Our Father

“Our Father” is the first note in the melody of Christian prayer, and it is already profoundly Jewish. When Jesus teaches His disciples to pray in Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4, He does not drop an alien form of devotion into first-century Judaism. Rather, He gathers familiar Jewish modes of address, themes, and petitions into a concise, Christ-centered pattern of communion with God. To pray the Lord’s Prayer is therefore to stand within Israel’s spiritual vocabulary while confessing Jesus as the Son who perfectly knows and reveals the Father.

In this post, we will focus primarily on the opening address, “Our Father,” and on how the whole prayer draws from Jewish liturgical and theological patterns. We will move phrase by phrase through Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4, pausing over key Greek words and their Hebrew background, and tracing parallels in prayers such as Avinu Malkeinu, the Amidah, the Birkot HaShachar, and the Kaddish. In doing so, we will see that the Lord’s Prayer is not only the Church’s most beloved prayer, but also a bridge of continuity with the worship of Israel.

Hearing the Lord’s Prayer in Its Jewish Setting

Matthew records the Lord’s Prayer in the context of Jesus’ teaching on authentic piety in the Sermon on the Mount. After warning against ostentatious praying and “empty phrases” (Matthew 6:7, ESV), Jesus says:

“Pray then like this:
‘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.’” (Matthew 6:9-13, ESV)

Luke preserves a shorter form in response to the disciples’ request, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples” (Luke 11:1, ESV). Luke’s wording includes: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins … and lead us not into temptation” (Luke 11:2-4, ESV).

From the outset, several features stand out that are deeply at home in Jewish prayer:

The address to God as Father, often in the formula “Our Father in heaven,” echoes a long line of Jewish usage in Scripture and later liturgy.

The petitions concerning the sanctification of the Divine Name, the coming of God’s kingdom, and the fulfillment of the Divine will resonate with the Kaddish and the Amidah.

The requests for sustenance, forgiveness, and protection from temptation have close analogues in the Amidah, in penitential prayers such as Avinu Malkeinu, and in morning blessings that ask not to be brought into the power of sin and temptation.

Modern Jewish and Christian scholarship has therefore increasingly recognized that the Lord’s Prayer is, in the words of the Jewish Encyclopedia, “a beautiful combination or selection of formulas of prayer in circulation among the Hasidæan circles.” That is, Jesus draws on existing Jewish prayer language and condenses it into a compact pattern for His disciples.

This does not diminish the prayer's uniqueness. Rather, it shows that the Son speaks as a faithful Jew, fulfilling the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 5:17) through a Spirit-saturated reform of Israel’s devotional life.

“Our Father”

The Lord’s Prayer begins: Pater hēmōn ho en tois ouranois – “Our Father in heaven” (Matthew 6:9). Luke has simply “Father” (Pater), omitting “in heaven” in many manuscripts (Luke 11:2).

The Greek pater translates the Hebrew ’av and Aramaic abba. Far from being an unprecedented intimacy, the idea of God as Father is deeply rooted in the Hebrew Scriptures:

“For you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us; you, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name” (Isaiah 63:16, ESV).

“Is not he your Father, who created you, who made you and established you?” (Deuteronomy 32:6, ESV).

Israel is also addressed as “children of the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 14:1, ESV). In later Jewish prayer, this paternal image blossoms in formulas such as Avinu she-bashamayim (“Our Father in heaven”) and the well-known Avinu Malkeinu (“Our Father, Our King”), which becomes central in the High Holy Days.

Avinu Malkeinu, in its classical forms, begins each line with “Our Father, our King” and proceeds to petitions for mercy, forgiveness, deliverance, and life. According to Talmudic tradition, its earliest form appears in a story of Rabbi Akiva praying for rain during a drought, crying, “Our Father, our King, we have no king but You.” Over time, this supplicatory core developed into a longer litany used on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and often on other fast days.

Theologically, Avinu Malkeinu holds together two titles drawn from the Hebrew Scriptures: “Our Father” (Isaiah 63:16) and “Our King” (Isaiah 33:22). This duality parallels the Lord’s Prayer, where the intimacy of “Our Father” stands alongside requests for the coming of God’s kingdom and the doing of His will.

