Deliver us from the evil ONE

[TonyChanYT]

NIV Matthew 6:

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’

English Standard Version:

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

"evil" or "evil one"?

Both are possible according to Greek grammar.

Ellicott preferred "evil one":

Deliver us from evil.—The Greek may grammatically be either neuter or masculine, “evil” in the abstract, or the “evil one” as equivalent to the “devil.” The whole weight of the usage of New Testament language is in favour of the latter meaning. In our Lord’s own teaching we have the “evil one” in Matthew 13:19; Matthew 13:38; John 17:15 (probably); in St. Paul’s (Ephesians 6:16; 2Thessalonians 3:3), in St. John’s (1John 2:13-14; 1John 3:12; 1John 5:18-19) this is obviously the only possible interpretation. Romans 12:9, and possibly John 17:15, are the only instances of the other.

Expositor's Greek Testament agreed:

The probability is in favour of the masculine, the evil one. The Eastern naturally thought of evil in the concrete. But we as naturally think of it in the abstract;

On the other hand, Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges thought "evil" was better:

from evil] Or, from the Evil One, Satan. The Greek bears either rendering, but the neuter is preferable and gives a deeper sense. We pray to be delivered not only from external evil, but from the evil within us.

Barnes was more neutral:

Deliver us from evil - The original in this place has the article - deliver us from the evil - that is, as has been supposed, the Evil One, or Satan. He is elsewhere called, by way of eminence, the "Evil One," Matthew 13:19; 1 John 2:13-14; 1 John 3:12. The meaning here is, "deliver us from his power, his snares, his arts, his temptations." He is supposed to be the great parent of evil, and to be delivered from him is to be safe. Or it may mean, "deliver us from the various evils and trials which beset us, the heavy and oppressive calamities into which we are continually liable to fall."

Also, Matthew Poole:

But deliver us from evil; from the evil one, as some read it, because of the article prefixed; but others think it not material whether we understand the devil, who is the evil one, or the evil of temptations, which harm us not if we be not overcome by them.

There are at least 3 interpretations:

1. prefer "evil one"
2. prefer "evil"
3. no preference.

I go with the first because of Ellicott's analysis.

 

[Lambano]

Okay; I see what they're saying. The definite article "τοῦ" in "τοῦ πονηροῦ" (either "the one (who is) evil" or "the evil") in the genitive case can be either masculine or neuter. Both are spelled the same way.

Interesting that Blue Letter Bible shows the article as neuter in the NIV translation but translates it as the masculine "the evil one", while its KJV translation shows the article as masculine but translates it as the neuter "evil". Just the opposite of Ellicott.

I might argue for "the evil one" because of it being in the immediate context of rescue from temptation.