“Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us”
Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. (Luke 11:2–4 BSB)
What it sounds like today
The Lord's Prayer with pieces missing.
The cultural key
Luke's version is notably shorter than Matthew's (no 'your will be done,' no 'deliver us from evil'), begins with the bare address 'Father' (the Abba entry is relevant), and arrives with its own origin story: the disciples ask 'teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples,' since a teacher's signature prayer marked his school. The richest difference is in the forgiveness line: Matthew says 'forgive us our debts,' Luke says 'forgive us our sins, for we forgive everyone indebted to us,' mixing the two words in one sentence. Underneath both is Aramaic khoba, which means debt and sin at once; Luke's blend shows the seam of the shared original.
Recovered meaning
Two performances of one prayer, likely taught more than once, not one corrupted text. And the debt language is the theology: sin as something owed, forgiveness as cancellation of account, extended because ours was cancelled.