|
Anyone who is interested in seeing what a direct translation from ancient Christian texts to modern English might be, I would suggest you check out "Prayers of the Cosmos" by Neil Douglas-Klotz. To quote:
"Furthermore, like its sister languages Hebrew and Arabic, Aramaic can express many layers of meaning. Words are organized and defined based on a poetic root-and-pattern system, so that each word may have several meanins, at first unrelated, but upon contemplation revealing an inner connection."
For this reason, Douglas-Klotz gives multiple translations for each line of the prayer. I would strongly urge those who are interested to get the book and see all the translations. Here is the Lord's Prayer using my favorite translations for each line:
O Thou! The Breathing Life of all, Creator of the Shimmering Sound that touches us.
Help us breathe one holy breath feelingonly you--this creates a shrine inside, in wholeness.
Create your reign of unity now--through our fiery hearts and willing hands.
Help us love beyond our ideals and sprout acts of compassion for all creatures.
Generate through us the bread of life: we hold only what is asked to feed the next mouth.
Erase the inner marks our failures make, just as we scrub our hearts of others' faults.
Don't let us enter forgetfulness, the temptation of false appearances.
Again and again, from each universal gathering--of creatures, nations, planets, time and space--to the next.
|