Matthew 6:1
Προσέχετε δὲ τὴν δικαιοσύνην ὑμῶν μὴ ποιεῖν ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων πρὸς τὸ θεαθῆναι αὐτοῖς· εἰ δὲ μή¦γε, μισθὸν οὐκ ἔχετε παρὰ τῷ Πατρὶ ὑμῶν τῷ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς.
Matthew 6:2
Ὅταν οὖν ποιῇς ἐλεημοσύνην, μὴ σαλπίσῃς ἔμπροσθέν σου, ὥσπερ οἱ ὑποκριταὶ ποιοῦσιν ἐν ταῖς συναγωγαῖς καὶ ἐν ταῖς ῥύμαις, ὅπως δοξασθῶσιν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων. ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν,
ἀπέχουσιν τὸν μισθὸν αὐτῶν.
Matthew 6:3
σοῦ δὲ ποιοῦντος ἐλεημοσύνην, μὴ γνώτω ἡ ἀριστερά σου τί ποιεῖ ἡ δεξιά σου,
Matthew 6:4
ὅπως ᾖ σου ἡ ἐλεημοσύνη ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ. καὶ ὁ Πατήρ σου, ὁ βλέπων ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ, ἀποδώσει σοι.
Matthew 6:5
Καὶ ὅταν προσεύχησθε, οὐκ ἔσεσθε ὡς οἱ ὑποκριταί, ὅτι φιλοῦσιν ἐν ταῖς συναγωγαῖς καὶ ἐν ταῖς γωνίαις τῶν πλατειῶν ἑστῶτες προσεύχεσθαι, ὅπως φανῶσιν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις. ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν,
ἀπέχουσιν τὸν μισθὸν αὐτῶν.
And when you pray, do not be as the hypocrites because they love in the synagogues and in the corners of the town squares standing to pray so that they might be seen by men. Verily I say to you, they receive in full their reward.
Paraphrase: While I am on this topic (Matthew 6:1), there is another matter which I want to address. I have been teaching you that you are not to perform your acts of piety in a public and showy way. There is no place for virtue signaling in My kingdom, and this goes for your praying as well. Look at the pharisees as they stand in the town square, saying their prayers in plain view of the public. Why would they do this? Clearly, they are doing it so that people will notice and praise them for their piety. Well, they will certainly receive their reward from men; be sure of this, they will receive no reward from Me.
Comments:
The idea of reward here contrasts the reward of those who receive the praise of men and those who receive a reward from God on the last, great day of judgment.
Matthew 6:6
σὺ δὲ, ὅταν προσεύχῃ, εἴσελθε εἰς τὸ ταμεῖόν σου, καὶ κλείσας τὴν θύραν σου, πρόσευξαι τῷ Πατρί σου, τῷ ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ. καὶ ὁ Πατήρ σου, ὁ βλέπων ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ, ἀποδώσει σοι.
But when you might pray, enter into your storeroom and closing your door, pray to your Father, to the One in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.
Paraphrase: On the contrary, when you pray, find a secret, quiet place. Close the door and pour out your heart to God. He’s your Father, and you can tell Him everything. No one else will see you praying, but God will surely see it. He sees every sigh, every prayer, and every tear. You too will receive a reward. True, it will not be the praise and acclamation of people, but it will be something far better, the favor of your almighty God and Father.
Comments:
The first article in τῷ ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ is used as a relative pronoun; see GGBB 213.
Matthew 6:7
Προσευχόμενοι δὲ μὴ βατταλογήσητε, ὥσπερ οἱ ἐθνικοί, δοκοῦσιν γὰρ ὅτι ἐν τῇ πολυλογίᾳ αὐτῶν εἰσακουσθήσονται.
Now when praying, do not babble endlessly as the Gentiles, for they think that in their much speaking, they will be heard.
Paraphrase: Also, when you are praying, don’t repeat your requests endlessly and mindlessly. Such requests do not come from your heart; they are just empty sounds in the air. It is true that My Father loves to hear His people pray and that He loves to see them persevering in prayer (Luke 11:8), but this kind of mindless multiplying of words is very different. The gentiles in their worship often engage in this kind of mindless repetition (Acts 19:34) thinking that if they make their request enough times, their gods will finally answer. This is not what My Father means by prayer, however. He takes pleasure in the simple, sincere prayers of His people showing that they are looking to Him as children to their father.
Comments:
Matthew 6:8
μὴ οὖν ὁμοιωθῆτε αὐτοῖς, οἶδεν γὰρ ὁ Πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὧν χρείαν ἔχετε, πρὸ τοῦ ὑμᾶς αἰτῆσαι αὐτόν.
Therefore, do not be like them, for our Father knows of what need you have before you might ask Him.
