Bible Commentaries

Verses 1-18

B. Christianity and Pharisaism in their relation to the great virtues of the law; or, three examples from life, showing the perversions of the Pharisees and Scribes, and the spiritual elevation of true Christianity.

Matthew 6:1-18

False Spirituality of Traditionalism

1Take heed that ye do not your alms [righteousness]1 before men, to be seen of [by] them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which [who] 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 [all]2 their reward. 3But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: 4That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret Himself shall reward thee openly.3

5And when thou prayest,4 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 [by] men. Verily I say unto you, They have [all] their reward. 6But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet; and, when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which [who] is in secret; and thy Father which [who] seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.5 7But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. 9After this manner therefore pray ye:

Our Father which [who] art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. 10Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven [lit.: as in heaven, so also on earth]. Give us this day our daily6 bread. 12And forgive us our debts, as we forgive7 our debtors. 13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.8 14For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 15But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

16Moreover 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 [all] their reward. 17But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; 18That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which [who] is in secret: and thy Father which [who] seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.9

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Having exposed the corruptions of doctrine, our Lord exhibits those of religious life under three examples, which present the three great forms in which the self-righteousness and hypocrisy of the Pharisees and scribes manifested itself. They were, alms-giving, prayer, and fasting. These were the three principal manifestations of practical piety among the Jews (Tobias Matthew 12:8-9; Matthew 14:10; Jdt 4:9; Sir 29:11), and were abused by the Pharisees to exhibit their superior piety.10 The Church of Rome still designates them as good works in a pre-eminent sense. The Pharisees imagined that they had reached the highest eminence in these three phases of spiritual life, which mark a right relationship toward our neighbor (alms giving), toward God (prayer), and toward ourselves (fasting); while their spirit of bondage and hypocrisy entirely destroyed the spiritual character of these works, and morally placed them on a level with the saddest and most sinful perversions of the heathen.

Matthew 6:1. Your righteousness [not: your alms].—We read δικαιοσύνην, and not ἐλεημοσύνην, with Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, and others, according to Codd. B. D., etc. Righteousness, צְדָקָה, is upright and pious conduct generally. Thus we have in the first verse a description of righteousness generally, which afterward is followed by a statement of the threefold manifestation of that righteousness. The reward with our Father who is in heaven (Matthew 25:31, etc.) is mentioned in opposition to that which the Pharisees arrogated to themselves, or to the outward acknowledgment which they claimed from men.

Matthew 6:2. When thou doest alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee.—A figurative expression, meaning, to attract attention. So Theophylact and many other commentators. Calovius, Wolf, Paulus, etc., understand it literally, that the Pharisees gathered the poor together by sounding a trumpet. Others connect it with the modern custom of beggars in the East, who blow the trumpet before him from whom they ask alms (Henneberg). Lastly, some refer it to the clinking of the money in the chest, which is supposed to have been shaped like a trumpet. Manifestly the metaphorical interpretation alone is correct.—In the synagogues the alms were collected; on the streets the benevolent were accosted by beggars. These additions, then, only indicate the occasion. The emphasis rests on the μὴ σαλπίσῃς.—They have their reward.—’Α πέχουσιν, they have it in full, or have wholly received their reward [and will get no more]. The only thing they wished was the praise of the multitude; and that they have got in all its vanity.—The expression ὑποκριτής occurs frequently in the Gospels, as in Matthew 6:16; Matthew 7:16, and in other places. The verb ὑποκρίνεσθαι (Luke 20:20) has much the same signification as ἀποκρίνεσθαι, to answer, but probably to answer under a mask, to play the actor, to feign. “In the New Testament it is applied to a form of religion, where the reality is awanting.”

Matthew 6:3. Let not thy left hand know.—“Not a parsimonious counting of the money from the right hand into the left (Paulus, de Wette), nor a searching to take away again with the left hand (Luther); but complete modesty, secret and noiseless giving, metaphorically expressed (Chrysostom).” Gerlach: “If the left hand does not know what the right hand does, neither is the soul which animates both conscious of it.” We can find no sense in this explanation, and prefer his quotation of an Eastern proverb: “If thou doest any good, cast it into the sea: if the fish shall not know it, the Lord knows it.”11—He who sees in secret, or who is ever present. Αὐτός, He. You are not to take your own reward: He will give it you. A reward of grace this, in the kingdom of God.

Matthew 6:5. And when ye pray.—On many grounds we prefer the plural instead of the singular (see Lachmann, etc.).—They love to pray. Their position in prayer is a matter of reflection and of choice, and they love it so.—Standing. “The Jews prayed standing with their face toward the temple, or toward the most holy place,—1 Samuel 1:26; 1 Kings 8:22; Mark 11:25; Luke 18:11; Lightfoot, Horœ, 292 sq.—or else kneeling, or prostrate on the earth.”—Meyer. But the word ἑστῶτες indicates a conscious and ostentatious assumption of the posture; comp. Luke 18:11, ὁ Φαρισαῖος σταθείς.—In the corners, ἐν ταῖς γωνίαις. The Pharisees probably took care that the hour fixed for prayer should overtake them at a cross-road or the corner of a street, in order to afford them the desired opportunity of performing their devotions in the most public places.

Matthew 6:6. Into thy closet, εἰς τὸ ταμεῖόν σου.—The room specially used for prayer was called ὑπερῷον, the Alijah, on the house-top. Vitringa, Syn. 151. Although this apartment is not exclusively here referred to, there is evidently an allusion to it, as being pre-eminently “the closet” of a Jew when engaged in devotional exercises. The antithesis between “the closet,” and “the synagogue and corners of streets,” is manifest. Of course, the passage is not aimed against public prayer. As Theophylact has it: ὁ τόπος οὐ βλάπτει, ἀλλ’ ὁ τρόπος, καὶ ὁ σκόπος [it is not the place which hurts, but the manner and the aim]. All display should be avoided in devotion: He who addresses God must be wholly engrossed with thoughts of his own wants, and of Him whose grace he entreats. Such abstraction will convert the most public place into a ταμεῖον. The metaphorical expression, κλείσας τὴν θύραν, also refers to the latent desire of gaining the applause of men.

Matthew 6:7. Use not vain repetitions, μὴ βαττολογήσητε.—Another perversion of prayer closely connected with the former, and implying an attempt to gain merit before God by superstitious practices, just as the former abuse was intended to gain merit with men. Βαττολογεῖν occurs very rarely in classical writers (Simplic. ad Epict. p. 340). It has been variously derived from Battus, the name of a king who stammered, or from Battus, a poet whose compositions were full of tautologies, or from בַּדִּים, Job 11:3. Probably it is, as Hesychius suggests, an onomatopoëticon, after the analogy of βατταρίζειν,—an imitation of stammering, and then of garrulity. The explanation of its meaning is furnished by the expression, much speaking, πολυλογία, which follows. These vain repetitions of the heathen are alluded to in 1 Kings 18:26; Terent. Heautont. v. 1.—On the vain repetitions of the Jews, see Matthew 23:14; Sir 7:14; Wetstein, Schöttgen, and others;—on those of the Mohammedans, Hottinger, Hist. Eccles. vii. ad Lectorem.—The vain repetitions of the mediæval Church (Gieseler, Kirchengesch. ii. 1. p. 294), and of some modern sects, are well known.

It is worthy of notice, that Christ ranks beneficence and fasting along with prayer as religious actions, and as the evidence of practical piety. This implies, that almsgiving and fasting are the necessary accompaniment and manifestation of true prayer, which, so to speak, stands intermediate between them; the spirit of prayer being reflected in attention to the wants of our indigent brethren, and to those of our own inner life. The inferences from this are, 1. that almsgiving, in the spiritual sense, does not merely consist in care for the temporal wants of the poor, by the instrumentality of established boards and committees, but must take form after the example which the Lord Himself gave when He relieved the wants of the needy; 2. that religious fasting cannot be reduced merely to principles of temperance, sobriety, and order, but forms a distinct and special exercise, which, however, must be reserved for special eras in our lives, or for seasons of peculiar experience.

