Preface: Jesus first teaches His disciples about prayer. He is accused of casting out demons with the power of Beelzebub (= prince of dung); Jesus explains that a house divided cannot stand. He teaches about the sign of Jonah and the light of the body, which is the eye. When asked to a meal by a pharisee, He is criticized for not washing His hands. As a result, Jesus unloads on the scribes, pharisees and lawyers (experts in the Law of Moses).

Bible Summary: Jesus said, "Pray, 'Father, your kingdom come.' Seek and you will find. Only the sign of Jonah will be given. Woe to you Pharisees!" 

This should be the most extensive examination of Luke 11 available, where you will be able to examine in depth every word of the original text.

Outline of Chapter 11:

Preface

Introduction

         vv.     1–13         Jesus Teaches About Prayer

         vv.         1–4          The Lord’s Prayer

         vv.         5–8          Parable of the Persistent Friend

         vv.         9–13        Keep on Asking, Seeking and Knocking

         vv.    14–26         Jesus Casts Out a Demon, and Then Teaches Those Who Falsely Accuse Him

         vv.        15–16        The False Accusation

         vv.        17–23        “A House Divided Against Itself”

         vv.        24–26        A Man Out of Whom a Demon is Cast, Takes on Seven More Demons

         vv.    27–36         Jesus Continues to Teach

         vv.        27–28        The Disruptive Woman

         vv.        29–32        The Sign of Jonah is Given to this Evil Generation

         vv.        33–36        The Eye is the Light of the Body

         vv.    37–54         Jesus Confronts the Pharisees and Lawyers

         vv.        37–44        Woes Pronounced Upon the Pharisees

         vv.        45–52        Woes Pronounced Upon the Lawyers

         vv.        53–54        The Religious Class Lie in Wait to Trap the Lord in What He Says

Chapter Summary

Addendum

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines:

         Preface               Quotations

         Introduction         Titles and/or Brief Descriptions of Luke 11 (by Various Commentators)

         Introduction         Brief, but insightful observations of Luke 11 (various commentators)

         Introduction         Fundamental Questions About Luke 11

         Introduction 

         Introduction         The Prequel of Luke 11

         Introduction         The Principals of Luke 11

         Introduction         The Places of Luke 11

         Introduction         By the Numbers

         Introduction         A Synopsis of Luke 11

         Introduction         Outlines and Summaries of Luke 11 (Various Commentators)

         Introduction         A Synopsis of Luke 11 from the Summarized Bible

         Introduction 

         Introduction 

         Introduction         The Big Picture (Luke 10–12)

         Introduction         Paragraph Divisions of Modern Translation for Luke 11

         Introduction 

         Introduction 

         Introduction         Changes—additions and subtractions

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         v.      13              What About the Parallel Passage in Matthew?

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         v.      17              Lincoln’s “House Divided” Speech (Abraham Lincoln, on June 16, 1858)

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         v.      30              What is the sign of Jonah? (from Got Questions?)

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         Summary            A Set of Summary Doctrines and Commentary

         Summary            Why Luke 11 is in the Word of God

         Summary            What We Learn from Luke 11

         Summary            Jesus Christ in Luke 11

         Summary 

Summary

Summary

         Addendum          Christian Community Bible (Footnotes for Matthew 12 and Mark 3)

         Addendum          Demons (from the 2001 Translation)

         Addendum          A Demon is Cast Out (Matthew, Mark and Luke comparison)

         Addendum          The Demon Returns with Seven More (Matthew and Luke comparison)

         Addendum          Matthew 24:34 – “this generation”? (from the 2001 Translation)

         Addendum          Notes from Matthew 23 (from the Christian Community Bible)

         Addendum          Eating with Unwashed Hands (from the 2001 Translation)

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         Addendum          A Complete Translation of Luke 11

         Addendum 

         Addendum          Doctrinal Teachers Who Have Taught Luke 11

         Addendum          Word Cloud from a Reasonably Literal Paraphrase of Luke 11

         Addendum          Word Cloud from Exegesis of Luke 11

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An Introduction to Luke 11

I ntroduction: Luke 11, like most of the chapters in the middle of Luke, is all about teaching. Even when specific incidents are recorded, it leads to a teaching moment. Jesus first teaches what we know as the Lord’s Prayer to His disciples, and then He teaches the parable of the persistent friend. He tells His disciples that, if they want something, they can keep on asking the Lord.