When Christians pray “Our Father,” we therefore stand within this Jewish confession: God is both a loving Parent and a sovereign King. The plural “our” is significant. Jesus does not teach “My Father” here, but “Our Father,” drawing the disciples into a shared filial relationship that reflects Israel’s corporate identity as God’s son (Exodus 4:22) and anticipates the Church as the family of God in Christ (Romans 8:14-17, ESV).

From an exegetical perspective, the phrase ho en tois ouranois (“who is in the heavens”) does not locate God in a distant spatial realm so much as it underscores His transcendence and sovereignty. Jewish prayer frequently speaks of the “Father in heaven” or “our Father in heaven” (for example, in later forms of Kaddish and other liturgical texts). Jesus stands in that tradition, yet with the remarkable claim that through Him, believers truly know this Father.

Spiritually, this opening address invites a twofold posture: boldness and reverence. We come as children, yet we come before the King. The Evangelical heart of this line is that through the Gospel, believers are adopted as sons and daughters in the Son, so that what Jesus naturally says, “Father,” we may now say by grace, crying “Abba! Father!” through the Spirit (Romans 8:15, ESV).

“Hallowed be your name”

The first petition is hagiasthētō to onoma sou – “hallowed be your name” (Matthew 6:9; Luke 11:2, ESV). The verb hagiazō means “to make holy,” “to consecrate,” or “to treat as holy.” In the passive form here, it likely functions as a “divine passive,” implying “may You cause Your name to be regarded as holy.”

The “name” (onoma, Hebrew shem) in Biblical thought represents God’s revealed character, reputation, and presence. The petition that God’s name be sanctified has a close parallel in the Aramaic Kaddish, a doxology used at the conclusion of synagogue prayers and in mourning:

“Yitgadal ve-yitkadash shmei rabba” – “Magnified and sanctified be His great Name.”

The Kaddish continues with a plea for God’s kingdom to be established and His salvation to flourish, themes that align closely with the next petitions of the Lord’s Prayer. Jewish scholars and Christian interpreters alike have noted that the first part of the Lord’s Prayer corresponds in content and structure with the Kaddish and other prayers concerned with “sanctifying the Name” (kiddush ha-Shem).

In the Amidah, particularly in the Kedushah section recited in communal worship, worshipers proclaim:

“Nekadesh et shimcha ba’olam, keshem shemakdishim oto bishmei marom” – “We shall make Your name holy in the world, as they make it holy in the heavens above.”

This line is remarkably close to “hallowed be your name” together with “on earth as it is in heaven.” The idea is that God’s people on earth join the angels above in ascribing holiness to God, echoing Isaiah’s vision: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” (Isaiah 6:3, ESV).

For Jesus to place this petition first is theologically significant. Before we ask for bread, forgiveness, or protection, we ask that God’s reputation would be vindicated, His holiness displayed, and His name revered in the world. It echoes the concern of Ezekiel 36:23, where God promises, “And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name … and the nations will know that I am the Lord” (ESV). In Evangelical terms, this is a prayer for God-centered revival and mission, that the Gospel would spread and the Church’s life would reflect the holiness of the One whose name we bear.

“Your kingdom come, your will be done”

The second and third petitions form a closely linked pair:

“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10, ESV).

Luke abbreviates with “Your kingdom come” in the most secure manuscripts (Luke 11:2, ESV), though some later copies have “your will be done” as well.

The Greek basileia (“kingdom”) translates the Hebrew malkut, often in the phrase malkut shamayim (“kingdom of heaven”). In Jewish thought of the Second Temple period, God is already King, but His kingship is not fully acknowledged on earth. There is therefore an eschatological hope that God will “reign over all the earth” in an open, uncontested way (compare Zechariah 14:9, ESV).

This hope finds liturgical expression in Jewish prayer. For example, in the Amidah, we find petitions like:

“Meloch al kol ha’olam kulo bichvodecha” – “Reign over the entire world in Your glory.

The Kaddish likewise prays for God’s reign to be established “in your lifetime and in your days, and in the lifetime of the whole house of Israel.” The expression “your kingdom come” in the Lord’s Prayer is thus deeply consonant with these Jewish longings for the manifestation of God’s royal rule.

