And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
forgive.
Exodus 34:7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
1 Kings 8:30,34,39,50 And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive…
Psalm 32:1 A Psalm of David, Maschil. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
debts.
Matthew 18:21-27,34 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? …
Luke 7:40-48 And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on…
Luke 11:4 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.
as.
Matthew 6:14,15 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: …
Matthew 18:21,22,28-35 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? …
Nehemiah 5:12,13 Then said they, We will restore them, and will require nothing of them; so will we do as thou sayest. Then I called the priests, and took an oath of them, that they should do according to this promise…
as we also have forgiven our debtors
This phrase emphasizes the reciprocal nature of forgiveness. It suggests that the forgiveness we seek from God is linked to the forgiveness we extend to others. This reflects a key teaching of Jesus: that the grace we receive should be mirrored in our relationships with others. In the cultural context, forgiving debts was a radical idea, as it often meant relinquishing one's right to repayment. This teaching is consistent with other biblical passages, such as Matthew 5:7, "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy," and Ephesians 4:32, which calls believers to forgive as God forgave them in Christ. The phrase underscores the transformative power of forgiveness, both received and given, as a hallmark of Christian discipleship.
• The prayer Jesus teaches begins with the confidence that the Father wants to pardon. Nothing in the line is tentative; it is a child asking a loving Father.
• 1 John 1:9 confirms the promise: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
• Psalm 103:12 assures us, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” The request is grounded in God’s proven character.
• Isaiah 1:18 echoes the same welcome: “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow.” We ask because He has already declared His willingness.
• “Debts” speaks of what we owe God—every failure to love Him and neighbor perfectly (Romans 3:23).
• Romans 6:23 warns, “For the wages of sin is death,” underscoring the seriousness of the debt.
• Colossians 2:14 celebrates the remedy: Christ “canceled the record of debt against us, nailing it to the cross.”
• Jesus later illustrates the concept with the parable of the unmerciful servant (Matthew 18:23-27), portraying sin as an unpayable amount erased by the king’s mercy.
• The phrase assumes that believers are already practicing forgiveness; it is the lifestyle of the forgiven.
• Mark 11:25 instructs, “When you stand praying, forgive anything you may have against anyone, so that your Father in heaven will also forgive your trespasses.”
• Forgiving others does not purchase God’s pardon; it proves we have received it. A heart still clutching grudges contradicts the claim of grace received (James 2:13).
• “Debtors” includes anyone who has wronged us—family, friends, enemies, strangers.
• Ephesians 4:32 urges, “Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.”
• Colossians 3:13 adds, “Bear with one another and forgive any complaint you may have against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”
• Releasing others from what they owe frees us from bitterness and mirrors the mercy we cherish.
Matthew 6:12 calls believers to daily seek the Father’s cleansing for every moral debt, trusting His ready mercy through Christ. At the same time, we extend that same mercy to anyone indebted to us, proving that grace has truly reached our hearts. The forgiven become forgivers, and the family resemblance to our Father in heaven comes into sharp focus.
(12) Forgive us our debts.--Duty--i.e., that which we owe, or ought to do--and debts are, it may be noted, only different forms of the same word. A duty unfulfilled is a debt unpaid. Primarily, therefore, the words "our debts" represent sins of omission, and "trespasses" the transgression of a law, sins of commission. The distinction, however, though convenient, is more or less technical. Every transgression implies the non-fulfilment of duty in a more aggravated form, and the memory of both presents itself to the awakened conscience under the character of an ever-accumulating debt. Even the sins against our neighbour are, in this sense, debts which we have incurred to God; and as the past cannot be undone, they are debts which we can never pay. For us, therefore, the one helpful prayer is, "Forgive the debt," and the gospel which our Lord proclaimed was, that the Father was ready to forgive. The confession of the debt was enough to ensure its remission, and then there was to come the willing service of a grateful love instead of the vain attempt, which Pharisaism encouraged, to score up an account of good works, as part payment, and therefore as a set-off, reducing the amount of debt. The parables of the Two Debtors (Luke 7:41) and of the Unforgiving Creditor whose own debt had been forgiven (Matthew 18:23-35) were but expansions of the thought which we find in its germ in this clause of the Lord's Prayer.In striking contrast with that clause is the claim of merit which insinuates itself so readily into the hearts of those who worship without the consciousness that they need forgiveness, and which uttered itself in the daring prayer attributed to Apollonius of Tyana, "Give me that which is my due--pay me, ye gods, the debts ye owe to me."
