[Vision2020] Question for the biblical scholars

[Chasuk]

On 3/20/07, lfalen <lfalen at turbonet.com> wrote:

> I learned the Lord's Prayer as debts and debtors. A lot of denominations say forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us. How did the difference come about? Is it a Methodist vs Baptist thing?

I think it is a matter of translation rather than denomination, Roger.
 I know that the New International Version, arguably the most popular
of the 20th century translations, uses debts and debtors.  I believe
that the New American Standard Bible and the King James Version do as
well.

Ah.  Thanks to Wikipedia, here is a more precise answer:

Though Matthew 6:12 uses the term debts, the 1662 version of the
Lord's Prayer uses the term trespasses, while ecumenical versions
often use the term sins. The latter choice may be due to Luke 11:4,
which uses the word sins, while the former may be due to Matthew 6:12
(immediately after the text of the prayer), where Jesus speaks of
trespasses. As early as the third century, Origen used the word
trespasses (παραπτώματα) in the prayer. Though the Latin form that was
traditionally used in Western Europe has debita (debts), most
English-speaking Christians (except Presbyterians and others of the
Reformed tradition), use trespasses. The Established Presbyterian
Church of Scotland follows the version found in Matthew 6 in the
Authorized Version (known also as the King James Version), which in
the prayer uses the words "debts" and "debtors".

Is that of any use?