Matthew 6:13

The doxology was an early insertion from the liturgy, it is absent from the oldest MSS. (אBD). The receptus reads ὅτι σοῦ ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία καὶ ἡ δύναμις καὶ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας�.

13. μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν. The statement of James 1:2, χαρὰν ἡγήσασθε ὅταν πειρασμοῖς περιπέσητε ποικίλοις, is not really contradictory. The Christian character is strengthened and purified by temptation, but no one can think of temptation without dread.

ῥῦσαι. Lit. ‘draw to thyself,’ ‘rescue,’ as from an enemy. Cp. 1 Thessalonians 1:10, Ἰησοῦν τὸν ῥυόμενον ἡμᾶς�, where the act of rescuing is regarded as continuous, and Colossians 1:13, ὃς ἐρύσατο ἡμᾶς ἐκ τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ σκότους, where the reference is to a single act of salvation. The aorist imperative (ῥῦσαι) indicates a prayer for instant and special deliverance, not continued preservation from danger, cp. δὸς and ἄφες above and σῶσον, ἀπολλύμεθα, ch. Matthew 8:25.

ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ. (1) From the evil one, i.e. Satan, or (2) from evil. The Greek bears either rendering, but the neuter is preferable and gives a deeper sense. We pray to be delivered from all that is included under the name of evil, not only from external evil but from the principle of evil within us.

The Formal Structure of the Lord’s Prayer

The Lord’s Prayer falls naturally into two divisions answering to one another. The thought of the first line—God addressed as Father—is felt in each petition. The next three lines correspond to one another precisely in structure and in rhythm. Note the sense of earnestness expressed by the aorist imperative with which each line begins, and the sense of devotion expressed by the thrice repeated σου.

These three petitions are in gradation, forming a climax. (1) The preparation for the Kingdom; (2) the coming of it; (3) the perfection of it. This answers to three historical stages: the acknowledgement of Jehovah in the O.T.; the advent of the Kingdom in the N.T.; the realised Kingdom in the Church of Christ.
The addition to the third petition ὡς ἐν οὐρ. καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς at once recalls the address in the first line ὁ ἐν οὐρ, and connects the second division of the prayer with the first by linking οὐρανὸς and γῆ.

In the three last petitions there is also a climax. (1) Prayer for the supply of present temporal need—the necessary condition of earthly life. (2) Prayer for forgiveness of past sin—the necessary condition of spiritual life. (3) Prayer for future exemption from evil, even from temptation to evil, i.e. σωτηρία or salvation. Cp. with the three points of time thus faintly indicated, Soph. Ant. 607, τό τʼ ἔπειτα καἱ τὸ μέλλον | καὶ τὸ πρὶν ἐπαρκέσει, ‘shall hold good for future near and far as through the past,’ where τὸ ἔπειτα = ἐπιούσιον, see note supra.

Last, observe the correspondence of the several clauses in each division: (1) God’s name hallowed, with the food and sustenance of the Christian life. (2) The Kingdom of God, with forgiveness of sins (cp. Matthew 3:2 with Mark 1:4). (3) The will of God, with freedom from evil (1 Thessalonians 4:3; Hebrews 10:10). In accordance with this interpretation a spiritual sense is given to ἄρτον also, as Christ, the Bread of Life.