Matthew 6:3

3 But you, [when you] practice charitable giving, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

Matthew 6:3 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 6:3

But when thou dost alms
Do it so privately, and with so much secrecy, that, if it was possible, thou mightest not know it thyself, much less make it known to others:

let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth;
acquaint not thy nearest and dearest friend with it; let not one that sits at thy left hand know what thou art doing with thy right hand; it is a proverbial and hyperbolical phrase, expressing the secrecy of the action. It is a Jewish canon ^F16, that

``he that gives a gift to his friend out of love, may make it known, (hqdub al lba) , "but not if it be by way of alms".''

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FOOTNOTES:

F16 Piske Tosephot in Sabbat. c. 1. art. 134.

Matthew 6:3 In-Context

1 "And take care not to practice your righteousness before people to be seen by them; {otherwise} you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

2 Therefore whenever you practice charitable giving, do not sound a trumpet in front of you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, in order that they may be praised by people. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward in full!

3 But you, [when you] practice charitable giving, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

4 in order that your charitable giving may be in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

5 And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, because they love to stand [and] pray in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, in order that they may be seen by people. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward in full!

Footnotes

• [a]. *Here "[when]" is supplied as a component of the participle ("practice") which is understood as temporal