King James Version
Matthew 6
34 verses with commentary
Giving to the Needy
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. alms: or, righteousness of your: or, with your
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus warns against practicing righteousness 'to be seen of men,' exposing the Pharisaical error of external religion performed for human acclaim. The phrase 'before men' indicates motive is crucial—the same act done for God's glory versus human praise has radically different spiritual value. This introduces the principle that God weighs hearts, not merely actions (1 Samuel 16:7). Hypocrisy seeks ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
VI.
(1) From the protest against the casuistry which tampered with and distorted the great primary commandments, the Sermon on the Mount passes to the defects of character and action which vitiated the religion of Pharisaism even where it was at its best. Its excellence had been that it laid stress, as the religion of Islam did afterwards, on the three great duties of the religious life, almsgivin...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**41. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain--**an allusion, probably, to the practice of the Romans and some Eastern nations, who, when government despatches had to be forwarded, obliged the people not only to furnish horses and carriages, but to give personal attendance, often at great inconvenience, when required. But the thing here demanded is a readiness to submit to ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 6
Chapter Outline
Against hypocrisy in almsgiving.(1-4)
Against hypocrisy in prayer.(5-8)
How to pray.(9-15)
Respecting fasting.(16-18)
Evil of being worldly-minded.
(19-24)
Trust in God commended.(25-34)
**Verses 1-4**
Our Lord next warned against hypocrisy and outward show in religious duties. What we do, must be done from an inward principle, that w...
Read full commentary →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. do not: or, cause not a trumpet to be sounded
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KJV Study Commentary
The phrase 'when thou doest thine alms' assumes believers will give—the question is not whether but how. Jesus condemns those who 'sound a trumpet' announcing their charity, likely metaphorical for public displays drawing attention. The synagogue and street giving ensured maximum visibility and acclaim. Christ's verdict is devastating: 'they have their reward'—present human praise exhausts their c...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **Alms.**—The history of the word is singularly interesting. In the original meaning of the Greek it was the quality of mercy, or rather of “mercifulness,” as something more complete. The practice of the Hellenistic Jews limited the word (*eleemosyna*) to money-gifts. It passed with this meaning untranslated into the language of Latin Christendom, and from that again into European languages, i...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**42. Give to him that asketh thee--**The sense of unreasonable asking is here implied (compare Lu 6:30).
**and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away--**Though the word signifies classically "to have money lent to one on security," or "with interest," yet as this was not the original sense of the word, and as usury was forbidden among the Jews (Ex 22:25, &c.), it is doubtless...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 6
Chapter Outline
Against hypocrisy in almsgiving.(1-4)
Against hypocrisy in prayer.(5-8)
How to pray.(9-15)
Respecting fasting.(16-18)
Evil of being worldly-minded.
(19-24)
Trust in God commended.(25-34)
**Verses 1-4**
Our Lord next warned against hypocrisy and outward show in religious duties. What we do, must be done from an inward principle, that w...
Read full commentary →But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
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KJV Study Commentary
The hyperbolic expression 'let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth' emphasizes the secrecy and unselfconscious nature true charity should have. The point is not absolute secrecy (some giving must be public for accountability) but absence of self-promoting motivation. Genuine generosity flows from love for God and neighbor without calculating return or recognition. This precludes even ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **Let not thy left hand know.**—The phrase was probably proverbial, and indicates, in the form of free hyperbole, extremest secrecy. It is possible that there may be some reference to the practice of using the right hand in offering gifts at the altar. The symbolical application, though an afterthought, is yet suggestive. The “right hand” is the higher spiritual element in us that leads to act...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**43. Ye have heard that it hath been said--**(Le 19:18).
**Thou shalt love thy neighbour--**To this the corrupt teachers added,
**and hate thine enemy--**as if the one were a legitimate inference from the other, instead of being a detestable gloss, as Bengel indignantly calls it. Lightfoot quotes some of the cursed maxims inculcated by those traditionists regarding the proper treatment of all...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 6
Chapter Outline
Against hypocrisy in almsgiving.(1-4)
Against hypocrisy in prayer.(5-8)
How to pray.(9-15)
Respecting fasting.(16-18)
Evil of being worldly-minded.
(19-24)
Trust in God commended.(25-34)
**Verses 1-4**
Our Lord next warned against hypocrisy and outward show in religious duties. What we do, must be done from an inward principle, that w...
Read full commentary →That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly .
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KJV Study Commentary
The promise that God 'seeth in secret' provides powerful motivation for private piety. The omniscient Father observes what no human sees and 'shall reward thee openly'—whether in this life or the final judgment. This establishes divine rather than human audience as the proper focus of obedience. The reward may come in transformed character, God's pleasure, eternal recompense, or visible vindicatio...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **That thine alms may be in secret.**—Here again we have a principle rather than a rule. Publicity may be a duty, especially in public work. But this—gifts for schools, hospitals, and the like—is hardly contemplated in the word “alms,” which refers rather to acts of mercy, to cases of individual suffering. Ostentation in those acts is what our Lord especially condemns.
**Thy Father which seeth...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**44. But I say unto you, Love your enemies--**The word here used denotes moral love, as distinguished from the other word, which expresses personal affection. Usually, the former denotes "complacency in the character" of the person loved; but here it denotes the benignant, compassionate outgoings of desire for another's good.
**bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 6
Chapter Outline
Against hypocrisy in almsgiving.(1-4)
Against hypocrisy in prayer.(5-8)
How to pray.(9-15)
Respecting fasting.(16-18)
Evil of being worldly-minded.
