I read a fascinating article on the poetic devices used in the original Greek text of the Lord's Prayer:
Michael Wade Martin, 2015. “The Poetry of the Lord’s Prayer: A Study in Poetic Device.” Journal of Biblical Literature, 134(2), 347–372.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.15699/jbl.1342.2015.2804
The author suggested the following English translations to capture the structure and some of the poetic devices (e.g. similar sound at beginning/end of lines, repetition of same word, juxtaposition of opposites, etc):
Minimalist Version:
Our Father in the heavens,
hallowed be your name,
come be your reign,
done be your aim,
as in heaven, so too on earth.
Give us this day,
our bread for the coming day,
and forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors,
and see us not into trial,
but free us from Evil.
Maximalist Version:
Our Father in the heavens,
holy-sung, be the name that is yours,
come, be the reign that is yours,
done, be the aim that is yours,
as in heaven, so too on earth.
Grant that we
may receive this day,
the bread that we
have the coming day,
and grant that we
be forgiven our debts,
as even we
have forgiven our debtors,
and grant that we
be seen not into trial,
but rather that we
be freed from Evil.
(Martin offers ‘two translations, a minimalist version more closely aligned with traditional English liturgy and a maximalist version that reflects more fully the range of devices employed in the prayer’ pp. 372).
While I'm not suggesting abandoning the traditional words, I find this study simply fascinating!
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