Lead us not into temptation

Greek Koine and Biblical and Medieval Greek
1

Weighty issues of Greek and Latin translation are once again dominating the headlines.

On Wednesday, Pope Francis said the common rendering of one line in the prayer — “lead us not into temptation” — was “not a good translation” from ancient texts. “Do not let us fall into temptation,” he suggested, might be better.

French Catholics adopted that change this week, and the pope suggested that Italian Catholics might want to follow suit…

French bishops this week tweaked the Lord’s Prayer in French from “Ne nous soumets pas à la tentation” (roughly, “do not expose us to temptation”) to “Ne nous laisse pas entrer en tentation” (“do not let us give in to temptation”).

The live interview in Italian.

Both Matthew 6:13 and Luke 11:4 καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν

In the Vulgate, “et ne inducas nos in temptationem.”

I can’t speak for the Latin, but it seems to me that these changes do nothing about what is actually wrong with “do not let us fall into temptation,” and instead break the part of the translation that is correct.

2

Agreed. The pope has no grounds whatsoever for this declaration. I’ve also never thought of the translation as needing to be fixed:

εἰσφέρω fut. εἰσοίσω LXX; aor. εἰσήνεγκα and εἰσήνεγκον (B-D-F §81, 2; W-S. §13, 13; Mlt-H. 263) pf. pass. ptc. εἰσενηνεγμένος 2 Macc 14:38; aor. εἰσηνέχθην LXX (Hom.+) gener. ‘bring in, carry in’.
① to bring into an area, bring in τινά: μὴ εὑρόντες ποίας (sc. ὁδοῦ) εἰσενέγκωσιν αὐτόν (i.e., εἰς τ. οἶκον) since they found no way to bring him in Lk 5:19; cp. vs. 18. οὐδὲν εἰσηνέγκαμεν εἰς τ. κόσμον we have brought nothing into the world (Philo, Spec. Leg. 1, 294f τὸν μηδὲν εἰς τ. κόσμον εἰσενηνοχότα; cp. Cicero, Tusc. 1, 38 [91]) 1 Ti 6:7; Pol 4:1. Pass. τὸ αἷμα εἰσφέρεται … εἰς τὰ ἅγια the blood is brought into the sanctuary Hb 13:11 (cp. Lev 4:5; 16:27 [pass.]). Also forcefully drag in (PAmh 77, 22 [139 A.D.]) Lk 12:11. On J 18:16 v.l. s. RBorger, TRu, ’87, 35f.
② to cause someone to enter into a certain event or condition, bring in, fig. ext. of 1: εἰ. τινὰ εἰς πειρασμόν bring or lead someone into temptation Mt 6:13; Lk 11:4; D 8:2; Pol 7:2. τὶ εἰς τὰς ἀκοάς τινος bring someth. to someone’s ears Ac 17:20 (cp. Soph., Aj. 149 εἰς ὦτα φέρει πάντων Ὀδυσσεύς); introduce ξένας διδαχάς strange teachings Hs 8, 6, 5 (cp. POxy 123, 13 συνείδησιν εἰσήνεγκαν=they sent a report; also X., Mem. 1, 1, 2 καινὰ δαιμόνια εἰσφέρειν [s. Just., A I, 5, 3; A II, 10, 5]).—M-M. TW.


Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., Bauer, W., & Gingrich, F. W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed., p. 295). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Edit – Forgot the Latin:

in-dūco, xi, ctum, 3 (imp. induce for induc, Varr. R. R. 3, 2, 18; induxti for induxisti, Ter. And. 5, 3, 12; induxis for induxeris, Plaut. Capt. 1, 2, 46), v. a. [in-duco], to lead, bring, or conduct into a place; to lead or bring in (class.); constr. with in and acc., dat., acc. only, or absol.

Lewis, C. T., & Short, C. (1891). Harpers’ Latin Dictionary (p. 937). New York; Oxford: Harper & Brothers; Clarendon Press.

3

What Pope Benedict XVI wrote in his book Jesus of Nazareth (2007) about the issue.

And Lead Us Not into Temptation

4

The issue that I would have with the standard translation is πειρασμόν.

5

I think Pope Benedict is correct to bring up Satan and Job.

μὴ ἐπίτρεπε τῷ Πονηρῷ δοκιμάζειν ἡμᾶς.

I think I understand what you are getting at, but note that the word used in KJV covers the semantic range, I think, of both πεῖρα and δοκιμασία.