(19-24)
Trust in God commended.(25-34)
**Verses 1-4**
Our Lord next warned against hypocrisy and outward show in religious duties. What we do, must be done from an inward principle, that w...
Read full commentary →How to Pray
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.
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus condemns the hypocrites who 'love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men.' Public prayer itself is not wrong (Jesus prayed publicly), but the motive of self-display is condemned. The Greek 'phileo' (love) indicates they delighted in conspicuous piety. Standing was a normal prayer posture, but choosing visible locations revealed prid...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **Standing in the synagogues.**—The Jewish custom, more or less prevalent throughout the East, and for a time retained at certain seasons in the Christian Church, was to pray standing, with outstretched, uplifted hands, and there was nothing in the attitude as such that made it an act of ostentatious devotion; nor would there have been any ostentation in thus joining in the common prayer of th...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**45. That ye may be the children--**sons.
**of your Father which is in heaven--**The meaning is, "that ye may show yourselves to be such by resembling Him" (compare Mt 5:9; Ep 5:1).
**for he maketh his sun--**"your Father's sun." Well might Bengel exclaim, "Magnificent appellation!"
**to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust--**rather, (without the...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-8**
It is taken for granted that all who are disciples of Christ pray. You may as soon find a living man that does not breathe, as a living Christian that does not pray. If prayerless, then graceless. The Scribes and Pharisees were guilty of two great faults in prayer, vain-glory and vain repetitions. "Verily they have their reward;" if in so great a matter as is between us and God,...
Read full commentary →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 .
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus instructs 'when thou prayest, enter into thy closet'—not forbidding corporate prayer but commanding private prayer as the foundation of authentic piety. The 'closet' (Greek 'tameion'—storeroom or inner chamber) represents privacy and removal from audience. Prayer to the Father 'in secret' emphasizes intimate personal relationship over public display. The promised reward from the Father who '...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **Enter into thy closet.**—Literally, *the store-closet of thy house.* The principle, as before, is embodied in a rule which startles, and which cannot be binding literally. Not in synagogue or street, nor by the river-side (Acts 16:13); not under the fig-tree in the court-yard (John 1:50), nor on the housetop where men were wont to pray (Acts 10:9)—these might, each and all, present the tempt...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**46. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?--**The publicans, as collectors of taxes due to the Roman government, were ever on this account obnoxious to the Jews, who sat uneasy under a foreign yoke, and disliked whatever brought this unpleasantly before them. But the extortion practiced by this class made them hateful to the community, who in...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-8**
It is taken for granted that all who are disciples of Christ pray. You may as soon find a living man that does not breathe, as a living Christian that does not pray. If prayerless, then graceless. The Scribes and Pharisees were guilty of two great faults in prayer, vain-glory and vain repetitions. "Verily they have their reward;" if in so great a matter as is between us and God,...
Read full commentary →But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
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KJV Study Commentary
The warning against 'vain repetitions' (Greek 'battalogeo'—meaningless babbling) condemns mindless, mechanical prayer that multiplies words without heart engagement. The comparison to heathens who think 'they shall be heard for their much speaking' references pagan practices of repetitive incantations designed to manipulate deities. True prayer is personal communion with the Father who knows our n...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **Use not vain** **repetitions.**—The Greek word has a force but feebly rendered in the English. Formed from a word which reproduces the repeated attempts of the stammerer to clothe his thoughts in words, it might be almost rendered, “Do not stutter out your prayers, do not babble them over.” The words describe only too faithfully the act of prayer when it becomes mechanical. The devotion of t...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**47. And if ye salute your brethren only--**of the same nation and religion with yourselves.
**what do ye more than others?--**what do ye uncommon or extraordinary? that is, wherein do ye excel?
**do not even the publicans so?--**The true reading here appears to be, "Do not even the heathens the same?" Compare Mt 18:17, where the excommunicated person is said to be "as an heathen man and a pu...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-8**
It is taken for granted that all who are disciples of Christ pray. You may as soon find a living man that does not breathe, as a living Christian that does not pray. If prayerless, then graceless. The Scribes and Pharisees were guilty of two great faults in prayer, vain-glory and vain repetitions. "Verily they have their reward;" if in so great a matter as is between us and God,...
Read full commentary →Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
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KJV Study Commentary
The assurance that 'your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him' raises the question: why pray if God already knows? The answer is that prayer's purpose is not informing God but communing with Him, aligning our wills with His, expressing dependence, and receiving what He delights to give. God's foreknowledge doesn't make prayer unnecessary but rather guarantees its effective...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **Your Father knoweth.**—This truth is rightly made the ground of prayer in one of the noblest collects of the Prayer Book of the English Church—“Almighty God, the Fountain of all wisdom, who knowest our necessities before we ask, and our ignorance in asking.” Comp. St. Paul’s “We know not what we should pray for as we ought” (Romans 8:26). But why then, it may be asked, pray at all? Why “make...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**48. Be ye therefore--**rather, "Ye shall therefore be," or "Ye are therefore to be," as My disciples and in My kingdom.
**perfect--**or complete. Manifestly, our Lord here speaks, not of degrees of excellence, but of the kind of excellence which was to distinguish His disciples and characterize His kingdom. When therefore He adds,
**even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect--**He ref...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-8**
It is taken for granted that all who are disciples of Christ pray. You may as soon find a living man that does not breathe, as a living Christian that does not pray. If prayerless, then graceless. The Scribes and Pharisees were guilty of two great faults in prayer, vain-glory and vain repetitions. "Verily they have their reward;" if in so great a matter as is between us and God,...
