Our Father 8: Magnified and sanctified

The request, “Let your name be sanctified,” is not a petition for personal benefit, nor even for the community of the faithful, but simply because of the intrinsic value of God’s name. His name is worthy of special treatment. But there is also a nuance in which God himself sanctifies his name. Here’s the explanation:

• The appeal is similar to one of the most frequently recited prayers in Judaism: the Kaddish. The Kaddish begins: “Let his name be magnified and sanctified [hallowed] in the world that he created according to his will.”
• The words “magnified and sanctified” (gadal and kaddash) may be linked to Ezekiel 38:23. Both Hebrew verbs are reflexive, indicating (at least in Ezekiel) that the LORD will be the one who sanctifies his name. In the next verse, we see that God will do this by regathering Israel from exile [1].

Incidentally, the word gadal, magnified, aligns well with the Greek word megaluno that we find Miriam/Mary using in Luke 2:46, “My soul magnifies the Lord”. In this case, she is clearly also hallowing/sanctifying God’s name by using a circumlocution, “the Lord,” rather than pronouncing his name.

[1] Eby, Aaron. First Steps in Messianic Jewish Prayer. Marshfield, Missouri: First Fruits of Zion, 2014:108.