Debts; Debtors
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(Matt. 6:12)—in the Lord’s Prayer, a figure for sins and the guilt incurred by failing to render God and neighbor what love and righteousness require. Matthew has “debts,” while Luke says, “forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us” (Luke 11:4), showing the moral meaning. The petition does not teach that forgiveness can be purchased; it joins the mercy we ask from God with the mercy we must extend to others.