Mattityahu 6

1 Be careful that you don’t practice your tzedakah (charity giving) before Bnei Adam in order to varf (show off, flaunt) to be seen by Bnei Adam; for then you have no sachar (reward) with your Av shbaShomayim.

2 Therefore, whenever you contribute tzedakah, don’t blow the shofar before you, as the tzevuim (hypocrites) do in the shuls and in the streets, in order that they may receive kavod (glory) from Bnei Adam. Omein, truly I say to you, they have their sachar (reward).

3 But when you contribute tzedakah, do not let your left hand have da’as (knowledge) of what your right hand is doing,

4 so that your tzedakah may be nistar (hidden, in secret), and your Av HaRoeh b’seter (Father, the One seeing in secret) [His] sachar (reward) will give you.

5 And whenever you daven (pray), do not be as the tzevuim (hypocrites); for they love to stand and daven in the shuls and on the street corners so that they may be seen by an audience. Omein, truly I say to you, they have their sachar.

6 But you, whenever you daven, enter into the secret place, your secret cheder, and, having shut your door, offer tefillos to your Av Asher bSeter (Father Who is in Secret), and your Av haRoeh b’seter (Father the One seeing in secret) [His] sachar will give you.

7 But when you daven, do not babble on and on maarich (extended, long winded) and vacuously and without kavvanah (heartfelt direction, intention) like the Goyim. For the Goyim think that in their verbosity their techinnah will be heard.

8 Therefore, nisht azoi (not so)! Be different, for your Av has daas (knowledge) of what things you have need before you ask Him.

9 Therefore, when you offer tefillos, daven like this, in this manner: Avinu shbaShomayim (Our Father in heaven), yitkadash shmecha (hallowed be your Name).

10 Tavo malchutechah (Thy Kingdom come) Ye’aseh rtzonechah (Thy will be done) kmoh vaShomayim ken baaretz (on earth as it is in heaven).

11 Es lechem chukeinu ten lanu hayom (Give us today our daily bread),

12 u-slach lanu es chovoteinu kaasher salachnu (and forgive us our debts as we forgive) gam anachnu lachayaveinu (also our debtors).

13 V’al tvi’einu lidey nisayon (And lead us not into temptation [Mt 26:41]) ki im chaltzeinu min harah (but deliver us from evil). [Ki l’chah hamamlachah (for thine is the Kingdom) vhagvurah (and the power) vhatiferet (and the glory) l’olmei olamim (forever). Omein].

14 For if you give men mechila (pardon, forgiveness) for their chattaim (sins), so also your Av shbaShomayim will give selicha (forgiveness) to you.

15 But if you do not give men mechila (forgiveness), neither will your chattaim receive selicha from your Av.

16 And whenever you undergo a tzom (fast), don’t be like the sullen tzevuim (hypocrites), for they disfigure their faces to parade their tzom (fast). Omein, truly I say to you, they have received their sachar (reward).

17 But when you undergo a tzom, anoint your rosh with shemen (oil) and wash your face

18 so that your tzom is concealed from Bnei Adam but not from your Av Asher b’Seter (Father Who is in Secret). And your Av HaRoeh b’seter (Father the One seeing in secret) will give you sachar.

19 Do not store up for yourselves otzarot (treasures) on haaretz, where moth and rust destroy and where ganavim (thieves) break in and steal.

20 But zamlet (collect) for yourselves otzarot (treasures) in Shomayim, where neither moth nor rust destroys, neither do ganavim break in and steal.

21 For where your otzar (treasure) is, there also will be your lev (heart).

22 The eye is the menorah of the basar. Therefore, if your eye is unblurred, then your whole basar will be lighted.

23 But if yours is the ayin horo (evil eye), your whole basar will be in choshech (darkness).

24 No one is able to serve two adonim (masters). For either he will have sinah (hatred) for the one and ahavah (love) for the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve Hashem and Mammon (Money).

25 Therefore, I say to you, Do not have a LEV ROGEZ (anxious heart, [DEVARIM 28:65]) about your life, what you might wear or what you might drink, nor for your basar, what you might put on. Is not life more than okhel (food) and basar more than malbush (clothing)?

26 Look to the OPH HASHOMAYIM (birds of heaven, IYOV 35:11), for they do not sow nor reap nor gather into storehouses, and your Av shbaShomayim feeds them. Are you yourselves not worth more than they?

27 And who among you by a LEV ROGEZ (DEVARIM 28:65) is able to add to his life span one cubit?

28 And why have a LEV ROGEZ (anxious heart) about malbush (clothing)? Observe the lilies of the field, how they grow. They do not labor nor spin.

29 But I say to you that not even Shlomo HaMelech in all his kavod (glory) was clothed as one of these.

30 And if Hashem thus clothes the grass of the field that exists today and tomorrow is thrown into a furnace, how much more will he clothe you, you ones of little emunah?

31 Therefore, do not have a LEV ROGEZ (DEVARIM 28:65), saying, What might we eat? or What might we drink? or With what might we clothe ourselves?

32 For all these things the Goyim strive. For your Av shbaShomayim bavorn (anticipates) that you need all these things.

33 But seek first the Malchut Hashem and the Tzidkat Hashem, and all these things will be added to you.

34 Therefore, do not have a LEV ROGEZ (DEVARIM 28:65) for tomorrow, for makhar (tomorrow) will care for itself. Each day has enough tzoros of its own.

