The Meaning of Matthew 6:11 Explained

Matthew 6:11

KJV: Give us this day our daily bread.

YLT: 'Our appointed bread give us to-day.

Darby: give us to-day our needed bread,

ASV: Give us this day our daily bread.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Give  us  this day  our  daily  bread. 

What does Matthew 6:11 Mean?

Context Summary

Matthew 6:9-18 - How To Pray And How To Fast
This might more fitly be termed the "disciples' prayer." As we tread its stately aisles, we cannot but think of the myriads who have stood on the same pavement, and have found, in every age, that these seven brief petitions express sufficiently their deepest and holiest longings. Old men and little children, Roman Catholics and Protestants, the servant and his master, east and west, stand together in this noble temple not made with hands.
Prayer should be direct, simple and earnest. It must be reverent, hallowing the Name; and unselfish, employing, we, us, and our,-not "I," "me," "mine." It must breathe the filial spirit which cries, "Abba, Father." It must be conceived in love and breathe forgiveness and trust for the supply of all the hunger of our nature. When God forgives, He forth-gives; that is, He casts out of His hand and mind and memory every trace of our sin. We may claim that God should repair as well as forgive; but we must be willing to deal with all others as God has dealt with us. [source]

Chapter Summary: Matthew 6

1  Giving to the Needy
5  The Lord's Prayer
16  Proper Fasting
19  Store up Treasures in Heaven
25  Do Not Worry
33  but seek God's kingdom

Greek Commentary for Matthew 6:11

Our daily bread [τον αρτον ημων τον επιουσιον]
This adjective “daily” It clearly comes from επι — epi and ιων — iōn But the adjective επιουσιος — epiousios is rare and Origen said it was made by the Evangelists Matthew and Luke to reproduce the idea of an Aramaic original. Moulton and Milligan, Vocabulary say: “The papyri have as yet shed no clear light upon this difficult word (Matthew 6:11; Luke 11:3), which was in all probability a new coinage by the author of the Greek Q to render his Aramaic Original” (this in 1919). Deissmann claims that only about fifty purely New Testament or “Christian” words can be admitted out of the more than 5,000 used. “But when a word is not recognizable at sight as a Jewish or Christian new formation, we must consider it as an ordinary Greek word until the contrary is proved. Επιουσιος — Epiousios has all the appearance of a word that originated in trade and traffic of the everyday life of the people (cf. my hints in Neutestamentliche Studien Georg Heinrici dargebracht, Leipzig, 1914, pp. 118f.). The opinion here expressed has been confirmed by A. Debrunner‘s discovery (Theol. Lit. Ztg. 1925, Colossians. 119) of επιουσιος — epiousios in an ancient housekeeping book” (Light from the Ancient East, New ed. 1927, p. 78 and note 1). So then it is not a word coined by the Evangelist or by Q to express an Aramaic original. The word occurs also in three late MSS. after 2 Maccabees 1:8, τους επιουσιους — tous epiousious after τους αρτους — tous artous The meaning, in view of the kindred participle (επιουσηι — epiousēi) in Acts 16:12, seems to be “for the coming day,” a daily prayer for the needs of the next day as every housekeeper understands like the housekeeping book discovered by Debrunner. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Matthew 6:11