Matthew 6:9-13. The Lord’s Prayer.—General Remarks.—In this prayer our Lord shows His disciples how an infinite variety of wants and requests can be compressed into a few humble petitions. It embodies every possible desire of a praying heart, a whole world of spiritual requirements, yet all in the most simple, condensed, and humble form, resembling in this respect a pearl on which the light of heaven plays. It expresses and combines, in the best order, every Divine promise, every human sorrow and want, and every Christian aspiration for the good of others. In the opening address we have Theism in its purest manifestation, which ever owns and recognises the God of heaven as our Father. From the three first petitions, in their relation to the succeeding ones, we learn that man must not be bent on entreating God merely for that which affects himself, but that his spiritual well-being will be promoted by self-surrender to God, and by primarily seeking that which pertains to His kingdom.

The Lord’s Prayer is commonly arranged into three parts—the preface, the petitions, and the conclusion (see Luther’s Smaller Catechism, the Heidelberg Cat., qu. 120 sqq., and the Westminster Cats.). Then follows the arrangement of the separate petitions. Bengel: Petita sunt septem, quœ universa dividuntur in duas partes. Prior continet tria priora, Patrem spectantia: tuum, tuum, tua; posterior quatuor reliqua, nos spectantia.—Olshausen: “Viewed as a whole, the prayer contains only one idea, even deep longing after the kingdom of God, which forms the substance of all the prayers of the children of God (for whose behoof Christ here gives us a model). But this one idea is set forth under a twofold aspect. In the first three petitions it is presented to us in the light of God’s relation to men, exhibiting the kingdom of God absolutely and in its perfectness,—the final aim of God being always the burden of the believer’s desire. The four succeeding petitions on the other hand, bear reference to the obstacles in the way of the kingdom of heaven, and present this spiritual longing of the children of God in the light of the existing relation between man and God. Hence it is that in the first part of the Lord’s Prayer the infinite riches of God are unfolded:—

Hallowed be Thy name;

Thy kingdom come;

Thy will be done;

While in the second part, the poverty of men is brought to view:
Give us this day our daily bread;

Forgive us our debts;

Lead us not into temptation;

Deliver us from evil.

Lastly, the rich doxology expresses the certain hope that our prayers shall be heard, in view of the character of God, who, being Himself the highest good, will also bring to pass the highest good, even His own kingdom. The Lord’s Prayer is, at the same time, the utterance of the desires of individual believers, although the plural number in the petitions indicates their feeling of fellowship with others, and that of the aspirations of mankind generally. Expressing as it does the inmost feelings and wants of humanity, and the relation between God and sinful man, it both meets the requirements of all, and satisfies the desires of the individual, provided his be a life of faith. Every special request not directly connected with things that pass away, but bearing on what is eternal, is included and implied in the Lord’s Prayer.”—De Wette: “The sacred number of these petitions—seven—indicates that they exhaust every religious want. In the first three petitions, the soul rises directly to God; in the three following, we have the hinderances to these aspirations—from a feeling of dependence upon what is earthly, and from a conflict with sin; while the last petition sets before us the solution of all these difficulties.”—Somewhat better Meyer: “Having risen to what forms the highest and holiest object of believers, the soul is engrossed with its character (first petition), its grand purpose (second petition), and its moral condition (third petition); in the fourth petition, the children of God humble themselves under the consciousness of their dependence upon Divine mercy even in temporal matters, but much more in spiritual things, since that which, according to the first portion of this prayer, constituted the burden of desire, can only be realized by forgiveness (fifth petition), by gracious guidance (sixth petition), and deliverance from the power of the devil (seventh petition).”—Stier (1:198) draws a parallel between the two tables of the Decalogue and the two sections of the Lord’s Prayer.—Weber (Lat. Programme quoted by Tholuck, p. 360) suggests the following outline:—

Πρόλογος.

Λόγος.

Επίλογος.

1.Πάτερ.

1.ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομάσαυ.

1.τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν, κ.τ.λ.

1.ὅτι σοῦ ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία.

2. ἡμῶν.

2. ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου.

2. καὶ ἄφες ἡμῖν, κ.τ.λ.

2. σοῦ ἐστιν ἡ δύναμις.

3. δ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς.

3. γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου, κ.τ.λ.

3. καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς, κ.τ.λ.

3. σοῦ ἐστιν ἡ δόξα.

Tholuck: “The attentive reader, who has otherwise learned the doctrine of the Trinity, will find a distinct reference to it in the arrangement of this prayer. The first petition in each of the first and second portions of the prayer, refers to God as the Creator and Preserver; the second, to God the Redeemer; and the third, to God the Holy Spirit.”—Devotion to God, and acceptance of His gifts are contrasted in the Lord’s Prayer. 1. Devotion to His name, to His kingdom, and to His will; heaven, heaven and earth, earth: the place of His manifestation. 2. Acceptance of His gifts in reference to the present, the past, and the future.—We place in parallel columns the seven petitions and the seven beatitudes, to exhibit their internal agreement:—

1. Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

—Hallowed he Thy name (the name of God our riches, opening to us the kingdom of heaven).

2. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

—Thy kingdom come (and with it comes heavenly comfort to our hearts).

3. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

—Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven (meekness, the characteristic of heaven, the outstanding feature of the new earth).

4. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

—Give us this day our daily bread (which above all includes the Bread of life, John 6:0).

5. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

—And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

6. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

—And lead us not into temptation (grant us victory in our hearts).

7. Blessed are the peacemakers, etc.

—But deliver us from evil (grant victory over the world).

It has been remarked, that the Lord Jesus simply taught His disciples to pray, “Forgive us our debts,” but could not Himself have offered that petition (comp. Tholuck, p. 375). If we take it literally, this is, of course, true; though we must always bear in mind, that in the depth of His human sympathy, Christ felt more than any other the sins of humanity, and that He entreated their forgiveness as that of a debt due by the whole family of man.

Matthew 6:9. After this manner therefore pray ye.—According to Schleiermacher, Olshausen, de Wette, and Neander, Christ taught His disciples the Lord’s Prayer, not on this, but on a later occasion (Luke 11:1). Tholuck and Stier hold that the Lord’s Prayer was, so to speak, twice taught: the first time as an example how to pray without vain repetitions; the second time, when His disciples expressly asked Him, “Lord, teach us to pray.” But this explanation is forced, and at variance with Christ’s ordinary mode of instruction, which was always in the first place directed to the disciples, and then to the people. But if we call up before our minds that inner circle to which the Sermon on the Mount was first addressed, we can readily understand how the disciples would on that occasion proffer such a request. After this manner, οὕτως.—In what respect οὕτως? Grotius: in hunc sensum. Calovius, Maldonatus, Fritzsche, Tholuck, Meyer: in this manner, i. e., thus briefly. De Wette: in these words, as a formula of prayer. We may call it a formula, provided we remember that its leading characteristic is to be free from πολυλογία and formality, and that in briefest form it bodies forth the deepest and the fullest thoughts and feelings. And as, in the present case, contents and form agree in this respect, the word οὕτως refers equally to the rich vein of thought, and to the concise brevity of form in this prayer.12

On the resemblance between this prayer and other Jewish prayers, comp. Heubner (p. 87), Tholuck, and de Wette. “It derogates in no way from the Lord’s Prayer, that to a certain extent it embodies ideas expressed in other Jewish prayers, since it was not a mere repetition of these forms. Nay, in the circumstances, it would have been surprising if every such allusion had been avoided. But Wetstein goes much too far in maintaining, ‘tota hœc oratio ex formulis Hebrœorum concinnata est.’ After Lightfoot, Schöttgen, Wetstein, Drusius, Vitringa, Witsius, and Surenhusius have laid under requisition every conceivable parallel passage, even from much later Jewish prayer books, the result of their learning and industry shows that only the first two petitions of the Lord’s prayer contain what, after all, amounts to no more than allusions to well-known Old Testament or Messianic ideas and expressions. Besides, it is quite possible that the Jews may have borrowed even these from the Lord’s Prayer.” De Wette.—Nor should it be forgotten that the characteristic features of this prayer consist in the brevity and distinctness of its petitions, in their order and succession, and lastly, in their fulness and comprehensiveness.