When Jesus is seen casting out a demon, who had kept a man from being able to speak, He was accused of casting out demons by the prince of dung (Beelzebub). Jesus teaches why this is not logical. However, it is remarkable that those around Him were so ready to accept this false explanation. While teaching this subject matter, Jesus teaches about the man cleaned of a demon, but who then takes in 7 more spirits into himself.

A woman interrupts Jesus and He is does not speak very kindly towards her.

Jesus then speaks of the sign of Jonah and how the eyes are the light of the body.

The end of this chapter is devoted to the pharisees, the lawyers and Jesus. Jesus is asked to a meal, but He apparently is watched very carefully, so that the pharisee who asked Jesus to eat, notices what Jesus does wrong and, apparently, points it out to others. Jesus reprimands the pharisees and, when a lawyer pipes up and tells him that he is offended too, Jesus reprimands him as well.

One of the things which stood out to me in this chapter were the words of Jesus. In many of his sermons and answers, he seemed to speak poetically. This may not always stand out, but if you read Rotherham’s Emphasized Bible, that approach is quite obvious.

Going back to Luke 8, I began to discuss the organization of the book of Luke. There are incidents in Luke 8 which suggests that this is early on in the Lord’s ministry (possibly taking place a year into the ministry). In Luke 9, there are the nine incidents which line up with the same events in Matthew and Mark. These events all appear to take place right before the Lord goes to Jerusalem for the last time. Going from the final half-dozen verses in Luke 9 and going forward, we seem to lose all semblance of a chronological order.

The first thirteen verses in Luke 11 are clearly out of chronological order. Interestingly enough, they parallel Matthew 6:9–15 7:7–11, which passages are a part of the sermon on the mount. Whereas the teaching is the same, the circumstances appear to be different (but there would be a way to integrate them into a single incident). This appears to be the case for many of the teachings found in Luke 11. They have their parallels in Matthew and in Mark, but the parallels seem to all take place prior to Luke 9. Again, this seems to be consistent with my working theory that, Luke had possession of a great many teachings presented by Jesus, but he did not really have a way to integrate them in chronologically with his narrative in Luke 1–9. So Luke 10–18 (mid Luke 18) appears to be simply a set of teachings which Luke collected, but simply did not fit them into the chronology of what came before or after.

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Jesus Teaches About Prayer

The Lord's Prayer

Compare Matthew 6:9–15 7:7–11

The first thirteen verses match up very closely to Jesus’ teachings found in the Sermon on the mount (Matthew 5–7). However, interestingly enough, the circumstances appear to be different. In Luke, Jesus is praying and the disciples ask Him about how they ought to be praying (they do wait for Jesus to complete His praying).

Assuming that these are different incidents, what we will study in Luke appears to be something that the disciples would have asked Jesus very early on in His ministry (within the first year). Then it would not seem odd for Jesus to teach these same things in the sermon on the mount perhaps a few weeks or months later.

One of the theories of this middle section of Luke is, Jesus just did a whole lot of teaching as He walked toward Jerusalem (for the last time), and Luke records all of that teaching. The problem with that theory is, the material covered here in Luke 11:1–13 sounds like the kind of information that Jesus would have taught very early on in His ministry. These sound like questions that the disciples would have asked during the first six months of their time as disciples. The final two verses of this chapter also suggests that this is occurring in the first year of His public ministry and not in the last.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:                       Note: I will use the Westcott-Hort Greek text as the basis for my English translation. I use that test primarily because e-sword has a nice module by Rob Wolfram which has the interlinear English text, Strong’s #’s, and the Greek morphology. The e-sword tab is IWH+P. I do not use their English text for my translation. Also, throughout, I take in consideration alternate readings.

