“Or Thine Is the Kingdom and the Power, and the Glory, Forever”

Alan C. Miner

According to McConkie, Millet, and Top, the phrase, "for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever Amen" (3 Nephi 13:13) which is part of the Lord's Prayer in Matthew, is known as a doxology and has been questioned by scholars over the generations. Many feel that it was added later by the Christian church because it contains what they conclude to be language used much later than the days of Jesus. However, a very early Christian document called the Didache or "Teaching of the Twelve Apostles" (late first century A.D.) contains the Lord's Prayer, including this doxology, thus suggesting its antiquity. The Book of Mormon serves as an additional witness. [Joseph F. McConkie, Robert L. Millet, Brent L. Top, "Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Vol. IV, p. 83]

According to John Welch, we might pause and say something about this [doxology] for just a minute: "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever" (3 Nephi 13:13). Many of you are aware that in some of the early manuscripts, indeed, the better manuscripts of Matthew, you don't have the long ending [doxology] to the Lord's Prayer. It just ends "Amen." That, of course, is not the case in the Book of Mormon, which gives you the long ending. . . .

The question is then why doesn't Luke (in Luke 6 and 11 when you have the Sermon on the Plain and the teachings of Jesus are comparable) end the brief prayer that he gives in chapter 11 with any kind of doxology. There the manuscripts are clear. It just ends with an "Amen." It might be that when you are in a temple context [as described in the Book of Mormon] you are more inclined to include a doxology, the praising of God. But when you are out in the fields teaching people how to pray, you would close with a simple "Amen." I refer you to Strack and Billerbeck who have gathered some Talmudic sources on this point. They describe the prayers that were offered in the temple on the Day of Atonement. They say after the people and the priests standing in the forecourt hear the name of the Lord cried out, then they all fall down on their faces, and they say, "Praised be the name of his glorious kingdom forever and eternally." . . . In other words, it was a part of the special ending of a prayer. On the Day of Atonement that longer ending would have been appropriate. If we are right that Jesus is appearing to the Nephites on a day that had ceremonial significance, it cannot be counted as an error that the Lord's Prayer ends with the doxology in 3 Nephi. . . . Biblical scholars, Jeremias in particular, have argued that you cannot imagine a prayer being offered by a Jew (and Jesus was a Jew) that didn't end with some kind of doxology praising God. Jeremias isn't sure what doxology Jesus might have used, but he has no doubt that one would have been there. [John W. Welch, "The Beatitudes--Christ's Teachings," in Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Semester 4, p. 142]

“Or Thine Is the Kingdom and the Power,
_and the Glory, Forever”

According to McConkie, Millet, and Top, the phrase, "for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever Amen" (3 Nephi 13:13) which is part of the Lord's Prayer in Matthew, is known as a doxology and has been questioned by scholars over the generations. Many feel that it was added later by the Christian church because it contains what they conclude to be language used much later than the days of Jesus. However, a very early Christian document called the Didache or "Teaching of the Twelve Apostles" (late first century A.D.) contains the Lord's Prayer, including this doxology, thus suggesting its antiquity. The Book of Mormon serves as an additional witness. [Joseph F. McConkie, Robert L. Millet, Brent L. Top, "Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Vol. IV, p. 83]

According to John Welch, we might pause and say something about this [doxology] for just a minute: "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever" (3 Nephi 13:13). Many of you are aware that in some of the early manuscripts, indeed, the better manuscripts of Matthew, you don't have the long ending [doxology] to the Lord's Prayer. It just ends "Amen." That, of course, is not the case in the Book of Mormon, which gives you the long ending. . . .

The question is then why doesn't Luke (in Luke 6 and 11 when you have the Sermon on the Plain and the teachings of Jesus are comparable) end the brief prayer that he gives in chapter 11 with any kind of doxology. There the manuscripts are clear. It just ends with an "Amen." It might be that when you are in a temple context [as described in the Book of Mormon] you are more inclined to include a doxology, the praising of God. But when you are out in the fields teaching people how to pray, you would close with a simple "Amen." I refer you to Strack and Billerbeck who have gathered some Talmudic sources on this point. They describe the prayers that were offered in the temple on the Day of Atonement. They say after the people and the priests standing in the forecourt hear the name of the Lord cried out, then they all fall down on their faces, and they say, "Praised be the name of his glorious kingdom forever and eternally." . . . In other words, it was a part of the special ending of a prayer. On the Day of Atonement that longer ending would have been appropriate. If we are right that Jesus is appearing to the Nephites on a day that had ceremonial significance, it cannot be counted as an error that the Lord's Prayer ends with the doxology in 3 Nephi. . . . Biblical scholars, Jeremias in particular, have argued that you cannot imagine a prayer being offered by a Jew (and Jesus was a Jew) that didn't end with some kind of doxology praising God. Jeremias isn't sure what doxology Jesus might have used, but he has no doubt that one would have been there. [John W. Welch, "The Beatitudes--Christ's Teachings," in Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Semester 4, p. 142]

Step by Step Through the Book of Mormon: A Cultural Commentary

References