, we should forgive as soon as possible regardless of the other person because we want God to respond positively when we ask Him to forgive us.

Image of a man praying in a church, overlaid with blog's title text and the words, "One of our main goals as Christians is to become like God. That involves learning to be loving, merciful, and forgiving just the same way that He is."
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One of the things I’ve struggled with related to forgiveness is how to tell if I’ve actually forgiven someone. Some things are relatively easy to forgive, and you might legitimately forget them when you release the debt. There are others, though, that can still color your perception of a person even if you don’t feel resentment or think they owe you something. In certain situations, that can be okay. It’s not always safe to reconcile or restore a relationship, but it’s always right to let go of resentment and the feeling that someone who hurt us owes us for something.

 “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault when the two of you are alone. If he listens to you, you have regained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others with you, so that at the testimony of two or three witnesses every matter may be established. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. If he refuses to listen to the church, treat him like a Gentile or a tax collector.

Matthew 18:15-17, NET

This short formula for Christian reconciliation comes before Peter’s question about forgiveness and Jesus’s parable about the unforgiving slave. Ideally, we should reconcile if there’s an issue with a “brother” or “fellow believer.” The primary goal is reconciliation and restored relationship. But if that doesn’t work after repeated attempts, you don’t “associate with such a person” (NET footnote on Matt. 18:17). It’s our responsibility to try to reconcile, especially with a fellow believer, but regardless of how that goes we have an obligation to forgive and “live peaceably with all people” (Rom. 12:18, NET; see Rom. 12:16-21).

The conditionality of forgiveness from God should prompt us to extend forgiveness to others. But I don’t think He wants that to be the main reason why we forgive (just like the threat of punishment shouldn’t be the main reason we obey His laws). When we realize what a great debt God forgives us, we should want to forgive others. Similarly, as recipients of God’s great mercy, we should be eager to show mercy to others. Like forgiveness, there’s a reciprocity involved in mercy: “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy” (Matt. 5:7, NET) and “For judgment is merciless for the one who has shown no mercy” (James 2:13, NET). One of our main goals as Christians is to become like God. That involves learning to be loving, merciful, and forgiving just the same way that He is. When we pray, “Forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors,” we acknowledge that we have an essential role to play in giving and receiving forgiveness.

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Song Recommendation: “Mercy” by Casting Crowns

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Give Us Today Our Daily Bread

Give Us Today Our Daily Bread

Marissa

Today, we’re continuing our study of Jesus’s model prayer. If you missed any of the others, here are the links: “Hallowed Be Your Name,” “May Your Kingdom Come,” and “May Your Will Be Done On Earth As It Is In Heaven.” As mentioned in those posts, we find versions of Jesus’s model prayer in two gospels. In Matthew, it’s part of the Sermon on the Mount when He’s talking about good and bad examples for how to pray, and that’s the one we’ve been focusing on (Matt. 6:5-15). In Luke, He uses a similar prayer to respond to a disciple’s request that Jesus teach them to pray (Luke 11:1-13).

So pray this way:
Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored,
may your kingdom come,
may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one

Matthew 6:9-13, NET

You don’t have to repeat this prayer word-for-word to pray correctly, but it’s a very helpful outline for our own prayers. The first personal request included in this prayer is, “Give us today our daily bread.”

Image of bread loaves, flour, and grain on a table overlaid with text from Deut. 8:3, WEB version: “He humbled you, allowed you to be hungry, and fed you with manna, which you didn’t know, neither did your fathers know, that he might teach you that man does not live by bread only, but man lives by every word that proceeds out of Yahweh’s mouth."
Image by marco aurelio from Pixabay

Daily Bread

One of the things we need to remember when reading the New Testament is how profoundly connected it is to the Old Testament. For the people of Jesus’s day, these weren’t two separate books. All they had was what we call the Old Testament. It was the the holy scriptures, and anytime Jesus or His followers reference the word of God that’s what they’re talking about. Even when they don’t reference these writings directly, chances are their listeners would have stories and principles from the Old Testament in the back of their minds. Everyone in Jewish society studied the scriptures as children and heard them read each week on Shabbat for the rest of their lives. When Jesus said, “Give us today our daily bread,” I imagine it would have been almost impossible for people not to think of the Exodus story.

They took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt. The whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness; and the children of Israel said to them, “We wish that we had died by Yahweh’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots, when we ate our fill of bread, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from the sky for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. It shall come to pass on the sixth day, that they shall prepare that which they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.”

Exodus 16:1-5, WEB

When Yahweh miraculously provided manna to feed ancient Israel, He gave them bread day-by-day. He didn’t dump a week’s worth of bread on them all at once, or give them extra that they could keep on hand “just in case.” The manna even rotted if they tried to save it over, making it impossible to eat anything but “daily bread.” The only exception to this rule was extra manna on Friday that would stay fresh until Saturday, so no one had to work to gather bread on Shabbat (Ex. 16). Ancient Israel had to trust God would provide for them each day, just like we still need to today even if it’s not as obvious as it was for them with the manna.

