The Gospels · New Testament
Matthew 6
Matthew 6: giving, praying, fasting and taking no thought
General context
Jesus continues speaking. He warns against doing alms before men to be seen, tells the hearer not to sound a trumpet as the hypocrites do, and directs that the left hand not know what the right hand does, so that the Father who sees in secret will reward. Prayer follows the same pattern: not standing to be seen, but entering a closet and shutting the door, and not using vain repetitions like the heathen, since the Father already knows what is needed. He then gives a prayer beginning Our Father which art in heaven, with petitions for the name, the kingdom, the will, daily bread, forgiveness of debts, and deliverance, and a closing ascription. He adds that forgiveness given and forgiveness received are tied together. Fasting gets the same treatment: not a sad countenance but a washed face. He then contrasts treasures on earth with treasures in heaven, sets the eye as the body's light, says no man can serve two masters, and tells the hearer to take no thought about food and clothing, pointing to the fowls of the air and the lilies of the field, and to seek first the kingdom of God.
Cited passages: Matthew 6:1, Matthew 6:2, Matthew 6:3, Matthew 6:4, Matthew 6:5, Matthew 6:6, Matthew 6:7, Matthew 6:8, Matthew 6:9, Matthew 6:11, Matthew 6:12, Matthew 6:13, Matthew 6:15, Matthew 6:16, Matthew 6:19, Matthew 6:22, Matthew 6:24, Matthew 6:26, Matthew 6:28, Matthew 6:33
Matthew 6 (KJV)
1Take 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.
2Therefore 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.
3But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
4That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
5And 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.
6But 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.
7But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
8Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
9After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11Give us this day our daily bread.
12And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
14For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
15But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
16Moreover 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.
17But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
18That 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.
19Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
22The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
23But 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!
24No 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.
25Therefore 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?
26Behold 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?
27Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30Wherefore, 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?
31Therefore 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.
33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
34Take 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.
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Historical context
The whole chapter is speech. No narrator sentence interrupts it, and no place or audience is named inside it. The setting comes from the start of the discourse, where Jesus goes up into a mountain and his disciples come to him, and the discourse is not closed until the narrator says at 7:28 that he had ended these sayings. The named foils are the hypocrites, who appear in the sections on alms, prayer and fasting, and the heathen, named for much speaking. Places of display named in the text are synagogues and street corners. Solomon is the one named person in the chapter apart from the Father. The prayer as printed here ends with For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. The word mammon is not explained in the text, only set opposite God.
Cited passages: Matthew 5:1, Matthew 5:2, Matthew 7:28, Matthew 6:2, Matthew 6:5, Matthew 6:7, Matthew 6:13, Matthew 6:16, Matthew 6:24, Matthew 6:29
Literary context
The first half runs three times through one template. Alms, prayer and fasting each begin with a practice, name the hypocrites, and close with the same verdict, They have their reward, set against the Father which seeth in secret. The prayer sits inside the middle panel and is the longest quoted unit. The second half changes method and works by paired opposites: treasure on earth against treasure in heaven, a single eye against an evil eye, one master against another, God against mammon. The last section repeats its own command three times, take no thought, and supports it with two observed things, birds that do not sow and lilies that do not spin. The chapter ends on a short sentence that returns the hearer to a single day.
Cited passages: Matthew 6:2, Matthew 6:4, Matthew 6:5, Matthew 6:18, Matthew 6:20, Matthew 6:21, Matthew 6:23, Matthew 6:24, Matthew 6:25, Matthew 6:28, Matthew 6:31, Matthew 6:34
Key moments
- Alms without a trumpet (Matthew 6:2). Jesus tells the hearer not to announce giving as the hypocrites do.
- Prayer behind a shut door (Matthew 6:6). Prayer is directed into a closet with the door shut.
- The prayer given (Matthew 6:9). Jesus gives a pattern prayer beginning Our Father which art in heaven.
- Forgiveness tied together (Matthew 6:14). Forgiving others and being forgiven by the Father are stated as linked.
- Treasure and heart (Matthew 6:21). Jesus says the heart follows wherever the treasure is.
- Two masters (Matthew 6:24). Jesus says no one can serve both God and mammon.
- Seek first the kingdom (Matthew 6:33). The hearer is told to seek the kingdom of God first and let other things be added.
For reflection
Three practices in this chapter are told to go out of public view, and the reason given each time is the same. What does the repeated phrase about the Father who sees in secret do to the reader's sense of who the practices are for?
