[Vision2020] Question for the biblical scholars

[Ralph Nielsen]

The Greek text says "debts," so do Jerome's Latin, Luther's German,  
and the KJV. Other Bibles in my collection also say "debts": French,  
Spanish, Danish and Norwegian. Nearly all English versions I have say  
"debts," except the Revised English Bible, which says "Forgive us the  
wrong we have done..."

As a kid I always heard it as "trespasses." The Eerdmans Commentary  
on the Bible refers to "trespasses" as "traditional." The word is a  
bit old fashioned, isn't it? The article on "Lord's Prayer" in the 6- 
vol. Anchor Bible Dictionary gives about 16 references to articles  
and books on the Lord's Prayer, including 2 books with that exact title.

I hope this answers your prayer, Roger.

Ralph

lfalen lfalen at turbonet.com
Tue Mar 20 10:16:55 PDT 2007

I learned the Lord's Prayer as debts and debtors. A lot of  
denominations say forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those that  
trespass against us. How did the difference come about? Is it a  
Methodist vs Baptist thing?

Roger