6:5 “Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray while standing in synagogues 5 and on street corners so that people can see them. Truly I say to you, they have their reward. 6:6 But whenever you pray, go into your room, 6 close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you. 7
6:16 “When 8 you fast, do not look sullen like the hypocrites, for they make their faces unattractive 9 so that people will see them fasting. I tell you the truth, 10 they have their reward.
1 tn Grk “give alms,” but this term is not in common use today. The giving of alms was highly regarded in the ancient world (Deut 15:7-11).
2 sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.
3 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”
4 tc L W Θ 0250 Ï it read ἐν τῷ φανερῷ (en tw fanerw, “openly”) at the end of this verse, giving a counterweight to what is done in secret. But this reading is suspect because of the obvious literary balance, because of detouring the point of the passage (the focus of vv. 1-4 is not on two kinds of public rewards but on human vs. divine approbation), and because of superior external testimony that lacks this reading (א B D Z Ë1,13 33 al).
7 sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.
10 sn The term translated room refers to the inner room of a house, normally without any windows opening outside, the most private location possible (BDAG 988 s.v. ταμεῖον 2).
11 tc See the tc note on “will reward you” in 6:4: The problem is the same and the ms support differs only slightly.
13 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
14 tn Here the term “disfigure” used in a number of translations was not used because it could convey to the modern reader the notion of mutilation. L&N 79.17 states, “‘to make unsightly, to disfigure, to make ugly.’ ἀφανίζουσιν γὰρ τὰ πρόσωπα αὐτῶν ‘for they make their faces unsightly’ Mt 6:16.”
15 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”