The week before Easter Sunday, Christians celebrate Holy Week. It starts on Palm Sunday when Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey’s colt—symbolizing his intent to bring peace (Matthew 21:7-9). However, as soon as he unmounts the colt, he heads through the Temple gates and starts overturning tables! (21:12).
Why did Jesus respond so violently? To justify his actions, he shouts a phrase from Isaiah 56:7, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’” (21:13). The full sentence from Isaiah ends with, “…for all people.” Therefore, Jesus is angry, because the Jewish leaders confiscated the outer court, reserved for Gentile believers,[1] and converted it into a marketplace for offerings; thus, excluding those worshippers.
Sometimes authors of the Bible quote a portion of another Scripture, because they expect the reader to be familiar with it.[2] If the reader isn’t, it could lead to misinterpretation.
Let me show you an example from Isaiah 56:7 mentioned earlier. I list and analyze it in both Hebrew (original) and Greek (translation) so anyone can test my work. From the inception of my book “When Demons Surface,” I endeavor to teach nothing new but uncover only what is old.
The small portion quoted by Jesus is highlighted in yellow:
וַהֲבִיאוֹתִ֞ים אֶל־הַ֣ ר קָדְשִׁ֗י
וְשִׂמַּחְתִּים֙ בְּבֵ֣ית תְּפִלָּתִ֔י
עוֹלֹתֵיהֶ֧ם וְזִבְחֵיהֶ֛ם לְרָצ֖וֹן
עַֽל־מִזְבְּחִ֑י כִּ֣י בֵיתִ֔י בֵּית־תְּפִלָּ֥ה
יִקָּרֵ֖א לְכָל־הָעַמִּֽים׃
While it includes, “my house of prayer,” the sentence above it places the possessive pronoun “my” in a different place—on “holiness” and “prayer” (noted in red font). That portion literally reads, “I will call them to the mountain of my holiness and make them rejoice in the house of my prayer.”
To validate the ancient understanding of this verse, here’s the Greek translation of Hebrew accomplished about 300 years before Christ:
εἰσάξω αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸ ὄρος
τὸ ἅγιόν μου καὶ
εὐφρανῶ αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ
τῆς προσευχῆς μου
τὰ ὁλοκαυτώματα αὐτῶν καὶ
αἱ θυσίαι αὐτῶν ἔσονται δεκταὶ
ἐπὶ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου μου
ὁ γὰρ οἶκός μου οἶκος προσευχῆς
κληθήσεται πᾶσιν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν
Consistent with the original Hebrew, the phrases in red font confirm “my holiness” and “my prayer.”[3] This is historically significant, because God is claiming to have a prescribed prayer. Thus, you’re beholding a reference to the “Old Covenant Lord’s Prayer"!
Shockingly, none of the English versions translates the first part of Isaiah 56:7 correctly![4] Bible translators mistakenly made the first phrase match the second one, because they were unfamiliar with the Jewish heritage of prayer. Bible scholar Dr. Marvin R. Wilson laments, “The Church has neglected its Jewish heritage to its own detriment.”[5]
When I examine New Covenant benefits of the Lord’s Prayer in chapter 3 of my book, I conclude it’s impossible to understand biblical prayer apart from Jewish heritage.
Here are 7 key elements regarding ancient Jewish prayer:
1. It’s prescribed—ancient Jews taught that the “Amidah” (Hebrew “standing”) fulfilled the Isaiah 56:7 prophecy, and they still recite it today after thousands of years;
2. It’s commanded—they still teach that every believer is obligated to pray for the well-being of the covenant community[6]--this is why…
3. It’s corporate--member renders it in the plural (us/our) praying on behalf of the entire covenant community from whom s/he is a part;
4. It’s considered the main prayer—referred to as the “HaTefillah” (Hebrew for “The Prayer”)[7] meaning all other prayers serve as supplements (supplications) to it;
5. It’s derived from the root word “palal” meaning to “self-examine”;[8]
6. It’s inclusive of the “Kiddush HaShem” (Hebrew “sanctification of the Name”)—God commands believers to exemplify His holiness through their behavior: “So you shall keep my commandments and do them: I am the LORD. And you shall not profane my holy name, that I may be sanctified among the people of Israel. I am the LORD who sanctifies you” (Leviticus 22:31-32 ESV); and
7. It’s recited 3-times a day according to historical biblical practice:
a. King David asserts, “Evening, and morning, and at noon I will declare and make known my wants: and he shall hear my voice” (Psalm 55:17 LXE).
b. Daniel, "got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God” (Daniel 6:10b ESV).
Bringing it all together, the ancient Jews taught that the “Old Covenant Lord’s Prayer” (Isaiah 56:7) was: (1) prescribed, (2) commanded, (3) rendered on behalf of the covenant community, (4) considered the main prayer, (5) rooted in self-examination, (6) required godly behavior, and (7) recited 3-times a day.
Here’s the key take-away: reciting the “Lord’s Prayer” is an action of __________ _________ expressing submission to and dependence on God.
We’ll fill-in the blanks in the next blog.
Please share! :-)
NEXT BLOGS:
Part 2 - The Lord’s Prayer (Christian Heritage)
Part 3 - The Lord’s Prayer (Biblical Meaning)
[1] Male Gentile converts to Judaism had to be circumcised as the Mosaic Covenant requires (Exo 12:45). However, many typically postponed it, because it was a debilitating surgery. (See Gen 34:13-25 where Jacob’s sons took revenge on Shechem [a Canaanite] for raping their sister [Dinah]. They deceived him and the men of his city to undergo circumcision to forge a treaty for intermarriage. Afterwards, just 2 men [Simeon and Levi] killed the whole city of debilitated men.)
[2] Examples: Mat 2:15 // Hosea 11:1; Rom 11:3 // 1Ki 19:10-14; 1Pe 2:22 // Isa 53:9.
[3] The Greek maintains the Hebrew’s word construction with “my” connected to “holiness” and “prayer.”
[4] Includes: ESV, KJV, LEB, LSB, NKJ, NAS, NIV, NLT, RSV, YLT.
[5] Marvin R. Wilson, Our Father Abraham: Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2021), 34.
[6] Jacob Neusner, An Introduction to Judaism. (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1991, 39: “The recitation of public prayers, obligatory on the community (as well as on the individual) encompasses three important matters: recitation of the creed, petition for the needs and welfare of the community and the individual, and the situation or identification of the community in its larger setting.”
[7] Hebrew: תפילה (tefillah), “prayer.” Adding the article “ha” (the) makes it “The Prayer.”
[8] Hebrew: פלל (palal) means “to examine” (Exo 21:22; Deu 32:31; Job 31:11).
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