And lead us
not into temptation. This petition has a verbatim parallel to Luke 11:4b and a
content parallel in an evening prayer (as well as a nearly identical morning
prayer that follows) of the Talmud (Berakot
605; Str-B 1:4): “Bring me not into sin, or into iniquity, or into
temptation. And may the good inclination have sway over me and let not the evil
inclination have sway over me.” The Greek noun (πειρασμος) and verb (πειραζω) occur rarely in extrabiblical
Greek (LSJ; s.v.; Seesemann, TDNT 6:23) and have almost exclusively a
nonreligious, nonmoral sense of “testing.” In the LXX, however, both terms take
on a religious and moral dimension when an individual or Israel’s relationship
to God is put to the test.
The two classic old Testament examples of
such “testing” appear in Genesis 3 and Gen 22:1-19. In Genesis 3, man and
woman, created in God’s image to honor, obey, and fellowship with him, when
confronted by the serpent with the alternative of being “like God,” chose to
reject that relationship for one of autonomy. They and subsequent humanity failed
the test, so to speak, with tragic spiritual and moral consequences. In Gen
22:1-19, God, who had chosen Abraham, made a special covenant with him, and
given him a son of that covenant, “tests” Abraham’s faith and obedience by
commanding him to offer his son in sacrifice. Abraham obediently followed God’s
demand and passed the test, so to speak, to become the model of obedient faith
and in Wisdom (e.g. , Sir 44:20) and rabbinic literature (Str-B 4:108) and in
Heb 11:17-19.
In these two examples, we find different
agents at work as well as two different intentions behind the “testings.” On
the one hand, although the precise language is lacking, the “testing” in
Genesis 3 connotes temptation, the
negative intent being to mislead, to cause one to do that which is wrong, to
fail through disobedience in one’s relationship to God. The agent if Satan (Gen
3; cf. Job). On the other hand, “testing” in Gen 22:1 connotes more positively
a proving, a placing of one on trial
to demonstrate one’s faithful obedience in relationship to God. In such cases,
God initiates the action (e.g., Gen 22:1-19; Exod 15:25; 16:4; Deut 8:2; 13:3;
Ps 26:2). Yet, strictly speaking, the actual usage of the language πειρασμος and πειραζω is limited to the second meaning
in the Old Testament. In the Wisdom literature of the intertestamental period a
third connotation of “testing” emerges. “Testings” give occasion for instruction,
for edification (Sir 2:1-6; 4:17; Wis 3:5; 11:9; 12:26), and thus take on a
pedagogical dimension.
The New Testament use of πειραζω and πειρασμος continues with the same
diversity as found in the Old Testament and Wisdom literature. Apart from the
secular meaning of testing (e.g., Acts 9:26; 16:7; 20:19; cf. 2 Cor 13:5, and
Rev 2:2), the majority of the references apply to the religious and moral
sphere. First, James 1:2 and 1:12 approximate the pedagogical function of πειρασμος found in the Wisdom literature,
whereas, second, 1 Pet 1:6; 4:12, cf. Rev 2:10, sets the “trials” within the
context of suffering as a means of “proving” or “testing” one’s faith in a
manner not unlike that of Abraham. Yet in both the agent is one’s own evil
desires (James 1:14) or the sufferings brought on by one’s enemies of the faith
(1 Peter).
Third, in contrast to the Old Testament usage
and the intertestamental literature, the language of πειρασμος/πειραζω occurs most frequently in the
New Testament as the temptation to
evil (4:1-11, par. Luke 4:1-13; 1 Cor 7:5; 10:6-13). Jesus’ own ministry opens
with a temptation scene (cf. Heb
4:15) in which he demonstrates his faithful obedience as the Son of God to the
Father’s will (cf. Adam and Eve in the Garden, Mark 1:12-13; cf. Israel, God’s
son in the wilderness, Matt 4:1-11, par. Luke 4:1-13). Paul warns about Satan’s
temptation in 1 Cor 7:5 and implies
as much in 1 Cor 10:13, while several passages leave the agent unspecified
(e.g., Matt 26:41, par. Mark 14:38; Luke 8:13; 1 Tim 6:9; 2 Pet 2:9). At no
point does God act as the source of “testing” or “temptation” (cf. James 1:13)
as in the Old Testament and Wisdom literature. Finally, a new, eschatological
moment of temptation appears in Rev
3:10: “The hour of trial is coming on the whole world.” This reference which
points to the period of great tribulation at the end of history, has its roots
in Dan 12:10, LXX, and results from the culmination of the power and the
desires of the forces of evil.
In spite of the variety of usages of temptation in the New Testament, all
share a common denominator, namely, each form of testing or temptation places one’s relationship to
God in question. Whether one’s faith is tested by suffering or persecution or
whether one is tempted or seduced to do evil, the ultimate danger is apostasy
(e.g., Luke 8:13). Jesus explicitly warned his disciples in the Olivet
Discourse against such apostasy arising from the events surrounding the last
days (Mark 13:19-23, par. Matt 24:21-26). Consequently, many have taken this
petition as referring to the eschatological temptation to apostasy accompanying
the period of great tribulation (e.g., Jeremias, “Lord’s Prayer,” 104-7;
Bonnard, Matthieu, 87; Hill, Matthew, 139), while others have taken temptation in the more general usage
referring to the threat to one’s faith, obedience, and commitment to God
growing out of one’s everyday experience (e.g., Schniewind, Matthäus, 88; Schweizer, Matthew, 156). In either case, the temptation connotes the situation that
places one’s relationship to God in question.
The verb lead
us not (μη
εισενεγκης) uses the
aorist subjunctive rather than the imperative, perhaps influenced by the
negative. The meaning of lead us not
carries the idea of bringing one somewhere. The petition, therefore, asks God not bring us into the situation of temptation. God’s role is not that of
tempter but protector, a motif with various expressions in Mark 14:38, par.
Matt 26:41, par. Luke 22:46; 1 Cor 10:13; 2 Pet 2:9; Rev 3:10.
The question of the relationship of this
petition to James’ emphatic statement—“He (God) himself tempts no one”—has frequently
arisen. Some have even seen James 1:13 to be a “correction” of this petition in
the Lord’s Prayer (e.g., Windisch, Katholische
Briefe, 8). Yet this conflict between James and the Lord’s Prayer is more
apparent than real on two counts. First, the petition does not necessarily
imply that God initiates the temptation,
only that he can avoid bringing us into the arena of temptation. Second, James 1:12-14 deals with πειρασμος as a temptation, a seduction to sin, rather than πειρασμος as a “testing” of one’s faith
(Mussner, Jakobusbrief, 86-88). The
latter understanding of πειρασμος underlies the petition of the Lord’s Prayer
as well as the references to God’s “testing” of Abraham (Gen 22:1) and Israel
(Exod 15:25; Deut 8:2) in the Old Testament. The ultimate source of the temptation appears in the following request
that rounds off the petition in an antithetical parallelism. (Robert A.
Guelich, The Sermon on the Mount: A
Foundation for Understanding [Waco, Tex.: Word Books Publisher, 1982], 294-97, italics in original)
Further Reading
