[B-Greek] Heinemann on Matt. 6:10//Lk. 11:2
Jeffrey B. Gibson
jgibson000 at comcast.net
Fri Jan 4 20:01:09 EST 2008
I've just finished reading Joseph Heinemann's "The Background of Jesus'
Prayer in the Jewish Liturgical Tradition" (pp. 81-89 in _The Lord's
Prayer and Jewish Liturgy_, J. Petuchowski and M. Brocke, eds.) and I
came across this statement on p. 86:
Similarly, K. G. Kuhn (_Achtzehngebet und Vaterunser und dem
Reim_ [Tubingen, 1950, pp. 21-22] emphasizes the contrast
between the NT passages quoted [i.e., Matt. 26:39, 42; Mark
14:36 and Matt. 6:9 ff] and the Jewish conception, in which
men "perform Thy will". This conception is found, for example,
in the Palestinian version of the Eighteen Benedictions. In
Rabbinic Judaism, the role of mankind in general, and of the
Jewish people in particular, is to perform the will of God,
whereas in the passive form used by Jesus ("May Thy will be
done"), no room is left for man as an active agent performing
God's will (p. 87).
Now strikes me that H's statement that "in the passive form used by
Jesus ("May Thy will be done"), no room is left for man as an active
agent performing God's will" is very strange, especially in the light of
the fact that that Matthew adds the phrase "on earth as it is in heaven"
which seems to have in view someone other than God doing God's will as
faithfully as it is done "in heaven".
But is it true the passive form of the expression "May it be your will"
obliterates any idea of human beings having a part in fulfilling the
petition at Matt. 6:10//Lk. 11:2? If it is,**why** is it true? Are
there counter examples in Greco Roman prayers?
Jeffrey
--
Jeffrey B. Gibson, D.Phil. (Oxon)
1500 W. Pratt Blvd.
Chicago, Illinois
e-mail jgibson000 at comcast.net
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