Matthew 6:11 Our daily bread [τον αρτον ημων τον επιουσιον]
This adjective “daily” It clearly comes from επι — epi and ιων — iōn But the adjective επιουσιος — epiousios is rare and Origen said it was made by the Evangelists Matthew and Luke to reproduce the idea of an Aramaic original. Moulton and Milligan, Vocabulary say: “The papyri have as yet shed no clear light upon this difficult word (Matthew 6:11; Luke 11:3), which was in all probability a new coinage by the author of the Greek Q to render his Aramaic Original” (this in 1919). Deissmann claims that only about fifty purely New Testament or “Christian” words can be admitted out of the more than 5,000 used. “But when a word is not recognizable at sight as a Jewish or Christian new formation, we must consider it as an ordinary Greek word until the contrary is proved. Επιουσιος — Epiousios has all the appearance of a word that originated in trade and traffic of the everyday life of the people (cf. my hints in Neutestamentliche Studien Georg Heinrici dargebracht, Leipzig, 1914, pp. 118f.). The opinion here expressed has been confirmed by A. Debrunner‘s discovery (Theol. Lit. Ztg. 1925, Colossians. 119) of επιουσιος — epiousios in an ancient housekeeping book” (Light from the Ancient East, New ed. 1927, p. 78 and note 1). So then it is not a word coined by the Evangelist or by Q to express an Aramaic original. The word occurs also in three late MSS. after 2 Maccabees 1:8, τους επιουσιους — tous epiousious after τους αρτους — tous artous The meaning, in view of the kindred participle (επιουσηι — epiousēi) in Acts 16:12, seems to be “for the coming day,” a daily prayer for the needs of the next day as every housekeeper understands like the housekeeping book discovered by Debrunner. [source]
Luke 11:1 That []
. Not in the Greek, asyndeton Supply προσευχομενος — proseuchomenos (praying), complementary or supplementary participle.Teach us Jesus had taught them by precept (Matthew 6:7-15) and example (Luke 9:29). Somehow the example of Jesus on this occasion stirred them to fresh interest in the subject and to revival of interest in John‘s teachings (Luke 5:33). So Jesus gave them the substance of the Model Prayer in Matthew, but in shorter form. Some of the MSS. have one or all of the phrases in Matthew, but the oldest documents have it in the simplest form. See notes on Matthew 6:7-15 for discussion of these details (Father, hallowed, kingdom, daily bread, forgiveness, bringing us into temptation). In Matthew 6:11 “give” is dos (second aorist active imperative second singular, a single act) while here Luke 11:3 “give” is didou (present active imperative, both from δος — didōmi) and means, “keep on giving.” So in Luke 11:4 we have “For we ourselves also forgive” But the spirit of each prayer is the same. There is no evidence that Jesus meant either form to be a ritual. In both Matthew 6:13; Luke 11:4 τα οπειληματα — mē eisenegkēis occurs (second aorist subjunctive with τας αμαρτιας — mē in prohibition, ingressive aorist). “Bring us not” is a better translation than “lead us not.” There is no such thing as God enticing one to sin (James 1:13). Jesus urges us to pray not to be tempted as in Luke 22:40 in Gethsemane. [source]
Luke 11:1 Teach us [διδαχον ημας]
Jesus had taught them by precept (Matthew 6:7-15) and example (Luke 9:29). Somehow the example of Jesus on this occasion stirred them to fresh interest in the subject and to revival of interest in John‘s teachings (Luke 5:33). So Jesus gave them the substance of the Model Prayer in Matthew, but in shorter form. Some of the MSS. have one or all of the phrases in Matthew, but the oldest documents have it in the simplest form. See notes on Matthew 6:7-15 for discussion of these details (Father, hallowed, kingdom, daily bread, forgiveness, bringing us into temptation). In Matthew 6:11 “give” is dos (second aorist active imperative second singular, a single act) while here Luke 11:3 “give” is didou (present active imperative, both from δος — didōmi) and means, “keep on giving.” So in Luke 11:4 we have “For we ourselves also forgive” But the spirit of each prayer is the same. There is no evidence that Jesus meant either form to be a ritual. In both Matthew 6:13; Luke 11:4 τα οπειληματα — mē eisenegkēis occurs (second aorist subjunctive with τας αμαρτιας — mē in prohibition, ingressive aorist). “Bring us not” is a better translation than “lead us not.” There is no such thing as God enticing one to sin (James 1:13). Jesus urges us to pray not to be tempted as in Luke 22:40 in Gethsemane. [source]
John 6:33 The bread of God [ο αρτος του τεου]
All bread is of God (Matthew 6:11). The manna came down from heaven (Numbers 11:9) as does this bread Refers to the bread Bernard notes that this phrase (coming down) is used seven times in this discourse (John 6:33, John 6:38, John 6:41, John 6:42, John 6:50, John 6:51, John 6:58). Giveth life Chrysostom observes that the manna gave nourishment This is a most astounding statement to the crowd. [source]
John 6:34 Lord [Κυριε]
Used now instead of Rabbi (25) though how much the people meant by it is not clear. Evermore give us this bread Second aorist active imperative second singular like δος — dos in Matthew 6:11 (urgent petition). What kind of bread do they mean? The Jewish commentaries and Philo speak of the manna as typifying heavenly bread for the soul. Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:3 seems to refer to the manna as “spiritual food.” Like the woman at the well (John 4:15) they long “always” to have “this bread,” a perpetual supply. It is probably to this crowd as the water in John 4:15 was to the woman. [source]

What do the individual words in Matthew 6:11 mean?

The bread of us - daily grant us today
Τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δὸς ἡμῖν σήμερον

ἄρτον  bread 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root: ἄρτος  
Sense: food composed of flour mixed with water and baked.
ἡμῶν  of  us 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive 1st Person Plural
Root: ἐγώ  
Sense: I, me, my.
τὸν  - 
Parse: Article, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
ἐπιούσιον  daily 
Parse: Adjective, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root: ἐπιούσιος  
Sense: word found in the phrase.
δὸς  grant 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Imperative Active, 2nd Person Singular
Root: διδῶ 
Sense: to give.
ἡμῖν  us 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Dative 1st Person Plural
Root: ἐγώ  
Sense: I, me, my.
σήμερον  today 
Parse: Adverb
Root: σήμερον  
Sense: this (very) day).