Paraphrase: So don’t try to imitate gentile worship and the other practices of the pagan religions around you. Don’t think for a moment that you can somehow manipulate God to do what you want. Remember that our Father knows the things that we need before we even ask for them. (Isaiah 65:24) Your prayers don’t change His mind or help Him to remember things that He has forgotten. Dismiss such thoughts! Our Father knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10); He knows every detail of your life, and He is working all things together for our good. (Romans 8:28)
Comments:
πρὸ τοῦ ὑμᾶς αἰτῆσαι αὐτόν = BBG 32.15.4
Matthew 6:9
Οὕτως οὖν προσεύχεσθε ὑμεῖς· Πάτερ ἡμῶν, ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, Ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου.
Therefore, in this manner, pray you. “Our Father, who is in the heavens, hallowed is Your Name.”
Paraphrase: Let me give you a prayer which can serve as a model of how you should pray. Start your prayer by acknowledging God’s transcendence. You might say something like: “Our Father, You are high and exalted, living in the highest heavens. (Psalm 113:5; Isaiah 66:1) May all the peoples of earth recognize and own that You are holy; may they understand that You dwell in unapproachable light.” (1 Timothy 6:16)
Comments:
See Lightfoot’s comment (p146) on form prayers amongst the Jews. See as well his comment (p149) on the Jews calling God “father.”
Matthew 6:10
Ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου· Γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου, Ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ, καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς.
Your kingdom come; Your will come to be as in heaven even on earth.
Paraphrase: Then pray for God’s kingdom. Say, “May Your kingdom be established on earth and may all the peoples confess Jesus is Lord. Let Your will be done on earth just as it is done so perfectly in heaven.”
Comments:
Matthew 6:11
Τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δὸς ἡμῖν σήμερον.
our bread for tomorrow, give us today.
Paraphrase: Then you should pray for your daily needs. “Give us the food we need each day so that we can live without worry or anxiety about the future. Teach us to rely on Your daily provision.”
Comments:
See Lightfoot’s comments (p195) on ἐπιούσιον. He gives the various options for understanding this expression:
The different explanations which have been given to the word fall into two classes;
(1) Those which connect it with ἰέναι, deriving it from ἐπιέναι through ἐπιὼν or ἐπιοῦσα, and
(2) Those which connect it with εἶναι, as a compound from ἐπὶ and οὐσία.
Each class includes various explanations; but the one is distinguished from the other by a simple criterion. The meanings belonging to the one class are temporal; to the other, qualitative. In the first class we find the following:
(i) tomorrow’s, derived directly from ἐπιοῦσα ‘the coming-day,’ or ‘the morrow’:
(ii) coming, either taken from ἐπιοῦσα and meaning the same as the last, but more vaguely expressed; or derived directly from ἐπιέναι, ἐπιών (without the intervention of the feminine ἐπιοῦσα):
(iii) daily, which seems to be got from the first sense, ‘for the coming day’:
(iv) continual, which is probably a paraphrastic mode of expressing (i) or (iii):
(v) future, ‘yet to come,’ from ἐπιών; in which case the expression is most often applied in a spiritual sense to Christ the Bread of Life, Who shall come hereafter.
Under the second head also various explanations are comprised;
(i) for our sustenance, and so ‘necessary,’ οὐσία being referred to physical subsistence;
(ii) for our essential life, and so ‘spiritual, eternal,’ οὐσία signifying the absolute or higher being;
(iii) preeminent, excellent, surpassing, as being ‘above all οὐσίαι,’ and so nearly equivalent to περιούσιος;
(iv) abundant, a meaning akin to the last, and apparently reached by giving the same sense ‘above’ to ἐπί;
(v) consubstantial, a sense which is attained by forcing the meaning of the preposition in another direction.
Matthew 6:12
Καὶ ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰ ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν, Ὡς καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀφήκαμεν τοῖς ὀφειλέταις ἡμῶν·
and forgive us our debts as even we forgive our debtors.
Paraphrase: Then, you should ask for the forgiveness of your sin. “Father, we have sinned against you, we have broken your laws, and violated the covenant. We have brought untold guilt and misery upon ourselves. We acknowledge your justice in punishing us, and we make no effort to defend ourselves. (Romans 3:19) We have nothing else to do but to cry out for mercy. (Luke 18:13) Please forgive the sins which we have committed. We have run up a debt (Luke 13:4) in Your book which we can never repay, but we plead on Your mercy and grace that You would wipe out these debts just as we are quick to forgive the slights we receive from our fellowmen.
Comments:
Matthew 6:13
Καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν, Ἀλλὰ ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ.
and do not lead us into temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.