πεῖρα–ἀπόπειρα πρὸς ἐξαπάτησιν γυναικός. (Λ.Σ.Κ.)
δοκιμάζω-- ὑποβάλλω εἰς δοκιμασίαν, ἐξετάζω, ἐρευνῶ. (Λ.Σ.Κ.)

6

πειρασμός, οῦ, ὁ (πειράζω; in extra-Biblical usage only Diosc., Mat. Med. Praef. 5; Cyranides; Syntipas [s. 2b].—LXX; TestJos 2:7).
① an attempt to learn the nature or character of someth., test, trial (Sir 6:7; 27:5, 7) πρὸς πειρασμόν to test you 1 Pt 4:12. διὰπειρασμόν τινα because you are being tried in some way Hm 9:7. Perh. Js 1:2 and 1 Pt 1:6 belong here (cp. Pind., O. 4, 22 διά πειρά τοι βροτῶν ἔλεγχο=trial is the test of mortals; sim. N. 3, 70f). Here also belongs the testing (s. πειράζω 2c) of God by humans (cp. Dt 6:16; 9:22) Hb 3:8 where vs. 9 shows that it is God who is being tested, and not the Israelites (Ps 94:8f).
② an attempt to make one do someth. wrong, temptation, enticement to sin.
ⓐ act. tempting συντελέσας πάντα πειρασμὸν ὁ διάβολος when the devil had exhausted every way of tempting Lk 4:13.
ⓑ pass. being tempted Js 1:12. Temptation, fr. without or fr. within, that can be an occasion of sin to a person (Sir 33:1; 44:20; 1 Macc 2:52; Orig., C. Cels. 8, 56, 9) μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν Mt 6:13; Lk 11:4 (s. bibliog. in The Lord’s Prayer and Other Prayer Texts fr. the Gr-Roman Era, ed. JCharlesworth ’94, 186–201); D 8:2; cp. Pol 7:2.—KKnoke, Der ursprüngl. Sinn der sechsten Bitte: NKZ 18, 1907, 200–220; AHarnack, Zur sechsten Bitte des Vaterunsers: SBBerlAk 1907, 942–47; AKleber, CBQ 3, ’41, 317–20; GVerity, ET 58, ’46/47, 221f; FGrant, Introd. to NT Thought, ’50, 208.—μέγα ἐπίκειται π. a great temptation is before me AcPl Ha 8, 22=Ox 1602, 31 as corrected HTR 31 ’38, 58 n. 2, ln. 10=BMM recto 28.—(εἰς)έρχεσθαι εἰς πειρασμόν (Did., Gen. 225, :sunglasses: Mt 26:41; Mk 14:38 (Unknown Sayings, tr. Fuller ’57, p. 59 n. 1 and s. the agraphon fr. Tertullian, pp. 57–59); Lk 22:40 (HBate, JTS 36, ’35, 76f), 46. ἐμπίπτειν εἰς πειρασμόν 1 Ti 6:9. ἐν καιρῷ πειρασμοῦ in a time of temptation Lk 8:13. ἡ ὥρα τοῦ π. Rv 3:10. ἐκ πειρασμοῦ ῥύεσθαι 2 Pt 2:9. Cp. also Ac 15:26 v.l.; 1 Cor 10:13ab; 2 Cl 18:2.—Also in the pl. temptations (Cyranides p. 40, 24 πειρασμοὶ ἐν γῇ κ. θαλάσσῃ; Syntipas p. 124, 18; TestJos 2:7) Lk 22:28. μετὰ ταπεινοφροσύνης καὶ δακρύων καὶ πειρασμῶν Ac 20:19. ἐν ποικίλοις πειρασμοῖς 1 Pt 1:6; cp. Js 1:2 (trial is also prob. in the last two passages, s. 1 above).—2 Pt 2:9 v.l.—On the difficult saying τὸν πειρασμὸν ὑμῶν ἐν τῇ σαρκί μου οὐκ ἐξουθενήσατε Gal 4:14 s. on ἐξουθενέω 1 and 2 and s. JdeZwaan, ZNW 10, 1909, 246–50.—HKorn, ΠΕΙΡΑΣΜΟΣ. Die Versuchg. des Gläubigen in der griech. Bibel, ’37; MAndrews, Peirasmos, A Study in Form-Criticism, ATR 24, ’42, 229–44; KKuhn, πειρασμός im NT, ZTK 49, ’52, 200–222, New Light on Temptation, etc., in The Scrolls and the NT, ed. Stendahl, ’57, 94–113.—M-M. TW. Spicq. Sv.


Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., Bauer, W., & Gingrich, F. W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed., p. 793). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

7

πειρασμός can be used in a place like Hebrews 3:8, while I wouldn’t think that temptation could be. I think that πειρασμός can easily apply to varieties of persecution, and perhaps primarily does in the Lord’s Prayer, while “temptation” in English doesn’t have as wide a range.

Of course, now that I look, when the KJV was written, “temptation” was the translation used in Hebrews 3:8, which suggests to me that the word’s meaning might have narrowed since the 17th century.

8

Google: “Jeffrey B. Gibson” temptation

9

Mt. 6:13: καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν.


Compare:

ABS: καὶ μὴ ἐπιτρέψῃς νὰ πέσωμε σὲ πειρασμόν.

and

TGV; και μη μας αφήσεις να πέσουμε σε πειρασμό.

One way to reconvert this back to Koine would be:

καὶ μὴ ἐπιτρέψῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμὸν πίπτειν.

Or

μὴ πέσωμεν εἰς τὸν τοῦ δοκιμασίας καιρόν.

One could reconvert the Hebrew of say, Delitzsch,

Mt. 6:13: וְאַל־תְּבִיאֵנוּ לִידֵי נִסָּיוֹן

back into Koine

μὴ ποίει ἡμᾶς πορευθῆναι εἰς τὰς τῆς δοκιμασίας χεῖρας.

The Great Tribulation will make Job look like a pop-quiz, and it’s possible that Jesus is teaching us to ask that the Rapture take place before the same.

Agreed. As a Calvinist to the right (or would it be to the left?) of Calvin, I think Francis’ change weakens the sovereignty of God. A God that can make a horse drink (or not drink) can surely lead him to water. A God than can make a man believe can lead him places where that faith is tested.

10

For me, it’s simply that εἰσφέρω does not mean ἐπιτρέπω πεσεῖν or any of the other suggested paraphrases.

11

I think that Markos is on the right track by looking at the theology. This is a weird verse, and the Pope has properly recognized that, and it seems to me that his suggestion is one that makes the Lord’s Prayer safe for the Moralistic Therapeutic Deists that make up the modern world.

But I’m not very interested in sanding off the hard edges of scripture, so looking at the verse again, it strikes me as odd that the verb is εἰσφέρειν and not εἰσάγειν. Maybe this isn’t weird in Koine, but I don’t think that Attic would use εἰσφέρειν for people. So this is “do not carry us into trial” or “do not bear us into trial,” which is just as weird in Attic as in English. We would be (corporate) deadweight here, being borne along by God. So this makes me think of the prayer request in Matthew 24:20: προσεύχεσθε δὲ ἵνα μὴ γένηται ἡ φυγὴ ὑμῶν χειμῶνος μηδὲ σαββάτῳ.

Also notice that Matthew 6:12-15 is almost a single idea.

καὶ ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰ ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν, ὡς καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀφήκαμεν τοῖς ὀφειλέταις ἡμῶν· καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν, ἀλλὰ ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ. Ἐὰν γὰρ ἀφῆτε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὰ παραπτώματα αὐτῶν, ἀφήσει καὶ ὑμῖν ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ οὐράνιος· ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ἀφῆτε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὰ παραπτώματα αὐτῶν, οὐδὲ ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ἀφήσει τὰ παραπτώματα ὑμῶν.

Is “καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν, ἀλλὰ ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ” part of this idea, or is it simply an interjection? If “καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν” is meant to be a restatement of “καὶ ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰ ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν,” then the overall idea of this section might be something like “don’t bring about general destruction (or Judgement Day) because of our (corporate) sins.”

12

Your observation puts me in mind of 2 Pet 1:21:

ἀλλʼ ὑπὸ πνεύματος ἁγίου φερόμενοι ἐλάλησαν ἀπὸ θεοῦ ἄνθρωποι

Using φέρω of human beings being acted upon by divine agency.

Luke 5:18-19 uses εἰσφέρω of a person:

18 καὶ ἰδοὺ ἄνδρες φέροντες ἐπὶ κλίνης ἄνθρωπον ὃς ἦν παραλελυμένος καὶ ἐζήτουν αὐτὸν εἰσενεγκεῖν καὶ θεῖναι [αὐτὸν] ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ. 19 καὶ μὴ εὑρόντες ποίας εἰσενέγκωσιν αὐτὸν διὰ τὸν ὄχλον

This suggest to me (without taking the time for further verification) that perhaps the lexical choice is significant, in that the word may not normally be used of leading people in the general sense the way ἄγω or εἰσάγω might, but of bringing them, almost as though one was carrying an inanimate object.

