God as Father

Jewish Roots of The Lord’s Prayer

The concept of God as Father is deeply rooted in the Hebrew Bible. Moses says to the Israelites, “Is He not your Father?” Isaiah turns to God, saying, “You are our Father”. We find similar words in Malachi, “Have we not all one Father?“ in fact, many Jewish prayers begin with, “Our Father in Heaven” (Avinu she-bashamayim), “Our Father, our King” (Avinu Malkenu) or “Compassionate Father” (Av Harahaman).

The Lord’s Prayer and the Kaddish

There is also a similarity between the beginning of the Lord’s Prayer and the first paragraph of Kaddish, one of the most important prayers in Jewish liturgy, “Magnified and hallowed be His name in the world which He created according to His will. May He establish His Kingdom!” Clearly, the first sentences of the Lord’s Prayer, “Hallowed be Thy name“, “Thy Kingdom come“, and “Thy will be done“, express the same ideas!

Discover the hidden nuggets of the Scriptures

We find several occasions in the Gospels when Jesus’ ministry took place in a synagogue. The Lord’s Prayer was probably inspired by several traditional synagogue prayers, since we can easily discern elements of Jewish liturgy incorporated into it. Enroll in our course, Jewish Background of the New Testament, to discover the hidden nuggets of the Scriptures!