“Our daily bread”
Matthew 6:11
IdiomWell-supportedJesus
Give us this day our daily bread. (Matthew 6:11 BSB)
* Greek: epiousios, a rare word meaning perhaps 'for the coming day' or 'needed.'
What it sounds like today
A routine phrase: bread for today.
The cultural key
'Daily' translates epiousios, a word so rare it appears virtually nowhere else in all Greek literature; the best guess is 'for the coming day.' It is a day-laborer's prayer: hired each morning, paid each evening (Matthew 20), one day from hunger. It also echoes the manna that could not be stockpiled (Exodus 16).
Recovered meaning
'Give us today what we need for tomorrow': the petition of people with no reserves, asked daily, trusting the Father one day at a time.
Parallels: Luke 11:3