As a young Christian, I was quite interested in the alternative readings. After many decades of study, I have found that, as with the Hebrew text, disputed readings rarely have any affect on the interpretation of a text (apart from perhaps a half-dozen fairly well-known alternate readings, like the end of the book of Mark).

I will compare the Greek text to English translations of the Latin and Syriac (= Aramaic) texts, using the Douay-Rheims translation and George Lamsa’s translation from the Syriac. I often update these texts with non-substantive changes (e.g., you for thou, etc.).

In general, the Latin text is an outstanding translation from the Hebrew text into Latin and very trustworthy (I say this as a non-Catholic). Unfortunately, I do not read Latin—apart from some very obvious words—so I am dependent upon the English translation of the Latin (principally, the Douay-Rheims translation).

The Septuagint and the Dead Sea Scrolls are irrelevant, as they preceded the writing of the New Testament by over 200 years.

Underlined words indicate differences in the text.

Ancient texts:

Westcott-Hort Text (Greek)    And it has become in the being him in a place, one is praying, as he stopped had spoken one the disciples of his facing Him, “Lord, teach us to pray as even John taught disciples of his.”

Douay-Rheims 1899 (Amer.) And it came to pass that as he was in a certain place praying, when he ceased, one of his disciples said to him: Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.

Holy Aramaic Scriptures        And it happened that while He prayed in a certain place, when He had finished, one from His Disciples said unto Him, “Maran {Our Lord} teach us to pray, as also Yukhanan {John} taught his Disciples.”

James Murdock’s Syriac NT And as he was praying in a certain place, it occurred, that when he ceased, one of his disciples said to him: Our Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.

Original Aramaic NT              It was that when he was praying in a certain place, when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Our Lord*, teach us to pray, just as Yohannan also taught his disciples."

Lamsa Peshitta (Syriac)         It was that when he was praying in a certain place, when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Our Lord, teach us to pray, just as Yohannan also taught his disciples.”

Significant differences: 

Limited Vocabulary Translations:

Bible in Basic English             And it came about that he was in prayer in a certain place, and when he came to an end, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, will you give us teaching about prayer, as John did to his disciples?

Bible in Worldwide English     One day Jesus was in a place talking with God. When he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to talk with God as John taught his disciples.

Easy English                          Jesus teaches his disciples how to pray

One day, Jesus was praying in a certain place. He finished praying. Then, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Master, John taught his disciples how to pray. Please teach us as he did.’

Easy-to-Read Version–2006  One time Jesus was out praying, and when he finished, one of his followers said to him, "John taught his followers how to pray. Lord, teach us how to pray too."

God’s Word™                         .

Good News Bible (TEV)         One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples."

J. B. Phillips                           Jesus gives a model prayer

One day it happened that Jesus was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said, “Lord, teach us how to pray, as John used to teach his disciples.”

The Message                         Ask for What You Need

One day he was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said, “Master, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.”

NIRV                                      Jesus Teaches About Prayer

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples spoke to him. “Lord,” he said, “teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

New Life Version                    Jesus Teaches His Followers to Pray

Jesus had been praying. One of His followers said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray as John the Baptist taught his followers.”

New Simplified Bible              .

Thought-for-thought translations; dynamic translations; paraphrases:

Casual English Bible              JESUS TAKES ON THE BIBLE PROFS

HOW TO PRAY

One day Jesus was somewhere praying. When he got done one of his disciples went up to him and asked him, “Please sir, would you teach us to pray? John taught his disciples how to pray.”

Contemporary English V.       When Jesus had finished praying, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his followers to pray."

