Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 6:1

Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 6:1 - 6:34

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Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 6:1 - 6:34

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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

6:1 - 6:34

EXPOSITION

Mat_6:1-18

The relation of our Lord and his disciples to the religion of the day (continued); vide Mat_5:17, note. (b) Our Lord turns from cases which could be directly deduced from the Law to those which belonged only to recognized religious duty. Of these he instances three: alms (Mat_5:2-4), prayer (Mat_5:5-8, Mat_5:9-15), fasting (Mat_5:16-18). It is, indeed, true that the performance of these duties on special occasions was implied in the Pentateuch (Deu_26:12-15); but there are no regulations concerning their observance in ordinary and daily life. These were matters of custom and tradition; to this the Law, in its original aim and method, did not extend. There was therefore the more need for the Law to be supplemented by the instructions of the Jewish leaders. These our Lord does not reject, but only corrects.

Mat_6:1

Matthew only. Take heed; προσέχετε [ δέ ] (Westcott and Hort). If "but" is genuine, as is on the whole more probable, our Lord places this warning in close relation to the preceding charge. Aim at "perfection," but beware of mere show. Rather you must consider the estimate that will be formed of you by your Father which is in heaven. That ye do not your alms; Revised Version, your righteousness (so the manuscripts). Although one of the Hebrew words for "righteousness" ( ä÷øõ ) was used especially for the righteousness of almsgiving (cf. Deu_6:25, LXX.; and 'Psalms of Solomon,' 9.6, where see Professor Ryle's and Mr. James's note), yet it is improbable that τὴν δικαιοσύνην should here be rendered "alms," because

(1) it has this meaning nowhere else in the New Testament;

(2) the word for "alms" ( ἐλεημοσύνη ) comes in the next verse;

(3) the emphatic position of τὴν δικαιοσύνην ( μὴ ποιεῖν ), in contrast to ποιῇς ἐλεημοσύνην (verse 2), points to it being a collective expression of which the various parts are mentioned in the following verses. The form also of the sentence, "when," etc., at the head of each of the other subjects, (verses 5,16) shows that these are co-ordinated with verse 2. Your; in contrast to that of the typical Jews. The limitation implied in ὑμῶν , gives a more partial and probably more external meaning to "righteousness" (cf. Eze_18:22, Eze_18:24) than is to be seen in the corresponding phrase in 1Jn_2:29; 1Jn_3:7. To be seen of them ( πρὸς τὸ θεαθῆναι αὐτοῖς . Having for your final purpose (cf. Ellicott on 1Co_9:18) to be gazed at by them (cf. Mat_23:1-39. 5; Act_1:11; and T.R. of Act_8:18; at. supra, Mat_5:28). Otherwise (Winer, § 65:3. c). Ye have no reward (Mat_5:12, note). Of your Father; Authorized Version margin and Revised Version, with; the thought being not that it is given by him, but that it is laid up with him ( παρὰ τῷ Πατρὶ ὑμῶν ). Perhaps, however, the preposition rather means "in the judgment of" (cf. 1Pe_2:4). Your Father (Mat_5:16. note). Notice the frequent repetition of the phrase in this context (Mat_5:48; Mat_6:4, Mat_6:6, Mat_6:8, Mat_6:15, Mat_6:18 bis).

Mat_6:2-4

Almsgiving. Matthew only.

Mat_6:2

Therefore. A deduction from the general principle laid down in Mat_6:1. When thou doest alms ( ποιῇς ἐλεημοσύνην ). The exact phrase comes here and Mat_6:3 only. In Luk_11:41 and Luk_12:33 ( δότε ) alms are con-sidereal rather as a gift; in Act_9:36; Act_10:2; Act_24:17 ( ἐλεημοσύνας ), rather as to their separate occasions and materials; here quite generally but rather as an action, a work. Do not sound a trumpet ( μησῃς ). Probably a purely metaphorical expression (cf. our "He is his own trumpeter"). Edersheim, 'Temple,' etc., p. 27 (cf. Schottgen) sees rather in it an ironical allusion to the form and name of the treasure-chests in the court of the women. "The Lord, making use of the word 'trumpet,' describes the conduct of those who, in their almsgiving, sought glory from men as 'sounding a trumpet' before them—that is, carrying before them, as it were, in full display one of these trumpet-shaped alms-boxes (literally called in the Talmud, 'trumpets'), and, as it were, sounding it." This interpretation would have been less fanciful if the substantive had been used instead of the verb. Others (e.g. Calvin, Bengel) have taken it of a literal trumpet; but of this practice there is no evidence whatever. "I have not found, although I have sought for it much and seriously, even the least mention of a trumpet in almsgiving" (J. Lightfoot, 'Hor. Hebr.'). Before thee; part of the metaphor, since one holds a trumpet up to one's mouth. As the hypocrites do. The comma after "do" in the ordinary text of the Authorized Version (not in Scrivener) connects "do not sound a trumpet before thee" with "in the synagogues," etc., and more readily suggests the literal interpretation of "trumpet" to the English reader. The hypocrites ( οἱὑποκριταί ). In Attic usage the word means those who play a part upon the stage. Hence, by an easy transition to the moral sphere," hypocrisy" became used in later Greek of "the assumption of a part which masked [men's] genuine feelings, and made them appear otherwise than they were" (cf. Bishop Lightfoot, on Gal_2:13). Persons who assumed this part would indeed often be identical with ὁἀσεβεῖς οἱπαράνομοι , and the term ὑποκριταί may sometimes be used as synonymous with these (an extension of language which would be the more easy as the Hebrew word for "hypocrite" ( ôðç ) implies not so much hypocrisy as pollution by sin); but there seems no need to see any other connotation in the New Testament than "hypocrite." To wilfully and continuously attempt to produce a false impression—especially in religion—is, after all, a mark of extreme distance from the truth-loving God. In the synagogues and in the streets (Act_24:5, note). That they may have glory of men ( ὅπως δοξασθῶσιν ); instead of this glory being given to God (Act_5:16). The thought, however, of the word is rather of the glory given than of their welcome reception of it ( δόξαν λαμβάνειν , Joh_5:44; contrast Luk_4:15). Verily (Act_5:18, note). They have; Revised Version, they have received ( ἀπέχουσιν ). The force of the preposition is "correspondence, i.e. of the contents to the capacity, of the possession to the desire, etc., so that it denotes the full complement" (Bishop Lightfoot, on Php_4:18). That which fully corresponds to their desires and their rightful expectation they have to the full. They therefore have ( ἔχουσι ) no other reward left for them to receive (Act_24:1). Schottgen gives several examples of Jewish sayings about men receiving their reward in this life only (cf. Ign., 'Polyc.,' § 5, "If a man boast [of his chastity], he is lost").

