Part 34: Theological Exegesis of the Lord’s Prayer

The Lord’s Prayer (Πάτερ ἡμῶν): Line-by-Line with Patristic Commentary

1. Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς

"Our Father who art in heaven"

Greek Analysis:

• Πάτερ ἡμῶν — “Our Father”: The plural indicates the communal nature of Christian prayer. God is not merely my Father, but ours—signifying the ecclesial identity of the one praying.
  
  

• ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς — “who art in the heavens”: This expression emphasizes the transcendence and majesty of God while maintaining intimacy through the term “Father.”
  
  

Patristic Commentary:

• St. Cyprian of Carthage:
  “We do not say ‘My Father,’ but ‘Our Father,’ because the teacher of unity willed that each should pray for all.”
  — On the Lord’s Prayer, §8
  
  
  

• St. John Chrysostom:
  “He gives us confidence to call God Father, reminding us of our adoption and urging us to live worthy of such a birth.”
  — Homily 19 on Matthew
  
  
  

2. ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου

"Hallowed be Thy name"

Greek Analysis:

• ἁγιασθήτω — Aorist passive imperative: “Let it be sanctified.”
  
  

• τὸ ὄνομά σου — “Your name”: In Jewish and early Christian usage, “name” refers to the manifest presence and glory of God.
  
  

Patristic Commentary:

• St. Gregory of Nyssa:
  “This petition is not that God's name be made holy—since it is always holy—but that His holiness be recognized in us, that we may be made holy through our union with Him.”
  — On the Lord’s Prayer
  
  
  

• Origen:
  “We do not mean that God should become more holy. We ask that His holiness be revealed to all and honored in our lives.”
  — On Prayer, ch. 26
  
  
  

3. ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου

"Thy Kingdom come"

Greek Analysis:

• ἐλθέτω — Aorist imperative: “Let it come.”
  
  

• ἡ βασιλεία σου — “Your kingdom”: This refers to both the eschatological reign of God and the spiritual reign of Christ in the hearts of the faithful now.
  
  

Patristic Commentary:

• Tertullian:
  “We pray that the kingdom promised by God may come, and that we may be found in it, for it is also the desire of the saints.”
  — On Prayer, ch. 5
  
  
  

• St. Cyril of Jerusalem:
  “The Kingdom of God is not only in the future, but now, whenever Christ reigns in our hearts.”
  — Catechetical Lectures, 23.10
  
  
  

4. γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου, ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς

"Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven"

Greek Analysis:

• γενηθήτω — “Let it come to pass” or “be brought about.” This is an active alignment of human will with divine will.
  
  

• ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς — “as in heaven, so also on earth”: A vision of cosmic harmony where earth reflects the order and obedience of heaven.
  
  

Patristic Commentary:

• St. Augustine:
  “This is a prayer not that God may do what He wills, but that we may be able to do what God wills.”
  — Letter 130.9
  
  
  

• St. Maximus the Confessor:
  “To do the will of God on earth as it is in heaven is the fulfillment of deification (θέωσις).”
  — Mystagogia, ch. 24
  
  
  

5. τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δὸς ἡμῖν σήμερον

"Give us this day our daily (or superessential) bread"

Greek Analysis:

• ἐπιούσιον — A rare and unique word. Interpreted as:
  
  

• “daily” (temporal sustenance), and
  
  

• “superessential” (ἐπὶ οὐσία), i.e., the bread of life, the Eucharist.
  
  

Patristic Commentary:

• St. Gregory of Nyssa:
  “We ask not for material bread alone, but for that divine bread which supports the soul—the Logos of God, Christ Himself.”
  — On the Lord’s Prayer
  
  
  

• St. Cyril of Jerusalem:
  “This daily bread is before all spiritual. It is the Bread of Heaven, the Body of Christ, which becomes ours in the Eucharist.”
  — Catechetical Lectures, 23.15
  
  
  

6. καὶ ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰ ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν, ὡς καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀφίεμεν τοῖς ὀφειλέταις ἡμῶν

"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors"

Greek Analysis:

• ὀφειλήματα — “debts” (moral failings or sins).
  
