by Ptr. Art Calaguas
Shalom.
Now let us go back and concentrate on the petition section of the Lord’s Prayer and just one verse in that prayer, namely Matthew 6:11.
Let us look at the Greek and some representative translations of Matthew 6:11 which is clearly a “petitioning” or asking God for this or that favor, blessing, etc.:
τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δὸς ἡμῖν σήμερον·
Our daily bread, may you give us today; (My translation)
Give us our necessary bread today. (Aramaic Bible in Plain English)
Give us today the food we need, (New Living Translation)
Give us this day our supersubstantial bread. (Douay-Rheims Bible)
Our appointed bread give us to-day. (Young’s Literal Translation)
For comparison, let us also take a look at the parallel in Luke 11:3:
τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δίδου ἡμῖν τὸ καθ’ ἡμέραν·
Our daily bread, may you give us each day; (My translation)
Give us our necessary bread every day, (Aramaic Bible in Plain English)
Give us each day the food we need, (New Living Translation)
Give us this day our daily bread. (Douay-Rheims Bible)
(O)ur appointed bread be giving us daily; (Young’s Literal Translation)
Let us now focus on a certain word in the prayer (ἐπιούσιον from ἐπιούσιος, “epiousios”) that has generated lots of scholarly research. We can see that the translations for the Greek word ἐπιούσιον as found in different Bible versions vary in a rather wide range of meaning. When we look up this Greek word in our lexicons, we find that this is a unique word, only found in Matthew 6:11 and the parallel version in Luke 11:3. Bible scholars and semantics experts actually say that the exact meaning of this word is uncertain. We call it a hapax legomenon; ἐπιούσιος doesn’t exist in other ancient Greek (pagan or Christian) writings!
In the Old Testament (OT), the right measure of daily sustenance is the main expression of God’s grace (e.g. Exodus 16 – manna/bread from heaven). Could ἐπιούσιος mean right or full measure? Proverbs 30:8 may also hold a clue; as we take a look at this verse in the original Hebrew and how the New International Version (NIV) translates it:
שָׁ֤וְא וּֽדְבַר־כָּזָ֡ב הַרְחֵ֬ק מִמֶּ֗נִּי רֵ֣אשׁ וָ֭עֹשֶׁר אַל־תִּֽתֶּן־לִ֑י הַ֝טְרִיפֵ֗נִי לֶ֣חֶם חֻקִּֽי׃
Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.
The highlighted word, חֻקִּֽי is from חֹק (choq), meaning “something prescribed or owed; a statute.”
Grammatically, it could come perhaps from epi (S1909) + ousia (S3776): on/over + being/substance = appropriate/suitable, or super/over-substantial. In some writings, the attribute of the bread/food was discussed: it was either ordinary or the Eucharist. St Jerome took it as bread for tomorrow; supernatural. Hence, the Latin Vulgate renders Mt 6:11 panem nostrum supersubstantialem da nobis hodie (translated as: give us this day our supersubstantial bread; see the Douay-Rheims Bible translation of Matthew 6:11 above).
If we immerse ourselves in the discussions of the Biblical scholars of the past and today, they say that the meaning of the word ἐπιούσιος is “hidden and mysterious.” Perhaps it is what is needed, what is sufficient, the right measure of Divine grace, an allotment, an appointed portion, a promise of God to sustain us. It’s like God gives us today what is good for us; and it may be far more than enough, but it will not be to such an extent that we forget about the Giver. Whichever way you see it, it properly demands our gratitude and thanksgiving!
This single Greek word, ἐπιούσιος, then encapsulates the benedictions of praise, petition and thanksgiving in the Lord’s/Disciple’s Prayer. This single word, mysterious, inexact, yet evoking expansive and inclusive meanings tells us volumes about the beauty of this prayer. When we pray this Disciple’s Prayer, we actually commune with our past Jewish forebears who first prayed what developed into what we call today the Amidah Prayer centuries before our Lord walked this earth. We connect also with the Jewish sect (who called themselves the Yahad) and the Thanksgiving Hymns and other writings they authored and then discovered as part of the Dead Sea Scrolls. We put ourselves in the minds and hearts of the first disciples who heard the Rabbi/Teacher from Nazareth in Galilee teach them about prayer and how to pray, tapping into the vast storehouse of Jewish prayer tradition. Not only the past but forward-looking as well; expecting and invoking the unfailing, boundless mercies and loving kindness of God. We relate with those who came after and continuously built up the body of the Messiah while spreading the Gospel throughout the world.
And perhaps that is why, even if Mathew 6:9-13/Luke 11:2-4 did not explicitly express thanksgiving, our Lord Jesus gave us a word that points us to be thankful, to be grateful, exuberant with all our praises and confident with petitions that we have our heavenly Father who is good and hears us. It is indeed amazing how one word can literally mean so much!
We will continue next week with Matthew 6:13.
God bless us all.