Matthew 6:2 - Exposition

Therefore . A deduction from the general principle laid down in Matthew 6:1 . When thou doest alms ( ποιῇς ἐλεημοσύνην ) . The exact phrase comes here and Matthew 6:3 only. In Luke 11:41 and Luke 12:33 ( δότε ) alms are con-sidereal rather as a gift; in Acts 9:36 ; Acts 10:2 ; Acts 24:17 ( ἐλεημοσύνας ), rather as to their separate occasions and materials; here quite generally but rather as an action, a work. Do not sound a trumpet ( μησῃς ). Probably a purely metaphorical expression (cf. our "He is his own trumpeter"). Edersheim, 'Temple,' etc., p. 27 (cf. Schottgen) sees rather in it an ironical allusion to the form and name of the treasure-chests in the court of the women. "The Lord, making use of the word 'trumpet,' describes the conduct of those who, in their almsgiving, sought glory from men as 'sounding a trumpet' before them—that is, carrying before them, as it were, in full display one of these trumpet-shaped alms-boxes (literally called in the Talmud, 'trumpets'), and, as it were, sounding it." This interpretation would have been less fanciful if the substantive had been used instead of the verb. Others ( e.g. Calvin, Bengel) have taken it of a literal trumpet; but of this practice there is no evidence whatever. "I have not found, although I have sought for it much and seriously, even the least mention of a trumpet in almsgiving" (J. Lightfoot, 'Hor. Hebr.'). Before thee; part of the metaphor, since one holds a trumpet up to one's mouth. As the hypocrites do. The comma after " do " in the ordinary text of the Authorized Version (not in Scrivener) connects "do not sound a trumpet before thee" with "in the synagogues," etc., and more readily suggests the literal interpretation of "trumpet" to the English reader. The hypocrites ( οἱὑποκριταί ). In Attic usage the word means those who play a part upon the stage. Hence, by an easy transition to the moral sphere," hypocrisy" became used in later Greek of "the assumption of a part which masked [men's] genuine feelings, and made them appear otherwise than they were" (cf. Bishop Lightfoot, on Galatians 2:13 ). Persons who assumed this part would indeed often be identical with ὁἀσεβεῖς οἱπαράνομοι , and the term ὑποκριταί may sometimes be used as synonymous with these (an extension of language which would be the more easy as the Hebrew word for "hypocrite" ( פנח ) implies not so much hypocrisy as pollution by sin); but there seems no need to see any other connotation in the New Testament than "hypocrite." To wilfully and continuously attempt to produce a false impression—especially in religion—is, after all, a mark of extreme distance from the truth-loving God. In the synagogues and in the streets ( Acts 24:5 , note). That they may have glory of men ( ὅπως δοξασθῶσιν ); instead of this glory being given to God ( Acts 5:16 ). The thought, however, of the word is rather of the glory given than of their welcome reception of it ( δόξαν λαμβάνειν , John 5:44 ; contrast Luke 4:15 ). Verily ( Acts 5:18 , note). They have; Revised Version, they have received ( ἀπέχουσιν ) . The force of the preposition is "correspond ence , i.e. of the contents to the capacity, of the possession to the desire, etc., so that it denotes the full complement" (Bishop Lightfoot, on Philippians 4:18 ). That which fully corresponds to their desires and their rightful expectation they have to the full. They therefore have ( ἔχουσι ) no other reward left for them to receive ( Acts 24:1 ). Schottgen gives several examples of Jewish sayings about men receiving their reward in this life only (cf. Ign., 'Polyc.,' § 5, "If a man boast [of his chastity], he is lost").