Mat_6:3

But when thou; "thou" emphatic. Let not thy left hand know, etc. So little effect should thy kind action have upon thy memory. There should be no self-consciousness in it.

Mat_6:4

And thy Father which seeth in secret (comp. Mat_6:6, note). Himself. Revised 'Version omits, with the manuscripts. Shall reward thee; Revised Version, shall recompense thee ( ἀποδώσει σοι ). Shall give to thee in full measure corresponding to the contents of that which is really due (cf. Isa_65:6, Isa_65:7, LXX.). When this" recompense" shall be given is not stated. If, as is probable, our Lord is thinking of the" reward" of Mat_6:1 and Mat_5:12, it would naturally be given at the judgment-day. Openly. Revised Version omits, with the manuscripts; similarly Mat_5:6, Mat_5:18. The interpolation was probably made not only because of the contrast suggested by "in secret," but also to indicate more precisely the time when God would do this.

Mat_6:5-15

Prayer.

Mat_6:5-8

Matthew only.

Mat_6:5

And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be, etc.; Revised Version, plural. Mat_6:5 is addressed to the disciples generally, Mat_6:6 to them individually. (For the future, cf. Mat_5:48, note.) As the hypocrites are (Mat_6:2, note). The 'Didache,' § 8., following this passage, says, "Neither pray ye as the hypocrites," referring, like our Lord, to practices affected chiefly by the Pharisees. For they love ( ὅτι φιλοῦσι ). Not to be translated "they are wont." Our Lord points out the cause of this their custom. It was not that the synagogue was more convenient (he is, of course, thinking of their private prayers), or that they were accidentally overtaken by the prayer-hour when in the street, but their innate love of display made them choose these places "that they may be seen of men" (cf. Mat_6:16, and contrast Mat_6:2). To pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets; to stand and pray, etc. (Revised Version), giving, however, slightly more emphasis on "stand" than its position warrants. The emphasis is really on the place, not on the posture, which was only what was usual among Jews. There is no thought of taking up their position, standing still ( σταθέντες , Act_5:20; cf. Luk_18:11, Luk_18:40). They have, etc. (Mat_6:2, note).

Mat_6:6

But thou (emphatic) when thou prayset, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray, etc. An adaptation of Isa_26:20 (cf. also 2Ki_4:33). The prophet's language describing the action befitting a time of terror is used by our Lord to express what ought to be the normal practice of each of his followers. Observe that the widow of one of the sons of the prophets so acted when she was about to receive the miraculous supply of oil (2Ki_4:4, 2Ki_4:5). Closet; Revised Version, inner chamber, more readily suggesting the passage in Isaiah to the English reader. To thy Father which is in secret. Not "which seeth in secret," as in the next clause. The thought here may be partly that to be unseen of men is a help to communion with him who is also unseen by them, but especially that the manner of your actions ought to resemble that of your Father's, who is himself unseen and works unseen. And thy Father which seeth in secret. You will be no loser, since his eyes pass by nothing, however well concealed it be from the eyes of men. Shall reward thee openly (verse 4, notes).

Mat_6:7

But when ye pray ( προσευχόμενοι δέ ). The Revised Version, and in praying, shows that our Lord is only continuing the subject, and not turning to a new one, as in Mat_6:2, Mat_6:5, Mat_6:16. But while he has thus far thought of prayer as an external act, he now speaks of the substance of the prayers offered, the δέ indicating a transition to another aspect of the same subject. Use not vain repetitions; "Babble not much" (Tyndale). The word used ( μὴβατταλογήσητε ) is probably onomatopoeic of stuttering. The Peshito employs here the same root (see Arabic word) as for μογιλάλος , Mar_7:32 (Arabic word). But from the primary sense of stuttering, βατταλογεῖν , naturally passed to that of babbling in senseless repetitions. As the heathen do ( οἱἐθνεικοί , Gentiles, Revised Version; Mat_5:47, note). Thinking that the virtue lies in the mere utterance of the words. Even the Jews came perilously near this in their abundant use of synonyms and synonymous expressions in their prayers (cf. Lightfoot, 'Hor. Hebr.'). Perhaps it was this fact that assisted the introduction of the reading "hypocrites" in B and the Old Syriac. For they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. In the continuance ( ἐν ) of their external action lies their hope of being fully heard ( εισακουσθήσονται ).

