What does 'on earth as it is in heaven' mean?

Michie

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
Feb 5, 2002
166,604
56,234
Woods
✟4,673,418.00
Country
United States
Faith
Catholic
Marital Status
Married
Politics
US-Others
*You are in the Catholic forum*

Punctuation can often be misleading, especially when translators are faced with punctuating a text which has no punctuation. And so when we read the Lord's Prayer in the Gospel of Saint Matthew we are perhaps accustomed to reading the first part like this, Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven...

Continued below.
What does ‘On Earth As It Is In Heaven’ mean?
 

Dave-W

Welcoming grandchild #7, Arturus Waggoner!
Site Supporter
Jun 18, 2014
30,521
16,866
Maryland - just north of D.C.
Visit site
✟771,800.00
Country
United States
Faith
Messianic
Marital Status
Married
Politics
US-Others
Nice article. I especially liked this:


These words, “As in heaven so in earth,” must be taken as common to all three preceding petitions.

In other words, the first three petitions of the Lord’s Prayer should be understood like this,

  1. Hallowed be Thy name on earth as it is heaven.
  2. Thy kingdom come on earth as it is heaven.
  3. Thy will be done on earth as it is heaven.

As the prayer would have been originally spoken in Aramaic, and we have the Peshita, a very early Aramaic text of the NT, that sense that the "as it is in heaven" applies to all 3 statements is reflected there.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0

Michie

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
Feb 5, 2002
166,604
56,234
Woods
✟4,673,418.00
Country
United States
Faith
Catholic
Marital Status
Married
Politics
US-Others
I thought St. Augustine's and St. Thomas' view were very interesting. I never thought of it that way before. It really lies with us as Christians in many ways.

https://dhspriory.org/thomas/PaterNoster.htm

https://dhspriory.org/thomas/english/CAMatthew.htm

Nice article. I especially liked this:


These words, “As in heaven so in earth,” must be taken as common to all three preceding petitions.

In other words, the first three petitions of the Lord’s Prayer should be understood like this,

  1. Hallowed be Thy name on earth as it is heaven.
  2. Thy kingdom come on earth as it is heaven.
  3. Thy will be done on earth as it is heaven.
 
Upvote 0

Dave-W

Welcoming grandchild #7, Arturus Waggoner!
Site Supporter
Jun 18, 2014
30,521
16,866
Maryland - just north of D.C.
Visit site
✟771,800.00
Country
United States
Faith
Messianic
Marital Status
Married
Politics
US-Others
I never thought of it that way before. It really lies with us as Christians in many ways.
And it reflects the general sense of the Hebrew prayer Alenu, which was added to the synagogue service in the first century bc.

Adonai is our God, there is none else.
Our God is truth, and nothing else compares. As it
is written in Your
Torah: "And you shall know today, and take to
heart, that Adonai is the only
God, in the heavens above and on Earth below.
There is no other."
Therefore we put our hope in You, Adonai our God,
to soon see the glory of
Your strength, to remove all idols from the Earth,
and to completely cut off
all false gods; to repair the world, Your holy
empire. And for all living flesh
to call Your name, and for all the wicked of the
Earth to turn to You.
May all
the world's inhabitants recognize and know that to
You every knee must
bend and every tongue must swear loyalty.
Before
You, Adonai, our God,
may all bow down, and give honor to Your precious
name, and may all take
upon themselves the yoke of Your rule.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Michie
Upvote 0