With reference to the criticism of the text, Olshausen remarks: “The doxology at the close is undoubtedly of later origin, and added for liturgical purposes. It first appears in the Constit. Apost., where it reads, ὅτι σοῦ ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία εἰς αἰῶνας Ἀμήν. But its meaning is so deep and so much in accordance with the spirit of the prayer, that it must have originated at a period when the genuine spirit of the apostolic Church still prevailed. It is wanting in Codd. B. D. L. (Z.), and in many others, as shown by Griesbach. But it occurs already in the Peshito, where, however, it may be an interpolation. Similarly the petitions, γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου ὡς ὲν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ (τῆς) γῆς, and ἀλλὰ ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς , are wanting in the text of Luke. They are not found in B. and L., nor do they occur in the oldest of the Fathers—such as Origen, who expressly mentions the omission. But it does not follow that they are spurious in the prayer as given by Matthew. In all likelihood, Luke simply abbreviated the account.” Similarly, some read only πάτερ in the opening address.—On the transposition of the second and third petitions in Tertullian, see Dr. Nitzsch in the “Studien und Kritiken” for 1830, iv. 846.

After Augustine and Luther, the number of the petitions has been fixed at seven. But Chrysostom, and after him the Reformed Churches, enumerate only six. It cannot be denied that the petition, “Deliver us from evil,” expresses more than that, “Lead us not into temptation;” and in this respect it may be regarded as a separate petition. On the other hand, however, it must not be overlooked, that the word ἀλλά connects the two parts of one and the same petition.13 Besides, symbolically, we should expect to find the number six rather than seven—the former being expressive of mental labor, the latter of holy rest. Viewed as a sacred number, six is always followed by a seven, which sums up the whole; just as in this case the six petitions are summed up in the doxology, or originally in the close of the sixth petition, or in the continuous inward prayer of believers,—concerning which Luther rightly says, “The Christian prays a never-ending Lord’s prayer.”

Matthew 6:9. Our Father, πάτερἡμῶν.—Although the spiritual experience of adoption sprung from the atoning death of Christ on the cross, it was from the first implied in Christ’s message of reconciliation.—Who art in the heavens, ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. The words show the infinite difference between this and every other human relationship of a similar kind: Our Father in heaven; not a weak, helpless, earthly parent (comp. Matthew 7:11; Ephesians 3:15; Ephesians 4:6). The expression also indicates the place where the glory of God dwelleth (Isaiah 66:1; Acts 7:55-56, etc.), but without the limitations of the Old Testament—not in heaven, but in the heavens. Finally, it is both a symbol of the contrast between the glory, the purity, the infinitude, and the unchangeableness of heaven and this world, and of the riches of God, and the source whence the kingdom of heaven de scended upon earth.

Thy name.—The expression refers neither to His Divine being, nor to His perfections; as in that case the petition, “Hallowed be Thy name,” would be unintelligible. What is holy cannot be made holy. The “name of God” is the impress of His being upon the human mind, the manifestation of His being in the world; hence nearly equivalent to religion as based upon Divine revelation. Comp. 1 Peter 3:15 : “Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts.”

Matthew 6:10. Thy kingdom.—The kingdom of heaven. As Christ announces and introduces the kingdom of heaven, so His people are to pray for, and to anticipate it. The import of the expression, “kingdom of heaven,” appears, 1. from its contrast to the symbolical kingdom of heaven under the O. T. theocracy; 2. from its contrast to the kingdom of darkness. Other explanations: The spread of Christianity (Kuinoel); the victorious development of the Christian Church (Tholuck). But these are only individual phases; the grand fact is the kingdom of heaven in its spiritual reality, which includes both time and eternity.14

As in heaven,—i. e., in absolute purity and per fectness, as apparent in the obedience of the angels.

Matthew 6:11. Our daily bread,—ἄρτος, like לֶחֶם, the requirements of daily life.—Τὸν ἐπιούσιον occurs again in Luke 11:3, but nowhere else. Explanations:—1. The nourishment necessary for subsistence, οὐσία. So Origen and many others. “This explanation [says Meyer] has led to the inaccurate rendering, ‘daily bread’ (the Vulgate, Chrysostom, Luther, etc.).” Meyer objects that οὐσία does not mean subsistence, but being or existence. But surely the subsistence of a man consists in the preservation of his human being. 2. Jerome and Zwingli: “Epiusion, hoc est supersubstantialem petamus, plus de animœ cibo, quam corporis solliciti.” Of course it were a mistake to apply the passage, with Olshausen and some of the Fathers, to spiritual nourishment exclusively, or even to the Eucharist. Manifestly, our Lord alludes to daily bread—only not to merely material bread, destined for the sensuous part of man alone. Man requires earthly bread; the Christian, Christian bread, yet not supersensuous, but adapted to all the parts of his being, which implies, above all, heavenly and spiritual nourishment. 3. By some the word is identified with ἐπιοῦσα, dies crastinus—to-morrow’s bread. So the Arabic and Ethiopian versions, Scaliger, Meyer, etc. (Jerome: in Evangelio, quod appellatur secundum Hebrœos, pro supersubstantiali pane reperi mahar, מחר, i. e., to-morrow’s bread.) But this explanation agrees not with σήμερον, nor with the statement in Matthew 6:34.—Explaining it as referring to bread suitable to our being, we include in the term the idea of what is required for our daily subsistence, corresponding to לֶחֶס חֻקִּי (“food convenient for me”), in Pro 30:8.15

Matthew 6:12. Debts, ὀφειλήματα,—equivalent to παραπτώματα, regarding them either in the light of imputation, or of one’s own conscience.

As we forgive.—Ὡς expresses neither the measure (Baumgarten-Crusius) nor the ground of forgiveness (nam, Fritsche, Meyer), but indicates the relation to our feelings of conciliation toward our neighbor; the assurance of our own forgiveness being connected with and regulated by our vow of readiness to forgive our neighbors. We feel assurance in Thy forgiveness, perceiving within ourselves a readiness to forgive others, which Thou hast implanted; and we pray for forgiveness while vowing, under a sense of this gracious experience.

Matthew 6:13. And lead us not into temptation.—A difficult passage: 1. Because God does not tempt man, James 1:13; James 2:0. because man should not shrink from trial. Hence some have taken εἰσφέρειν, others εἰς, and others πειρασμός, in an emphatic sense. But the “temptation” here spoken of is only a trial increased by the guilt which had formerly been confessed as a debt; and the prayer, “Lead us not,” is simply a consequence of the petition for forgiveness. Let us not experience in intense temptations the consequences of our guilt, etc. (comp. L. Jesu, ii. 2, p. 615). The popular sense is, that God may preserve us from such temptations as might lead us into sin ( Matthew 26:41; 1 Corinthians 7:5); or else that God would, with the temptation, give a way of escape, 1 Corinthians 10:13.

But deliver us from evil, ῥῦσαιἡμᾶς.—The full sense of both these petitions can only be understood if we bear in mind the literal meaning of εἰσφέρειν and ῥύομαι—to carry in, and to pull out. The expression, pulling out, or delivering, implies bondage and inability.—Ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ. Explanations: 1. ὁ πονηρός, the Evil One, the Devil. So the older commentators, Erasmus, Beza, Kuinoel, Fritzsche, Meyer. 2. τὸ πονηρόν. So Augustine and Tholuck, after John 17:15; Romans 12:9; 2 Thessalonians 3:3. 2 Thessalonians 3:3. From evil, or misery. Luther.—If by πονηρόν the power of darkness is meant, as manifested in the kingdom of darkness, it would include not only that kingdom itself, but also its author, and even its outward and temporal consequences. Such is undoubtedly the meaning of the text. “The whole sphere and bearing of the πειρασμοί,” Tholuck.