Mat_6:8

Be not ye therefore like. Revised Version omits "ye," as the emphatic personal pronoun is not expressed. The connexion of thought is—Seeing you are expected to shun heathen error (Meyer), do not allow yourselves to reproduce heathen practices. By observing these you would be taking a definite way of becoming like (passive, or rather middle, ὁμοιωθῆτε ) those who ordinarily practise them. For; i.e. you stand on a different footing altogether from the heathen; you are intimately related to One above, who knows your wants, even before you express them to him. Your Father; Revised Version margin, "some ancient authorities read God your Father." So )*, B, sah. ( ὁΘεός is bracketed by Westcott and Hort). The insertion is at first sight suspicious, but as there is no trace of such an addition in Mat_6:1, Mat_6:4, Mat_6:6, Mat_6:14. 18 (in Mat_6:32 only )*), it is hard to see why it should have been interpolated here. Its omission, on the other hand, is easily accounted for by its absence in those passages. The internal evidence, therefore, corroborates the strong external evidence of )*, B. Our Lord here said "God" to emphasize the majesty and power of "your Father." Knoweth; i.e. intuitively ( οἶδεν ); el. Mat_6:32.

Mat_6:9-13

The pattern of prayer. Parallel passage: Luk_11:2-4. For most suggestive remarks on the Lord's Prayer, both generally and in its greater difficulties of detail, compare by all means Chase, 'The Lord's Prayer in the Early Church:' (Cambridge Texts and Studies).

Observe:

(1) If the prayer had already been given by the Lord in the sermon on the mount, "one of his disciples" would hardly afterwards have asked him to teach them to pray, as John also taught his disciples (Luk_11:1-54. l). It is much more easy, therefore, to consider that the original occasion of its utterance is recorded by St. Luke, and that it therefore did not belong to the sermon on the mount as that discourse was originally delivered.

(2) A question that admits of a more doubtful answer is whether the more original form of the prayer is found in Matthew or in Luke. It will be remembered that in the true text of his Gospel, the latter does not record the words, "Which art in heaven," "Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth," "But deliver us from evil," besides reading "day by day" instead of "this day," "sins" instead of "debts," and "for we ourselves also forgive every one that is indebted to us" instead of" as we also have forgiven our debtors." Most writers suppose St. Matthew's form to be the original, and St. Luke's to be only a shortened form. In favour of this are the considerations that

(a) St. Matthew's words, "Forgive us our debts," represent an older, because parabolic, form of expression than the apparently interpretative "Forgive us our sins" in St. Luke.

(b) St. Matthew's words, "as we also," seem to be expanded into "for we ourselves also," in St. Luke.

(c) St. Luke's "day by day" occurs elsewhere in the New Testament only in his writings (Luk_19:47; Act_17:11), so that it is likely to be his own phrase, and therefore less original than St. Matthew's "this day" (cf. Weiss, 'Matthiaus-Ev.,' and Page, Expositor, III. 7.436). On the ether hand, the words, "Which art in heaven," are so characteristic of St. Matthew (Mat_10:32, Mat_10:33; cf. Mat_12:50; Mat_15:13; Mat_18:10, Mat_18:14, Mat_18:19, Mat_18:35; Mat_23:1-39. 9), and especially of the sermon on the mount (Mat_5:16; Mat_6:1; Mat_7:11, Mat_7:21; cf. Mat_5:45, Mat_5:48; Mat_6:14, Mat_6:26, Mat_6:32), that it seems more natural to suppose that this clause at least was added by him or by the authors of his sources to the original form, rather than that it was omitted by St. Luke. In connexion with this it may be pointed out how easy it was for our Lord to say only "Father" (Luk_11:2) immediately after his own prayer to him (Luk_11:1).

Taking everything into consideration, it seems reasonable to arrive at two conclusions. First, that the form in Luke presents, as a whole, the more primitive and original instruction of the Lord, and that that given in Matthew presents the Lord's words as fully developed, partly perhaps by himself directly, partly by his indirect guidance of Christian usage. St. Matthew's Gospel would thus at once both show the effect and be the cause of the preference for the longer form in liturgical use. Secondly, and more exactly, that both the evangelists record the prayer after it had passed through some development in different parts of the Church, St. Matthew giving it a generally later stage, but preserving one or two clauses in an earlier and better form.