Read full commentary →The Lord's Prayer
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus begins the Lord's Prayer with 'Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name' (Greek: Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, 'Our Father in the heavens'). The address 'Our Father' (not 'my') emphasizes corporate relationship - prayer is communal. 'Father' (Πάτερ/Abba) expresses intimacy yet 'in heaven' maintains transcendence; God is both near and exalted. 'Hallowed be thy name' (ἁγιασθήτω τὸ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **After this manner.**—Literally, *thus.* The word sanctions at once the use of the words themselves, and of other prayers—prescribed, or unpremeditated—after the same pattern and in the same spirit. In Luke 11:2 we have the more definite, “When ye pray, say, . . . .”
**Our Father.**—It is clear that the very word “Abba” (*father*) uttered by our Lord here, as in Mark 14:36, so impressed itsel...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-15**
Christ saw it needful to show his disciples what must commonly be the matter and method of their prayer. Not that we are tied up to the use of this only, or of this always; yet, without doubt, it is very good to use it. It has much in a little; and it is used acceptably no further than it is used with understanding, and without being needlessly repeated. The petitions are six; ...
Read full commentary →Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
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KJV Study Commentary
The prayer continues with two parallel petitions: 'Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven' (Greek: ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου, 'let your kingdom come'). These petitions are closely linked - God's kingdom arrives where His will is accomplished. 'Thy kingdom come' prays for God's rule to be fully established on earth. 'Thy will be done' (γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου) requests submissio...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **Thy kingdom come.**—Historically, the prayer had its origin in the Messianic expectations embodied in the picture of the ideal king in Isaiah 11:1-6; Isaiah 42:1-7, Daniel 7:14. It had long been familiar to all who looked for the consolation of Israel. Now the kingdom of God, that in which He manifests His sovereignty more than in the material world or in the common course of history, had b...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 6
**Sermon on the Mount--**continued.
Mt 6:1-18. Further Illustration of the Righteousness of the Kingdom--Its Unostentatiousness.
General Caution against Ostentation in Religious Duties (Mt 6:1).
**1. Take heed that ye do not your alms--**But the true reading seems clearly to be "your righteousness." The external authority for both readings is pretty nearly equal; but internal evide...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-15**
Christ saw it needful to show his disciples what must commonly be the matter and method of their prayer. Not that we are tied up to the use of this only, or of this always; yet, without doubt, it is very good to use it. It has much in a little; and it is used acceptably no further than it is used with understanding, and without being needlessly repeated. The petitions are six; ...
Read full commentary →Give us this day our daily bread.
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KJV Study Commentary
The prayer shifts from God-centered to human-need petitions: 'Give us this day our daily bread' (Greek: τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον, 'our bread, the daily'). The word ἐπιούσιον (epiousios) is rare, possibly meaning 'daily,' 'necessary for existence,' or 'for the coming day.' This petition acknowledges complete dependence on God's provision, echoing manna in the wilderness (Exodus 16) which was ga...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **Give us this day our daily bread.**—A strange obscurity hangs over the words that are so familiar to us. The word translated “daily” is found nowhere else, with the one exception of the parallel passage in Luke 11:3, and so far as we can judge must have been coined for the purpose, as the best equivalent for the unknown Aramaic word which our Lord actually used. We are accordingly thrown pa...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**2. Therefore, when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee--**The expression is to be taken figuratively for blazoning it. Hence our expression to "trumpet."
**as the hypocrites do--**This word--of such frequent occurrence in Scripture, signifying primarily "one who acts a part"--denotes one who either pretends to be what he is not (as here), or dissembles what he really is (...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-15**
Christ saw it needful to show his disciples what must commonly be the matter and method of their prayer. Not that we are tied up to the use of this only, or of this always; yet, without doubt, it is very good to use it. It has much in a little; and it is used acceptably no further than it is used with understanding, and without being needlessly repeated. The petitions are six; ...
Read full commentary →And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
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KJV Study Commentary
The prayer addresses spiritual debt: 'And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors' (Greek: ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰ ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν, 'forgive us our debts'). The term 'debts' (ὀφειλήματα) refers to moral obligations unfulfilled - sins are debts owed to God. The petition acknowledges ongoing need for forgiveness, not once-for-all salvation but daily cleansing. The phrase 'as we forgive' is crucial and ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **Forgive us our debts.**—*Duty*—*i.e.,* that which we owe, or ought to do—and *debts* are, it may be noted, only different forms of the same word. A duty unfulfilled is a debt unpaid. Primarily, therefore, the words “our debts” represent sins of omission, and “trespasses” the transgression of a law, sins of commission. The distinction, however, though convenient, is more or less technical. E...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**3. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth--**So far from making a display of it, dwell not on it even in thine own thoughts, lest it minister to spiritual pride.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-15**
Christ saw it needful to show his disciples what must commonly be the matter and method of their prayer. Not that we are tied up to the use of this only, or of this always; yet, without doubt, it is very good to use it. It has much in a little; and it is used acceptably no further than it is used with understanding, and without being needlessly repeated. The petitions are six; ...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
The prayer concludes with two petitions: 'And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil' (Greek: μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν, 'do not bring us into testing'). The first petition seems problematic since James 1:13 states God doesn't tempt anyone. Better understood as 'do not allow us to enter into testing' or 'lead us away from temptation.' This acknowledges human weakness and need...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **Lead us not into temptation.**—The Greek word includes the two thoughts which are represented in English by “trials,” *i.e.,* sufferings which test or try, and “temptations,” allurements on the side of pleasure which tend to lead us into evil. Of these the former is the dominant meaning in the language of the New Testament, and is that of which we must think here. (Comp. Matthew 26:41.) We ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**4. That thine alms may be in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly--**The word "Himself" appears to be an unauthorized addition to the text, which the sense no doubt suggested. (See 1Ti 5:25; Ro 2:16; 1Co 4:5).