Image of bread loaves and grain on a table overlaid with text from John 6:26-27, NET version: Jesus replied, “I tell you the solemn truth, you are looking for me not because you saw miraculous signs, but because you ate all the loaves of bread you wanted. Do not work for the food that disappears, but for the food that remains to eternal life—the food which the Son of Man will give to you.”
Image by marco aurelio from Pixabay

New Bread From Heaven

Later in His ministry, Jesus discussed manna directly. After miraculously feeding 5,000 people, Jesus tried to travel to a new place but the people who’d eaten the food followed Him. Even after partaking of that miracle, they had the nerve to ask, “what miraculous sign will you perform, so that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, just as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat’” (John 6:30-31, NET, quoting Ps. 78:24). It appears that they were challenging Him to keep providing physical daily bread for them, but Jesus redirected their focus.

Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the solemn truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but my Father is giving you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” So they said to him, “Sir, give us this bread all the time!”

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. The one who comes to me will never go hungry, and the one who believes in me will never be thirsty.” …

 “I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that has come down from heaven, so that a person may eat from it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats from this bread he will live forever. The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

John 6:32-35, 48-51, NET

It’s very possible that when Jesus told His followers to pray, “Give us today our daily bread,” He meant both physical necessities and spiritual ones. We need Him every day even more than we need actual food. Just like Jesus cared about providing food to the 5,000 AND teaching them about Him as the Bread of Life, so we should care about asking God to provide our daily food AND asking for the Bread of Life to feed us every day.

Don’t Worry About The Bread

Image of a man holding a loaf of bread, overlaid with blog's title text and the words, "We should ask God to provide our daily food and ask for the Bread of Life to spiritually feed us every day."
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You might say that I’m reading too much into “give us today our daily bread” to say that it’s spiritual food as well as physical food. On the surface, it’s just a simple, straightforward statement: “Please provide the food we need for today.” But as Jesus points out just a short while later in this Sermon on the Mount, God already knows that we need things like food and clothing. He doesn’t really need the reminder, and we don’t really need to worry about it.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t there more to life than food and more to the body than clothing? Look at the birds in the sky: They do not sow, or reap, or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you more valuable than they are? …  So then, don’t worry saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For the unconverted pursue these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But above all pursue his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. So then, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:25-26, 31-33, NET

There’s nothing wrong with asking for day-to-day necessities. Just because God already knows something and intends to provide it doesn’t mean He won’t appreciate us asking rather than taking His provision for granted. But we shouldn’t spend time worrying about what we’ll eat or drink, and especially not worrying about it long-term and borrowing trouble from tomorrow. And even if we’re famished, there’s still something more important than physical bread to focus on.

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After he fasted forty days and forty nights he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread.” But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Matthew 4:1-4, NET (bold italics mark a quotation from Deut. 8:3)

Jesus was in a unique situation here, but the principle in the verse He quoted still applies to us. Like ancient Israel did with manna, we’re supposed to learn to rely on God every day and we’re supposed to learn that listening to His words sustains life. Food isn’t the only thing we need to keep us alive, at least not to give us the abundant life that Jesus wants for us (John 10:10). We also need the Bread of Life and the words of God.

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Song Recommendation: “Word of God Speak” by MercyMe

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May Your Will Be Done on Earth as It Is in Heaven

May Your Will Be Done on Earth as It Is in Heaven

Marissa

After writing about the phrases “Hallowed Be Your Name” and “May Your Kingdom Come” from Jesus’s model prayer, I think it might be good to just keep going and study the whole prayer line-by-line. I wasn’t going to continue this study because I’m pretty sure I know what Jesus means by “may your will be done,” but then I remembered what Paul said: “If someone thinks he knows something, he does not yet know to the degree that he needs to know” (1 Cor. 8:2, NET). We need to beware of intellectual pride that makes us think there’s nothing more to learn from “basic” concepts about God that we’ve already “mastered.” There’s always more to learn where God is concerned.

Prioritizing God’s Will

We find versions of Jesus’s model prayer in two gospels. In Matthew, it’s part of the Sermon on the Mount when He’s talking about good and bad examples for how to pray (Matt. 6:5-15). In Luke, He uses this prayer to respond to a disciple’s request that Jesus teach them to pray (Luke 11:1-13). You don’t have to repeat this prayer word-for-word to pray correctly, but it’s a very helpful outline for our own prayers.

So pray this way:
Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored,
may your kingdom come,
may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one

Matthew 6:9-13, NET

Submitting to God’s will isn’t the very first thing in the prayer, but it is in the first half. It comes before other, more personal requests but after the proper acknowledgement of God’s holiness and the request that His kingdom come. I’m not sure how important the order is, but it strikes me as interesting that Jesus put the Father’s will before other, more individual requests like daily bread or personal deliverance. That’s a priority list Jesus modeled in His own life.