Mat_6:9

After this manner therefore. Therefore; in contrast to the heathen practice, and in the full confidence which you have in your almighty Father's intuitive knowledge of your needs. After this manner ( οὕτως ). Not "in these words;" but he will most closely imitate the manner who most often reminds himself of it by using the words. Pray ye. "Ye" emphatic—ye my disciples; ye the children of such a Father. Our Father. In English we just lack the power to keep, with a plural possessive pronoun (contrast "father mine"), the order of Christ's words ( Πάτερ ἡμῶν ) which other languages possess (Pater noster; Vater unser). Christ places in the very forefront the primary importance of the recognition of spiritual relationship to God. There is no direct thought here of God as the All-Father in the modern and often deistic sense. Yet it is affirmed elsewhere in Scripture (Act_17:28; cf. Luk_15:21), and spiritual relationship is perhaps only possible because of the natural relationship (cf. Mat_5:16, note). Our. Though the prayer is here given with special reference to praying alone (Mat_6:6), the believer is to be reminded at once that he is joined by spiritual relationship to many others who have the same needs, etc., as himself. Which art in heaven ( ὁἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς ). Added in this fuller form of the prayer (vide supra), on the one hand to definitely exclude the application of the words however mediately to any human teacher (cf. Mat_23:1-39. 9), and on the other to remind those who pray of the awful majesty of him whom they address. "They are a Sursum corda; they remind us that now we have lifted up our hearts from earth and things earthly to another and a higher world" (Trench, 'Sermon on the Mount'). Hallowed be thy name. The first of the three prayers for the furtherance of God's cause. Their parallelism is seen much more clearly in the Greek than in the English order of the words. Thy name. We look on a name almost as an accidental appendage by which a person is designated, but in its true idea it is the designation of a person which exactly answers to his nature and qualities. Hence the full Name of God is properly that description of him which embraces all that he really is. As, however, the term "name" implies that it is expressed, it must, when it is used of God, be limited to that portion of his nature and qualities which can be expressed in human terms, because it has been already made known to us. The "name" of God, here and elsewhere in the Bible, therefore, does not mean God in his essence, but rather that manifestation of himself which he has been pleased to give, whether partial and preparatory as under the old covenant (cf. Gen_4:26 [Gen_16:13]; Gen_32:29; Exo_6:3; Exo_34:5), or final as under the new (cf. Joh_17:6); or again (to take another division found in Exell's 'Biblical Illustrator,' in loc.) the manifestation of himself through nature, through inspired words, through the Incarnation. Compared with the Glory ( δόξα ) "the Name expresses the revelation as it is apprehended and used by man. Man is called by the Name, and employs it. The Glory expresses rather the manifestation of the Divine as Divine, as a partial disclosure of the Divine Majesty not directly intelligble by man (comp. Exo_33:18, ft.)" (Bishop Westcott,' Add. Note' on 3Jn_1:7). Hallowed be. Ἁγιασθήτω cannot here, as sometimes (Rev_22:11; cf. Joh_17:17; 1Th_5:23), mean "be made holy," for this God's manifestation of himself already is; but "be counted holy," i.e. in human judgment. The prayer is that God's manifestation of himself may be acknowledged and revered as the one supreme standard of truth and the one means of knowing God and approaching him; of 1Pe_3:15, where " ἁγιάζω obviously means 'set apart, enshrined as the object of supreme, absolute reverence, as free from all defilement and possessed of all excellence'" (Johnstone, in lee.); cf. also Isa_29:23. The same thought appears to have been the basis of the early Western alternative petition for the gift of the Holy Spirit; i.e. the address to the Father was followed by a prayer for purification by the Holy Spirit preparatory to the prayer, "Thy kingdom come." A man must accept God's manifestation of himself before he can take part in the spread of the kingdom. Gregory of Nyssa says distinctly, "Let thy Holy Spirit come upon us and purify us;" but he substitutes this prayer for the words, "Thy kingdom come." (For the support afforded by this to the theory that the Lord's Prayer circulated in a varying form, cf. Chase, loc. cit.) Gregory's petition, as affecting only humanity, is less comprehensive than that found m o r Gospels.

Mat_6:10

Thy kingdom come. Let there come the full establishment of thy realm. The prayer passes from the personal acceptance in the heart of God's revelation of himself to the consequent result. The clause has a much wider meaning than the development and spread of the Church, or even the personal return of Christ at the second advent. It speaks of that which shall be the issue of both this and that, the final and perfect establishment of God's realm, in which all men will do him willing service, and all habits and customs, individual and social, will be such as he approves of. Dr. C. Taylor ('Sayings,' etc., Exc. 5.) points out that the coming of the kingdom and the sanctifying of the Name are brought together in Zec_14:9; Weiss, ' Life,' 2:349, with many others, says that our Lord probably adapted the frequent Jewish prayer for the coming of the kingdom of Messiah. Thy will be done. Let thy will come into complete existence ( γενηθήτω ; of. "Let there be light," Gen_1:3, LXX.). The thought is not merely God's will realized in this or that action, whether performed or endured by us (cf. Mat_26:42; Act_21:14), but God's will as a whole coming into full being. God's will is always in ideal until it is accomplished in act. The connexion of the clause with what has gone before is therefore this—the acceptance of God's manifestation of himself leads to the establishment of his realm, and this to the realization of his will, which until then is only ideal (cf. Mat_5:18, note, end). If this be all the meaning of the words, they express, in fact, only the ultimate result of the consummation prayed for in the preceding clause (hence this portion of the prayer was in itself complete without our present words; cf. Luk_11:2); but since it is so far a distinct thought that it would not immediately suggest itself, it has a worthy place in the fuller form of the prayer. Possibly, however, more may be intended. The full establishment of the kingdom may be only a part of his loving will, which may, for all we know, have countless other things in view. The highest prayer that we can make in the furtherance of God's cause is that his gracious purpose, his will may be fully brought about. In earth, as it is in heaven; as in heaven, so on earth (Revised Version). Probably the words are to be joined to only the immediately preceding clause. In heaven God's will is already realized; not yet on earth, where sin has entered.