Prayer (Mt 6:5, 6).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-15**
Christ saw it needful to show his disciples what must commonly be the matter and method of their prayer. Not that we are tied up to the use of this only, or of this always; yet, without doubt, it is very good to use it. It has much in a little; and it is used acceptably no further than it is used with understanding, and without being needlessly repeated. The petitions are six; ...
Read full commentary →For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus immediately expounds on the forgiveness petition: 'For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you' (Greek: ἀφήσει καὶ ὑμῖν, 'will also forgive you'). This conditional statement underscores the connection between divine and human forgiveness. 'Trespasses' (παραπτώματα) means 'false steps' or 'falling aside.' The logic is not merit-based - we don't earn God'...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14, 15) The condition implied in the Prayer itself is more distinctly asserted. It is, as we have seen, not an arbitrary condition, but the result of the eternal laws of the divine order. Repentance is the condition of being forgiven, and the temper that does not forgive is *ipso facto* incompatible with the temper of the penitent. As if for greater emphasis, the truth is presented in both its po...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**5. And when thou prayest, thou shalt--**or, preferably, "when ye pray ye shall."
**not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets--**(See on Mt 6:2).
**that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have, &c.--**The standing posture in prayer was the ancient practice, alike in the Jewish and in the early Christi...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-15**
Christ saw it needful to show his disciples what must commonly be the matter and method of their prayer. Not that we are tied up to the use of this only, or of this always; yet, without doubt, it is very good to use it. It has much in a little; and it is used acceptably no further than it is used with understanding, and without being needlessly repeated. The petitions are six; ...
Read full commentary →But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
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KJV Study Commentary
This sobering warning that unforgiveness blocks God's forgiveness creates apparent tension with salvation by grace alone. The resolution lies in distinguishing justification from sanctification—we are forgiven freely through Christ's blood (justification), yet a forgiving spirit is the necessary fruit proving genuine conversion (sanctification). Those who refuse to forgive demonstrate they've neve...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet--**a place of retirement.
**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--**Of course, it is not the simple publicity of prayer which is here condemned. It may be offered in any circumstances, however open, if not prompted by the spirit of ostentation,...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-15**
Christ saw it needful to show his disciples what must commonly be the matter and method of their prayer. Not that we are tied up to the use of this only, or of this always; yet, without doubt, it is very good to use it. It has much in a little; and it is used acceptably no further than it is used with understanding, and without being needlessly repeated. The petitions are six; ...
Read full commentary →Fasting
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.
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus condemns hypocrites who 'disfigure their faces' during fasting to advertise their piety. The Greek 'aphanizo' (disfigure/make unrecognizable) suggests deliberate effort to appear haggard and spiritual. Their goal was not communion with God but human admiration. Like almsgiving and prayer, fasting's value depends entirely on motive. When done 'to be seen of men, they have their reward'—presen...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) **When ye fast.**—Fasting had risen under the teaching of the Pharisees into a new prominence. Under the Law there had been but the one great fast of the Day of Atonement, on which men were “to afflict their souls” (Leviticus 23:27; Numbers 29:7) and practice had interpreted that phrase as meaning total abstinence from food. Other fasts were occasional, in times of distress or penitence, as i...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**7. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions--**"Babble not" would be a better rendering, both for the form of the word--which in both languages is intended to imitate the sound--and for the sense, which expresses not so much the repetition of the same words as a senseless multiplication of them; as appears from what follows.
**as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for th...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-18**
Religious fasting is a duty required of the disciples of Christ, but it is not so much a duty itself, as a means to dispose us for other duties. Fasting is the humbling of the soul, Psa 35:13; that is the inside of the duty; let that, therefore, be thy principal care, and as to the outside of it, covet not to let it be seen. God sees in secret, and will reward openly.
But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
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KJV Study Commentary
The command to 'anoint thine head, and wash thy face' when fasting instructs maintaining normal appearance rather than advertising spiritual discipline. This doesn't forbid corporate fasting or times when fasting may be public (Acts 13:2-3), but condemns self-promoting displays. The principle is that fasting should be 'unto the Lord' (Romans 14:6-8), not to impress observers. Maintaining normal ap...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **Anoint thine head, and wash thy face.**—Both these acts were rigidly prohibited by the traditions of the Elders on the Day of Atonement, and by implication on other fast days also. They were the outward signs of joy (Ecclesiastes 9:8), and were therefore looked on as unsuitable for a time of mourning. The disciples of Christ were to hide their contrition and self-discipline, and even when t...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him--**and so needs not to be informed of our wants, any more than to be roused to attend to them by our incessant speaking. What a view of God is here given, in sharp contrast with the gods of the heathen! But let it be carefully noted that it is not as the general Father of mankind that our...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-18**
Religious fasting is a duty required of the disciples of Christ, but it is not so much a duty itself, as a means to dispose us for other duties. Fasting is the humbling of the soul, Psa 35:13; that is the inside of the duty; let that, therefore, be thy principal care, and as to the outside of it, covet not to let it be seen. God sees in secret, and will reward openly.