For thine is the kingdom.—This doxology is traced back to 1 Chronicles 29:11.—2 Timothy 4:18 may be regarded as containing the germ of this liturgical addition to the text, although, according to Stier, it only serves as an evidence of the genuineness of the passage in Matthew. The words show that the fulness of God, or His majesty, forms the basis, the soul, and the aim of the whole prayer. On the foundation of the kingdom of power, which rests in God’s might and appears in His glory, the kingdom of grace is to be unfolded and perfected. [See Addenda.]

Amen, אָמֵך certainly, truly.—This certainty is derived from the truth and faithfulness of God (אֱמוּנָה). Christ introduces His most solemn statements with this word; and with it believers close their prayers, in sign and testimony that all human faithfulness and human certitude springs from the faithfulness of God. This word, Amen, has its great history in biblical theology, in the Divine services of the Church, and in the lives of believers. But at the close of the Lord’s Prayer, “the Amen of every prayer anticipates that of the world.” (Stier.)

Matthew 6:14 For if ye forgive men. Comp. Mark 11:25.—An explanation of the fifth petition, specially important in this place, as showing that forgiveness and readiness to forgive were among the leading ideas in the Lord’s Prayer. This was all the more necessary, as the Lord could not yet speak of the work of redemption which He was about to accomplish. De Wette is right in observing, that the circumstance of His not adverting to it, is itself an evidence of the authenticity of the Lord’s Prayer.—Τὰ παραπτώματα αὐτῶν. After Cod. D. and other witnesses, Tischendorf has omitted these words, though without sufficient reason.

Matthew 6:16. When ye fast.—This refers primarily to voluntary or private fasting, Luke 18:12. But it equally applies to the great annual public fast, Leviticus 16:29. “By the law of Moses, the Jews were enjoined to fast on the Day of Atonement from one evening to the following (Leviticus 16:29). Tradition prescribed similar fasts in autumn if the latter rains did not fall, or if the harvest was threatened (Taanith, p. 3. § 8). To these we have to add a number of extraordinary fasts. The Pharisees regarded the practice as meritorious, and fasted twice (Luke 18:12), or even four times, in the week,—making their appearance in the synagogue, negligently attired, pale and sad, in order to exhibit their superior ascetic sanctity before the people.” Von Ammon.—It was the practice to wear mourning-dresses when fasting. Σκυθρωποί, Luke 24:17; Genesis 40:7.—Disfigure, ἀφανίζειν, with ashes and dust, Isaiah 61:3. Here a figurative expression for the mournful gestures and the neglected appearance of the head and beard.—“There is a play upon the words, ἀφανίζουσι and φανῶσι. They make their faces unappearable, that they may appear unto men.” So Meyer, who also suggests that the expression alludes to the covering of the face, as in 2 Samuel 15:30; Esther 6:12.

Matthew 6:17. Anoint thine head.—In the East, it was customary to anoint the head when going to a feast, in opposition to the deportment observed on fast days. Hence the advice must not be taken literally. Of course, the opposite dissimulation cannot have been enjoined. Our outward appearance when fasting is to betoken spiritual triumph and rest, which elevates above mere outward abstinence.

Matthew 6:18. In secret.—Ἐν τῷ κπυφαίῳͅ [twice for the text rec. ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ.]—So Lachmann and Tischendorf after B. D. The word does not again occur in the New Testament, but is several times found in the Septuagint. [This note belongs properly to the critical notes below the text.—P. S.]

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. The one radical perversion of religious life consists in the desire to appear before men. Spiritual religion has, indeed, its outward and becoming expression,—chiefly, however, in the meek and devout worship of the Church, where the piety of individual believers is lost to outward view. The worship of the Church is, so to speak, the shadow in which the humility and meekness of the individual worshipper finds shelter and protection.

Hence perversion of religious life first manifests itself in separatism of worship, which gradually intrudes upon the worship of the Church, and ultimately perverts it. The consequences of this speedily appear in the three departments of practical piety. Thus, instead of charity toward our neighbors, we have religious self-righteousness on the one hand, and religious idleness on the other—a show of kindness, and a corresponding spirit of mean dependence. Similarly, the worship of God assumes the form of lengthened prayers and tedious processions without devotion, while asceticism degenerates into hypocritical fasts and monastic extravagances. But if, in our religion, we consciously and purposely aim after mere externalism and show, we enter upon a course of hypocrisy, setting up in our outward forms a counterfeit of what is sacred. The commencement of this false religionism consists in painful service and outward works. Although a man may at that stage still set God before him, it is only in an external manner. In worshipping Him, he no longer has regard to the character and the love of God, because he realizes not that God has regard to his affections and state of heart. He is only anxious that God should have regard to his work, and his service, just as he has only regard to the work of God and the reward of God; and as he regards this reward as merely external, like his own work, he gradually comes to seek it among men. His externalism now leads him to merge his God in the opinion of men. Hence the outward show which marks the second stage of religious perversion. His great object now is to let his beneficence, his prayers, and his fasts appear as fully and as pompously as possible. From this spiritual oride and spiritual servility the transition is easy to the third stage, which is that of deception and imposition, when the hypocrite conceals his hardness of heart under the mask of beneficence, his coldness and deadness under that of singular devotion, and his love of the world and lustfulness, with the corresponding works of darkness, under that of asceticism.
2. A piety which primarily tends to externalism and show, is not only falsehood but folly. It may be compared to a root growing upward. The proper and genuine tendency of religion is inward, to secrecy—to that God who rules in the secret sanctuary of spiritual life. Hence also Christ urges in so strenuous terms the importance of this matter. Let beneficence remain a secret of our right hand—a shamefaced and holy affection—an act of genuine pity, from which we immediately pass without self-complacency. Let true prayer be concealed in our closet, and let us shut the door behind us. Let sincere fasting be concealed under the cheerful garb of holy festivity. This concealment is necessary, because true piety consists in full self-surrender to God, leading us to seek His, not ours; and because we cherish the firm confidence, that the Lord will own openly, by His leadings and by His blessings, in the domain of moral and of public life, in the kingdom of heaven here, and yet more hereafter, whatever is done in and for His name, and that He will in His own time and way attest both its reality and its value. Thus the root spreads deep in the earth where no human eye sees, in the assured hope that it shall spring all the higher, and spread all the more richly, in measure as its life is hid beneath the ground.

