Joseph A. Fitzmyer, «And Lead Us Not into Temptation», Vol. 84 (2003) 259-273

The sixth petition of the "Our Father" has been translated in various ways across the centuries. This article discusses its literal meaning and the permissive paraphrases of it, explaining the sense of "temptation" and God’s activity in "leading" into it, as well as the various subterfuges adopted to avoid the obvious meaning of the Greek formulation, including its supposed Aramaic substratum. It concludes with a pastoral explanation of the petition.

forms, esp. Dan 6,19, yhw$mdq l(nh-)l Nwxdw, which literally means, "he did not cause food(?) to come in before him," but which he translates, "auch liess er keine Frauen zu sich hereinbringen." This is the place where the LXX uses the verb ei)sfe/rw to render the haphel of ll(. Jenni calls the use of ei)sfe/rw a synthetic translation (because it is a compound verb, using a prefix ei)j + fe/rw in contrast to the analytic translation of the Hebrew hiphil )ybt in Job 14,3, where the LXX renders it with e)poi/hsaj ei)selqei=n, "you made (me) enter". Given this distinction, Jenni believes that one is justified in translating the Greek form of the sixth petition with a permissive nuance.

        I am fully aware of the fact that many OT scholars translate the Hebrew hiphil with a permissive nuance³³. The question is, whether one rightly introduces such a softening of the text, or rather such a watering down of it. I have already called attention to such a translation in nn. 11 and 13 above. I, for one, am not convinced.

8. The Greek Formulation of the Petition

        More to the point, however, is the question whether the Semitic substratum of the petition really has anything to do with the problem of the meaning of the sixth petition³⁴.The Aramaic ta (e4linna%na4) is a modern retroversion, which, though it may be considered correct, is hypothetical; and it is not part of the transmitted PN or of the Christian heritage, which comes to us only in Greek. The meaning of the Greek verb mh_ ei)sene/gkh|j is clear: "do not lead into" or "do not bring into." It has no causative nuance, such as that claimed by those who argue for its Semitic Vorlage, beyond what it actually says. Hence, all attempts to explain away its obvious meaning by an appeal to its Semitic causative substratum is a subterfuge pure and simple, especially when that causative is then given a permissive nuance. All the traditional attempts to reformulate the petition in terms of not allowing or not permitting Christians to be led into temptation (or be put to the final test) are simply a manipulation of the PN that we have inherited. It is a gross tampering with the words of Jesus himself as transmitted to us in the inspired Scriptures.

9. The Pastoral Problem of Explanation

        The pastoral problem is one of interpretation and explanation. It is necessary, first, to explain that, though the sixth petition ascribes to God some causality in "leading" people into temptation (or to the final eschatological test), it does not depict God as the source or origin of that temptation or test. Second, the petition does not mean that God is tempting us, or that "God is impelling human beings to sin", as Tournay has understood its literal