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 .
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KJV Study Commentary
The promise that fasting done in secret to the Father 'which seeth in secret' will be rewarded openly establishes the pattern repeated throughout this section: God values hidden obedience over public display. The Father's omniscience guarantees He observes what no human sees, and His justice guarantees appropriate reward. This reward may come as spiritual growth, answered prayer, increased communi...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9. After this manner--**more simply "Thus."
**therefore pray ye--**The "ye" is emphatic here, in contrast with the heathen prayers. That this matchless prayer was given not only as a model, but as a form, might be concluded from its very nature. Did it consist only of hints or directions for prayer, it could only be used as a directory; but seeing it is an actual prayer--designed, indeed, to s...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-18**
Religious fasting is a duty required of the disciples of Christ, but it is not so much a duty itself, as a means to dispose us for other duties. Fasting is the humbling of the soul, Psa 35:13; that is the inside of the duty; let that, therefore, be thy principal care, and as to the outside of it, covet not to let it be seen. God sees in secret, and will reward openly.
Treasures in Heaven
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus commands a radical reorientation of values: 'Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal' (Greek: μὴ θησαυρίζετε ὑμῖν θησαυροὺς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, 'do not treasure up treasures upon the earth'). The verb θησαυρίζω means to store up or accumulate. Jesus identifies three threats to earthly wealth: moths (destroying cloth...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(19) **Lay not up for yourselves treasures.**—Literally, with a force which the English lacks, *treasure not up your treasures.*
**Where moth and rust doth corrupt.**—The first word points to one form of Eastern wealth, the costly garments of rich material, often embroidered with gold and silver. (Comp. “Your garments are moth-eaten” in James 5:2.) The second word is not so much the specific “rust...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10. Thy kingdom come--**The kingdom of God is that moral and spiritual kingdom which the God of grace is setting up in this fallen world, whose subjects consist of as many as have been brought into hearty subjection to His gracious scepter, and of which His Son Jesus is the glorious Head. In the inward reality of it, this kingdom existed ever since there were men who "walked with God" (Ge 5:24),...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 19-24**
Worldly-mindedness is a common and fatal symptom of hypocrisy, for by no sin can Satan have a surer and faster hold of the soul, under the cloak of a profession of religion. Something the soul will have, which it looks upon as the best thing; in which it has pleasure and confidence above other things. Christ counsels to make our best things the joys and glories of the other wo...
Read full commentary →But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus contrasts earthly with heavenly treasure: 'But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal' (Greek: θησαυρίζετε δὲ ὑμῖν θησαυροὺς ἐν οὐρανῷ, 'treasure up treasures in heaven'). Heavenly treasures are invulnerable to decay or theft - eternal and secure. What constitutes heavenly treasure? Acts of mercy, ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(20) **Treasures in heaven.**—These, as in the parallel passage of Luke 12:33, are the good works, or rather the character formed by them, which follow us into the unseen world (Revelation 14:13), and are subject to no process of decay. So men are “rich in good works” (1Timothy 6:18), “rich in faith” (James 2:5), are made partakers of the “unsearchable riches of Christ and His glory” (Ephesians 3:...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**11. Give us this day our daily bread--**The compound word here rendered "daily" occurs nowhere else, either in classical or sacred Greek, and so must be interpreted by the analogy of its component parts. But on this critics are divided. To those who would understand it to mean, "Give us this day the bread of to-morrow"--as if the sense thus slid into that of Luke "Give us day by day" (Lu 11:2, (...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 19-24**
Worldly-mindedness is a common and fatal symptom of hypocrisy, for by no sin can Satan have a surer and faster hold of the soul, under the cloak of a profession of religion. Something the soul will have, which it looks upon as the best thing; in which it has pleasure and confidence above other things. Christ counsels to make our best things the joys and glories of the other wo...
Read full commentary →For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus reveals the heart diagnostic: 'For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also' (Greek: ὅπου γάρ ἐστιν ὁ θησαυρός σου, ἐκεῖ ἔσται καὶ ἡ καρδία σου). This isn't merely 'what you treasure reveals your heart' but causally stronger - your treasure determines your heart's location. The 'heart' (καρδία) represents the center of affection, loyalty, and worship. We follow our investments; ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(21) **Where your treasure is.**—The words imply the truth, afterwards more definitely asserted, that it is impossible to “serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24). Men may try to persuade themselves that they will have a treasure on earth and a treasure in heaven also, but in the long-run, one or the other will assert its claim to be *the* treasure, and will claim the no longer divided allegiance of ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**12. And forgive us our debts--**A vitally important view of sin, this--as an offense against God demanding reparation to His dishonored claims upon our absolute subjection. As the debtor in the creditor's hand, so is the sinner in the hands of God. This idea of sin had indeed come up before in this discourse--in the warning to agree with our adversary quickly, in case of sentence being passed up...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 19-24**
Worldly-mindedness is a common and fatal symptom of hypocrisy, for by no sin can Satan have a surer and faster hold of the soul, under the cloak of a profession of religion. Something the soul will have, which it looks upon as the best thing; in which it has pleasure and confidence above other things. Christ counsels to make our best things the joys and glories of the other wo...