The Living Bible                     Once when Jesus had been out praying, one of his disciples came to him as he finished and said, “Lord, teach us a prayer to recite [to recite, implied.] just as John taught one to his disciples.”

New Berkeley Version           .

New Living Translation           Teaching about Prayer

Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

The Passion Translation        One day, as Jesus was in prayer, one of his disciples came over to him as he finished and said, “Would you teach us a model prayer that we can pray, just like John did for his disciples?”

Williams’ New Testament      .

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          Well, Jesus happened to be in a certain place praying; and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him:

‘Lord, teach us how to pray, as John taught his disciples.’

Beck’s American Translation .

Breakthrough Version            And it happened during the time for Him to be in a certain place praying; as He stopped, a certain one of His students said to Him, "Master, teach us to be praying, just as John also taught his students."

Common English Bible           Teaching the disciples to pray

Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

International Standard V        .

Len Gane Paraphrase           And so it happened after he was praying in a certain place, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray like John also taught his disciples."

A. Campbell's Living Oracles .

New Advent (Knox) Bible       Once, when he had found a place to pray in, one of his disciples said to him, after his prayer was over, Lord, teach us how to pray, as John did for his disciples.

NT for Everyone                     .

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Berean Study Bible                One day in a place where Jesus had just finished praying, one of His disciples requested, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

Christian Standard Bible        .

Conservapedia Translation    .

Ferrar-Fenton Bible                How to Pray.

Once when He was in a private spot, praying, one of His disciples, as He paused, said to Him, "Master, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples."

God’s Truth (Tyndale)           .

International Standard V        Teaching about Prayer

(Matthew 6:9-15; 7:7-11)

Once Jesus [Lit. he] was praying in a certain place. After he had finished, one of his disciples told him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.

Lexham Bible                         How to Pray

And it happened that while he was in a certain place praying, when he stopped a certain one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.”

NIV, ©2011                             Jesus’ Teaching on Prayer

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

Unlocked Literal Bible            .

Urim-Thummim Version         .

Weymouth New Testament    At one place where He was praying, when He rose from His knees one of His disciples said to Him, "Master, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples."

Wikipedia Bible Project          At one time Jesus was praying at a particular place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, please teach us to pray, just like John taught his disciples.”

Worsley’s New Testament    And as He was praying in a certain retired place, as soon as He had done, one of his disciples said to Him, Lord, teach us to pray as John also taught his disciples.

Catholic Bibles (those having the imprimatur):

Christian Community (1988)     Lord, teach us to pray

(Mt 6:9; 7:7)

• One day Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”

• 11.1 The apostles already knew how to pray and they prayed in common, as all the Jews did, in the synagogue and at key times during the day. Yet, in living close to Jesus they discovered a new way to live in close fellowship and they felt a need to address the Father differently. Jesus waited for them to ask him to teach them how to pray. See Matthew 6:9.

The Heritage Bible                 And it was, in his being in a certain place praying, as he stopped, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray, even as John also taught his disciples.

New American Bible (2011)   The Lord’s Prayer.

^a * He was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.”*

* [11:1–13] Luke presents three episodes concerned with prayer. The first (Lk 11:1–4) recounts Jesus teaching his disciples the Christian communal prayer, the “Our Father”; the second (Lk 11:5–8), the importance of persistence in prayer; the third (Lk 11:9–13), the effectiveness of prayer.

* [11:1–4] The Matthean form of the “Our Father” occurs in the “Sermon on the Mount” (Mt 6:9–15); the shorter Lucan version is presented while Jesus is at prayer (see note on Lk 3:21) and his disciples ask him to teach them to pray just as John taught his disciples to pray. In answer to their question, Jesus presents them with an example of a Christian communal prayer that stresses the fatherhood of God and acknowledges him as the one to whom the Christian disciple owes daily sustenance (Lk 11:3), forgiveness (Lk 11:4), and deliverance from the final trial (Lk 11:4). See also notes on Mt 6:9–13.

a. [11:1–4] Mt 6:9–15.

