Book Review: A Prayer to Our Father, Hebrew Origins of the Lord’s Prayer

This book is absolutely amazing!  I loved it!

This was written by two men with different perceptions; a Jew and a Christian.  The Lord’s Prayer (The Avinu Prayer) is one which both, those of the Jewish faith and the Christian faith, can apply to their life.

The authors laid the ground work of the biblical text that they were going to use; Hebrew Matthew and the Hebrew Bible.  The King James Version (KJV), New International Version (NIV), and others are Greek translations.  There is a version of the Gospel of Matthew (Hebrew Matthew) that was written in Hebrew and text within Matthew is consistent with how Hebrew was written.

Six chapters describe the six possible locations of where Yeshua (Jesus) could have taught this prayer to his disciples.  They visited each site, described what they saw, and researched Scriptures and other Hebrew materials to draw their conclusion on each location.  As I was reading each chapter, it felt like I was in a treasure hunt.  In the end, with what they described, I too came to the same conclusion as to where the location was.

The authors then broke down each of the eight statements of the Lord’s Prayer by devoting a complete chapter to each statement.  Within each chapter they talked about Hebrew mannerisms and customs in a very understandable fashion.  It is truly amazing to see when a word is translated this way or that way (Hebrew vs. Greek), how different the statement means.

This book has caused me to thirst for more.  There are other books that the Jewish author has written that also intrigue me.   He is an expert in translating the Dead Sea Scrolls and as a researcher deciphering ancient Hebrew manuscripts.  In addition, I want to dig into the original Hebrew text of the Old Testament and  of the Hebrew Matthew Version.

Below I have included the KJV version and the Hebrew Matthew Version of the Lord’s Prayer.  I invite you to read both versions and think about the differences.

King James Version
Our Father who art in heaven,
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.

Hebrew Matthew Version
Our Father in heaven,
May your name be sanctified.

May your kingdom be blessed.

Your will shall be done in heaven and on earth.

Give us our bread continually.

Forgive us the debt of our sins
as we forgive the debt of those who sin against us.

Do not bring us into the hands of a test,
and protect us from all evil.

Amen.