Mat_6:11

Give us this day our daily bread τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δὸς ἡμῖν σήμερον Here begin the petitions for our personal needs. The first is for earthly food, the means of maintaining our earthly life. For "in order to serve God it is first of all necessary that we live" (Godet, on Luke). Give us. The order in the Greek emphasizes not God's grace in giving, but the thing asked for. This day. Parallel passage: Luk_11:3, "day by day ( τὸ καθ ἡμέραν )." The thought suggested there, of continuance in the supply, is seen also in the verb ( δίδου ). Daily ( ἐπιούσιον ); and so Luke. It will be sufficient to do little more than indicate the chief lines of proposed derivations and interpretations of this ἅπαξ λεγόμενον .

(1) Ἐπια

(a) physical, "for subsistence,"" sufficient or necessary to sustain us;"

(b) spiritual, "for our essential being" (cf. Jerome's rendering with a literalism that recalls the rabbis, super-substantially.

(2) Ἐπι "to be," "bread which is ready at hand or suffices" (similarly Delitzsch, in Thayer, s.v.). The chief and fatal objection to both (1) and (2) is that the form would be ἐπούσιος .

(3) Ἐπι εἶμι , "to come;"

(a) with direct reference to "bread"—our "successive," "continual," "ever-coming" bread (so the Old Syriac, and partly the Egyptian versions), that which comes as each supply is required; the prayer then meaning, "Our bread as it is needed give us to-day";

(b)derived mediately from ἐπιοῦσα sc. ἡμέρα (cf. Act_16:11; Act_20:15; Act_21:18), "bread for the coming day," i.e. the same day, if the prayer be said in the morning; the next day if it be said in the evening (so Bishop Lightfoot). Between (3) (a) and (3) (b) it is very difficult to decide. Against (a) is the fact that it is hard to say why the common form ἐπίοντα would not have served; against (b), while the use of the word is perfectly consistent with casting all care upon God for to-morrow (Mat_6:34), there still remains the fact that there is some tautology in saying, "Our bread for the coming day give us to-day," or even the formula in the parallel passage in Luke, "Our bread for the coming day give us day by day." On the whole, perhaps (3) (a) presents the least difficulties. Bread. It is very doubtful if to use this petition of spiritual food is anything more than a legitimate application (made, indeed, as early as the 'Didache,' § 10.) of words which in themselves refer only to material food (see further Chase, loc. cit.).

Mat_6:12

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Forgive; a change in God's relation to us and our sins. No plea is urged, for the atonement had not yet been made. Our debts ( τὰ ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν ) parallel passage in Luke, τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν ). It is probable that Matthew took one meaning, perhaps the more primary, and Luke another, perhaps the more secondary, of the original Aramaic word ( àáåç ); but, as "debtors" comes in the next clause, it seems reasonable to suppose that Matthew represents the sense in which our Lord intended the word to be understood. Luke may have avoided it as too strongly Hebraic a metaphor, even though he does use ὀφειλέται of men in relation to God (Luk_13:4). The 'Didache,' 8., gives the singular, ὀφειλήν (cf. infra, Mat_18:32), which Dr. Taylor thinks is preferable. The singular, especially with "debtors" following, would very naturally be corrupted to the plural. Sins are termed "debts," as not rendering to God his due (Mat_22:21; cf. Mat_25:27). As we; Revised Version, as we also ( ὡς καὶ ἡμεῖς ). In the same way as we have—a comparison of fact, not of proportion (cf. Mat_8:13; Mat_18:33). (For the thought, cf. Ecclesiasticus 28:2.) Luke's "for we ourselves also" ( καὶ γὰρ αὐτοί ) lays more stress on our forgiving others being a reason for God forgiving us. Forgive; Revised Version, have forgiven, in the past (aorist). Luke's present is of the habit. Our debtors. Luke individualizes ( παντιλοντι ἡμῖν

Mat_6:13

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Luke omits the second half. And lead us not ( καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς ); and bring us not (Revised Version), for εἰσφέρω thinks rather of the issue (cf. Luk_5:18, Luk_5:19 : Luk_12:11) than of the personal guidance. This first clause is a prayer against being brought into the fulness and awfulness of temptation. As such it cannot, indeed, always be granted, since in exceptional cases this may be part of the permission given to the prince of this world. So it was in our Lord's case (cf. Mat_26:41, and context). The words are a cry issuing from a deep sense of our personal weakness against the powers of evil. Into temptation; i.e. spiritual. External trials, e.g. persecution, may be included, but only in so far as they are the occasion of real temptation to the soul. But. Do not bring us into the full force of temptation, but, instead, rescue us now and at any other time from the attack of the evil one (vide infra). Thus this clause is more than a merely positive form of the preceding. It is a prayer against even the slightest attacks of the enemy when they are made. Deliver us ( ῥῦσαι ἡμὰς ). The thought is not merely preserve ( σώζειν τηρεῖν ) or even guard ( φρουρεῖν φυλάσσειν ) from possible or impending danger, but "rescue" from it when it confronts us. From. If we may press the contrast to Col_1:13 ( ἐρύσατο … ἐκ ), ἀπὸ suggests that the child of God is no longer actually in the power (1Jn_5:19) of the evil one. but has been already delivered thence. The peril is, as it were, something outside him (compare, however, Chase, loc. cit.). Evil. So also the Revised Version margin; but the evil one (Revised Version). In itself τοῦ πονηροῦ might, of course, be either neuter or masculine, but in view of

