Q&A

Q: What Does, "Lead Us Not Into Temptation" in the Lord's Prayer Mean?

A: There is a commentary on the Lord's Prayer by St. Cyprian (c. 205 - 258) considered so good by the Fathers that a hundred years later, when St. Hilary of Poitiers wrote his commentary on Matthew, he omitted commentary on the Lord's Prayer because, he said, "Cyprian has said all there was to say about it."

Cyprian reads this section as saying (or at least meaning), "do not allow us to be led into temptation." His commentary runs: "Of necessity also the Lord has us ask, 'And do not allow us to be led into temptation.' In this part of the prayer he shows that the enemy is powerless against us without God's prior permission. Consequently, during temptation all our fear and devotion and attention should be focused on God, since evil has only such force as He permits (cf. 1 Cor. 10:13). Scripture demonstrates this when it says, 'Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and besieged it; and the Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hands (Dan. 1:1; 2 Kings 24:11-16). Moreover, evil is given power over us according to our sins. As Isaiah writes, 'Who gave Jacob up to the looters, and Israel to the spoilers? It was the Lord, against whom we sinned, in whose ways we would not walk, and whose law we refused to obey. So he unleashed the fury of his anger against us' (Isa. 42:24-25). And again, when Solomon sinned and strayed from the precepts and paths of the Lord, it was recorded, 'The Lord stirred up Satan against Solomon himself' (1 Kings 11:14 [as Cyprian's text reads])."


Courtesy of St Anthony's Orthodox Church