Jerome (Latin: Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus Stridonensis), born around 347 in Stridon (in present-day frontier zone between Slovenia and Croatia) – died on September 30th in the year 420 in Bethlehem. He lived as a monk in Bethlehem for more than thirty years, during which time he devoted himself to translating the Bible into Latin from the original Hebrew and Greek texts.
Jerome, Commentary on Matthew, Book 1, ch. 6, 9-12
Pater noster qui in caelis es. Patrem dicendo se filius confitentur.
Our Father who are in heaven. Those who say “father” profess at the same time that they are sons.
Sanctificetur nomen tuum, non in te sed in nobis. Si enim propter peccatores nomen dei blasphematur in gentibus, e contrario propter iustos sanctificatur.
Hallowed be your name, not in you, but in us. For if because of sinners the name of God is blasphemed among the nations, on the contrary, it is sanctified because of the righteous.
Ueniat regnum tuum. Vel generaliter pro totius mundi petit regno ut diabolus in mundo regnare desistat uel ut in unoquoque regnet deus et non regnet peccatum in mortali hominum corpore. Simul que et hoc adtendendum quod grandis audaciae sit et purae conscientiae postulare regnum dei, iudicium non timere.
Your kingdom come. Either he asks in general for the kingdom to reign over the whole world, so that the devil may cease to reign over the world, or asks that God may reign in each person and sin may not reign in the mortal bodies of men. At the same time, we must be careful, for it is very bold and requires a pure conscience to ask for the kingdom of God without fearing judgment.
Fiat uoluntas tua sicut in caelo et in terra, ut quo modo tibi angeli inculpate seruiunt in caelis, ita in terra seruiant homines. Erubescant ex hac sententia qui cotidie in caelo ruinas mentiuntur. Nam quid nobis prodest caelorum similitudo, si et in caelo peccatum est?
May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, may men serve you on earth as angels serve you without fault in heaven. May those who falsely claim that there are falls [through sin] in heaven blush at this sentence. For what advantage would we have from a resemblance to heaven if sin were also in heaven?
Panem nostrum supersubstantialem da nobis hodie. Quod nos supersubstantialem expressimus, in graeco habetur ἐπιούσιον, quod uerbum lxx interpretes περιούσιον frequentissime transtulerunt. Considerauimus ergo in hebreo, et ubicumque illi περιούσιον expresserant, nos inuenimus sogolla quod symmachus ἐξαίρετον, id est praecipuum uel egregium, transtulit, licet in quodam loco peculiare interpretatus sit. Quando ergo petimus ut peculiarem uel praecipuum nobis deus tribuat, panem illum petimus qui dicit: ego sum panis qui de caelo descendi.
Give us today our “supersubstantial” bread. What we have expressed by “supersubstantial” corresponds to the Greek epioúsion, a word that the interpreters of the Septuagint very often rendered as perioúsion. We have, in fact, considered that wherever we find the word “sogolla” in Hebrew, they very often expressed it in Greek as perioúsion, which Symmachus [in turn] translated as exaíreton, meaning superior or excellent, although in one passage it was interpreted as “particular” [in the sense of belonging to someone].
When we ask God to give us a “particular” bread [that belongs to us] or a “superior” bread, we are asking for the very bread that says, “I am the bread that came down from heaven” (John 6:51).
perioúsion: this term, which is similar to epioúsion, is also mentioned in Origen’s commentary (see the article Origen on the Lord’s Prayer). Its occurrences in the Septuagint translation are found in Deuteronomy 7:6; 14:2; 26:18, and it is traditionally translated as special property, special treasure, a precious possession, and corresponds to the Hebrew word segullah (סְגֻלָּה). We can also note among the Aramaic translations the word ‘atiryn, precious, and also those who translated the Greek epioúsion as precious, valuable. Origen explains the Greek word perioúsion by saying that this people surrounds the divine ousía, like the priests who stood around the tent of meeting where the presence of God, the shekinah, descended, and this would correspond to the passage in Exodus 19:6 where God set apart, chose for himself a holy people, a royal priesthood. For Jerome, therefore, this bread, which is the special property of God, this bread, which is superior to all others, is the one that embodies the divinity, on which the Holy Spirit rests, the bread that came down from heaven.
In euangelio quod appellatur secundum hebraeos pro supersubstantiali pane maar repperi, quod dicitur crastinum, ut sit sensus: panem nostrum crastinum, id est futurum, da nobis hodie. Possumus supersubstantialem panem et aliter intellegere qui super omnes substantias sit et uniuersas superet creaturas. Alii simpliciter putant secundum apostoli sermonem dicentis: habentes uictum et uestitum his contenti sumus, de praesenti tantum cibo sanctos curam gerere, unde et in posterioribus sit praeceptum: nolite cogitare de crastino.
In the Gospel called “according to the Hebrews,” I found the word ‘maar’ in place of supersubstantial bread, which translates as “of tomorrow,” so that the meaning would be: “Give us today our bread of tomorrow, that is, of the future. But we can also understand supersubstantial bread in another way, in the sense of that which is above all substance and surpasses all creatures. Others simply judge according to the words of the apostle who says: “If we have food and clothing, we will be content with that” (1 Timothy 6:8), because the saints are only concerned with food for the present, which is why it is commanded in the following: “Do not worry about tomorrow.”
This article is an in-depth study of Matthew 6:9-13 Our Father