(a) Mat_13:19,

(b) the many passages in the New Testament where the expression is either certainly or probably masculine; e.g. 1Jn_2:13, 1Jn_2:14; 1Jn_5:18, 1Jn_5:19; Joh_17:15; 2Th_3:3;

(c) the many allusions to the masculine reference of this petition shown by Bishop Lightfoot and Mr. Chase (lot. cit.) to exist in early Christian literature—there seems little doubt that the Revised Version is right. Chase (loc. cit.) shows that the primary notion of both πονηρός , and its Hebrew equivalent òø , is not malignity (Trench), but worthless ness, essential badness. For thine is the kingdom, etc. Omitted in the Revised Ver sion on overwhelming authority (e.g. à , B, D, Z, Old Latin, Memphitic, "all Greek commentators on the Lord's Prayer except Chrysostom and his followers," Westcott and Hort, 'App., q.v.). In the 'Didache,' §§ 8., 9., 10., however, we find our doxology with very little other variation than the omission of "the kingdom," this itself being explained in the two latter sections by the immediately preceding mention of the kingdom. Similar omissions of one or more of the three terms, "kingdom, power, glory," are found in the Old Syriac, an "African" text of the Old Latin, and the Thebaic. "It was probably derived ultimately from 1Ch_29:11 (Hebrews), but, it may be, through the medium of some contemporary Jewish usage: the people's response to prayers in the temple is said to have been 'Blessed be the name of the glory of his kingdom for ever and ever'" (Westcott and Hort, loc. cit.). Indeed, it was so usual for doxologies of one kind or another to be added by the Jews to prayers, that, though we cannot for one moment accept the words here as genuine, we must consider it very doubtful in the Lord's Prayer was ever used in Jewish circles without a doxology, or that our Lord, as Man, ever intended it to be so used. At all events, the feeling of the Christian Church in using the doxology is fully justified by its contents; for it places us more emphatically than ever in a right relation to God. By our praise to him it induces in us the remembrance that it is to God's kingdom that we belong, having him for King and Source of law; that it is by God's power that we live on earth and stand freed from Satan's grasp; that it is for the furtherance of God's glory that all has been done for us, all wrought in us, all these petitions are now made and all our hopes and aims are directed. Hereafter, as Bengel says. the whole prayer will be doxology: "Hallowed be the Name of our God. His kingdom has come; his will is done. He has forgiven us our sins. He has brought our temptation to an end; He has delivered us from the evil one. His is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever. Amen."

Mat_6:14, Mat_6:15

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, etc. Matthew only. To insert the reason for having said, in the Lord's Prayer, "as we forgive our debtors," emphasizes the necessity of such forgiveness. Trespasses; παραπτώματα , not ὀφειλήματα (verse 12). Our Lord uses a word which would forbid any limitation to pecuniary matters. Their trespasses. Omitted by Tischendorf, and bracketed by Westcott and Hort. The omission more sharply contrasts "men" and "your Father."

Mat_6:16-18

Matthew only.

Mat_6:16

Fasting. The third in the series of recognized religious duties (Mat_6:1, note). (On the prominence given to fasting, see 'Psalms of Solomon,' 3:9, with Ryle's and James's note, and Schurer, II. 2:118; cf. Mat_9:14.) Observe

(1) Christ does not abolish it, but regulates it;

(2) yet fasting is mentioned much less often in the true text of the New Testament than in that which, developed contemporaneously with eccle-siasticism, became the Received Text. Be not as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance. The Revised Version, by inserting a comma between "not" and "as," shows that the true emphasis of the warning lies, not on resemblance to the hypocrites themselves, but on being of a sad countenance, as in fact also the hypocrites were. The hypocrites (Mat_6:2, note; cf. also 'Didache,' § 8., "But let not your fasts be with the hypocrites," where, however, the thought is rather of hypocrites as representing the Pharisaic, the typically Jewish party). The early Jewish Christians are bidden in the 'Didache' to avoid the fasting-days chosen by the Jews. Be not. Our Lord does not forbid even this sad countenance if it be, so to speak, natural; but do not, because you fast, therefore purposely become so ( μὴ γίνεσθε ), i.e. in sign of your supposed sorrow for sin (cf. Ecclesiasticus 19:26). Of a sad countenance ( σκυθρωποί ); gloomy, especially- in knitting the brows. In Dan_1:10 (Thee-dotion) used of merely physically bad looks (cf. 'Test. XII. Patr.,' § 4, of the look of a man whose liver is out of order). In the New Testament elsewhere only Luk_24:17, "And they stood still, looking sad," Revised Version (cf. Gen_40:7; Ecclesiasticus 25:23). For they disfigure. The play on the words points to the 'Gospel having been originally composed in Greek. It is curious that ἀφανίζω comes elsewhere in Matthew only in verses 19, 20, while in the whole of the New Testament it only comes twice besides: Act_13:41 (from the LXX.) and Jas_4:14 ( ἀφανισμός , Heb_8:13). As verse 19 is peculiar to Matthew, and verse 20 is a corollary to it though in part found also in Luk_12:33, the whole passage Luk_12:16-20 is probably either due to the author of the First Gospel or else derived by him from some one source. In this connexion it may be noticed that κρυφαῖος comes in the New Testament only in Luk_12:18 (twice). Physical disfigurement, common in many nations as a sign of grief, such as tearing or marking the flesh, is not to be thought of, since this was forbidden (Le Luk_19:28; Deu_14:1). Ἀφανίζειν , too, has no such connotation, but rather hiding out of sight, hence causing to vanish, destroy (Luk_12:19); here, in the sense of giving a strange, unpleasant appearance, e.g. by ashes, or by not washing, or even by covering part of the face or the head (cf. Eze_24:17; 2Sa_15:30; Est_6:12). That they may appear unto men to fast; Revised Version, that they may be seen, etc.; i.e. not the mere appearance, as though there were appearance only, but the being seen as fasting—conspicuousness, not mere semblance. Hence νηστεύοντες is expressed (contrast Luk_12:5), since while in Luk_12:5 not the praying but the piety that induced it is to be made apparent, here it is the very fact itself of fasting, which, except for these external signs, might escape human notice. They have (Luk_12:2, note).