Mattityahu 6 Commentary

Chapter 6

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 we may be approved of God, not that we may be praised of men. In these verses we are cautioned against hypocrisy in giving alms. Take heed of it. It is a subtle sin; and vain-glory creeps into what we do, before we are aware. But the duty is not the less necessary and excellent for being abused by hypocrites to serve their pride. The doom Christ passes, at first may seem a promise, but it is their reward; not the reward God promises to those who do good, but the reward hypocrites promise themselves, and a poor reward it is; they did it to be seen of men, and they are seen of men. When we take least notice of our good deeds ourselves, God takes most notice of them. He will reward thee; not as a master who gives his servant what he earns, and no more, but as a Father who gives abundantly to his son that serves him.

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, when we are at prayer, we can look to so poor a thing as the praise of men, it is just that it should be all our reward. Yet there is not a secret, sudden breathing after God, but he observes it. It is called a reward, but it is of grace, not of debt; what merit can there be in begging? If he does not give his people what they ask, it is because he knows they do not need it, and that it is not for their good. So far is God from being wrought upon by the length or words of our prayers, that the most powerful intercessions are those which are made with groanings that cannot be uttered. Let us well study what is shown of the frame of mind in which our prayers should be offered, and learn daily from Christ how to pray.

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; the first three relate more expressly to God and his honour, the last three to our own concerns, both temporal and spiritual. This prayer teaches us to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and that all other things shall be added. After the things of God's glory, kingdom, and will, we pray for the needful supports and comforts of this present life. Every word here has a lesson in it. We ask for bread; that teaches us sobriety and temperance: and we ask only for bread; not for what we do not need. We ask for our bread; that teaches us honesty and industry: we do not ask for the bread of others, nor the bread of deceit, ( Proverbs 20:17 ) ; nor the bread of idleness, ( Proverbs 31:27 ) , but the bread honestly gotten. We ask for our daily bread; which teaches us constantly to depend upon Divine Providence. We beg of God to give it us; not sell it us, nor lend it us, but give it. The greatest of men must be beholden to the mercy of God for their daily bread. We pray, Give it to us. This teaches us a compassion for the poor. Also that we ought to pray with our families. We pray that God would give it us this day; which teaches us to renew the desires of our souls toward God, as the wants of our bodies are renewed. As the day comes we must pray to our heavenly Father, and reckon we could as well go a day without food, as without prayer. We are taught to hate and dread sin while we hope for mercy, to distrust ourselves, to rely on the providence and grace of God to keep us from it, to be prepared to resist the tempter, and not to become tempters of others. Here is a promise, If you forgive, your heavenly Father will also forgive. We must forgive, as we hope to be forgiven. Those who desire to find mercy with God, must show mercy to their brethren. Christ came into the world as the great Peace-maker, not only to reconcile us to God, but one to another.

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, ( Psalms 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.

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 world, those things not seen which are eternal, and to place our happiness in them. There are treasures in heaven. It is our wisdom to give all diligence to make our title to eternal life sure through Jesus Christ, and to look on all things here below, as not worthy to be compared with it, and to be content with nothing short of it. It is happiness above and beyond the changes and chances of time, an inheritance incorruptible. The worldly man is wrong in his first principle; therefore all his reasonings and actions therefrom must be wrong. It is equally to be applied to false religion; that which is deemed light is thick darkness. This is an awful, but a common case; we should therefore carefully examine our leading principles by the word of God, with earnest prayer for the teaching of his Spirit. A man may do some service to two masters, but he can devote himself to the service of no more than one. God requires the whole heart, and will not share it with the world. When two masters oppose each other, no man can serve both. He who holds to the world and loves it, must despise God; he who loves God, must give up the friendship of the world.

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 life. Not about the length of it; but refer it to God to lengthen or shorten it as he pleases; our times are in his hand, and they are in a good hand. Not about the comforts of this life; but leave it to God to make it bitter or sweet as he pleases. Food and raiment God has promised, therefore we may expect them. Take no thought for the morrow, for the time to come. Be not anxious for the future, how you shall live next year, or when you are old, or what you shall leave behind you. As we must not boast of tomorrow, so we must not care for to-morrow, or the events of it. God has given us life, and has given us the body. And what can he not do for us, who did that? If we take care about our souls and for eternity, which are more than the body and its life, we may leave it to God to provide for us food and raiment, which are less. Improve this as an encouragement to trust in God. We must reconcile ourselves to our worldly estate, as we do to our stature. We cannot alter the disposals of Providence, therefore we must submit and resign ourselves to them. Thoughtfulness for our souls is the best cure of thoughtfulness for the world. Seek first the kingdom of God, and make religion your business: say not that this is the way to starve; no, it is the way to be well provided for, even in this world. The conclusion of the whole matter is, that it is the will and command of the Lord Jesus, that by daily prayers we may get strength to bear us up under our daily troubles, and to arm us against the temptations that attend them, and then let none of these things move us. Happy are those who take the Lord for their God, and make full proof of it by trusting themselves wholly to his wise disposal. Let thy Spirit convince us of sin in the want of this disposition, and take away the worldliness of our hearts.