3. In this instance also the Lord sets before His disciples a picture which reflected His own life. In the gracious dispensation of His benefits, He alike removed the occasion of mendicancy and avoided the pomp of spurious kindness. By His intercession, He restored the life-tree of humanity, by restoring its root, and planting it in good soil, even in God. So also He fasted and renounced the world as the Bridegroom of the Church,—thereby and therein laying anew the foundation of true enjoyment and peace.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Outward manifestations of piety, genuine and spurious: 1. Genuine, if springing from within, and an evidence of what is within: or if in them man seeks God, lives in God, and desires to glorify God; 2. spurious, if in contrariety to the state of the heart, if carried on to the detriment of our inner man, or leading to his ruin; lastly, if man seek his own glory in divine things.—True and false outward manifestations: 1. True,—the destiny of Adam; false,—the fall. 2. True,—Christ’s advent; false,—the state of the world at the time. 3. Acknowledged by God as true,—the bride of Christ; condemned as false in the final judgment,—the Babylonish harlot.—How false appearances have rendered life hollow, and how they threaten to render hollow the life of the Church.—Spiritual vanity tending toward spiritual pride, and thus exposing men to greatest danger. But if we have sounded the depths of life, we will not become giddy on its heights.—Externalism in individual members of the Church may give rise to externalism in the Church, or to carnal chiliasm: 1. Proof from history,—the Pharisees were chiliasts, and yet they crucified the Lord of glory; 2. from the nature of the thing,—when many are seized with the spirit of externalism, they will be anxious to form a Church pretending to outward perfectness, but which in reality is only a Church of outward appearance; 3. from the diversity of this morbid externalism in the Church: with some it manifests itself in works; with others, in devotions; with others, in pretended asceticism.—Make sure that you give yourself wholly to God, and in due time He will own you.—Take care of the root; and the leaves, the blossoms, and the fruit will appear in due season.—In what way may art, with its fair appearance, be rendered subservient to Christian truth?—Hypocrisy is religious play-acting.—Whatever we may have or want, let us eschew anything like religious comedy in the Church.—Who can dispense with false appearances? 1. He who firmly trusts in the living God. 2. He who sincerely cleaves to the truth. 3. He who patiently waits for the day of the appearing of the Lord.—Let us exhibit before men, not our own righteousness, but the light which we have received from the Lord.—The three great virtues of hypocrites are only splendid vices.—The three great graces of saints are secrets with the Lord.—Piety seeking concealment in its principal outward manifestations: 1. The open hand; 2. the door of the closet shut; 3. the countenance open, yet veiled.—The right hand in its wonderworking, or our beneficence restoring the poor.—Pure beneficence: pure poverty.—The door of the closet shut, yet open: 1. Open to God, closed to the world; 2. open to any one who would join us in prayer, closed to mere idle onlookers; 3. open to the kingdom of heaven, closed to the kingdom of darkness.—True prayer will everywhere find a closet.—True fasting a joyous renunciation of the world.—The Father who sees in secret, and the open reward.—The reward which man takes to himself: 1. A theft; 2. a robbery; 3. a self-deception.—The reward which God bestows: 1. a reward of grace; 2. a reward of love; 3. a spiritual reward; 4. a reward of eternal life.—The progress of hypocrisy: 1. Service of works, when man loses sight of the character and the love of God whom he serves, and forgets or denies that the God whom he serves looks to the heart and affections of him who offers worship. 2. Mere outward service, where externalism takes the place of real service, and yet even professed externalism is rendered impossible by a show of service. 3. Service of sin, when devotion, becomes a lie, which is speedily overtaken by judgment.—Progress of piety from concealment to open manifestation: 1. It is a secret between the Lord and the hearts of believers, hid from the eyes of the world. 2. The light which proceedeth from Him who is invisible, shines through the hearts of believers into the world, and becomes manifest there. 3. The divine life fully manifested in the great day of revelation.

The Lord’s Prayer, as the prayer of Christian believers.—The Lord’s Prayer a precious jewel, which reflects the light of Christianity: 1. The teaching of the Gospel; 2. the life of the Lord; 3. His grace; 4. the discipline of the Spirit of Christ; 5. the power of the new life; 6. the history of the kingdom of God.—The Lord’s Prayer, as expressing our adoption and reconciliation: 1. There the promises of God and our requirements meet; 2. there the ways of God and our ways meet; 3. there the Amen of God responds to our Amen.—The sad state of Christendom, as appearing in connection with the Lord’s Prayer: 1. It was intended against vain repetitions, and has itself become a mere formula;16 2. it was intended to obviate all discord, and has become the shibboleth of many a separation.17—The three portions of the Lord’s Prayer: The address—the petitions—the conclusion.—“Our Father who art in heaven;” or, the true inward posture of him who addresses God.—The Lord’s Prayer viewed as an intercession.—The address, “Our Father,” so simple, and yet so novel: 1. infinitely easy, and yet infinitely difficult; 2. natural, yet supernatural; 3. humble, yet exalted; 4. the commencement and the conclusion of all prayer.—Surrender to God, as implying our acceptance of the kingdom of heaven: 1. The first three petitions express, that while surrendering ourselves to God, we own and seek His kingdom; 2. the last petitions, that while owning and seeking His kingdom, we surrender ourselves to Him.—The name of God constitutes the first object of our petitions; 1. From its glory; 2. from the dishonor which men cast upon it; 3. from its sanctification.—The name of God including and opening up the whole kingdom of heaven.—If you would have the name of God hallowed in the world, see that you first hallow it in your own hearts.—Learn to know the name of God; or, how readest thou? how seekest thou? how knowest thou? what believest thou? how stands it with thy learning and with thy teaching?—“Thy kingdom come:” 1. That the Old Testament, both in its law and in its types, may be fulfilled; 2. that the kingdom of darkness may be destroyed; 3. that the three-fold kingdom of grace, of power, and of glory may be manifested.—The petition, “Thy kingdom come,” a missionary prayer.—A prayer for the final reconciliation of State and Church in the perfect kingdom of heaven.—Is both your ruling and your obeying in conformity with this fundamental principle?—“Thy will be done,” etc.: 1. Filialness of this petition: Thy will; 2. humility of this petition: on earth; 3. boldness of this petition: as in heaven.—Are your will and conduct regulated by this principle?—The three first petitions viewed, 1. as the promise descending from heaven to earth—Thy name in heaven, Thy kingdom between heaven and earth, Thy will on earth: 2. as a sacrifice ascending from earth to heaven—the surrender of our own name, of our own power, and of our own will.—As exhibiting, with increasing clearness and power, the union of heaven and earth: the revelation of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.—“Give us this day our daily bread.” Apparently one of the smallest, yet one of the greatest petitions. I. Smallness of the petition: 1. We ask what most men already possess; 2. we ask it only for the small circle of those around our table; 3. we ask only daily bread; 4. we ask it only for to-day. II. Greatness of the petition: 1. We ask that earthly bread should be converted into heavenly bread, or manna; 2. we ask that He would feed all those who are in want; 3. we ask that He would meet the daily requirements of a waiting world; 4. we ask it to-day, and ever again, to-day.—The fourth petition as a vow, 1. of sonship; 2. of trustfulness; 3. of labor; 4. of gratitude; 5. of kindness.—Prayer before meals in its wider sense: 1. A prayer of the husbandman; 2. a prayer for our ordinary calling; 3. a prayer for our daily work; 4. a prayer in our distress; 5. a prayer in all our earthly wants.—This grace before meat in its more restricted sense.—Moderation and contentment a fruit of trustfulness.—The prayer of contentment.—True contentment proceeding from a view of the hidden riches of God.—Hungering and thirsting after spiritual supplies will render us contented with our earthly supplies.—The prayer of penitence: “Forgive us our debts:” 1. It realizes sin, and realizes it as a debt; 2. it realizes the burden of sin as a debt resting on mankind generally; 3. it realizes forgiveness as a free grace and a free gift.—How true penitence appears in the prayer of faith.—Assurance of forgiveness calling forth the prayer, “Forgive us.”—Forgiveness and readiness to forgive cannot be separated. Connection between the two: 1. Forgiveness makes us ready to forgive; 2. readiness to forgive inspires us with courage to seek forgiveness; 3. the spirit of forgiveness ever joins the two more closely together.—He who cannot forgive man, cannot find forgiveness with God: 1. Because he will not believe in forgiving love; 2. because he will not act upon its directions.—In what sense is it true that he who forgives shall be forgiven? 1. His forgiving is not the ground, but the evidence of his forgiveness; 2. his forgiving is an evidence that the forgiveness of God preserves him; 3. his forgiving shows the truth of his testimony, that there is forgiveness.—He who strictly reckons with his fellow-men in outward matters, cannot have experienced the gift of free grace in his inner life.—Forgiveness and readiness to surrender all are inseparably connected.—“Lead us not into temptation.”—How our trials by God may become temptations to sin: 1. By the supervention of our own evil inclinations; 2. of the world, with its allurements; 3. of the great tempter himself.—Every temptation is at the same time a judgment for the past and a danger for the future.—Even our necessary contact with a sinful world is a source of continual temptation.—God tempteth no man (James 1:13), yet may He lead us into temptation: 1. Because He leads us, and temptation is in the way; 2. because He tries us, and temptation supervenes; 3. because He deals with us according to our faith, and temptation exerts its power through our unbelief.—The dark cloud which rests upon our future: 1. Not want, but temptation; 2. not the enmity of the world, but its temptation; 3. not death, but again temptation.—Because we have, in our sinfulness, not trembled in anticipation of danger, we must, when pardoned, tremble after the danger is past.—A pardoned sinner has only one fear left, which leads to genuine fear of God, but delivers from all other dread: 1. The fear of defiling the white garment, of losing the ring, of being excluded from the marriage feast. 2. This leads to true fear of God: he recognizes God everywhere even in the midst of temptation; he hides in prayer under the shadow of the Almighty; his love casts out fear.—The courage and boldness of Christ’s soldiers springs from their fear of temptation, just as in battle the courage which defies death springs from a calm view of the danger incurred.—Perfect love casteth out fear.—“Deliver us from evil.”—Along with the anticipation of the last assault, the believer will also obtain anticipation of final deliverance.—Deliverance in its threefold form:—at the commencement, in the middle, and at the end of our journey to heaven.—Deliver us from evil: 1. From sin here and hereafter; 2. from evil here and hereafter.—The last petition the commencement of triumph.—The intercession of the three [or four] last petitions.—Our confidence in prayer derived from the assurance that God is able and willing to help us.—The climax of our prayer is praise: “Thine is the kingdom,” etc.—The kingdom of God in its threefold form: the kingdom of nature, of grace, and of glory.—The three fold manifestation of the power of God: creation, redemption (the resurrection of Christ), and final judgment and glory.—Threefold manifestation of the glory of God: 1. The image of God glorified; 2. the Church of God glorified; 3. the city of God glorified (God all in all).—“Amen,” or calmness and assurance the fruit of prayer.—The Holy Spirit alone grants the true Amen, in prophetic anticipation of the answer in peace.—The “Amen” as combining the promise of God and the vow of man.—Christ our Yea and Amen.—How in this prayer Christ, 1. Hallows the name of God; 2. brings the kingdom of heaven; 3. reveals and fulfils upon earth the will of heaven; 4. appears as the manna from heaven; 5. introduces pardon and peace; 6. manifests Himself as the Shepherd and Guardian of His people; 7. as perfect Saviour and Deliverer; and hence as the Burden of the new song of the redeemed.—Prayer an outgoing of faith, through Christ, to God.—Prayer, or personal converse with God, is holy love.—The right relationship of Christians toward their neighbors, toward God, and toward themselves.—To give—to give oneself, and to surrender18—is, in a spiritual sense, to lend, to receive, and to enjoy.

