Punctuation in the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13)
Posted: July 22nd, 2023, 6:23 pm
I was surprised by the punctuation used in some critical editions of the Lord's Prayer.
In this edition, the Greek Orthodox Church puts an άνω τελεία at the end of the first line, and a blank line separates the first two lines from the next three:
Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς·
ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου·
ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου·
γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου,
ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ, καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς
Wiktionary tells me that the άνω τελεία is used thus:
1. Separates groups of clauses in a sentence.
2. Separates two parts of a sentence where a κόμμα is thought to be inadequate.
But Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς is not a clause, and the whitespace separates these three very parallel lines (which I am putting back together below):
ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου·
ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου·
γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου
Then it uses a comma for these two lines, implying that ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ, καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς does not pertain to ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου or ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου:
γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου,
ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ, καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς·
Compare that to SBLGNT, which uses commas throughout the part I mentioned above:
Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς· ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου, ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου, γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου, ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς·
And Tyndale House GNT:
πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου· ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου· γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου, ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς·
Thoughts? My brain really wants to group the three highly parallel constructions together:
ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου,
ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου,
γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου
And I want to say that ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς applies to all three of them.
The indentation of the NIV implies they may agree with me:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
In this edition, the Greek Orthodox Church puts an άνω τελεία at the end of the first line, and a blank line separates the first two lines from the next three:
Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς·
ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου·
ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου·
γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου,
ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ, καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς
Wiktionary tells me that the άνω τελεία is used thus:
1. Separates groups of clauses in a sentence.
2. Separates two parts of a sentence where a κόμμα is thought to be inadequate.
But Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς is not a clause, and the whitespace separates these three very parallel lines (which I am putting back together below):
ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου·
ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου·
γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου
Then it uses a comma for these two lines, implying that ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ, καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς does not pertain to ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου or ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου:
γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου,
ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ, καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς·
Compare that to SBLGNT, which uses commas throughout the part I mentioned above:
Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς· ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου, ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου, γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου, ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς·
And Tyndale House GNT:
πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου· ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου· γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου, ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς·
Thoughts? My brain really wants to group the three highly parallel constructions together:
ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου,
ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου,
γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου
And I want to say that ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς applies to all three of them.
The indentation of the NIV implies they may agree with me:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.