Is it “Super Bread” or “Daily Bread?”

We all know the line: “Give us this day, our daily bread.” But, what if I were to tell you instead the line is actually: “Give us this day, our supersubstantial bread?” You’d likely think I was nuts.

Well, I have some shocking news for you: It’s both.

That’s right— The Lord’s Prayer was recorded somewhat differently in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke during translation, and, as a result, have significant theological implications—until read in tandem and in understanding of the original Greek—where the same word is used.  It was a matter of great debate in the early Church and one we should be mindful of today.

For those of you who attended the Knights of Columbus Men’s Day of Reflection, you were treated to a very basic historical timeline of the development of the Bible. The very short version goes like this: The earliest forms of the Gospels were written in Greek, translated to Latin by St. Jerome over two decades beginning in 382 and later translated to English following the Council of Trent.  It is from the earliest documents of the Church where we find the prayer.  Now—if you refer to most modern Bibles, the prayer is recorded nearly identical—even in this crucial portion using the phrase “Give us this day, our Daily Bread.”

The new Ignatius Catholic Study Bible — Revised Standard Version [highly recommended for study] ALSO records the Lord’s Prayer this way. For us, we must look at the original Greek in order to understand the Lord’s Prayer as we say it today. The relevant Greek Word is circled in each:

Matthew:

Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς,
ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου·
ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου·
γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου,
ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς·
τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δὸς ἡμῖν σήμερον·
καὶ ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰ ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν,
ὡς καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀφήκαμεν τοῖς ὀφειλέταις ἡμῶν·
καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν,
ἀλλὰ ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ.

Luke:

Πάτερ,
ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου·
ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου·
τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δίδου ἡμῖν τὸ καθ᾽ ἡμέραν·
καὶ ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰ ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν,
καὶ γὰρ αὐτοὶ ἀφίεμεν παντὶ ὀφείλοντι ἡμῖν·
καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν.

As translated by St. Jerome from the original Greek, he records the Lord’s Prayer as follows from Matthew 6:9-13:

Pater noster, qui es in cælis,
sanctificetur nomen tuum.
Adveniat regnum tuum.
Fiat voluntas tua, sicut in cælo et in terra.
Panem nostrum supersubstantialem da nobis hodie.
Et dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris.
Et ne nos inducas in tentationem.
Sed libera nos a malo. Amen.

Any Catholic would recognize this first version with one exception as:

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our supersubstantial bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation.
But deliver us from evil. Amen.

Compare this to Luke, where Jerome translated the prayer at Luke 11:2-4:

Pater, sanctificetur nomen tuum.
Adveniat regnum tuum.
Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie.
Et dimitte nobis peccata nostra:
sicut et nos dimittimus omni debenti nobis.
Et ne nos inducas in tentationem.

Translated:

Father, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.

So, why the difference for the same Greek word?

The word “supersubstantial” and “daily” is equally derived from the rather unique Greek word ἐπιούσιον (epiousion). It is, believe it or not, a word found nowhere else in Greek literature (a hapax legomenon). It is found ONLY in the Lord’s Prayer. So, yes, it is special. Generally, epiousion can be broken to its roots:

ἐπί (epi) – “upon,” “for,” or “above”

οὐσία (ousia) – “being,” “essence,” or “substance”

So, the word, literally means:

"for existence",
"above essence",
or "necessary for being."

For Catholics, the word should be understood a couple ways:

1). Daily —- Bread for today— this is the most traditional (Latin: quotidianum)

2). Supersubstantial — Beyond substance— Latin: supersubstantialem (Jerome’s Vulgate – Matthew)

3). Necessary — That which is needed— As in essential for life

4). For the coming day — Future-oriented — Patristic interpretation: possibly eschatological (referring to the Eucharist or the Kingdom)

5). Sustaining - That which sustains existence — This is our general theological reading.

So, how would the earliest Catholics in the 1st Century have understood the prayer? Well, we can look to the Didache —i.e., “The Teaching” — the earliest known Catholic Catechism. There, the Lord’s prayer also appears and it is reproduced identically from Matthew. It is here, in the Didache, where we receive the Doxology prayed in the Mass— “for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory…”

And, translated to Latin, these early Catholics would have understood the “bread” to be “supersubstantial.” But, what does this lesson in linguistics teach us? Plenty.

We should approach and understand the line “Give us this Day, our Daily Bread” as a natural reflection of our dependence on God for daily sustenance, much like Israel’s daily manna in the desert (Exodus 16). And, for us Catholics, it should remind us of our desire to seek God in the Eucharist [the necessary, supersubstantial, sustaining spiritual sustenance of eternal life.)

That’s a lot of meaning for one word…

The Easy Guide for a Special Word!