The clause “your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” extends this theme. The Greek to thelēma sou (“your will”) recalls the repeated emphasis in the Hebrew Scriptures that God’s will is good, sovereign, and ultimately triumphant (for example Psalm 135:6). To pray that it be done “on earth as it is in heaven” is to ask that earthly obedience mirror heavenly obedience, as the angels serve God perfectly (compare Psalm 103:20-21, ESV).

In Jewish literature, one often finds the phrase “the yoke of the kingdom of heaven,” which refers to Israel’s willing submission to God’s rule through Torah obedience. When Jesus teaches His disciples to pray for the coming of God’s kingdom, He is not introducing a foreign concept, but entering into this Jewish discourse and filling it with His own messianic significance. Evangelically, we understand that the kingdom has drawn near in the person and work of Christ (Mark 1:15, ESV), and yet awaits its consummation at His return. Thus the Church prays this petition as both present submission and future hope.

“Give us this day our daily bread.”

The fourth petition marks a shift from God’s glory to human need:

“Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11, ESV).
“Give us each day our daily bread” (Luke 11:3, ESV).

In Greek: Ton arton hēmōn ton epiousion dos hēmin sēmeron (Matthew) and ton arton hēmōn ton epiousion didou hēmin to kath’ hēmeran (Luke). The surprising term here is epiousios, often translated “daily.” This adjective is a famous hapax legomenon: it appears nowhere else in extant ancient Greek literature, except in quotations and allusions derived from Matthew and Luke.

Because epiousios is unique, its meaning has been debated. Proposals include:

“For today” – bread needed for the present day.

“For the coming day” – bread for tomorrow, stressing trust in God for the future.

“Necessary for existence” – bread is sufficient for life’s needs.

“Supersubstantial” – bread of a higher, spiritual order, linked in some patristic exegesis to the Eucharist.

The English Standard Version follows a long tradition in rendering the term as “daily,” which is pastorally faithful to the basic thrust of dependence on God for ongoing provision. At minimum, the syntax in Luke (“give us each day” plus epiousios) suggests that this is bread appropriate to each day’s needs.

Within a Jewish matrix, the most obvious background is the story of manna in the wilderness (Exodus 16). God commands Israel to gather manna each day, with no hoarding allowed, so that they will learn to rely on Him “day by day.” Many Jewish and Christian interpreters have seen this as an Old Testament analogy for the petition in the Lord’s Prayer.

Moreover, the Amidah includes a blessing for sustenance: “Bless this year for us, O Lord our God, and all kinds of its produce for good, and give dew and rain for blessing upon the face of the earth.” It also confesses that God “gives bread to all flesh,” an echo of Psalm 136:25, which the Jewish scholar Leo Abrami notes as a conceptual parallel to “Give us this day our daily bread.”

Evangelically, we may therefore read this petition on at least two levels. At the literal level, it is a request for the material provision necessary for life. At a deeper level, illumined by the rest of the New Testament, it reveals the Church and the synagogue, places where the continuity of God’s dealings with His people becomes especially visible.

For the Christian praying this prayer today, this realization should foster both humility and hope. Humility, because the Church does not own this language by right of originality; we have received it from Israel’s Messiah, who Himself prayed as a Jew and taught His disciples within a Jewish liturgical world. Hope, because in Christ the dividing wall of hostility has been broken down (Ephesians 2:14, ESV), and the shared spiritual heritage of Jews and Gentiles finds its fulfillment in the one family that can truthfully say together, “Our Father.”

To pray “Our Father” is thus to come home. It is to come home to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, revealed fully in Jesus Christ. It is to come home to a pattern of prayer that holds together adoration and petition, reverence and trust, repentance and dependence. It is to step into a stream of worship that flows from the Psalms, through the prayers of Second Temple Judaism, through the teaching of Jesus, into the liturgy and daily life of the Church.

As you linger over each line of this prayer, consider how its Jewish cadence and Evangelical content meet in your own life. Let “Our Father” draw you into a deeper awareness of your adoption in Christ. Let “hallowed be your name” reorient your ambitions. Let “your kingdom come” renew your eschatological hope. Let “give us this day our daily bread” cultivate daily gratitude. Let “forgive us our debts” soften your heart toward others. Let “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” keep you vigilant and dependent.

In these inexhaustible yet straightforward words, the Lord’s Prayer offers a Gospel-saturated way of living before God that is as old as Israel and as new as the Spirit’s work in your heart today.