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Matthew 6

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Giving to the Needy 1–4

1
Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. ​
2
Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. ​
3
But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
4
That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. ​

Prayer in Secret 5–8

5
And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
6
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. ​
7
But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. ​
8
Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

The Lord's Prayer 9–15

9
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. ​
10
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11
Give us this day our daily bread. ​
12
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. ​
13
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. ​
14
For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: ​
15
But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Righteousness in Fasting 16–18

16
Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. ​
17
But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
18
That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

Treasures in Heaven 19–24

19
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: ​
20
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: ​
21
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
22
The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. ​
23
But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
24
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. ​

Do Not Be Anxious 25–34

25
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? ​
26
Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? ​
27
Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28
And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29
And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30
Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? ​
31
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32
(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. ​
34
Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Matthew 6

Verse 1

do not your alms before men — The verse heads the three acts that follow: alms (vv.2–4), prayer (vv.5–15) and fasting (vv.16–18). 'To be seen' is theaomai, to gaze at as a spectator, the word of 23:5, 'all their works they do for to be seen of men'. The 'reward' (misthos) is wages: from men, or 'of your Father which is in heaven'.

Verse 2

do not sound a trumpet — Salpizo is to blow a trumpet, whether literally or as a figure for announcing a gift; the aim is stated, 'that they may have glory of men'. Hypokrites is an actor playing a part. 'They have their reward' is the one verb apecho, to have in full (Phil 4:18, 'I have all'), used again in vv.5 and 16.

Verse 4

thy Father which seeth in secret — Kryptos, hidden, describes the gift and the Father alike, and returns in vv.6 and 18. 'Reward' is apodidomi, to pay back, also in vv.6 and 18. The LORD says the same of himself: 'I the LORD search the heart… to give every man according to his ways' (Jer 17:10).

Verse 6

thy closet — Tameion is an inner room of a house, used for storing; Luke 12:24 renders it 'storehouse'. The door is shut, as when Elisha 'shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the LORD' (2 Kin 4:33). The one prayed to is 'thy Father which is in secret', the same Father who 'seeth in secret' (v.4).

Verse 7

vain repetitions — Battalogeo occurs only here in the New Testament, and 'much speaking' (polylogia) only here. An instance of the 'heathen' manner is Baal's prophets, who called 'O Baal, hear us' 'from morning even until noon' (1 Kin 18:26). Repeating words is not the fault: Christ prayed 'saying the same words' (Matt 26:44). See v.8, 'your Father knoweth'.

Verse 9

Hallowed be thy name — 'Hallowed' (hagiazo) is to treat as holy; the petition asks for what the LORD says of himself, 'I will sanctify my great name' (Ezek 36:23). 'After this manner' gives a pattern; Luke 11:1 records the occasion, a disciple asking, 'Lord, teach us to pray'. 'Father' is the cry 'Abba, Father' of Rom 8:15.

Verse 11

our daily bread — Epiousios is found only here and in Luke 11:3; the word's exact sense is disputed, and 'daily', 'needful' and 'for the coming day' are all offered. The request echoes 'feed me with food convenient for me' (Prov 30:8) and the daily gathering of manna, 'a certain rate every day' (Ex 16:4).

Verse 12

forgive us our debts — Opheilema, a debt, is used in the New Testament only here and in Rom 4:4. The following verses name the same thing 'trespasses' (paraptoma, vv.14–15), and Luke 11:4 'sins'. The pairing 'as we forgive' recalls the servant forgiven ten thousand talents who seized a fellowservant owing 'an hundred pence' (Matt 18:24, 28).

Verse 13

lead us not into temptation — Peirasmos is a testing, the word of 'that ye enter not into temptation' (Matt 26:41); God himself 'tempteth' no one (James 1:13). 'Evil' (poneros) may also be read 'the evil one'. The closing words, 'the kingdom, and the power, and the glory', echo David's 'Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory' (1 Chr 29:11).

Verse 14

if ye forgive men their trespasses — The two verses that follow the prayer return to one petition. 'Forgive' is aphiemi, to send away, the verb of v.12, and 'trespasses' is paraptoma, a slip or lapse. The parable of the unforgiving servant ends on the same terms: 'if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses' (Matt 18:35).

Verse 16

of a sad countenance — Skythropos, gloomy, is used elsewhere only of the two on the Emmaus road (Luke 24:17). 'Disfigure' is aphanizo, to make unseen or unrecognisable, the verb rendered 'corrupt' in vv.19–20. They do it to 'appear' (phaino, to show); the Father sees what does not appear (v.18). Isa 58:5 describes a like outward show in a fast: 'to bow down his head as a bulrush'.

Verse 19

where moth and rust doth corrupt — Brosis, 'rust', is literally eating, whatever consumes. 'Break through' is diorysso, to dig through, of thieves who tunnel into a house: 'In the dark they dig through houses' (Job 24:16). 'Lay up' (thesaurizo) and 'treasures' (thesauros) are verb and noun of one family.

Verse 20

treasures in heaven — The verb of v.19 is repeated, and moth, rust and thieves are set aside in turn. The treasure is laid up by giving: 'go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven' (Matt 19:21; cf. Luke 12:33). Peter speaks of an inheritance 'reserved in heaven for you' (1 Pet 1:4).

Verse 22

thine eye be single — Haplous occurs only here and in Luke 11:34. It is undivided, and its noun is the 'singleness of heart' of Col 3:22. 'Full of light' is photeinos, the word for the 'bright cloud' at the transfiguration (Matt 17:5). The eye is the body's lamp (lychnos), and v.23 gives its opposite.

Verse 24

ye cannot serve God and mammon — Mammonas, the Aramaic word for wealth, occurs four times in the New Testament: here and Luke 16:9, 11, 13, where the saying is repeated almost word for word. 'Serve' is douleuo, to be a slave: a servant belongs wholly to one master. Paul names the root, 'the love of money is the root of all evil' (1 Tim 6:10).

Verse 25

Take no thought — Merimnao is to be anxious, and 'thought' in 1611 English meant anxious care. It governs five verses here (vv.25, 27, 28, 31, 34), and Phil 4:6 turns it into a command with a remedy: 'Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication… let your requests be made known unto God.'

Verse 26

the fowls of the air — Luke 12:24 names them 'ravens', as Ps 147:9 does, 'the young ravens which cry'. 'Much better' is diaphero, to differ in worth, as in 'ye are of more value than many sparrows' (Matt 10:31). The birds neither sow, reap nor 'gather into barns' (apotheke), yet 'your heavenly Father feedeth them'.

Verse 30

O ye of little faith — Oligopistos occurs five times in the New Testament, four of them in Matthew (here, 8:26, 14:31, 16:8). It follows v.29, where 'even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these'. 'Oven' is klibanos, found only here and in Luke 12:28, which gives the saying in nearly the same words.

Verse 33

seek ye first the kingdom of God — Zeteo, to seek, is set against the Gentiles who 'seek' (epizeteo) food and clothing in v.32. 'His righteousness' takes up the 'hunger and thirst after righteousness' of 5:6. 'Added' is prostithemi, to lay beside: the things the Father already knows are needed (v.32) come as an addition.