New English Bible–1970        Teaching about Prayer (Judæa)

[ Lk.11.1-13 → ] - Mt.6.9-15, Mt.7.7-11

Once, in a certain place, Jesus was at prayer. When he ceased, one of his disciples said, 'Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.'

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

Complete Jewish Bible           One time Yeshua was in a certain place praying. As he finished, one of the talmidim said to him, “Sir, teach us to pray, just as Yochanan taught his talmidim.”

Hebraic Roots Bible               And it happened as He was praying in a certain place, when He finished, one of His disciples said to Him, Master teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.

Hebrew Names Bible             And it came to pass, that, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, one of His disciples said unto Him, Rabbi, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.

The Israel Bible (beta)            One time Jesus was somewhere praying. When he stopped, one of his students said to him, "John taught his students how to pray. Lord, please teach us how to pray too."

The Scriptures 1998              And it came to be while He was praying in a certain place, as He ceased, one of His taught ones said to Him, “Master, teach us to pray, as Yo?anan also taught his taught ones.”

Tree of Life Version                Now Yeshua was praying in a certain place. When He finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Master, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

WEB: Messianic Edition         It happened, that when he finished praying in a certain place, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray, just as Yochanan also taught his disciples.

Weird English, Olde English, Anachronistic English Translations:

Accurate New Testament       ...and [It] becomes in the+ to be him in place someone praying as [He] stops says Someone [of] the students [of] him to him Lord teach! us to pray as and John teaches the students [of] him...

Awful Scroll Bible                   Now itself came about, from-within himself is to be wishing-with-regards-to, from-within a certain place, as himself desisted, a certain one of his disciples said, with respects to him, "Lord, be taught ourselves to wish-with-regards-to, accordingly-as-to Grace-of-Jah also taught his disciples."

Concordant Literal Version    And it occurred at His being in a certain place praying, as He ceases, a certain one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, according as John also teaches his disciples."

Holy New Covenant Trans.    One time Jesus was somewhere praying. When he stopped, one of his students said to him, "John taught his students how to pray. Lord, please teach us how to pray too."

exeGeses companion Bible   THE PATTERN FOR PRAYER OF YAH SHUA

And so be it, as he prays in a place,

when he ceases, one of his disciples say to him,

Adonay, doctrinate us to pray

exactly as Yahn also doctrinated his disciples.

Orthodox Jewish Bible           And it came about while he was in a certain place davening that, when he concluded, a certain one of his talmidim said to him, Adoneinu, teach us to daven, just as also Yochanan taught his talmidim.

Rotherham’s Emphasized B. And it came to pass <when he was in a certain place praying, as he ceased> one of his disciples said unto him—

Lord! teach us to pray,

As |John also| taught his disciples.

Expanded/Embellished Bibles:

The Amplified Bible                .

An Understandable Version   And it happened as Jesus finished praying at a certain place that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us [how] to pray, just like John [the Immerser] taught his disciples.”

The Expanded Bible              Jesus Teaches About Prayer

One time Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his ·followers [disciples] said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray as John taught his ·followers [disciples].”

Jonathan Mitchell NT             This happened later, on the [occasion] for Him to be within a certain place continuing in thinking, and/or speaking, with a view toward goodness, ease and well-being (or: prayer), [that] as he ceased, a certain one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord (Master), teach us [how] to be normally thinking and speaking toward goodness, ease and well-being (or: praying) – just as John also taught his disciples."

P. Kretzmann Commentary    Verses 1-4

A Lesson in Prayer.

The Lord's Prayer:

And it came to pass that, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, one of His disciples said unto Him, Lord, teach us to pray as John also taught his disciples.

Syndein/Thieme                     {Instructions on Prayer }

``And it came to pass {new subject} as He {Jesus} was praying in a certain place that when He stopped, one of His disciples/students {mathetes} said to Him, "Lord, teach {didasko} us to pray . . . just as John taught his students/disciples."

