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| Q: | Matthew, Luke When was the Doxology added to the Lord's Prayer? | ||||||
| A: | Jesus taught the Lord's Prayer twice during his earthly ministry (cf Mt 6:9ff. and Luke 11:2ff.). When he taught the Lord's Prayer to his disciples (the Luke account), he did not include the doxology. When he taught the Lord's Prayer as part of the Sermon on the Mount (the Mt account), there is some question whether he included the doxology or not. In the Matthew account, the earliest Greek manuscript to include the doxology is dated in the 400's. There are a few Greek manuscripts that are a little earlier than this (the 300's) that do not have the doxology. However, there are some versions (Bible translations) such as a Latin translation, a Coptic translation, and a Syriac translation (which are as early as the earliest Greek manuscripts) that do include the doxology. These translations are among some of the earliest witnesses we have to the NT text. Since the textual evidence is split whether the doxology was spoken by Jesus or not, this remains an open question. The doxology may have been spoken by Jesus, or there also is the possibility that it was an addition made in the early Christian church. The fact that the witnesses that do include it vary in their word order adds an argument against it being original. The fact that copyists did not try to add it to the Luke account suggests that it was original in the Matthew account. If it was not original with Jesus, it was added within a short time after the New Testament was written since it is referred to in the Didache. | ||||||
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