13

This got me a little curious about ἐξάγω versus ἐκφέρω when I came across this while reading the Graecus Venetus

LXX Ex 12:51b:…> ἐξήγαγε > Κύριος τοὺς υἱοὺς ᾿Ισραὴλ ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου…



GV Ex 12:51b:…> ἐξήνεγκεν > ὁ ὀντουργὸς τοὺς υἱέας τοῦ ἰσραέλου ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς τῆς αἰγύπτου…

Now, don’t read much anything into this, because the central feature of the Graecus Venetus is its obsession with departing from the LXX whenever possible.

Anyway, I looked it up and, by my count, in the GNT ἐκφέρω is used 6 times of things and corpses and 2 times of people. ἐξάγω is used 11 times of people and once of animals, although in that case (Jn 10:3) πρόβατα are symbolic for followers of Jesus.

I think I looked into this before and concluded that the distinction was usually, but by no means always, kept. The Talmud might say, if it were written in Greek, (and if it covered the New Testament, :laughing:) that εἰσφέρω is used because as sinners we are dead apart from forgiveness in Christ.

@Joel and Barry:

  1. Why μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς instead of μὴ εἰσφέρε ἡμᾶς?
  2. Does ἀλλὰ ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ mean ἀπὸ τοῦ Διαβόλου or ἀπὸ τοῦ παθεῖν κακά (or something else?)
14

The use of the aorist subjunctive in prohibitions is fairly standard Greek grammar, isn’t it? The aorist subjunctive or imperative tends to look at the action as a whole rather than as a process, although Smyth sees them as equivalent:

  1. Prohibitive Subjunctive.—The subjunctive (in the second and third persons of the aorist) is often used to express prohibitions (negative μή).
    a. Usually in the second person: μηδὲν ἀθῡμήσητε do not lose heart X. A. 5. 4. 19. For the aorist subjunctive the present imperative may be employed (1840): μὴ ποιήσῃς (or μὴ ποίει) ταῦτα do not do this (not μὴ ποιῇς).

Smyth, H. W. (1920). A Greek Grammar for Colleges (p. 404). New York; Cincinnati; Chicago; Boston; Atlanta: American Book Company.



In sum, the basic force of the aorist in commands/prohibitions is that it views the action as a whole, while the basic force of the present in commands/prohibitions is that it views the action as ongoing process. This basic meaning may, of course, be shaped in a given context to fit, say, an ingressive idea for the aorist. Thus if the conditions are right, the aorist prohibition may well have the force of “Do not start.” This is an affected meaning or specific usage. But to call this the essential idea is not correct.

Wallace, D. B. (1996). Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics - Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament (p. 717). Zondervan Publishing House and Galaxie Software.

As for τοῦ πονηροῦ, crux interpretum. You’ll find the commentaries arguing either, although your paraphrase ἀπὸ τοῦ παθεῖν κακά seems to me to be bit weak, since πονηρός is a much stronger (specific, more limited semantic range) term than κακός.

15

What is the article doing in τοῦ πονηροῦ? Couldn’t it be a class referent, a referent back to πειρασμός, or a referent to a known individual (Matthew 13:19)?

Save us from evil
Save us from the evil trial/temptation
Save us from the evil one

16

Smyth 1023. Neuter, when the substantive idea is thing in general: τὸ ἀγαθόν the (highest) good P. R. 506b (but ““τὰ ἀγαθά” good things” L. 12.33), ““τὸ ἀληθές” truth” P. G. 473b, τὸ κοινόν the commonwealth Ant. 3. β. 3, ““τὸ ἐσόμενον” the future” Aes. 3.165, ““τὸ λεγόμενον” as the saying is” T. 7.68, ““ἀμφὶ μέσον ἡμέρα_ς” about mid-day” X. A. 4.4.1, ““ἐπὶ πολύ” over a wide space” T. 1.18.

17

So what is τοῦ πονηροῦ? Masculine or neuter?

18

I’d never thought that it might be anything but the abstract idea of evil, and thus neuter. But indeed, why not masculine? ”Do not take/lead/force us into trial, but save us from the bad guy.” This reminds me of the passage where Satan abducts Jesus and tempts him in various ways.

I’m nit familiar with Koine usage, but seeing what πείραζω means in classical times, ”trial/test” seems instinctively a much better translations than ”temptation”.

19

We are recreating the history of interpretation on this passage.

