The Lord's Prayer: Glorify your name
i am struggling to write on this part. i don't feel i understand it well enough. the harder you meditate on the things of God the less you know.
hAGIATHETW TO ONOMA SOU: let it be exalted, the name of yours
the verb is the first word. its tense is aorist (kind of like a past tense but also the typical tense to write in), its a command, but a passive one, in the 3rd person singular.
we are telling God, don't hold back the exaltation of your name, phrased in the active tense.
we translate derivatives of this word into "holy" and "saints" and "set apart" and "sanctify."
This is another facet of not taking His name in vain. His name is set apart.
It's the name of the only being in the universe worthy of worship. Devotion and adoration to any other deity is not acceptable. Only His name is set apart. His name is found in His words to us, in His Scripture, proclaimed by His Son who claimed that those who see him have seen the Father.
What is God's name?
This is how God describes himself to us as he described himself to Moses in Exodus 34, in multiple translations so more nuances are covered.
6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love [mercy] and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; (NIV)
God passed in front of him and called out, "God, God, a God of mercy and grace, endlessly patient—so much love, so deeply true—loyal in love for a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin. Still, he doesn't ignore sin." (Message)
6 Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; 7 whokeeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, (NASB)
The God of compassion and mercy!
I am slow to anger
and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.
7 I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations.
I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin.
But I do not excuse the guilty. (NLT)
6The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, (ESV)
6Then he passed in front of Moses and called out, " I am the LORD God. I am merciful and very patient with my people. I show great love, and I can be trusted. 7 I keep my promises to my people forever, but I also punish anyone who sins. (CEV)
6 And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, 7 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, (NKJV)
[i left out the end of v. 7 because God updates the policy in Ezekiel 18.]
hAGIATHETW TO ONOMA SOU: let it be exalted, the name of yours
the verb is the first word. its tense is aorist (kind of like a past tense but also the typical tense to write in), its a command, but a passive one, in the 3rd person singular.
we are telling God, don't hold back the exaltation of your name, phrased in the active tense.
we translate derivatives of this word into "holy" and "saints" and "set apart" and "sanctify."
This is another facet of not taking His name in vain. His name is set apart.
It's the name of the only being in the universe worthy of worship. Devotion and adoration to any other deity is not acceptable. Only His name is set apart. His name is found in His words to us, in His Scripture, proclaimed by His Son who claimed that those who see him have seen the Father.
What is God's name?
This is how God describes himself to us as he described himself to Moses in Exodus 34, in multiple translations so more nuances are covered.
6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love [mercy] and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; (NIV)
God passed in front of him and called out, "God, God, a God of mercy and grace, endlessly patient—so much love, so deeply true—loyal in love for a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin. Still, he doesn't ignore sin." (Message)
6 Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; 7 whokeeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, (NASB)
6 And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord! the Lord! a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving-kindness and truth,7 Keeping mercy and loving-kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but Who will by no means clear the guilty, (Amplified)
6 The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out,
“Yahweh! The Lord!The God of compassion and mercy!
I am slow to anger
and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.
7 I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations.
I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin.
But I do not excuse the guilty. (NLT)
6The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, (ESV)
6Then he passed in front of Moses and called out, " I am the LORD God. I am merciful and very patient with my people. I show great love, and I can be trusted. 7 I keep my promises to my people forever, but I also punish anyone who sins. (CEV)
6 And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, 7 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, (NKJV)
6 Then the LORD passed in front of him and proclaimed: Yahweh—Yahweh is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in faithful love and truth, 7 maintaining faithful love to a thousand [generations], forgiving wrongdoing, rebellion, and sin. But He will not leave [the guilty] unpunished, (HCSB)
[i left out the end of v. 7 because God updates the policy in Ezekiel 18.]
Comments
"The LORD [I Am That I Am], The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty."
Hope in a world that has lost hope in relativism and sin.
Rachel
Author of "Heart to Heart: Meeting With God in the Lord's Prayer"
http://www.littledozen.com/h2hexcerpts.html
I'd encourage you to think in terms of not always looking at the strict 'surface' grammar of a phrase such as this but to its use-value. "hallowed" gets used in conjunction with 'blessed' in some Hebrew prayers which, contextually, are clearly articulating praise. That is, the act of uttering is itself giving praise.
It's not unusual for languages to behave this way, hence rhetorical questions, the use of 'we' for 'you' in "how are we doing today?", and so forth.
You might like to follow up with looking at the following links to give a but more info.
http://abbeynous.blogspot.com/2006/12/qaddish-and-lords-prayer.html
http://abbeynous.blogspot.com/2006/10/hallowed-be-thy-name.html
http://abbeynous.blogspot.com/2006/08/reflection-on-praying-lords-prayer-at.html
You may also like to check out the book 'Praying the Pattern' in due course. In particular the section on hallowing the name which is excerpted here.
God is good
jpu