Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Matthew 6:5 - 6:5

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Matthew 6:5 - 6:5


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

The wrong manner of praying:

v. 5. And when thou prayest, thou shall 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.

Prayer is the communion of the soul with God, a confidential imparting of all needs, desires, and conditions of feeling to the heavenly Father. The faithful Israelites had the custom of observing the hours of prayer, either in their own homes or in some secluded spot in the Temple, Dan_6:10; Act_3:1. But the Pharisees proved themselves true actors also here. They love to stand, it is dear to their hearts, they make a practice of it which is pleasing to their vanity and conceit. Standing in the most conspicuous places, in the synagogue before the assembled congregation, at the corners of the streets, at cross-roads, where they might expect a great number of loungers and passers-by to watch them in gaping admiration, they made their prayers. Their real object was, of course, to be observed of men, to attract attention, for which purpose their very standing posture was an ostentation. Strange that the hour of prayer always overtook them in the most public places!