Paraphrase: Then pray for God’s sustaining grace when you face temptations to sin. “Father, when we come face to face with the devil’s tricks and schemes, give us grace to recognize him and to resist. (James 4:7) When we pass through the waters, hold us up; do not let the rivers overflow us. (Isaiah 42:3) When Satan has us in his grip, set us free so that we can walk with You in a life of joy and goodness.”
Comments:
See Lightfoot’s defense (p269) of the translation “from the evil one.”
Matthew 6:14
Ἐὰν γὰρ ἀφῆτε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὰ παραπτώματα αὐτῶν, ἀφήσει καὶ ὑμῖν ὁ Πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ οὐράνιος.
For when you might forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will forgive even you.
Paraphrase:
Comments:
Matthew 6:15
ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ἀφῆτε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις (τὰ παραπτώματα αὐτῶν), οὐδὲ ὁ Πατὴρ ὑμῶν ἀφήσει τὰ παραπτώματα ὑμῶν.
Matthew 6:16
Ὅταν δὲ νηστεύητε, μὴ γίνεσθε ὡς οἱ ὑποκριταὶ, σκυθρωποί· ἀφανίζουσιν γὰρ τὰ πρόσωπα αὐτῶν, ὅπως φανῶσιν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις νηστεύοντες. ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἀπέχουσιν τὸν μισθὸν
αὐτῶν.
Matthew 6:17
σὺ δὲ, νηστεύων, ἄλειψαί σου τὴν κεφαλὴν καὶ τὸ πρόσωπόν σου νίψαι,
Matthew 6:18
ὅπως μὴ φανῇς τοῖς ἀνθρώποις νηστεύων, ἀλλὰ τῷ Πατρί σου τῷ ἐν τῷ κρυφαίῳ· καὶ ὁ Πατήρ σου, ὁ βλέπων ἐν τῷ κρυφαίῳ, ἀποδώσει σοι.
Matthew 6:19
Μὴ θησαυρίζετε ὑμῖν θησαυροὺς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ὅπου σὴς καὶ βρῶσις ἀφανίζει, καὶ ὅπου κλέπται διορύσσουσιν καὶ κλέπτουσιν·
Matthew 6:20
θησαυρίζετε δὲ ὑμῖν θησαυροὺς ἐν οὐρανῷ, ὅπου οὔτε σὴς οὔτε βρῶσις ἀφανίζει, καὶ ὅπου κλέπται οὐ διορύσσουσιν οὐδὲ κλέπτουσιν.
Matthew 6:21
ὅπου γάρ ἐστιν ὁ θησαυρός σου, ἐκεῖ ἔσται καὶ ἡ καρδία σου.
Matthew 6:22
Ὁ λύχνος τοῦ σώματός ἐστιν ὁ ὀφθαλμός. ἐὰν οὖν ᾖ ὁ ὀφθαλμός σου ἁπλοῦς, ὅλον τὸ σῶμά σου φωτεινὸν ἔσται.
Matthew 6:23
ἐὰν δὲ ὁ ὀφθαλμός σου πονηρὸς ᾖ, ὅλον τὸ σῶμά σου σκοτεινὸν ἔσται. εἰ οὖν τὸ φῶς τὸ ἐν σοὶ σκότος ἐστίν, τὸ σκότος πόσον!
Matthew 6:24
Οὐδεὶς δύναται δυσὶ κυρίοις δουλεύειν· ἢ γὰρ τὸν ἕνα μισήσει, καὶ τὸν ἕτερον ἀγαπήσει· ἢ ἑνὸς ἀνθέξεται, καὶ τοῦ ἑτέρου καταφρονήσει. οὐ δύνασθε Θεῷ δουλεύειν, καὶ μαμωνᾷ.
Matthew 6:25
Διὰ τοῦτο λέγω ὑμῖν, μὴ μεριμνᾶτε τῇ ψυχῇ ὑμῶν, τί φάγητε ἢ τί πίητε· μηδὲ τῷ σώματι ὑμῶν, τί ἐνδύσησθε. οὐχὶ ἡ ψυχὴ πλεῖόν ἐστιν τῆς τροφῆς, καὶ τὸ σῶμα τοῦ ἐνδύματος;
On account of this, I say to you. Do not be anxious for your life, what you would eat or what you would drink, nor for your body, what you would be clothed. Is the life more than food and the body than clothes?
Paraphrase: Now if this is the focus of your life, then you need not spend so much time and concern about your earthly life. You are busy seeking the kingdom of God and have less time for the things of this life. You don’t need to be anxious about having enough to eat and drink or having enough clothes for you and your family. (Philippians 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:7) Think about it; isn’t your life much more valuable than the food which sustains it? And isn’t your body of more value than the clothes which protect it? Why then would God go to all the trouble of creating human persons who are of infinite value and your body which contains this life, if He had no intention of preserving these and providing for them? So then, leave these things to God. He will take care of these; you focus on advancing the kingdom of God. (Matthew 6:33)
Comments:
See principle 32 for τροφῆς and ἐνδύματος.
