The puzzling plea ‘Lead us not into Temptation’ in the Lord’s Prayer

Abstract

Attard’s work focuses on a thorny issue due to the ambiguity of the penultimate request in the Lord’s Prayer. He analyses the phrase in Greek in order to elucidate the precise meaning of the terms traditionally translated as “lead” and “temptation”. Attard does so by undergoing a close reading of the text as well as inter-biblical analysis. Though, in this context, the notion of God leading the faithful to some place of decision is fitting, the author concludes that the notion of “temptation” needs reinterpretation or, better still, a different translation. The article also takes the Maltese translation into consideration and offers possible alternatives.