As we forgive our debtors.--The better reading gives, We have forgiven, as a completed act before we begin to pray. In the very act of prayer we are taught to remind ourselves of the conditions of forgiveness. Even here, in the region of the free grace of God, there is a law of retribution. The temper that does not forgive cannot be forgiven, because it is ipso facto a proof that we do not realise the amount of the debt we owe. We forget the ten thousand talents as we exact the hundred pence, and in the act of exacting we bring back that burden of the greater debt upon ourselves.
Up to this point, in the petitions of the Lord's Prayer, we may think of the Man Christ Jesus as having not only taught the Prayer, but Himself used it. During the years of youth and manhood it may well have been thus far the embodiment of the outpourings of His soul in communion with His Father. Even the prayer, "Give us this day our daily bread," whether we take it in its higher or its lower meaning, would be the fit utterance of His sense of dependence as the Son of Man. Can we think the same of the prayer, "Forgive us our debts?" It is, of course, opposed to the whole teaching of Scripture to believe that there dwelt on His human spirit the memory of a single transgression. In the fullest sense of the word He was without sin, the Just One, needing no repentance. And yet the analogy of those of His saints and servants who have followed most closely in the footsteps of His holiness may lead us to think it possible that even these words also may have had a meaning in which He could use them. In proportion as men attain holiness and cease to transgress, they gain a clearer perception of the infinite holiness of God, and seek to be made partakers of it. They would fain pray and praise and work for Him evermore, but though the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak. They are weary and faint, and they become more intensely conscious of the limits of their human powers as contrasted with the limitless range of their desires. In this sense, therefore, and strictly in reference to the limitations of the true, yet absolutely sinless, humanity which He vouchsafed to assume, it is just conceivable that He too Himself may have used this prayer. And we must remember also that He prayed as the Brother of mankind, as the representative of the race. The intensity of His sympathy with sinners, which was the condition of His atoning work (Hebrews 4:15), would make Him, though He knew no sin, to identify Himself with sinners. He would feel as if their transgressions were His transgressions, their debts His debts.
Verse 12. - And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Forgive; a change in God's relation to us and our sins. No plea is urged, for the atonement had not yet been made. Our debts (τὰ ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν) parallel passage in Luke, τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν). It is probable that Matthew took one meaning, perhaps the more primary, and Luke another, perhaps the more secondary (cf. Gesenius, Thes,' s.v. הוב, and Professor Marshall, Expositor, IV. 3:281), of the original Aramaic word (חובא); but, as "debtors" comes in the next clause, it seems reasonable to suppose that Matthew represents the sense in which our Lord intended the word to be understood. Luke may have avoided it as too strongly Hebraic a metaphor, even though he does use ὀφειλέται of men in relation to God (Luke 13:4). The 'Didache,' 8, gives the singular, ὀφειλήν (cf. infra, Matthew 18:32), which Dr. Taylor ('Lectures,' p. 62) thinks is preferable. The singular, especially with "debtors" following, would very naturally be corrupted to the plural. Sins are termed "debts," as not rendering to God his due (Matthew 22:21; cf. 25:27). As we; Revised Version, as we also (ὡς καὶ ἡμεῖς). In the same way as we have - a comparison of fact, not of proportion (cf. Matthew 8:13; Matthew 18:33). (For the thought, cf. Ecclus. 28:2.) Luke's "for we ourselves also" (καὶ γὰρ αὐτοί) lays more stress on our forgiving others being a reason for God forgiving us. Forgive; Revised Version, have forgiven, in the past (aorist). Luke's present is of the habit. Our debtors. Luke individualizes (παντὶ ὀφείλοντι ἡμῖν