CHAPTER VI. 1 Christ continueth his sermon in the mount, speaking of alms, 5 prayer, 14 forgiving our brethren, 16 fasting, 19 where our treasure is to be laid up, 24 of serving God, and mammon: 25 exhorteth not to be careful for worldly things: 33 but to seek God's kingdom. 1 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. 2 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. a Rom. xii. 8. • Or, with. CHAPTER VI. Verse 1. Take heed that ye do not your alms before men.-Many MSS., instead of eλenμoovn, alms, read dikaloσvvn, righteousness; and those who admit this to be the true reading, take the sense to be, a general caution against ostentation in the performance of all acts which constitute the "righteousness" of men; alms-giving being immediately after specified. But eminent critics have successfully defended the received text. And were the reading more doubtful, and dikaloσvvn established, it would not necessarily alter the sense, as the Hellenists frequently employ dikaiσvvn, righteousness, for alms-giving. The Hebrew pry, has also occasionally the same signification. Alms-giving is here recognised as a duty, and so is made by Christ one of the laws of his religion. It is to be distinguished from the "giving" enjoined in verse 42 of the preceding chapter, as that might, or might not, be performed for the benefit of the dependent poor; and it comprehends every kind of munificence. Alms, properly, are gratuities to the afflicted and destitute of the lowest degree; and as such persons will always be found in every place and state of society, so the duty is universal. It follows, also, from the words of our Lord, that alms-giving, when done without ostentation, from a principle of obligation, as matter of duty and kindness to the object, shall not fail + Or, cause not a trumpet to be sounded. to be rewarded. Often is this realized in the present life, and though such acts of mercy are not meritorious, as some have fatally dreamed, they will not be forgotten in the apportionment of the final rewards of eternity. Our Lord here again calls off the attention of his hearers from those merely external acts which with the Jews were considered to constitute acceptable piety, to the study of their hearts, and the cultivation of those inward principles from which alone a true obedience can flow. Alms-giving is wholly vitiated, as a religious act, when done to be seen of men, beanvai, to be gazed at and applauded as on a theatre. Verse 2. Do not sound a trumpet before thee.-Trumpets were used by the Jews to proclaim their new moons, and to collect the people together on various public occasions. A trumpet also belonged to every synagogue. But that this instrument was used to collect people together to receive alms from ostentatious persons, does not appear. Harmer, indeed, quotes from Chardin, that it was the practice of the Persian dervises to sound horns or trumpets in honour of those who be stowed alms upon them; but, in illustrating scripture by the manners and customs of "the east," we are to recollect, that "the east" is a wide term; and, though oriental manners have great similarity in all ages, and have been less subject to 3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth : 4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. 5 ¶ And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypo fluctuate than those of the west, yet great diversities have obtained there at different times, and in regions far remote from each other. Lightfoot, who is a great authority on all subjects connected with Jewish antiquities, says that he finds no trace of the custom in the writings of the Rabbins. The expression used by our Lord may therefore be considered proverbial, as a similar one is with us; and it strikingly marks the ostentatious publicity with which the "hypocrites" whom Christ reproves performed their eleemosynary acts. Hypocrites.—The Greek word signifies an actor, a stage-player, one who in a mask personated a character which he was not: hence, in religion, it is a man of pretended sanctity. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.-Those who would take anexovσι in the classical sense, to fall short of their reward, lose the double antithesis intend. ed by our Lord: 1. Between present and future reward; and, 2. Between the kind of reward which they receive from the applause of men, and that which consists in the approbation of God. The obvious meaning is, they have now all the reward they shall ever receive: and this, at the best, is but the empty expression of human praise. Verse 3. Thy left hand know.—A proverbial expression for the closest secrecy. Yet not an affected secrecy, which but tells the tale in another manner. Verse 4. Thy Father which seeth in secret, &c.-Ev Ty круπт, place, is here to be understood, and so ev Ty pavepy. Otherwise they may be taken adverbially, secretly and openly. All things are to be done as under the eye of God, which is in every place, and penetrates every heart. Nor shall the modest, retiring manner in which any good is done deprive the disciple of his reward. It is noticed by HIM that seeth in secret; by Him who thus dis cerning both the act and the motive, himself shall reward thee openly. Here also the antitheses are to be remarked: HIMSELF shall reward thee: not a mortal who has nothing to bestow but vain applause; and OPENLY, in opposition to the SECRECY of the giving. This often takes place in the present life, where a favouring providence does, as it were, openly mark out the conscientious and humble giver, as a special object of blessing; so that he enjoys through life a sanctified prosperity, according to his rank, and is sometimes raised above it. But the final rewards, to be openly administered at the last day, are ultimately, and in the highest sense, intended, according to our Lord's own declaration in his description of the general judgment, chap. xxv. 31, &c. If it be asked whether our Lord proposes a mercenary motive, it may be denied. The alms are not to be given FOR THE SAKE of the promised reward, a motive which would vitiate the act, as being only selfishness directed to another object. The true motives are a sense of duty, and the impulse of those kind feelings towards others, which it is an essential branch of our religion to cultivate. In entire consistency with this, however, may the promise of our Lord be brought to bear upon our cheerful readiness to such duties; inasmuch as they assure us, that in every act of duty, when accompanied by sacrifice, we are authorized to trust in the care of our heavenly Father; and also as they put us to the test, whether we will prefer the spiritual rewards of another life, which God, as an act of pure grace, attaches to the performance of acts of charity, to that dross of earth which we might withhold from the poor, and those carnal gratifications to which we might apply these unhallowed savings. Verse 5. And when thou prayest, &c.