πειρασμός, οῦ, ὁ (πειράζω; in extra-Biblical usage only Diosc., Mat. Med. Praef. 5; Cyranides; Syntipas [s. 2b].—LXX; TestJos 2:7).
① an attempt to learn the nature or character of someth., test, trial (Sir 6:7; 27:5, 7) πρὸς πειρασμόν to test you 1 Pt 4:12. διὰπειρασμόν τινα because you are being tried in some way Hm 9:7. Perh. Js 1:2 and 1 Pt 1:6 belong here (cp. Pind., O. 4, 22 διά πειρά τοι βροτῶν ἔλεγχο=trial is the test of mortals; sim. N. 3, 70f). Here also belongs the testing (s. πειράζω 2c) of God by humans (cp. Dt 6:16; 9:22) Hb 3:8 where vs. 9 shows that it is God who is being tested, and not the Israelites (Ps 94:8f).
② an attempt to make one do someth. wrong, temptation, enticement to sin.
ⓐ act. tempting συντελέσας πάντα πειρασμὸν ὁ διάβολος when the devil had exhausted every way of tempting Lk 4:13.
ⓑ pass. being tempted Js 1:12. Temptation, fr. without or fr. within, that can be an occasion of sin to a person (Sir 33:1; 44:20; 1 Macc 2:52; Orig., C. Cels. 8, 56, 9) μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν Mt 6:13; Lk 11:4 (s. bibliog. in The Lord’s Prayer and Other Prayer Texts fr. the Gr-Roman Era, ed. JCharlesworth ’94, 186–201); D 8:2; cp. Pol 7:2.—KKnoke, Der ursprüngl. Sinn der sechsten Bitte: NKZ 18, 1907, 200–220; AHarnack, Zur sechsten Bitte des Vaterunsers: SBBerlAk 1907, 942–47; AKleber, CBQ 3, ’41, 317–20; GVerity, ET 58, ’46/47, 221f; FGrant, Introd. to NT Thought, ’50, 208.—μέγα ἐπίκειται π. a great temptation is before me AcPl Ha 8, 22=Ox 1602, 31 as corrected HTR 31 ’38, 58 n. 2, ln. 10=BMM recto 28.—(εἰς)έρχεσθαι εἰς πειρασμόν (Did., Gen. 225, :sunglasses: Mt 26:41; Mk 14:38 (Unknown Sayings, tr. Fuller ’57, p. 59 n. 1 and s. the agraphon fr. Tertullian, pp. 57–59); Lk 22:40 (HBate, JTS 36, ’35, 76f), 46. ἐμπίπτειν εἰς πειρασμόν 1 Ti 6:9. ἐν καιρῷ πειρασμοῦ in a time of temptation Lk 8:13. ἡ ὥρα τοῦ π. Rv 3:10. ἐκ πειρασμοῦ ῥύεσθαι 2 Pt 2:9. Cp. also Ac 15:26 v.l.; 1 Cor 10:13ab; 2 Cl 18:2.—Also in the pl. temptations (Cyranides p. 40, 24 πειρασμοὶ ἐν γῇ κ. θαλάσσῃ; Syntipas p. 124, 18; TestJos 2:7) Lk 22:28. μετὰ ταπεινοφροσύνης καὶ δακρύων καὶ πειρασμῶν Ac 20:19. ἐν ποικίλοις πειρασμοῖς 1 Pt 1:6; cp. Js 1:2 (trial is also prob. in the last two passages, s. 1 above).—2 Pt 2:9 v.l.—On the difficult saying τὸν πειρασμὸν ὑμῶν ἐν τῇ σαρκί μου οὐκ ἐξουθενήσατε Gal 4:14 s. on ἐξουθενέω 1 and 2 and s. JdeZwaan, ZNW 10, 1909, 246–50.—HKorn, ΠΕΙΡΑΣΜΟΣ. Die Versuchg. des Gläubigen in der griech. Bibel, ’37; MAndrews, Peirasmos, A Study in Form-Criticism, ATR 24, ’42, 229–44; KKuhn, πειρασμός im NT, ZTK 49, ’52, 200–222, New Light on Temptation, etc., in The Scrolls and the NT, ed. Stendahl, ’57, 94–113.—M-M. TW. Spicq. Sv.

Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., Bauer, W., & Gingrich, F. W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed., p. 793). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

20

Marcion’s version (per Harnack): μὴ ἄφες ἡμᾶς εἰσενεχθῆναι εἰς πειρασμόν.