BIBLE "DISCREPANCIES"

WHICH OF THESE IS THE REAL LORD'S PRAYER?

"Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen" (Mt. 6:9-13). 

OR  

"Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil" (Lk. 11:1-4).

THE ANSWER IS BOTH!

Let me begin by explaining the apparent discrepancy.  These two "quotes of Jesus" are not actually quotes, but are two compatible versions of the teaching of Jesus on how to pray.  Matthew was present when Jesus taught the "model prayer," but Luke learned of it "second hand" (Lk. 1:1-3; cp. Acts 1:1-2 - note that Luke was not an Apostle).  This can also be seen by observing that a large percentage of "quotes" by Jesus and the writers of the New Testament, are actually paraphrases of the Old Testament; they convey the intent of the message, but use different wording.  A good example is found in the Lord's "quote" of Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11 in Matthew 21:13. 

Another reason for "discrepancies," is due to the Hebrew "quotes" being "translated" into Greek, as can be seen in the different spelling of names (cp. Noah - Gen. 5:9 w/ Mt. 24:37; Elijah - Mal. 4:5 w/ Mt. 11:14; and Rahab - Josh. 2:1 w/ Mt. 1:5; etc.).  In addition, the common written language of the people in the time Jesus lived was Greek.  So the version of the Old Testament most frequently used was the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament.  Perhaps that is why the Apostle Paul emphasized the spirit of the Law rather than the letter of the Law (Rom. 2:29; 7:6; 2 Cor. 3:6; 2 Thes. 2:2).

Those that focus on the letter of the Law often miss the Spirit of the Law!