— What is usually called private prayer is crites 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. 6 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. here intended; a duty recognised as of serious obligation from the most ancient times, and practised with exactness by all good men. It is founded upon the necessity of a personal communion with God, and upon that great privilege which is conferred by religion upon man, that he shall be entitled "to make his requests known unto God" in every thing, however small it may appear to others, which can affect his present interests, and the religious state of his soul. For these exercises, as being of a personal nature, and relating chiefly to personal or family concerns, the privacy of the closet is only fitting; and therefore to offer this species of prayer in the synagogues, which were for public worship, by frequenting them. at unusual times for this purpose, and in the corners of streets, could only result from the hypocritical design of being esteemed eminent for sanctity, which in that age of formal religion appears to have been the high road to vulgar popularity. The practice of the Pharisees, in praying in corners of the streets, squares, &c., may be seen among Hindoos and Mahommedans to this day. They offer their devotions in the most public places, the landing-places of rivers, and in the public streets, without any concealment. They love to pray standing in the synagogues, &c.-Standing was the usual posture of the Jews in prayer, except on particular occasions of calamity and deep humiliation, when they prostrated themselves before the Divine Majesty. In Acts ix. 40, we find Peter kneeling down in prayer; in Acts xx. 36, St. Paul prays in the same attitude; and both he himself, and all present with him, in Acts XXI 5. This therefore appears to have been the constant attitude of the first Christians in their acts of devotion; but very quickly after the death of the apostles, the notion came in of giving dramatic effect to religious exercises, innocent in intention perhaps at first, but always culpable in fact, and the fruitful source of future corruptions of the simplicity of primitive worship. Hence at a very early period the Christians uniformly stood at prayer on Sundays; for, according to Tertullian, it was as unlawful to kneel as to fast on that day. The reason is given by Justin: "That on the Lord's day we do not bow the knee, symbolically represents our resurrection in Christ." The practice of standing at prayer was also extended from Easter to Pentecost, in testimony of their joy at the resurrection of Christ; and these circumstances came at length to be ranked among the essentials of piety! Many critics, however, take the word EOTWTES in the text, simply in the sense of being; as the Latin sto, and existo, are frequently used. In the synagogues.-Because ovvaywyn means a collecting together, whether of things or persons, some here understand εν ταις συναγωγαις, in circulis, “ in any public concourse," and not in the synagogues, properly so called, the places in which the Jews used to assemble for instruction and prayer; but this would induce a tautology, as "the corners of streets" were selected as being places of public resort. The popular sense of the term is therefore to be preferred. Verse 6. But thou when thou prayest, &c. The utmost secrecy is here enjoined; the place for private prayer is to be ταμιείον, the closet, and the door of the closet is to be shut. The closet signifies a chamber, or indeed any place of privacy or retire b 7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the b Eccles. vii. 16. ment. It may be the same as the UжEрwoν, the upper room, which, in many of the Jewish houses, was set apart for retirement, or some still more retired place. The encouragements to this important duty are here most impressively stated. God is in our retirement; he is there to meet us, and receive our prayers; there to bless us, and cause his face to shine upon us he seeth in secret; he enters into our case, and penetrates the meaning of silent desires and sighs, as well as words, which have no need to be vociferously pronounced to enter into his ears; and he rewards those openly who practise this secret duty in a right spirit. Their strength to do the will of God in the public walks of life, and their power to suffer it amidst all its afflictions; the temper of mind they are enabled to maintain, and the exemplifications of a holy religion, which they are empowered to exhibit, together with a manifest resting of the divine blessing upon them; are the OPEN rewards which the mercy of God confers upon those who most regard this injunction: an injunction which ought to be regarded more in the light of a privilege, than as a mere duty. Verse 7. Use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do.