Mat_6:17

But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face. If both these were, among the Jews, done daily, Christ's command would mean—make no external sign of fasting; dress and appear as usual. But as anointing, at least, cannot be proved to have been a daily habit (though expressly forbidden during the stricter kinds of fasts, see Schurer, II. 2.212), especially with the mixed classes whom our Lord was addressing, and as it was with the ancients rather a symbol of special joy, it is safer to take it in this sense here. Thus our Lord will mean—so far from appearing sad, let your appearance be that of special joy and gladness. "By the symbols of joy and gladness he bade us be joyful and glad when we fast" (Photius, in Suicer, 1:186).

Mat_6:18

Which is in secret ( τῷ ἐν τῷ κρυφαίῳ ); Mat_6:6, note. Shall reward thee openly (Mat_6:4, note).

Mat_6:19

Mat_7:12

(3) General principles regarding the relation of the disciples to wealth and to men.

Mat_6:19-34

(1) The principle of regarding God alone in our religious actions is also to be maintained in the relation that we hold to wealth in the broadest sense. Mat_6:19-21 : seek true wealth, because earthly wealth, though gathered, may be rendered useless by earth's chances. Mat_6:22, Mat_6:23 : further, because it is the single eye that receives the light. Mat_6:24 : in fact divided service is impossible. Mat_6:25-34 : place God first, and he will provide.

Mat_6:19-21

Mat_6:19 comes here only, but Mat_6:20, Mat_6:21 have much in common with Luk_12:33, Luk_12:34. They are there in the middle of a long discourse (Luk_12:22-53), which immediately follows the parable of the rich fool, itself spoken on the occasion when a man wished his brother to divide the inheritance with him. There seems no reason to believe that that discourse is at all necessarily in historical position, and that our verses belong originally to it and to its occasion rather than to the present place in Matthew.

Mat_6:19

Lay not up … but lay up (Mat_6:20). Lay up treasure indeed, but in the right place (cf. a still more striking case in Joh_6:27); observe that in both cases it is "for yourselves." Lightfoot ('Hor. Hebr.,' on verse 1) quotes an interesting Haggada from Talm. Jeremiah,' Peah,' 15b (equivalent to Talm. Bob., 'Baba Bathra,' 11a), in which "Monobazes, the king," when blamed for giving so much to the poor, defends himself at length: "My fathers laid up their wealth on earth; I lay up mine in heaven," etc. But our Lord here does not mean to limit his reference to almsgiving. He thinks of all that has been mentioned since Mat_5:3 (cf. Weiss) as affording means of heavenly wealth. Upon earth; upon the earth (Revised Version). Our Lord here wishes to emphasize the locality as such ( ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ): in Mat_5:20 rather the nature and quality of the locality ( ἐν οὐρανῷ ). Where moth (cf. Jas_5:2, Jas_5:3; Isa_51:8, especially LXX.). Either directly or by its larvae, whether the treasure be clothes or food. Or rust. Any power that eats, or corrodes, or wastes ( βρῶσις ). Doth corrupt; Revised Version, doth consume. "Corrupt" "has now a moral significance, which does not in any degree appertain to the Greek" (Humphry). Ἀφανίζει (Mat_5:16, note) is here used of the complete change in the appearance or even of the complete destruction caused by these slow but sure enemies of earthly wealth. And where thieves. Before, physical or non-responsible agents; here, human beings. Break through ( διορούσουσιν ); "dig through" (cf. Mat_24:43; Luk_12:39; cf. Job_24:16, LXX.). Where the houses are so frequently made of mud or sun-burnt bricks, this would be comparatively easy.

Mat_6:20

But lay up (Mat_6:19, note).

Mat_6:21

For where. A further reason for laying up treasures in heaven: wherever they are they have a positive effect on the soul. Your treasure; thy (Revised Version). The singular was altered by the copyists so as to correspond with the plural found in the earlier part of the utterance and in the undisputed text of Luke. But our Lord loves to speak to each soul individually. Your heart (Mat_5:8, note).

