Matthew 6 is the sixth chapter of the

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells the story of who the author believes is Israel's messiah (Christ (title), Christ), Jesus, resurrection of Jesus, his res ...

in the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

. This chapter contains the central portion of the

Sermon on the Mount The Sermon on the Mount ( anglicized from the Matthean Vulgate Latin section title: ) is a collection of sayings spoken by Jesus of Nazareth found in the Gospel of Matthew (chapters 5, 6, and 7). that emphasizes his moral teachings. It is th ...

, including the

Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also known by its incipit Our Father (, ), is a central Christian prayer attributed to Jesus. It contains petitions to God focused on God’s holiness, will, and kingdom, as well as human needs, with variations across manusc ...

Text

The original text was written in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the koiné language, common supra-regional form of Greek language, Greek spoken and ...

. This chapter is divided into 34 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early

manuscripts A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has c ...

containing the text of this chapter are: *

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), is a manuscript of the Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Old Testament and the majority of the New Testament. It is designated by siglum B or 03 in the Gregory-Aland numb ...

(~325–350; complete) *

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus (; Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), also called the Sinai Bible, is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old Testament, including the deuterocanonica ...

(~330–360; complete) * Codex Washingtonianus (~400) * Codex Bezae (~400; extant verses 1–19).

Structure

The first part of this chapter, Matthew 6:1– 18, deals with the outward and inward expression of piety, referring to almsgiving, private prayer and fasting.Talbert, Charles H. 2010 ''Matthew'' pp. 87–91. New Testament scholar Dale Allison suggests that this section acts as "a sort of commentary" on Matthew 5:21– 48, or a short "cult-didache": Matthew 5:21–48 details "what to do", whereas Matthew 6:1–18 teaches "how to do it". Sometimes called the "Discourse on Ostentation", these verses address the three most important outward expressions of Jewish piety,

alms Alms (, ) are money, food, or other material goods donated to people living in poverty. Providing alms is often considered an act of Charity (practice), charity. The act of providing alms is called almsgiving. Etymology The word ''alms'' come ...

giving,

prayer File:Prayers-collage.png, 300px, alt=Collage of various religionists praying – Clickable Image, Collage of various religionists praying ''(Clickable image – use cursor to identify.)'' rect 0 0 1000 1000 Shinto festivalgoer praying in front ...

, and

fasting Fasting is the act of refraining from eating, and sometimes drinking. However, from a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (before "breakfast"), or to the metabolic sta ...

. Jesus endorses the standard teachings that these acts are important. Throughout this section he stresses that worship and piety should not be ostentatious, and ideally should be done in secret. He strongly contravenes those who make public displays of their piety, which can be understood as teaching that those who are pious to impress others will only impress people, and will do nothing to impress God. Matthew 6:19– 34 deals with possessions and the issues of priorities and trust. The first part in Matthew 6:19– 24 has three elements about two treasures, two eyes and two masters. The second part in Matthew 6:25– 34 deals with trust in God and also has three elements and provides reasons for not being anxious. In

John Wesley John Wesley ( ; 2 March 1791) was an English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a principal leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The societies ...

's analysis of the Sermon on the Mount, chapter five outlines "the sum of all true religion", allowing this chapter to detail "rules for that right intention which we are to preserve in all our outward actions, unmixed with worldly desires or anxious cares for even the necessaries of life" and the following chapter to provide "cautions against the main hinderances of religion". Wesley further analyses chapter 6 as follows: * Verses 1– 4: the right intention and manner of giving alms * Verses 5– 15: the right intention, manner, form, and prerequisites of prayer * Verses 16– 18: the right intention, and manner of fasting * Verses 19– 34: the necessity of a pure intention in all things, unmixed either with the desire of riches, or worldly care, and fear of want.

Verses

Literary references

In the 2007 book ''

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling. It is the seventh and final novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series. It was released on 21 July 2007 in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury Publish ...

'' by J. K. Rowling, it is written that the inscription on the tombstone of Ariana Dumbledore reads "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also". This is taken from the

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version (AV), is an Early Modern English Bible translations, Early Modern English translation of the Christianity, Christian Bible for the Church of England, wh ...

of Matthew 6:21 and/or Luke 12:34, which are identical.

Early manuscripts

File:Codex Sinaiticus Matthew 5,22-6,4.JPG, Codex Sinaiticus (AD 330–60), Matthew 5:22–6:4 File:Codex Sinaiticus Matthew 6,4-32.JPG, Codex Sinaiticus, Matthew 6:4–32 File:Codex Sinaiticus Matthew 6,32-7,27.JPG, Codex Sinaiticus, Matthew 6:32–7:27

Notes

References

External links

* King James Bible - Wikisource
English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
Multiple bible versions at ''Bible Gateway''
(NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.) {{Sermon on the Mount Matthew 06