mahar (מָחָר)
- Language: Aramaic or Hebrew
- Romanized: mahar
- Original script: מָחָר
- Gloss: tomorrow
Jerome’s reported reading behind The Aramaic Reading That Lost. Preserved in a Semitic-language Jewish-Christian gospel, it renders the Lord’s Prayer petition as a request for tomorrow’s bread — the bread of the future, the bread of the kingdom — rather than for routine daily provision.
Concordance Aid
Reading Note
Example passages: Jerome on the Gospel according to the Hebrews; Matthew 6:11; Luke 11:3.
Mahar turns the petition toward tomorrow. That tomorrow may be the next day, but it may also carry the scent of the coming kingdom. The word keeps the prayer from being heard only as routine supply.
Translation Range
Tomorrow, the next day, the coming day, future.
Not To Be Confused With
Mahar is not the same interpretive move as Latin quotidianum. One points forward; the other settles into daily repetition.
Translator’s Choice
Choosing “tomorrow’s bread” makes the petition eschatological. Choosing “daily bread” makes it devotional and routine. The book keeps both possibilities visible without pretending they say the same thing.
Related entries
- Epiousios — the Greek word it competes with
- Crastinum — Jerome’s Latin gloss (“of tomorrow”)
- Quotidianum — Jerome’s alternative (“daily”)
- Supersubstantialem — Jerome’s third option (“supersubstantial”)
- Lehem Min Ha Shamayim — bread from heaven, with which mahar belongs