E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Saxon English.
The “Lord’s Prayer” is almost all of it Anglo-Saxon. The words trespasses, trespass, and temptation are of Latin origin. The substitution of “debts” and “debtors” (as “forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors”) is objectionable. Perhaps “Forgive us our wrongdoings, as we forgive them who do wrong to us.”
would be less objectionable. The latter clause, “lead us not into temptation,” is far more difficult to convert into Anglo-Saxon. The best suggestion I can think of is “lead us not in the ways of sinners,” but the real meaning is “put us not to the test.” We have the word assay (Assay us not), which would be an excellent translation, but the word is not a familiar one.