Read full commentary →The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
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KJV Study Commentary
The metaphor of the eye as the body's lamp teaches that spiritual perception (understanding) affects the whole person. A 'single' eye (Greek 'haplous'—simple, clear, focused) represents undivided devotion to God and results in a life full of light (truth, righteousness, joy). This continues the theme of wholehearted service to God versus divided loyalties. Clear spiritual vision comes from single-...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(22) **The light of the body.-**Literally, *the lamp of the body.* So in Proverbs 20:27, “The spirit of man is the candle (or ‘lamp’) of the Lord”—that which, under the name of “conscience,” the “moral sense,” the “inner man” discerns spiritual realities, distinguishes right from wrong, gives the light by which we see our way. If this is “single,” if it discerns clearly, all is well. The “whole bo...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13. And lead us not into temptation--**He who honestly seeks and has the assurance of, forgiveness for past sin, will strive to avoid committing it for the future. But conscious that "when we would do good evil is present with us," we are taught to offer this sixth petition, which comes naturally close upon the preceding, and flows, indeed, instinctively from it in the hearts of all earnest Chri...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 19-24**
Worldly-mindedness is a common and fatal symptom of hypocrisy, for by no sin can Satan have a surer and faster hold of the soul, under the cloak of a profession of religion. Something the soul will have, which it looks upon as the best thing; in which it has pleasure and confidence above other things. Christ counsels to make our best things the joys and glories of the other wo...
Read full commentary →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!
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KJV Study Commentary
An 'evil eye' represents distorted spiritual perception—covetousness, envy, stinginess, or divided loyalty—resulting in darkness pervading the whole life. The sobering warning 'if therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!' indicates that corrupted spiritual understanding leads to deepest delusion. Those who think they see but are actually blind are in worst spiri...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(23) **If thine eye be evil.**—If the spiritual faculty, whose proper work it is to give light, be itself diseased—if it discerns not singly but doubly, and therefore dimly—then the whole life also is shrouded in gloom. If that is the case with the higher life, what will be the state of the lower! If the light is darkened, what will be the state of the region of life which is in itself naturally d...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**14. For if ye forgive men, &c.--**See on Mt 6:12.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 19-24**
Worldly-mindedness is a common and fatal symptom of hypocrisy, for by no sin can Satan have a surer and faster hold of the soul, under the cloak of a profession of religion. Something the soul will have, which it looks upon as the best thing; in which it has pleasure and confidence above other things. Christ counsels to make our best things the joys and glories of the other wo...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus declares exclusive loyalty: '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' (Greek: οὐ δύνασθε θεῷ δουλεύειν καὶ μαμωνᾷ, 'you cannot serve God and wealth'). The verb δουλεύω means 'serve as a slave,' indicating total ownership. 'Masters' (κύριος) implies lord/owner with...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(24) **No man can serve two masters.**—Literally, *can be the slave of two masters.* The clauses that follow describe two distinct results of the attempt to combine the two forms of service which are really incompatible. In most cases, there will be love for the one, and a real hatred for the other. The man who loves God cannot love the evil world, and, so far as it is evil, will learn to hate it....
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**15. But if ye forgive not, &c.--**See on Mt 6:12.
Fasting (Mt 6:16-18). Having concluded His supplementary directions on the subject of prayer with this Divine Pattern, our Lord now returns to the subject of Unostentatiousness in our deeds of righteousness, in order to give one more illustration of it, in the matter of fasting.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 19-24**
Worldly-mindedness is a common and fatal symptom of hypocrisy, for by no sin can Satan have a surer and faster hold of the soul, under the cloak of a profession of religion. Something the soul will have, which it looks upon as the best thing; in which it has pleasure and confidence above other things. Christ counsels to make our best things the joys and glories of the other wo...
Read full commentary →Do Not Be Anxious
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?
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus commands freedom from anxiety: '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' (Greek: μὴ μεριμνᾶτε τῇ ψυχῇ ὑμῶν, 'do not be anxious for your life'). The verb μεριμνάω means anxious worry, not responsible planning. 'Therefore' connects to the previous teaching on serving God versus mammon - thos...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(25) **Take no thought.**—The Greek word some times thus translated, and sometimes by “care” or “be careful” (1Corinthians 7:32-34; Philippians 2:20; Philippians 4:6), expresses anxiety, literally, the care which *distracts* us. And this was, in the sixteenth century, the meaning of the English phrase “take thought.” Of this we have one example in 1Samuel 9:5; other examples of it are found in Sha...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**16. Moreover, when ye fast--**referring, probably, to private and voluntary fasting, which was to be regulated by each individual for himself; though in spirit it would apply to any fast.
**be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces--**literally, "make unseen"; very well rendered "disfigure." They went about with a slovenly appearance, and ashes sprinkled o...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 25-34**
There is scarcely any sin against which our Lord Jesus more warns his disciples, than disquieting, distracting, distrustful cares about the things of this life. This often insnares the poor as much as the love of wealth does the rich. But there is a carefulness about temporal things which is a duty, though we must not carry these lawful cares too far. Take no thought for your ...
Read full commentary →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?