Starke:—Jesus the Patron, the Advocate, and the Provider of the poor, John 21:5.—God loveth a cheerful giver, and His righteousness endureth for ever, 2 Corinthians 9:7; 2 Corinthians 9:9; Proverbs 22:9.—It is proof of the folly of men, that they seek honor of each other, John 12:43; and not rather that they may fird acceptance with God, Psalms 31:8.—Our best works become sin, if done only for the sake of appearance.—Our alms form part of our treasure; he who does not hide it, seems like one anxious to have it stolen, Mark 12:42-44.—Pray without ceasing, 1 Thessalonians 5:17.—The prayer of the righteous availeth much, if it be earnest, Psalms 145:18; James 5:16; but that of the hypocrite availeth nothing, Luke 18:10; Luke 18:14.—We may everywhere find a place for prayer, 1 Timothy 2:8; Jonah 2:2-3; but the prayer of the hypocrite is a lie wherever it be offered, Psalms 50:16-17.—Sinful intentions in the heart may destroy the most holy outward acts, Luke 18:10; Luke 18:14.—Prayer presupposes solitude, at least of the heart,—the most secret place in the house of God which is within, where we should close the door behind us, even though it be in public prayer, or in the largest assembly, 2 Kings 4:4; Psalms 77:3.—Quesnel: Prayer requires heart rather than tongue, sighing rather than words, faith rather than reason, Mark 11:23.—Würtemberg Bible: Those brief ejaculatory prayers19 sent up to heaven in few words, and which may be uttered even while engaged in our daily labor, are by far the richest and best, Matthew 15:25.—Quesnel: Prayer is not intended to inform God, but to set before man his misery, to humble his heart, to awaken his desires, to kindle his faith, to encourage his hope, to raise his soul toward heaven, and to remind him that his Father, his home, and his eternal inheritance are above, Philippians 3:20.

The Lord’s Prayer.—Quesnel:—A king who himself draws up the petition which is to be presented, must surely take great pleasure in granting it, Isaiah 65:24; John 16:23.—It is not wrong for an unlettered Christian to make use of a form of prayer; but it is well to accustom ourselves to bring our wants before God in our own words.—Our heavenly Father alone is to be worshipped, and no creature, Matthew 4:10.—Maj. Harm.: The kingdom of God comes from heaven to earth, in order that earth may become heaven. None of us can ascend from earth to heaven, unless the kingdom of God have first descended on us from heaven to earth, Luke 17:20-21.—Poor sinful man!—we are, so to speak, afflicted with spiritual impotence, so that we cannot come to the kingdom of God, but the kingdom of God must come to us, John 6:44.—The will of God cannot be done unless we are willing, so much as lieth in us, to deny the will of our flesh, of Satan, and of an evil world, Romans 12:21.—Our daily bread comes from God, and not by blind fortune, or by fate, Hosea 2:8.—Let us be satisfied with what is absolutely necessary, and not ask God for more than that, 1 Timothy 6:8; Proverbs 30:8.—The ungodly receive their bread by the intercession of the saints, Genesis 41:54.—The poor equally pray for the rich, and the rich for the poor.—If we are not ready to forgive, we only pray against ourselves, or invoke wrath and vengeance, which God will execute upon us, even as we reserve vengeance against our neighbor, Sir 28:14.—The life of the Christian a continual conflict.—Maj. Harm.: Our comfort under all temptations is this, that God is with us, that He sets bounds, and will make all things work together for our salvation, 1 Corinthians 10:13; 2 Timothy 4:17.—We endure under temptation, not in our own strength, but in that of God, 1 Corinthians 10:13; 2 Peter 2:9; Isaiah 41:10-14.—Quesnel: Ah! how many snares are there, how many hindrances to what is good, how many occasions to sin, how many enemies of salvation, how much sorrow and misery! Psalms 106:0—Thou who temptest others to sin, who exposest thyself wantonly to temptation, or who in temptation lightest yet not with the armor of God, why wilt thou mock God by praying, “Lead us not into temptation?” 1 Peter 5:6; Ephesians 6:11.—Canst thou be afraid of death, and yet pray, “Deliver us from evil?”—He has already delivered us from evil, He does deliver us, and He will perfectly deliver us, 2 Timothy 4:18; 2 Corinthians 1:10.—The honor of God should be the first and the last object of our prayers (Thy name, etc.; for Thine is, etc.), Psalms 69:31; Psalms 115:1.—Spiritual fasting consists in ceasing from evil, Isaiah 58:6-7; and in temperance in all things, Luke 21:34.—The popish fasts are a constraint of conscience, a mockery, a hypocrisy, and a superstition, 1 Timothy 4:3.—The more a sinner seeks to attract the attention of men, the further does God turn His compassion from him, Acts 12:21; Acts 12:23.—In order to be a sincere Christian, it is not necessary to hang our head like a bulrush. Isaiah 58:5.—The life of believers is hid with Christ in God; but when Christ, who is their life, shall appear, they also shall appear with Him in glory, Colossians 3:3-4; 2 Corinthians 6:9-10.—Our good works, though done in secret, are not lost.

Lisco:—True righteousness: It consists not in appearance, but in reality and truth; its objects are not earthly, but heavenly; it has respect to the judgment of God, not to that of man. “Reference” to God the sole motive of truly good works.

Gerlach:—A comparison of this passage with Matthew 5:16 shows that in this instance also our Lord teaches by contrasts. He unmasks selfishness in all its forms, both when it conceals unbelief under the garb of humility and retirement, and when it exhibits its fancied treasures to the view of men. It may be equally wrong in the sight of God to hide our good works ( Matthew 6:4) as to display them.—If you would have your most ardent desire accomplished, pray, “Thy will be done.”—The object of fasting is to set us free from the power of the flesh and of the world; but if we employ it to further our worldly views, it will only serve to increase the gulf between God and our souls.

Braune:—The address, Father, is also found Isaiah 63:16 : “Thou, O Lord, art our Father, our Redeemer.” This was a temporary anticipation of the higher life of the Spirit of Christ in the prophet (1 Peter 1:11). The name, Father, awakens in us the sense of our relationship to God, the feeling of filial love and trust. We have received the spirit of adoption, Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6.