-The verb BаTTOλоYew is said to be formed from one Battus, who made long hymns to the gods, full of tautologies, which thus became proverbial to express whatever in spirit or writing was prolix, verbose, and had the same thought repeated in the same or in equivalent words. It is more probably from the Hebrew 2, to prate, to babble. It has been much disputed whether our Lord here reproves repetitions in prayer, or long prayers. The fact is, that simply considered, he forbids neither. All repetitions of the same prayer cannot be reproved, for he himself prayed "thrice in the same words;" and many instances of repetition are found in the Psalms, and other parts of the Old Testament. It would also be an evident restraint upon the strong emotions of the soul in prayer, were the repetition of the same words or sentiments absolutely prohibited. St. Paul, through his earnestness, for instance, was led to pray thrice, that his thorn in the flesh might "depart from him;" and if he used not exactly the same words, the import of his prayer must have been each time the same. Nor are long prayers forbidden, as some have supposed, who think their notion fortified by our Lord teaching his disciples, immediately after this, a short form of prayer: but that this was not designed to regulate the length of our prayers, is evident from longer prayers being used by the apostles themselves, who surely knew the mind of their Master; to say nothing of the extended prayers used by Solomon, at the dedication of the temple; by Daniel in confessing the sins of his people, and praying for their restoration; and by Nehemiah, chap. ix. Simply then, in themselves, neither repetitions in prayer, nor length of prayer is forbidden. Our Lord is his own interpreter; and we have only to take the latter part of the verse to explain the former: "for they think that they shall be heard for their MUCH SPEAKING." The fatal error which crept into all corrupted religions was, and continues to be, that God is pleased with mere service, of which he requires a certain quantum, usually onerous and wearisome to him that offers it, which renders him more meritorious, and God more propitious. Hence the length of the prayers of heathens may be accounted for; and long prayers are forbidden when they are made so under this intention. As for their repetitions, these partly arose from the necessity they thought themselves under of filling up the appointed time, and making up the required amount of service; and still more directly did they proceed from those low views of their deities which prevailed among them. These were local gods, and might be at a distance; their worshippers must therefore continue calling until they returned. heathen do for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. hence Elijah mocks the worshippers of Baal, "Cry aloud; for, peradventure, he may be asleep, or on a journey." They also ascribed human affections to their gods, and entertained notions of overcoming their reluctance by dint of clamorous importunity; or of wearying them into compliance, by reiterations of the same requests; or of making them understand their case by urging it repeatedly under different forms. For this they were often satyrized by their own writers. Hence the husband is introduced in Terence, "Cease, wife, to tease and stun the gods with thanks for the welfare of your child. Cannot they understand except you mention it a hundred times? "Ohe! jam desine Deos, uxor," &c. Heaut. v. 1. 6. The priests of Baal called, "O Baal, hear us," from morning until noon; and in one place in Eschylus near one hundred verses are filled with tautologies, ιω, ιω, φευ, φευ, ε, €, as invocations of the gods. Now, both the length and the repetitions of such services proceeded upon unworthy notions both of religious service, and the beings to whom it was addressed they thought they should be heard for their "much speaking," and had reference to that, not to any wisdom or goodness in the deities addressed. All such repetitions of prayer, when addressed to the true God, as implied that he could be pleased with mere service and forms, or that he needed to be informed of the case by putting it in various modes before him, or that he could be urged by a clamorous importunity to do what he was reluctant to do, or that he was absent, and needed to be called upon by vociferation, implied an affront to him, a bringing him down to the level of heathen deities, and thus proved great ignorance and want of true devotion in his worship. He, therefore, says, Be ye not like unto them; for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him. As your Father, he is always inclined to hear your prayers; and from his infinite knowledge needs no informa tion. Such views of God ought to regulate the MANNER of our praying it is to be full and comprehensive, earnest and devotional; it may be length. ened or shortened according to circumstances; it may have such repetition as a sincere and enlightened ardour will often dictate; but there must be nothing in it which springs from the notion that we shall be heard for our much speaking, or which looks at the service itself as having any value : the eye of faith and hope must alone be fixed upon the mercy and wisdom and power of God; and having RATIONALLY made our requests known unto God, we must, with cheerful confidence, wait and look for the answer. The reason why our Lord referred to these vain and clamorous services of "the heathen," appears to have been, that he might thereby the more severely reprove the Jews, who had fallen into the same delusion as to the efficacy of mere service with God; and they also made long prayers, and used repetitions, under much the same views as the heathens. Hence the Rabbinical maxims given by Buxtorf: Every one that multiplies prayer shall be heard :" and, "The prayer which is long shall not return empty." As our Lord's words "For your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before you ask him, are not given as a reason against much speaking in prayer, but against thinking we shall be heard for our much speaking, they afford no countenance to the argument which is sometimes urged against prayer, from the previous knowledge which God has of our wants. This, indeed, when rightly considered, affords the highest reason, and the best encouragement, to this great duty; and the beautiful light in which the sentiment is here put presents to us another of those instances in which our Lord, in few words, suggests as the ground of our confidence the loftiest views of the divine nature, in opposition to those low and defective conceptions which a religion of mere ceremonies, whether Jewish |