John Gill Commentary Luke 11

And it came to pass that as he was praying
The following directions concerning prayer, though they agree with those in (Matthew 6:9) &c. yet were delivered at another time, and in another place, and upon another occasion: Christ was then in Galilee, now in Judea: he gave the former directions unasked for, these at the request of one of his disciples; the other were given as he was preaching, these immediately after he had been praying; as soon as he had done a work he was often employed in, as man and mediator, on account of himself, his disciples, cause, and interest: and this was done

in a certain place ;
perhaps in the Mount of Olives, which was not far from Bethany, where we hear of him last, since this was a place where he used to abide in the night, and pray, (Luke 21:37) . The Arabic version reads, "in a desert place"; and after he had been at Bethany, he did go to a country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim, (John 11:54)

when he ceased ;
from praying; when he had concluded his prayer, and finished all his petitions, and was off of his knees:

one of his disciples ;
perhaps one of the seventy disciples who had not heard the summary of prayer, and the directions about it before given on the mount, (Matthew 6:9) The Persic version reads, "his disciples": as if they all united in the request:

and said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his
disciples ,
who, as Tertullian says ^F7 , brought in a new order and method of praying, and gave his disciples some instructions and directions concerning it, much better than what the Jews in common had: and this disciple looking upon his Lord and master as much better qualified to give directions in this important affair than even John himself was, requests of him that he would; and what might put him upon it at this time seems to be, his observing that Christ had now been at prayer.

FOOTNOTES:

• F7: Contr. Marcion. l. 4. c. 26.

And he said to them
That is Jesus, as the Syriac and Persic versions express, who directed his speech to all the disciples; for though but one of them addressed him, it was in the name of the rest: and besides, the instructions Christ was about to give concerned them all, even those that heard them before, and those that had not:

when you pray, say, our Father who are in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth ;
the last petition is left out in the Vulgate Latin; (See Gill on Matthew 6:9), (See Gill on Matthew 6:10).

Give us day by day our daily bread .
] Or "for the day"; or "every day", as the Syriac version renders it; (See Gill on Matthew 6:11)

And forgive us our sins
Beza's most ancient copy reads "debts", as in (See Gill on Matthew 6:12); and which best agrees with the phrase "indebted", after mentioned:

for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us; and lead
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil ;
(See Gill on Matthew 6:12), (See Gill on Matthew 6:13). The doxology there used, and the word "Amen", are here omitted. Some of the petitions in this prayer are not delivered in the very same words as they are in Matthew.

The three first petitions are word for word the same; for though the third petition is different in our translation, it is the same in the original. The fourth and fifth vary: in Matthew the fourth is, "give us this day our daily bread"; here in Luke, "give us day by day our daily bread." The fifth in Matthew is, "and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors"; here, "and forgive us our sins, for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us". And these verbal variations, though the sense is the same, together with the omission of the doxology, and the word "Amen", show, that this prayer was not designed to be an exact form, and to be so used, but as a directory of prayer.

I have, in my notes (See Gill on Matthew 6:9) &c. shown the agreement there is between the petitions in this prayer, and some that were made use of among the Jews; and have supposed that our Lord took notice of such petitions, which the good people among the Jews frequently used; and which he approved of, and singled out, and put them into the order and method in which they stand, with some alterations for the better, to be a directory to his disciples and followers.

Which to suppose, I apprehend, does not at all countenance the making and using stinted forms of prayer; since the petitions used by good men among the Jews, were not used as forms of prayer, but what they were led unto by the Spirit of God from common and constant experience to make use of; just as we may observe now, that good people in different parts, who use no form of prayer, nor have ever heard one another pray, and yet make use of the same petitions, and almost, if not altogether, in the selfsame words, their wants, necessities, cases, and circumstances being the same; and these frequently returning, oblige to a repeated use of them, in the same words, or near unto them.

And though forms of prayer might not be in use among the Jews in the times of Christ, yet it is easy to account for it, how Christ came to be acquainted with the petitions in general use with good men; since not only he is God omniscient, and knows all the prayers of his people, both in public and private; but, as man, must know what were used, by his attendance on public worship, and by the private communion he had with the saints and children of God.

It must indeed be owned, that forms of prayer very early obtained among the Jews; and if not in Christ's time, yet in the times of his apostles. There is frequent mention ^F8 of the eighteen prayers in the times of Gamaliel, the master of the Apostle Paul; and of a nineteenth composed by one of his disciples ^F9 , Samuel the little, who is thought, by some, to be Saul himself, whilst he was a scholar of his; and which is directed against the heretics, or Christians, as they were called by the Jews; and this easily accounts for, how the petitions of the ancient good men among the Jews came to be put with others into their forms of prayer, where we now find them. For that they should take these petitions from this directory of Christ's, is not reasonable to suppose, considering their implacable enmity against him.

Moreover, supposing, but not granting, that these petitions which our Lord took, and put into this order, for the use and instruction of his disciples, had been used by good men as forms of prayer, it will not justify the use of forms by any authority of Christ, or as being agreeably to his will; since it is certain, that however these petitions were used by good men before, our Lord never designed they should be used as an exact, precise form of prayer by his disciples; seeing there are several variations in them as here delivered, from what they are as they stand in Matthew; whereas, had they been intended as a stinted form, they would have been expressed in the selfsame words: and moreover, to approve of here and there a petition, which for their matter are excellently good, and to approve of them all together, as a form, are two different things: to which may be added, that though there is an agreement between the petitions, as used by the Jews, and those our Lord directs to; yet there are some variations and alterations much for the better, which destroy the form of them.

FOOTNOTES:

• F8: Misn. Beracot, c. 4. sect. 3. T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 28. 2. T. Hieros. Taaniot, fol. 65. 3. Maimon. Hilch. Tephilla, c. 7. sect. 7.
• F9: T. Bab. Beracot, ib. Maimon. Hilch. Tephilla, c. 2. sect. 1, 2. Gauz. Tzemach David, par. 1. fol. 25. 2.

And he said to them, which of you will have a friend ,
&c.] A neighbour, or acquaintance:

and will go to him at midnight ;
which may seem a very unseasonable time, and which nothing but real distress, not knowing what otherwise to do, would put a man upon:

and say to him, friend, lend me three loaves :
it was usual of the Jews to borrow bread of one another, and certain rules are laid down, when, and on what condition, this is to be done; as for instance, on a sabbath day ^F11 ,

FOOTNOTES:

• F11: ``a man may ask of his friend vessels of wine, and vessels of oil, only he must not say, lend me: and so a woman, (twrkk htrybxm) , "bread of her friend".''
• F12: ``so said Hillell, let not a woman lend (htrbxl rkk) "bread to her friend", till she has fixed the price; lest wheat should be dearer, and they should be found coming into the practice of usury.''
• F13: For what was lent, could not be demanded again under thirty days.