THE PUNCTUATION OF THE LORD'S PRAYER. (To rot rinIOII 01
raz “Sercreroa."1 Sin,—What really matters in regard to the punctuation of the Lord's Prayer is not that we should abide by the traditional use of the Prayer Book, but that we should express the meaning of the original with the utmost possible accuracy. The passage in question (Matt. vi., 9, 10) is printed in Westcott and Hort's Greek Testament as follows 'Ay,aee(,r" vi bold woe, 5511krad t EamtAfia troy,
yesruilura, ri OIAILuef 'roe,
br it obpan; nut irf yip'
That is to say, by putting a comma instead of a fullstop after each of the three prayers: "Hallowed be Thy Name," "Thy kingdom come," "Thy will be done "; and by allotting a separate line to each of these as well as to the last clause, "in earth as in Heaven," the editors have emphasized their view that this last clause refers equally to each of the three prayers. If this view is correct, it is a matter of no small importance. For one thing, it affords an ample answer to those who charge Christianity with neglecting this world in favour of the world to come. It is worth noticing that those editions of our Prayer Book which put the comma after "done" instead of after "earth" also substitute a comma for the fullstop after "name" and after "some." The intention is obviously to adopt the some interpretation as Westcott and Hort. The change of punctuation was no doubt made "without the due authority," but Mr. T. F. Boultbee is mistaken in saying that it makes no difference to the meaning. The difference is considerable, and if the newer version is correct, as scams probable, the due authority should be
obtained for it.—I am, Sir, Sze., T. P. MALLESON. Great Tew Vicarage.
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