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.

translation³⁵, because of what has been said in the first point. It is, indeed, possible to recite the sixth petition and accept fully the statement of Jas 1, 13, that "God tempts no one" (quoted in full and explained above). As Augustine put it, "It is one thing to be led into temptation, another to be tempted" (see §IV above). Third, it is essential to recall that Jesus himself, being a child of his time, used a customary protological mode of expression about God’s activity, such as one finds often enough in the OT, and that he has counseled us to pray to the Father, "Lead us not into temptation". Fourth, the customary counting of the petitions in the PN as seven has led to the separation of the sixth petition from the seventh, when in reality they are two parts of the same request. The seventh petition, although missing in the Lucan form of the PN (11,4), balances the sixth. Indeed, it may well be the earliest attempt to explain the difficult phrasing of the sixth petition. Being the only one expressed negatively in the PN, the sixth prepares for the seventh, which in the long run is more important, "But deliver us from evil (or from the Evil One)"³⁶. Fifth, it is good to repeat the remark of Paul, "No trial has overtaken you but what is human. God is trustworthy, and he will not allow you to be tried beyond what you can bear; but with the trial he will provide also a way out, so that you may be able to endure it" (1 Cor 10, 13). That explains the collocation of the sixth and seventh petitions of the PN. Sixth, one must recall the good effects that may come from peirasmo/j as divine testing, and God has the responsibility for the good that may come, and consequently even of its onset³⁷. Seventh, it is the Jesus who counseled his disciples, "Stay awake and pray that you enter not into temptation (i#na mh_ e!lqhte ei)j peirasmo/n); the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Mark 14,3 8; cf. Matt 26,4 1; Luke 22,40.46), who also counsels them continually to say to God the Father, "and lead us not into temptation"³⁸. Eighth, is it right to ask God to refrain from doing something?³⁹ When one asks such a question, one must recall the example of the great patriarch of Israel, Abraham who pleaded with God on behalf of wicked Sodom and Gomorrah in Gen 18,23-32. Finally, it must be recalled that the fidelity of a human being to God comes not from human achievement or merit. When one prays not to be led into enticing situations or those of distress or affliction, one acknowledges one’s frailty and dependence on God and his grace⁴⁰.