Heubner:—Chrysostom: If you have not heard your own prayers, how can you expect that God shall hear them?—The will of God is in the first place His will with reference to us, which we are to do. The petition therefore means: Take away our own will, and let Thy will be my rule. But, further, the will of God also implies His purposes concerning us. Hence the petition means: Give us such a mind as to be satisfied with whatever Thou sendest, and never to murmur.—A Christian must learn also to have dominion over his body.

Literature.—Fr. Arndt [of Berlin]: Zehn Predigten über das Gebet des Herrn, 1836; Niemann: Zehn Predigten über das Vater Unser, 1844.—[Also Tertullian: De oratione (who calls the Lord’s Prayer: Breviarium evangelii); Cyprian: De oratione Dominica; Augustine: De serm. M. ii. 4–8; Serm. 56–58; Origen: Περὶ εὐχῆς; Gregory of Nyssa: De oration Dominica; Cyril of Jerusalem: Catech. xxiii.; Bp. Andrewes (Anglican, who calls the Lord’s Prayer “a compendium of faith”): Works, Oxf., 1841 sqq., vol. v., 350–476); the explanations of this Prayer in the leading Catechisms of Luther, Calvin, Heidelberg, Westminster, of Trent, etc.; Löhe (Germ. Luth.): Sermons on the Lord’s Prayer; Wm. R. Williams (Baptist): Lectures on the Lord’s Prayer, New York, 1850.—P. S.]

ADDENDA

BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR

The Sinaitic Manuscript of the Bible, which Professor Tischendorf rescued from the obscurity of the Convent of St Catharine on Mount Sinai, and carefully edited in two editions in 1862 and 1863,* two years after the issue of the third edition of Dr. Lange’s Commentary on Matthew, has been carefully compared in preparing the American edition of this work from Chapter 8 to the close of the Gospel of Matthew. I thought I was the first to do so, but just before I finished the last pages of this volume, I found that Bäumlein, in his Commentary on the Gospel of St. John,** and Meyer, in the fifth edition of his Commentary on Matthew, both of which appeared in 1864, had preceded me, at least in print. No critical scholar can ignore this manuscript hereafter. For it is the only complete, and perhaps the oldest of all the uncial codices of the Bible, or at least of the same age and authority as the celebrated Vatican Codex (which is traced by some to the middle of the fourth century), and far better edited by the German Protestant Professor, Tischendorf, than the latter was by the Italian Cardinal, Angelo Mai. In the absence of a simpler mark agreed upon by critics (the proposed designation by the Hebrew א has not yet been adopted, and is justly objected to by Tregelles and others on the ground of typographical inconvenience), I introduce it always as Cod. Sin., and I find that Dr. Meyer in the fifth edition does the same. As I could not procure a copy of the printed edition of this Codex till I had finished the first seven chapters, I now complete the critical part of the work by adding its more important readings in the first seven chapters where they differ from the textus receptus, on which the authorized English, as well as all the older Protestant Versions of the Greek Testament are substantially based.

*Novum Testamentum Sinaiticum, sive Novum Testamentum cum Epistola Barnabœ et Fragmentis Pastoris (Hermæ). Ex Codice Sinaitico auspiciis Alexandri II., omnium Russiarum imperatoris, ex tenebris protracto orbique litterarum tradito accurate descripsit Ænotheus Friderious Constantinus Tischendorf, theol. et phil. Dr., etc. etc. Lipsiæ, 1863. The text is arranged in four columns and covers 148 folios; the learned Prolegomena of the editor 81 folios. There is besides a magnificent photo-lithographed fac-simile edition of the whole Sinaitic Bible, published at the expense of the Emperor of Russia, in 4 volumes (3 for the Old and 1 for the New Testament, the latter in 148 folios), under the title: Bibliorum Codex Sinaiticus Petropolitanus. Auspiciis augustissimis imperatoris Alexandri II. ed. Const. Tischendorf. Petropoli, 1862. A copy of this rare edition I have also consulted occasionally, in the Astor Library of New York. For fuller information on this important Codex (in the words of Tischendorf: “omnium codicum uncialium solus integer omniumque antiquissimus”), we must refer the reader to the ample Prolegomena of Tischendorf, also to an article of Hilgenfeld in his Zeitschrift für wissenschaftliche Theologie, vol. vii. (1864), p. 74 ff. (who is disposed to assign it to a somewhat later age), and to Scrivener’s treatise, which I have not seen.

**Hengstenberg, in his Commentary on John, concluded in 1863, pays no attention whatever to this Codex, and is very defective in a critical point of view

Matthew 6:1.—Cod. Sin. agrees here again with the Vatican MS. (also D., Syr., Hieros., Itala, Vulgata, several fathers, Lachm., Tischend., Treg., Alf.), in reading δικαιοσύνην, righteousness, instead of ἐλεημοσύνην (text, rec., Matthäi, Scholz), which is “a mistaken gloss, the general nature of this opening caution not being perceived.”

Footnotes:

[1] Matthew 6:1.—[Textus rec.: ἐλεημοσύνην. But Dr. Lange translates: Eure Gerechtigkeit, your righteousness, adopting δικαιοσὐνην as the correct reading, which is much better authenticated, and preferred by the principal editors of the Greek text. See the critical apparatus in Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, Alford, and Tregelles, also Green: Developed Criticism, p. 8.—P. S.]

[2] Matthew 6:2.—[The full force of ἀπέ χουσι is not given in the E. V., but in the German: sie haben dahin, i. e., they have their reward in full, they have received all of it, and need not expect any more. See the Greek dict, sub ἀπἐχω.—P. S.]

[3] Matthew 6:4.—ἐν τῷ φανερῷ (openly) are omitted in Cod. B. D. Z., etc. [and in Lange’s version].

[4] Matthew 6:5.—Text. rec.: ὅταν προσεύχῃ [But the plural προσεύχησθε, ye pray, and οὐκ ἔσεσθε, ye shall not be, is well sustained and adopted by Dr. Lange.—P. S.]

[5] Matthew 6:6.—Openly is better sustained here (E. K. L., etc.) than in Matthew 6:4.

[6] Matthew 6:11.—[“Daily bread,” or “tägliches Brot,” is a free but substantially correct and generally intelligible translation of ἄρτος ἐπιούσιος, and very properly retained by Dr. Lange from Luther’s version, with which here the Author. English and all other English versions (Tyndale, Cranmer, and Geneva) correspond, except Wielif. who renders: breed ouir other substaunce, and the Romish V. of Rheims and Douay, which follows the Vulgate and renders: super substantial bread. Daily is also found in the Itala of the second century (panem nostrum quotidianum) in the Vulguta in Luke 11:8 (but not in Matthew 6:11, where the Vulgate reads supersubstantialem). and in most of the modern European versions, the French (pain quotidien), the Dutch (dagelicks Broot). the Italian of Diodati (pane cotidiavo). The only other translation which is admissible and gives good sense, is that of the Peschito: “our needful bread” (comp. Murdock’s transl. of the Peschito, New York, 1852), or bread suited to our nature, or as others modify it: bread necessary for our subsistence, sufficient. This is the explanation of Origen, Chrysost., Theophyl., Beza, Tholuck, Ewald, Arnoldi, and amounts in meaning to the same as the more popular translation “daily bread.” The precarious etymology and explanation now in vogue and adopted by such eminent biblical philologists as Winer in his Grammar of the N. T., and Fritzsche and Meyer in their Com. on Matthew, derives ἐπιούσιος from ἐπιέναι, after the form of the fem. part. ἐπιοῦσα sc. ἡμέρα (dies crastinus), and would thus make us pray to-day for the bread which we may need to-morrow. But this, as Lange (in the Com), Alford and others observe, is evidently inconsistent with the Saviour’s warning in Matthew 6:34. and as Conante remarks in a Judicious note ad loc., would make us pray for an absurdity, since we have no need to-day of to-morrow’s bread: “Taking the word bread in the literal sense (as sustenance for the body), the only thing we can ask, without a manifest absurdity, is bread sufficient for the day, or daily bread.” Salmasius made the same objection, and asked. “Quid est ineptius, quam panem crastini diei nobis quotidie postulare?” Schöttgen quotes passages from the Rabbis, which show that even among the most pious of the Jews it was not customary to pray for the things of the morrow. As ἐπιούσιος is found only here and in the parallel passage, Luke 11:3, but in no other Greek writings, its meaning cannot be ascertained from usage, nor from etymology alone. Meyer, however, admits that ἐπιούσιος may be derived from the noun οὐσία (or from the fem. participle of εἶναι, as παρουσἰα, μετουσία). The objection that then it would be ἐπούσιος instead of ἐπιούσιος, is not decisive, since we have ἔποπτος (visible), and the poetic form ἐπίοπτος; comp. also ἐπίορκος (from ὄρκος), ἐπίουρος (from οὖρος), ἐπιόγδοος, seven and a half, sesquioctavus (from ὄ γδοος). Nor does οὐσία only mean existence and essence, but also substance, property, subsistence; comp. Luke 15:12 : τὸ ἐπιβάλλον μέρος τῆς οὐσίας, the portion of goods that fulleth to me, der sufullende Theil des Vermögens. And even if we take οὐσία in the sense of existence, ἐπιοὐσιος might still be explained: needful or sufficient for our existence. Jos. Mede observes that the petition may be thus paraphrased: τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν, μὴ περιούσιον (not abundant or superfluous), ὰλλὰ τὸν ἐπιούσιον (but sufficient) δὸς ἡμῖν σήμερον. He identifies the ἄρτος ἐπιούσιος with the lehem huki in Agur’s prayer, Proverbs 30:8, and derives this petition from it. So Lange in Com.—Bread, like the Hebrew לֶחֶם, is a synecdoche for everything necessary to sustain life, comp. Genesis 43:25; Genesis 43:31; Genesis 43:34.—P. S.]