Translation for Translators                                 Jesus taught his disciples about prayer.

Luke 11:1-13

One day Jesus was somewhere praying. When he finished praying, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us what to say when we (exc) pray, as John the Baptizer taught his disciples!”

The Voice                               Another time Jesus was praying, and when He finished, one of His disciples approached Him.

Disciple: Teacher, would You teach us Your way of prayer? John taught his disciples his way of prayer, and we’re hoping You’ll do the same.

Bible Translations with a Lot of Footnotes:

NET Bible®                             Instructions on Prayer

Now¹ Jesus² was praying in a certain place. When³ he stopped, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John⁴ taught⁵ his disciples.”

^1tn Grk “And it happened that while.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

^2tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

^3tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

^4sn John refers to John the Baptist.

^5sn It was not unusual for Jewish groups to have their own prayer as a way of expressing corporate identity. Judaism had the Eighteen Benedictions and apparently John the Baptist had a prayer for his disciples as well.

New American Bible (2011)   .

The Spoken English NT         Jesus teaches his Followers How to Pray (Mt. 6:9-15)
Once Jesus was praying^a somewhere, and when he finished, his followers said to him, “Teacher, teach us to pray, like John taught his followers.”

^a.Lit. “And it came about in his being praying.”

Wilbur Pickering’s New T.     A model prayer
Then it happened, when He finished praying in a certain place, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples”.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

Analytical-Literal Translation  And it happened, while He [was] praying in a certain place, when He [had] finished, a certain one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as also John taught his disciples."

Charles Thomson NT             It came to pass also when he was at a certain place, praying, that soon as he had done, one of his disciples said to him, Master, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.

Context Group Version          As he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his apprentices said to him, Lord, teach us to pray, even as John also taught his apprentices.

Legacy Standard Bible           The Lord’s Prayer

And it happened that while Jesus [Lit He] was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.”

Modern Literal Version 2020  {Luke 11:1-13:9; Probably Judea; no parallel. This is similar teaching to different crowd.}
{Similar: Mat 6:9-13; Luk 11:1-5}

And it happened for him to be in a certain place praying, that as he ceased, a certain one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray, just-as John also taught his disciples.

{The example prayer. The Lord's prayer is for unity in John 17. Also see 11:3 note.}

New King James Version       The Model Prayer

Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”

New Matthew Bible                He teaches his disciples to pray, drives out a devil, and rebukes the blasphemous Pharisees. They require signs and tokens. He eats with the Pharisee, and reproves the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, scribes, and hypocrites.

And it happened as he was praying in a certain place that when he ceased, one of his disciples said to him, Master, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.

Niobi Study Bible                   Jesus Teaches How to Pray (The Model or Method of Prayer)

And it came to pass that as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, one of His disciples said unto Him, "Lord, teach us to pray as John also taught his disciples."

Revised Young's Lit. Trans.   And it came to pass, in his being in a certain place praying, as he ceased, a certain one of his disciples said unto him, 'Sir, teach us to pray, as also John taught his disciples.'

A Voice in the Wilderness      .

The gist of this passage:     Jesus disciples ask Jesus to teach them how to pray.

Translation: And it was, while Jesus [lit., him, he] is in a certain place praying, when He stopped.

In translating this, I took some liberties, translating two particles as while, when. I also inserted the proper noun Jesus, as He is addressed as Lord in this verse by one of His disciples.

When Luke writes a certain place, you get the impression that he would have liked to have included that bit of information here.

Apparently, the Lord’s disciples are watching Him and He is praying.

Most of the time, Jesus would go off privately to pray and here He is said to be in a certain place. That suggests that He is off by Himself praying to God the Father.

The impression that I get is, His disciples found where He was and stood nearby waiting for Him to finish.

The material covered in these first thirteen verses are also found in the sermon on the mount (Matthew 6:9–15 7:7–11). It would be very difficult, if not impossible, to present these as the same incident.