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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comRobertson Word Pictures - Matthew 6:16 - 6:16
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Of a sad countenance (skuthrōpoi). Only here and Luk 24:17 in the N.T. It is a compound of skuthros (sullen) and ops (countenance). These actors or hypocrites “put on a gloomy look” (Goodspeed) and, if necessary, even “disfigure their faces” (aphanizousin ta prosōpa autōn), that they may look like they are fasting. It is this pretence of piety that Jesus so sharply ridicules. There is a play on the Greek words aphanizousi (disfigure) and phanōsin (figure). They conceal their real looks that they may seem to be fasting, conscious and pretentious hypocrisy.