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus uses creation as object lesson: '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?' (Greek: οὐχ ὑμεῖς μᾶλλον διαφέρετε αὐτῶν, 'are you not much more valuable than they?'). 'Behold' (ἐμβλέπω) means 'look carefully, observe.' Birds don't practice agriculture yet survive. This isn'...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(26) **Behold the fowls of the air.**—Better, *birds.* As the words were spoken we may venture to think of them as accompanied by the gesture which directed attention to the turtle-doves, the wood-pigeons, and the finches, which are conspicuous features in a Galilean landscape. Our modern use of the word has restricted “fowls” to one class of birds; but in Chaucer, and indeed in the English of the...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face--**as the Jews did, except when mourning (Da 10:3); so that the meaning is, "Appear as usual"--appear so as to attract no notice.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 25-34**
There is scarcely any sin against which our Lord Jesus more warns his disciples, than disquieting, distracting, distrustful cares about the things of this life. This often insnares the poor as much as the love of wealth does the rich. But there is a carefulness about temporal things which is a duty, though we must not carry these lawful cares too far. Take no thought for your ...
Read full commentary →Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus highlights anxiety's futility: 'Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?' (Greek: τίς δὲ ἐξ ὑμῶν μεριμνῶν δύναται προσθεῖναι ἐπὶ τὴν ἡλικίαν αὐτοῦ πῆχυν ἕνα, 'who of you by being anxious is able to add to his lifespan one cubit?'). The word ἡλικία can mean 'stature' or 'lifespan'; both interpretations work. A 'cubit' (πῆχυν) is roughly 18 inches - adding this to hei...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(27) **One cubit unto his stature.**—The Greek for the last word admits either this meaning (as in Luke 19:3, and perhaps Luke 2:52) or that of age (as in John 9:21; John 9:23, and Hebrews 11:24). Either gives an adequate sense to the passage. No anxiety will alter our bodily height, and the other conditions of our life are as fixed by God’s laws as that is, as little therefore dependent upon our ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**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--**The "openly" seems evidently a later addition to the text of this verse from Mt 6:4, 7, though of course the idea is implied.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 25-34**
There is scarcely any sin against which our Lord Jesus more warns his disciples, than disquieting, distracting, distrustful cares about the things of this life. This often insnares the poor as much as the love of wealth does the rich. But there is a carefulness about temporal things which is a duty, though we must not carry these lawful cares too far. Take no thought for your ...
Read full commentary →And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus continues with botanical illustration: 'And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin' (Greek: καταμάθετε τὰ κρίνα τοῦ ἀγροῦ, 'learn thoroughly from the lilies of the field'). 'Consider' (καταμάθετε) means 'observe carefully, learn from.' Lilies (exact species debated - possibly anemones, poppies, or general wildflow...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(28) **Why take ye thought for raiment?**—The question might well be asked of every race of the whole family of man. Yet we ought not to forget its special pointedness as addressed to a people who reckoned their garments, not less than their money, as part of their capital, and often expended on them the labour of many weeks or months. (Comp. Matthew 6:20; James 5:2.)
**Consider the lilies of the ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Mt 6:19-34. Concluding Illustrations of the Righteousness of the Kingdom--Heavenly-Mindedness and Filial Confidence.
**19. Lay not up for ourselves treasures upon earth--**hoard not.
**where moth--**a "clothes-moth." Eastern treasures, consisting partly in costly dresses stored up (Job 27:16), were liable to be consumed by moths (Job 13:28; Is 50:9; 51:8). In Jas 5:2 there is an evident referen...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 25-34**
There is scarcely any sin against which our Lord Jesus more warns his disciples, than disquieting, distracting, distrustful cares about the things of this life. This often insnares the poor as much as the love of wealth does the rich. But there is a carefulness about temporal things which is a duty, though we must not carry these lawful cares too far. Take no thought for your ...
Read full commentary →And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus makes shocking comparison: 'And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these' (Greek: οὐδὲ Σολομὼν ἐν πάσῃ τῇ δόξῃ αὐτοῦ περιεβάλετο ὡς ἓν τούτων, 'not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these'). Solomon represented the pinnacle of human wealth and splendor (1 Kings 10:4-7). His robes were legendary. Yet simple wildflowers surpas...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(29) **I say unto you.**—The formula of emphasis is not without a special force here (comp. Matthew 18:10; Matthew 18:19). Man’s gaze was drawn to the “gorgeous apparel,” the gold-embroidered robes of kings and emperors. Jewish traditions as to the glory of Solomon represented even his attendants as clothed in purple, and with hair glittering with gold-dust. He, the true Son of David, saw in the s...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**20. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven--**The language in Luke (Lu 12:33) is very bold--"Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not," &c.
**where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal--**Treasures these, imperishable and unassailable! (Compare Col 3:2).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 25-34**
There is scarcely any sin against which our Lord Jesus more warns his disciples, than disquieting, distracting, distrustful cares about the things of this life. This often insnares the poor as much as the love of wealth does the rich. But there is a carefulness about temporal things which is a duty, though we must not carry these lawful cares too far. Take no thought for your ...
Read full commentary →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?
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus applies the lesson with mild rebuke: '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?' (Greek: ὀλιγόπιστοι, 'little-faith ones'). The argument intensifies - grass is even more temporary than lilies, used as fuel for baking ovens, yet God clothes it beautifully. The phrase 'much ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(30) **The grass of the field.**—The term is used generically to include the meadow-flowers which were cut down with the grass, and used as fodder or as fuel. The scarcity of wood in Palestine made the latter use more common there than in Europe. The “oven” in this passage was the portable earthen vessel used by the poor for baking their bread. The coarse ligneous hay was placed below it and round...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**21. For where your treasure is--**that which ye value most.