Image of a woman sitting on a park bench overlaid with text from Gal. 1:3-5, NET version: “Grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever! Amen.”
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Jesus and the Father’s Will

Remember, it’s our Father that we’re talking with here. We come before God not as some distant petitioners, but as His own children. There’s a relationship established before we even get to this prayer, and it’s the same type of relationship that Jesus has with the Father (John 16:27; 17:23; 1 John 3:1-2).

Before Jesus’s death, He prayed, “My Father, if possible, let this cup pass from me! Yet not what I will, but what you will” (Matt. 26:39, NET; see Matt. 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:39-46). This wasn’t the first time He’d prioritized the Father’s will. Doing the Father’s will was one of His main focuses in life, as John records several times in his gospel.

Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to complete his work.”

John 4:34, NET

“I can do nothing on my own initiative. Just as I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of the one who sent me.”

John 5:30, NET

“For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me.”

John 6:38, NET

I imagine with this focus that the model prayer and the prayer in Gethsemane were not the only times Jesus prayed, “may your will be done.” It was likely at the forefront of His mind frequently, whether He was formally praying at the time or not. And since we’re supposed to become like Jesus, doing the Father’s will should be a priority for us as well.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven—only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.”

Matthew 7:21, NET

“For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

Matthew 12:50, NET

Jesus has a close, personal, familial relationship with people who do the Father’s will. Additionally, only those who do His will can enter the kingdom of heaven. The emphasis that Jesus placed on following His Father’s will and the way He talked about it as a requirement for us reveals just how important it is that we do this. We need to align ourselves with God’s will, as Jesus did, if we want to spend forever in His family.

Image of an open Bible by a notebook overlaid with text from 1 John 2:17, NET version: “And the world is passing away with all its desires, but the person who does the will of God remains forever.”
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What Is God’s Will?

When Jesus talked about God’s will, He often emphasized how it relates to God’s overall plan. The Father is making a family, and it’s His will that as many people as possible receive salvation and eternal life (John 6:38-40; Matt. 11:25-27; 18:14). That gives us an overall view of God’s will, desire, and purpose. But it still doesn’t tell us what it means for us to do God’s will.

 “What do you think? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ The boy answered, ‘I will not.’ But later he had a change of heart and went. The father went to the other son and said the same thing. This boy answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did his father’s will?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, tax collectors and prostitutes will go ahead of you into the kingdom of God!”

Matthew 21:28-31, NET

Jesus shared this parable shortly before His death. He “entered the temple courts” and “the chief priests and elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching” to question Him and challenge His authority (Matt. 21:23, NET). These were the religious leaders, the people who probably thought they were doing God’s will better than anyone else and living more righteous lives. But as Jesus pointed out several other times, thinking you’re righteous isn’t the same thing as actually living by God’s words (Matt. 5:17-20; 23:1-3). If you want to do the father’s will, then you actually need to follow His commands.

Image of a man praying, overlaid with blog's title text and the words, "As God shares deeper understanding of His will with us, we’ll learn to do His will and align ourselves with what He's doing to accomplish His will."
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There are several things that Paul, Peter, and John describe as “God’s will” for us in their writings. It was God’s will that Jesus save us from our sins (Gal. 1:4; Eph. 1:11). It’s His will that we obey Him from the heart, become holy, give thanks always, do good, and live in accordance with His ways rather than fleshy human desires (Eph. 6:6; 1 Thess. 4:3; 5:18; 1 Pet. 2:15; 4:2). Sometimes, it’s in accordance with His will that we suffer even while doing good (1 Pet. 3:17; 4:19). But we also know that it’s His will that we’ll grow, mature, and “receive the promise” of eternal life if we align ourselves with His will (Col. 4:12; 1 John 2:17; Heb. 10:36).

Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice—alive, holy, and pleasing to God—which is your reasonable service. Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God—what is good and well-pleasing and perfect.

Romans 12:1-2, NET

The will of God isn’t just one thing. It includes all His desires and plans, for the universe and for us. In some ways it’s very simple–it’s God’s will to save humanity and doing His will involves following Him. In other ways, it’s something complex enough we can spend our whole lives learning to understand. Developing knowledge of His will and doing His will are key parts of our ongoing Christian walk.

For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, have not ceased praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may live worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects—bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the display of all patience and steadfastness, joyfully giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light. 

Colossians 1:9-12, NET

Look at why Paul says he asked God to fill people with “the knowledge of His will.” It’s so that we can “live worthily of the Lord,” please Him, bear fruit, do good deeds, grow “in the knowledge of God,” receive strength, display “patience and steadfastness,” and “joyfully give thanks.” As God shares deeper understanding of His will with us and we learn to pray “may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” our lives will be transformed. We will “live out the message ” rather than “merely listen to it” (James 1:22, NET). We’ll align ourselves with what He’s doing to accomplish His will. We’ll even be doing His will, helping fulfill the prayer “may your will be done on earth” as we live our lives in accordance with His will

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Song Recommendation: “You Are The Only One” by Casting Crowns

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