Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Luke 11:4 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 4. 4And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Luke 11:4 joins received forgiveness, practiced forgiveness, and protection in testing without erasing safety.
Read It With
- Luke 11:1–11:4
Read Luke 11:4 with 11:1–11:4. In isolation, this contribution—joins received forgiveness, practiced forgiveness, and protection in testing without erasing safety—can be detached from its speaker, audience, scene or teaching sequence, and outcome. The complete unit establishes: A disciple asks to learn prayer; Jesus gives a compact address to Father concerning God's name and kingdom, daily bread, forgiveness linked to forgiving, and protection in testing.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Luke 11:4 joins received forgiveness, practiced forgiveness, and protection in testing without erasing safety. This precise contribution belongs inside “Jesus Teaches a Communal Prayer” because A disciple asks to learn prayer; Jesus gives a compact address to Father concerning God's name and kingdom, daily bread, forgiveness linked to forgiving, and protection in testing.
Follow the Context
- Identify the actors, setting, and initiating speech or action in Luke 11:1–11:4.
- A disciple asks to learn prayer; Jesus gives a compact address to Father concerning God's name and kingdom, daily bread, forgiveness linked to forgiving, and protection in testing.
- Hold this material interpretive limit in view: Luke's form differs from Matthew's and some manuscripts expand it toward Matthew. 'Daily' remains lexically difficult, and the prayer's first-person plurals resist individualistic use.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
This verse does not detach its specific contribution—joins received forgiveness, practiced forgiveness, and protection in testing without erasing safety—from the complete unit or override the unit's explicit boundary: The prayer does not make a verbal formula magical, excuse withheld forgiveness without safety, guarantee wealth, or treat temptation as proof of failure.
What Remains True
Luke 11:4 joins received forgiveness, practiced forgiveness, and protection in testing without erasing safety. Read inside Luke 11:1–11:4, this contribution supports the unit's proportionate truth: A disciple asks to learn prayer; Jesus gives a compact address to Father concerning God's name and kingdom, daily bread, forgiveness linked to forgiving, and protection in testing. Its use remains accountable to affected people and the unit's explicit boundary.
How It Can Shape Life
- Luke 11:4 joins received forgiveness, practiced forgiveness, and protection in testing without erasing safety. Its faithful response is proportionate to that role: Pray together for God's name, reign, daily provision, forgiveness, repair, and protection; never make forgiveness a tool for forced reconciliation or prayer a public performance.
Teach It Back
Explain Luke 11:4's specific contribution to Luke 11:1–11:4: joins received forgiveness, practiced forgiveness, and protection in testing without erasing safety. Include the preceding and following movement, one source-controlled uncertainty, one affected person or group, and what the verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Luke 11:1–11:4 — Jesus Teaches a Communal PrayerSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and coverage.
Exact location: Luke 11:1–11:4, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording and sentence relations; the edition is not treated as a complete apparatus.
Exact location: Faithlife SBLGNT official repository, data/sblgnt/text/Luke.txt, 11:1–11:4
Open the Luke Greek text file ↗open translation and translator notes
NET Bible First Edition Notes: Luke
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, KJV-language clarification, historical notes, Synoptic parallels, and textual alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible First Edition Luke PDF, exact tn/tc/sn entries attached to Luke 11:1–11:4
Open source ↗