**there will your heart be also--**"Thy treasure--thy heart" is probably the true reading here: "your," in Lu 12:34, from which it seems to have come in here. Obvious though this maxim be, by what multitudes who profess to bow to the teaching of Christ is it practically disregarded! **"What a man loves," says Luther, quoted by Tholuck...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 25-34**
There is scarcely any sin against which our Lord Jesus more warns his disciples, than disquieting, distracting, distrustful cares about the things of this life. This often insnares the poor as much as the love of wealth does the rich. But there is a carefulness about temporal things which is a duty, though we must not carry these lawful cares too far. Take no thought for your ...
Read full commentary →Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus summarizes the prohibition: 'Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?' (Greek: μὴ οὖν μεριμνήσητε λέγοντες, 'therefore do not be anxious, saying...'). The verb construction with 'saying' (λέγοντες) indicates anxiety's internal dialogue - worried self-talk about provision. Jesus identifies three basic survival concerns...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(31) **Therefore . . .**—The command which, in Matthew 6:25; Matthew 6:28, had before been given as general and abstract, is now enforced as the conclusion of a process of thought more or less inductive. A change in the tense, which we fail to express in English, indicates more special and personal application—“Do not take thought, do not be over-anxious *now.”*
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**22. The light--**rather, "the lamp."
**of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single--**simple, clear. As applied to the outward eye, this means general soundness; particularly, not looking two ways. Here, as also in classical Greek, it is used figuratively to denote the simplicity of the mind's eye, singleness of purpose, looking right at its object, as opposed to having two ends i...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 25-34**
There is scarcely any sin against which our Lord Jesus more warns his disciples, than disquieting, distracting, distrustful cares about the things of this life. This often insnares the poor as much as the love of wealth does the rich. But there is a carefulness about temporal things which is a duty, though we must not carry these lawful cares too far. Take no thought for your ...
Read full commentary →(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus contrasts believers with unbelievers: 'For after all these things do the Gentiles seek: for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things' (Greek: πάντα γὰρ ταῦτα τὰ ἔθνη ἐπιζητοῦσιν, 'for all these things the Gentiles seek after'). 'Gentiles' (ἔθνη) represents those without covenant relationship with God - they seek provision anxiously because they don't know God as Fat...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(32) **After all these things do the Gentiles seek.**—The tone is one of pity rather than of censure, though it appeals, not without a touch of gentle rebuke (as before in Matthew 6:5) to the national pride of Israelites: “You look down upon the heathen *nations,* and think of yourselves as God’s *people,* yet in what do you excel them, if you seek only what they are seeking?”
**For your heavenly ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**23. But if thine eye be evil--**distempered, or, as we should say, If we have got a bad eye.
**thy whole body shall be full of darkness--**darkened. As a vitiated eye, or an eye that looks not straight and full at its object, sees nothing as it is, so a mind and heart divided between heaven and earth is all dark.
**If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darknes...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 25-34**
There is scarcely any sin against which our Lord Jesus more warns his disciples, than disquieting, distracting, distrustful cares about the things of this life. This often insnares the poor as much as the love of wealth does the rich. But there is a carefulness about temporal things which is a duty, though we must not carry these lawful cares too far. Take no thought for your ...
Read full commentary →But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.</strong> This command appears in Jesus's Sermon on the Mount, specifically within teaching about anxiety and priorities (Matthew 6:25-34). It addresses the fundamental question: What should govern our lives?<br><br>"But" (δέ/<em>de</em>) contrasts with preceding verses where Jesus des...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(33) **Seek ye first the kingdom of God.**—The context shows that the words point to the “seeking” of prayer, rather than of act, though the latter meaning is, of course, not excluded. What is thus to be sought is “the kingdom of God” (the change from the less personal “kingdom of heaven” is significant), the higher spiritual life in its completeness, for ourselves and for others; and with it we a...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**24. No man can serve--**The word means to "belong wholly and be entirely under command to."
**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--**Even if the two masters be of one character and have but one object, the servant must take law from one or the other: though he may do what is agreeable to both, he cannot, in th...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 25-34**
There is scarcely any sin against which our Lord Jesus more warns his disciples, than disquieting, distracting, distrustful cares about the things of this life. This often insnares the poor as much as the love of wealth does the rich. But there is a carefulness about temporal things which is a duty, though we must not carry these lawful cares too far. Take no thought for your ...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>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.</strong> This verse concludes Jesus' extended teaching on anxiety and trust in God's provision (6:25-34). The command <em>me oun merimnesete</em> (μὴ οὖν μεριμνήσητε, "do not be anxious") is a strong prohibition against the divided mind and dist...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(34) **Take therefore no thought for the morrow.**—No precept of divine wisdom has found so many echoes in the wisdom of the world. Epicurean self-indulgence, Stoic apathy, practical common-sense, have all preached the same lesson, and bidden men to cease their questionings about the future. That which was new in our Lord’s teaching was the ground on which the precept rested. It was not simply the...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**25. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought--**"Be not solicitous." The English word "thought," when our version was made, expressed this idea of "solicitude," "anxious concern"--as may be seen in any old English classic; and in the same sense it is used in 1Sa 9:5, &c. But this sense of the word has now nearly gone out, and so the mere English reader is apt to be perplexed. Thought or for...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 25-34**
There is scarcely any sin against which our Lord Jesus more warns his disciples, than disquieting, distracting, distrustful cares about the things of this life. This often insnares the poor as much as the love of wealth does the rich. But there is a carefulness about temporal things which is a duty, though we must not carry these lawful cares too far. Take no thought for your ...
Read full commentary →