Matthew 6:26
ἐμβλέψατε εἰς τὰ πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, ὅτι οὐ σπείρουσιν, οὐδὲ θερίζουσιν, οὐδὲ συνάγουσιν εἰς ἀποθήκας— καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ οὐράνιος τρέφει αὐτά. οὐχ ὑμεῖς μᾶλλον διαφέρετε αὐτῶν;
Look to the birds of heaven that they do not sow, neither do they reap, neither do they gather into barns, and your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
Paraphrase: Observe the birds especially the beautiful and stately ravens. (Luke 12:24; Psalm 147:9) They fly about the sky without a care in the world. They do not plant gardens; they don’t harvest any grain or store it up in barns; and yet they are well fed. Your heavenly Father provides for them; and if He provides for them, will He not provide for you as well?
Comments:
See principle 32 for αὐτῶν.
Note the position of οὐχ in the question οὐχ ὑμεῖς μᾶλλον διαφέρετε αὐτῶν; see here.
Matthew 6:27
τίς δὲ ἐξ ὑμῶν μεριμνῶν δύναται προσθεῖναι ἐπὶ τὴν ἡλικίαν αὐτοῦ πῆχυν ἕνα;
But who of you being anxious is able to add on his age one measure?
Paraphrase: And what difference does your anxiety make? Is anyone able to add even one minute to his lifespan by being anxious about it?
Comments:
Matthew 6:28
Καὶ περὶ ἐνδύματος τί μεριμνᾶτε; καταμάθετε τὰ κρίνα τοῦ ἀγροῦ, πῶς αὐξάνουσιν· οὐ κοπιῶσιν οὐδὲ νήθουσιν.
and concerning clothing why are you anxious? Observe carefully the lilies of the field, how they grow. They are not weary, neither do they spin.
Paraphrase: Furthermore, I direct your attention to the flowers which cover the fields. Look at their gorgeous blossoms! Now think how much time these flowers spent growing and harvesting flax, laboring to spin it into linen, and then making beautiful clothing from it? Or how much anxious energy did they expend raising the sheep which would have provided them the wool to spin into fabric?
Comments:
McNiele writes (p88) that lilies here is broader than just the flower we know as a lily. It would include other wild flowers that blossom like anemones, poppies, gladioli, and irises.
Matthew 6:29
λέγω δὲ ὑμῖν ὅτι οὐδὲ Σολομὼν ἐν πάσῃ τῇ δόξῃ αὐτοῦ περιεβάλετο ὡς ἓν τούτων.
But I say to you that not Solomon in all his glory was clothed as one of these.
Paraphrase: I’ll say this; not even Solomon in all his royal regalia was clothed as one of these beautiful lilies.
Comments:
Matthew 6:30
εἰ δὲ τὸν χόρτον τοῦ ἀγροῦ, σήμερον ὄντα, καὶ αὔριον εἰς κλίβανον βαλλόμενον, ὁ Θεὸς οὕτως ἀμφιέννυσιν, οὐ πολλῷ μᾶλλον ὑμᾶς, ὀλιγόπιστοι;
But if the grass of the field, today is and tomorrow into the oven being cast, will not God, in this manner, clothe you not many rather you, weak-believers.
Paraphrase: Now if God cares so much for all the plants growing in the fields, will He not all the more provide for you? Think about it; many of these plants shoot up one day and the next are cut down and used to heat our ovens, and yet God clothes them more gloriously than Solomon. Now you are worth far more than any plant or even the most beautiful flower.
Comments:
Matthew 6:31
Μὴ οὖν μεριμνήσητε, λέγοντες, Τί φάγωμεν; ἤ Τί πίωμεν; ἤ Τί περιβαλώμεθα;
Matthew 6:32
πάντα γὰρ ταῦτα τὰ ἔθνη ἐπιζητοῦσιν· οἶδεν γὰρ ὁ Πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ οὐράνιος ὅτι χρῄζετε τούτων ἁπάντων.
Matthew 6:33
ζητεῖτε δὲ πρῶτον τὴν βασιλείαν [τοῦ θεοῦ] καὶ τὴν δικαιοσύνην αὐτοῦ, καὶ ταῦτα πάντα προστεθήσεται ὑμῖν.
Matthew 6:34
Μὴ οὖν μεριμνήσητε εἰς τὴν αὔριον, ἡ γὰρ αὔριον μεριμνήσει ἑαυτῆς. ἀρκετὸν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἡ κακία αὐτῆς.