This clause of the “Lord’s prayer” has often been considered the most difficult to understand, but the difficulties are probably more imaginary than real. If we compare Scripture with Scripture, and closely observe the living examples which the Word records, a full and satisfactory explanation of seeming obscurities is frequently obtained. Any interpretation must be in harmony with all divine principles. The Divine Mind as expressed in the Word is not subject to changeableness. “God is not the author of confusion,” either in His works or His Word.
Some have sought to alter the wording of this petition in order to avoid an imagined difficulty, and to make it read “Leave us not in temptation”; but there is no justification for it, and it creates other difficulties. Many modern translations retain the A.V. rendering. The R.V. makes a change in one word, rendering the phrase, “Bring us not into temptation.” This has some significance because the original Greek word translated “lead” means to “bear into” or “carry into.” It is twice translated “lead into,” and four times “bring in” or “bring into.” In the record of the paralytic brought to Jesus by his friends, it is stated they sought means to “bring him in,” i.e., right into the middle of the crowd where Jesus was. Hence we have the idea in this word, of something that has been brought right into the very middle. How does this help our understanding of the petition we are considering?
The word “lead” naturally suggests the idea of being guided or shepherded to temptation, but “bring into” implies being brought right into active co-operation with it. The words of the Lord to his disciples in Gethsemane give the same idea, “Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation.”
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Author: F. G. Owen
Keywords: Lord's prayer, Teach us to pray, Temptation, Tempted, Tempt, Trials, Abraham tempted, God cannot be tempted, Tempted by sin, lead us not into temptation, deliver us from evil
Bible reference(s): Mat 6:13, Luk 11:4, Heb 2:18, Heb 4:15
Source: “Lead Us Not Into Temptation,” The Testimony, Vol. 20 No. 229, January 1950, pp. 2-4.
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