Mat_6:22, Mat_6:23

The light of the body is the eye, etc. Parallel passage: Luk_11:34-36, where it immediately follows the illustration of putting a lamp under the bushel (Mat_5:15). The excessive difficulty of Luke's verse 36 points to Luke having preserved on the whole the more original form of the saying; but it seems quite impossible to say which is its more original position. It suits the context quite as well in Matthew as in Luke, while the mere verbal similarity of λύχνος may have caused it to be placed in Luke after his verse 33 (cf. verse 24, infra, note). The light of the body; the lamp (Revised Version); ὁλύχνος (Mat_5:15, note). The thought of the power which treasure has of attracting the heart forms the transition to the need of a pure and steady "eye" heavenwards. The bodily eye is taken as the symbol of the outlooking power of the soul, not the soul—the inner man—itself, but its outlooking power. As the body is illuminated by the eye, i.e. as by the eye the bodily constitution learns its environment, and naturally, almost automatically, tends to accommodate itself to it, so is it with the gaze of the soul. If this be upon the things of this world, the soul perceives, and tends to accommodate itself to the things of this world; if upon things in heaven, it perceives, and tends to accommodate itself to, the things in heaven. The Authorized Version "light" is, therefore, imperfect, for the gaze of the soul is not "light" ( φῶς ), but a "lamp" ( λύχνος ). As the bodily eye is not itself light, but only an instrument for receiving and imparting light, so in the mere gaze of the soul there is no inherent light, but it is the means of receiving and imparting light to the soul. If therefore thine eye be single. The word "single" ( ἁπλοῦς ) presents some difficulty.

(1) If it meant "undivided," it would doubtless continue the illustration of the lamp, with an undivided as contrasted with a divided wick, but it has no such meaning.

(2) It states the opposite, not to divisions, but to folds (vide Trench, 'Syn.,' § 56.); it is "single" as opposed to "plicate," and therefore can hardly contain any direct reference to the lamp. Its meaning rather appears to be purely metaphorical, and the word seems to be applied 'directly to the functions of the eye in relation to the body. If the eye be "single" and (to use another but related metaphor) straightforward in its working, then the body receives through it the light that it ought to receive. So is it with the gaze of the soul in its effect on the inner man.

(3) Perhaps, however, ἁπλοῦση is here used in the sense of non-compound; in this case free from any foreign substance to bar the light from passing through it (cf. Mat_7:3, and Basil, 'De Spiritu Sancto,' 9. § 23, sqq.). Thy whole body shall be full of light ( φωτινὸν ἔσται ). Well-lighted in itself, and bright in appearance to others (cf. s, νεφέλη φωτινή , Mat_17:5). The word chosen seems to indicate, not merely that the body is, through the eye, lighted, but also that it itself becomes in measure, like the eye, full of light for others. All one's powers become illumined with the Divine light, and the illumination shines through. But if thine eye be evil, etc. Evil ( πονηρός ); verse 13, note. Vitiated, worthless. As an eye that does not fulfil its natural function, so is that gaze of the soul which is directed only earthward. To limit tiffs, with Lightfoot ('Hor. Hebr.'), to covetousness, is far too partial an interpretation. Such an earthward and selfish gaze of the soul may often issue in selfishness as regards money (cf. Mat_20:15), but the full meaning of the phrase includes very much more. Thy whole body shall be full of darkness. What the heart craves to see it sees; but in this case, not light makes its entrance, but darkness, which, as in the case of the light, permeates the frame. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness; rather, is darkness; the change here to the indicative ( ει ... ἐστίν ) indicating that the last preceding clause is assumed as fact. The light that is in thee. Our Lord does not say, "the light that comes through the eye," for he means more than this, viz. that the very information, so to speak, brought first by the outlook of the soul, comes into us and remains in us. He assumes that this, which ought to be light, is darkness. How great is that darkness! i.e. the darkness (Revised Version)just spoken of, which comes through the eye. So, probably, Luk_11:35. If' the gaze which should bring light brings only darkness, how terrible in its nature and effects must that darkness be! It is, however, possible to understand our Lord to refer in this verse to the natural darkness of the soul before it looks out of itself. In this case the thought is—you need a fixed gaze heavenwards; if your gaze is not heavenwards, it brings darkness instead of light; how black, then, must be the natural darkness! (cf. especially Trench, ' Sermon on the Mount'). It will be noticed that in these verses darkness, though scientifically only negative—the absence of light—is here represented as positive, because it is the symbol of sin and evil.

Mat_6:24

No man can serve two masters, etc. In Luk_16:13 the saying is found almost word for word immediately after the parable of the unjust steward. As the word "mammon" comes twice in that parable, but nowhere else in the New Testament, it is probable that its occurrence caused the insertion of this saying in that place (cf. Luk_16:22, note). No man can serve two masters. The thought is still of earnestness of purpose and singleness of heart. Our Lord here speaks of the impossibility of such divided service as he has been warning his disciples against attempting. No man can give due service to two masters. For, apart from the extent of the claim of each master—total bond-service ( δουλεύειν )—thorough service of two masters is incompatible with the effects produced upon the servant himself. The result of service is to incline him towards the one master and against the other. Notice how our Lord continues his plan of setting forth the moral effect of modes of thought or action upon the agents themselves (cf. Rom_6:16). For either he will hate the one ( τὸν ἕνα ), and love the other. Because human nature is such that it must attach itself to one of two principles. "Cor hominis neque its vacuum esse potest, ut non serviat ant Dee aut creaturae: neque simul duobus servire" (Bengel). Or else he will hold to the one ( ἢ ἑνὸς ἀνθέξεται ). The Revised Version omits "the." The stress here is on "one—not both." Hold to; in steadfast application (cf. Ellicott, on Tit_1:9). Ye cannot serve God and mammon; "Ye moun not serve god and ricchesse" (Wickliffe). A repetition of the statement of the impossibility of serving two masters, but more