The Original Lord's Prayer
A proper translation from Aramaic to English
I was raised Catholic. Very Catholic. I was even an altar boy, or server, depending on where you are in the world. My mum is still an Eucharistic minister, i.e. at mass she gives out the host. I went to church every Sunday and in primary school, we had to go to the odd extra mass, and in secondary we had to, yes, had to, attend mass within school hours once per week.
But I’m not Catholic anymore, we can blame a multitude of reasons; the countless sex scandals in the Irish Catholic church, the constant cover-ups and, well, just the damn horribleness of the whole institution for its followers.
There are other reasons too but you’re not here to hear me moan.
There’s an old saying ‘born a Catholic, die a Catholic’ and the teachings still linger. I mean, if you throw enough mud at a wall it’s going to stick so, yes, when I wasn’t daydreaming in church or religion class some of it seeped in.
Jesus’ two prayers
In the Bible, Jesus only delivered two prayers. One being the “Our Father” the other being “The Disciple’s Prayer”. The second one was when he had his last supper with his disciples before his crucifixion. And, it’s more-or-less what the Christian mass is based on.
Jesus does his thing over bread and wine and asks God to help his disciples spread the word and protect them.
The Our Father is where God is praised and petitioned. In school, we learned it in two languages, English and Irish. English is the most spoken language in my region of Ireland but we all learn Irish until we leave secondary school. There are some slight differences between the two versions and because of these differences, I’ve always had a feeling that something was, well, wrong with the English version.
Here are two examples of why:
English version: Thy will be done
Irish: Go ndéantar do thoil ar an talamh (may your will be done)
English: And forgive us our trespasses
Irish: Agus maith dúinn ár bhfiacha, (and forgive us our debts)
In the grand scheme of things, these aren’t huge differences but as I got older and learned more about religion from outside of school, I wasn’t exactly surprised when I came across many biblical mistranslations.
Let’s look at a few examples:
Matthew 5:5: “The meek shall inherit the earth.” “Praus” a Greek word “praus” was translated as “meek, but a better translation would be “gentleness, strength under control,” so it’s not the “weak” who will inherit the world, but the ones with cool heads under pressure.
Exodus 20:13: “Thou shalt not kill.” The Hebrew word “ratsach” was translated as “kill,” However, a better translation would actually suggest “murder,” as in, premeditated and malicious killing. So, accidental or self-defense would actually be OK with the head honcho in the clouds.
OK, I know, we can really dive into the Bible, or any religious book for that matter and find things like this but pondering on these things got me thinking that there has to be someone out there who has sought out the original Aramaic words of Jesus’ Lord Prayer and done a proper translation.
Neil Douglas-Klotz
In 1994, an American religious researcher called Neil Douglas-Klotz released a book called “Prayers of the Cosmos” where he did such a thing. Although, I will say here that he didn’t manage to find the original Aramaic text. Everything that makes up the New Testament comes from Greek amd had been translated from Aramaic or written in Greek by second or third-generation Christians.
During his research, Douglas-Klotz wrote the prayer back into Aramaic and then into English.
What he did was translate a prayer that is far more beautiful and mystical than what our Church fathers have been teaching.
It goes as follows:
Our Father who art in heaven:
O Birther! Father-Mother of the Cosmos, you create all that moves in light.
Hallowed be thy name
Focus your light within us — make it useful: as the rays of a beacon show the way.
Thy kingdom come
Unite our “I can” to yours, so that we walk as kings and queens with every creature.
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven
Create in me a divine cooperation — from many selves, one voice, one action.
Give us this day our daily bread
Grant what we need each day in bread and insight.
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors
Forgive our hidden past, the secret shames, as we consistently forgive what others hide.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil
Deceived neither by the outer nor the inner — free us to walk your path with joy.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
From you is born all ruling will, the power and life to do, the song that beautifies all from age to age it renews. Amen.
I’m still not Catholic and I won’t be returning to that way of believing but since I came across this more mystical version I try and say it once a day as it certainly feels like a more appropriate way to address the cosmos/God/the Tao.
Below is a video where he explains it far better than I ever can.
Hi, I’m Paddy. Thanks for reading my article. I’m a counselor, coach, and meditation teacher. If you’d like to read my latest articles on Medium you can subscribe here. If you’d like to contact me regarding a counseling session or about writing, you can contact me here. My different social media channels are here.