  

• The clause expresses a conditional reciprocity—our forgiveness from God depends on our forgiveness of others.
  
  

Patristic Commentary:

• St. John Chrysostom:
  “Nothing makes us so like God as being ready to forgive… if we do not forgive, we close the door to our own salvation.”
  — Homily 19 on Matthew
  
  
  

• St. Isaac the Syrian:
  “This petition teaches us that forgiving others is the condition upon which our own forgiveness rests.”
  — Ascetical Homilies, Homily 71
  
  
  

7. καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν

"And lead us not into temptation"

Greek Analysis:

• πειρασμός — “trial, testing, or temptation”: Can refer to both spiritual testing and enticement to sin.
  
  

• This is not accusing God of tempting, but a plea to be spared from circumstances in which we might fall.
  
  

Patristic Commentary:

• St. James (Apostolic witness):
  “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil.”
  — James 1:13
  
  
  

• Origen:
  “We do not ask not to be tested at all, but that if we are tested, it may not overcome us.”
  — On Prayer, ch. 29
  
  
  

8. ἀλλὰ ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ

"But deliver us from the evil one"

Greek Analysis:

• τοῦ πονηροῦ — Masculine genitive singular; best rendered “the evil one” (i.e., Satan), not just “evil” in the abstract.
  
  

Patristic Commentary:

• St. Cyril of Alexandria:
  “Christ teaches us to seek refuge from the devil, who seeks to destroy the soul. This is a direct request for divine protection from spiritual enemies.”
  — Commentary on Luke, Sermon 77
  
  
  

• St. Basil the Great:
  “By this we ask to be delivered from the devil’s tyranny and the passions which he uses to destroy the soul.”
  — On the Lord’s Prayer
  
  
  

Conclusion: The Lord’s Prayer as a Summary of the Christian Life

The Πάτερ ἡμῶν is not simply a prayer—it is a spiritual ladder by which the Christian soul ascends toward God. It begins with adoration, passes through submission, petition, forgiveness, moral vigilance, and ends with deliverance and salvation. In this way, it mirrors the structure of the Divine Liturgy itself.

As St. Maximus the Confessor teaches:

“Each petition of the Lord’s Prayer leads the soul toward union with God, moving from purification to illumination to glorification.”
— Commentary on the Our Father

This prayer, when said with reverence and understanding, opens the heart to divine adoption, sacramental participation, and the inner peace of the Kingdom already begun in this life.

In conclusion, the Lord’s Prayer—Πάτερ ἡμῶν—stands not merely as a model of personal piety, but as the very blueprint of the Christian spiritual life. Spoken within the Divine Liturgy before the reception of the Holy Mysteries, it draws the faithful into the heart of Trinitarian communion and reorients their entire existence toward the coming Kingdom. Each petition is both a doctrinal affirmation and a moral imperative: God is confessed as Father, His Name is hallowed in our lives, His Kingdom is both awaited and made manifest in us, and His will becomes our sanctification. The request for ἐπιούσιος bread links our daily sustenance with the Eucharistic banquet, revealing the mystery of divine economy that nourishes both body and soul. The call for forgiveness not only affirms God’s mercy but obliges our imitation of it, training us in humility and reconciliation. The prayer’s final petitions place us squarely in the eschatological drama, where the faithful cry out for protection from temptation and from the evil one, longing to be preserved for the Day of the Lord. In this way, the Πάτερ ἡμῶν becomes the common confession of the Church, the distilled theology of the Gospel, and the ladder by which the faithful ascend—from earth to heaven, from time into eternity, from self into the divine embrace. As St. Gregory of Nyssa said, “This prayer forms Christ in us.” In praying these sacred words, the Church not only calls upon God but is reshaped in His likeness, becoming ever more the body of Christ—united in love, forgiveness, and the hope of the age to come.