[7] Matthew 6:12.—Text. rec.: ἀφίεμεν, which is sufficiently sustained. For ἀφήκαμεν are Cod. B. Z. and ancient fathers. Perhaps it arose from liturgical arrangements (the reconciliation of men before the holy communion).

[8] Matthew 6:13.—The doxology [from: “For Thine—Amen”] is omitted in B D. Z., etc. [Alford ad loc. says: “The doxology must on every ground of sound criticism be omitted. … We find absolutely no trace of it in early times, in any family of MSS. or in any expositions” But on the other hand the Peschito already has it, and Stier eloquently defends it, though on subjective grounds. It was probably inserted in the beginning of the 4th century from the liturgies and the primitive habit of the Christians in praying the Lord’s Prayer. Comp. Com. below.—P. S.]

[9] Matthew 6:18.—ἐν τῷ φανερῷ is omitted in many Codd., as in Matthew 6:4.

[10]Even in Tobias Matthew 4:11-12, alms are represented as righteousness before God, and as the means of obtaining forgiveness. In the ancient Church they were regarded as means of indulgence. Comp. the Sermons of Leo the Great. See Heubner, p. 78.

[11] [“Thust du was Gutes, so wirf es in’s Meer,

Weiss es der Fisch nicht, so weiss es der Herr”]

[12][Among British and American commentators those belonging to the Presbyterian, Congregational, Methodist, Baptist, and other non-Episcopal denominations generally maintain that the Lord’s Prayer was intended not as a formula to be literally and invariably used, although it is undoubtedly very proper to use it within certain limits, but as a general pattern rather for all our prayers, private and public. See Henry, Barnes, Alexander, Owen, Jacobus, Whedon, Nast ad Matthew 6:9. Episcopalian commentators differ like the Germans. Dr. Alford (a liberal Anglican) says: “It is very improbable that the prayer was regarded in the very earliest times as a set form delivered for liturgical use by our Lord. The variations of τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν καὶ γὰρ αὐτοὶ , and τὸ καθ’ ἡμέραν in Luke, for the corresponding clauses in our text, however unimportant in themselves, have been regarded as fatal to the supposition of its being used liturgically at the time when these Gospels were written. It must be confessed that we find very few traces of such use in early times” Dr. Wordsworth (conservative Anglican) on the other hand remarks ad Matthew 6:9 : “Our Lord here, by this prayer (comp. the Benediction, Numbers 6:23; Deuteronomy 26:13) authorizes forms of prayer (and adopts petitions already in use in Forms of Prayer among the Jews), and delivers a particular form of prayer to be used, and to serve as a pattern for the subject and order of our desires and prayers, and therefore as a guide for our practice.”—There is truth here on both sides. This matchless prayer was undoubtedly given both as a form to be rightly, i. e., devoutly and reverently used on all proper occasions (comp. the λέγετε in Luke 11:2), and as a model for all other prayers. The former abuse of the Lord’s Prayer as an empty formula oft repeated without devotion and profit in the Roman Church (hence Luther called it the greatest martyr), led some sections of Protestantism to the opposite extreme of neglect of this shortest and richest, simplest and deepest of all prayers ever uttered by man or angel, the perfect model prayer which could only proceed from the lips of the Son of God. Dr. Thomas Scott has hit the right medium in the following note: “It may often be [better: it undoubtedly is] proper to use the very words, but it is not always necessary; for we do not find that the apostles thus used it: but we ought always to pray after the manner of it, that is, with that reverence, humility, seriousness, confidence in God, zeal for His glory, love to mankind, submission, and moderation in temporal, and earnestness about spiritual things, which it insulates; avoiding vain repetitions, and using grave and comprehensive expressions.” Comp. also the remarks of Ad. Clarke, and Dr. D. Brown ad loc.—P. S.]

[13][Alford takes a similar view: “ἀλλά must not be taken as equivalent to εἰ δὲ μή, q. d. ‘but if thou dost, deliver,’ etc.; but is rather the opposition to the former clause, and forms in this sense but one petition with it,—‘bring us not into conflict with evil, but rather deliver (rid) us from it altogether.’ In another view, however, as expressing the deep desire of all Christian hearts to be delivered from all evil … these words form a seventh and most affecting petition, reaching far beyond the last.” So also D. Brown ad loc.—P. S.]

[14][Alford: “’Thy kingdom‘ here is the fulness of the accomplishment of the kingdom of God, so often spoken of in prophetic Scripture; and by implication all that process of events which lead to that accomplishment. Meyer in objecting to all ecclesiastical and spiritual meanings of ‘Thy kingdom,’ forgets that the one for which he contends exclusively, the Messianic kingdom, does in fact include or imply them all.”—P. S.]

[15][Alford takes ἐπιούσιος likewise in the sense: proper for our sustenance, after the analogy of ἐπίγαμος, fit for marriage, ἐπιδόρπιος, fit for the banquet, and considers it equivalent to τὰ ἐπιτήδεια τοῦ σώματος in James 2:16 (rendered in Syriac transl. by the same word). He also thinks we may safely understand the expression spiritually, of the bread of life, provided we keep in the foreground its primary physical meaning, and view the other as involved by implication in that. The Anglican Catech. understands the dally bread to mean “all things that be needful for our souls and bodies.” On the different explanations, see especially Tholuck, Meyer, and Conant.—P. S.]

[16][Hence Luther somewhere calls the Lord’s Prayer “the greatest martyr.”—P. S.]

[17][Dr. Lange alludes here more particularly to the difference between the German Lutherans, who pray: “Vater unser,” “Father our” (which is the ancient form and corresponds to the Latin Pater noster), and the German Reformed, who pray “Unser Vater,” “Our Father,” which is the modern German and was used by Luther himself in his German version of the Bible, Matthew 6:9; Luke 11:2. This difference, insignificant as it is, has often been exaggerated and been a cause of alienation of feeling and disturbance in devotion. So, also, the Lord’s Supper, intended to be a sacred feast of love and union with Christ and His people, has innocently become the occasion of the most bitter theological strifes.—P. S.]

[18][In German: Geben. Hingeben, Aufgeben.—]

[19][Called by Luther: Kurze Stossgebetlein.—]