Matthew 6:2

6:2 Thus whenever you do charitable giving, ¹  do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in synagogues ²  and on streets so that people will praise them. I tell you the truth, ³  they have their reward.

Proverbs 16:5

16:5 The Lord abhors ⁴  every arrogant person; ⁵ 

rest assured ⁶  that they will not go unpunished. ⁷ 

Luke 14:12-14

14:12 He ⁸  said also to the man ⁹  who had invited him, “When you host a dinner or a banquet, ¹⁰  don’t invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors so you can be invited by them in return and get repaid. 14:13 But when you host an elaborate meal, ¹¹  invite the poor, the crippled, ¹²  the lame, and ¹³  the blind. ¹⁴  14:14 Then ¹⁵  you will be blessed, ¹⁶  because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid ¹⁷  at the resurrection of the righteous.”

James 4:6

4:6 But he gives greater grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.” ¹⁸ 

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 tn Heb “an abomination of the Lord.” The term יְהוָה (yÿhvah, “the Lord”) is a subjective genitive: “the Lord abhors.”

⁵ tn Heb “every proud of heart”; NIV “all the proud of heart.” “Heart” is the genitive of specification; the phrase is talking about people who have proud hearts, whose ideas are arrogant. These are people who set themselves presumptuously against God (e.g., 2 Chr 26:16; Ps 131:1; Prov 18:12).

⁶ tn Heb “hand to hand.” This idiom means “you can be assured” (e.g., Prov 11:21).

⁷ tc The LXX has inserted two couplets here: “The beginning of a good way is to do justly, // and it is more acceptable with God than to do sacrifices; // he who seeks the Lord will find knowledge with righteousness, // and they who rightly seek him will find peace.” C. H. Toy reminds the reader that there were many proverbs in existence that sounded similar to those in the book of Proverbs; these lines are in the Greek OT as well as in Sirach (Proverbs [ICC], 321-22).

⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁹ sn That is, the leader of the Pharisees (v. 1).

¹⁰ tn The meaning of the two terms for meals here, ἄριστον (ariston) and δεῖπνον (deipnon), essentially overlap (L&N 23.22). Translators usually try to find two terms for a meal to use as equivalents (e.g., lunch and dinner, dinner and supper, etc.). In this translation “dinner” and “banquet” have been used, since the expected presence of rich neighbors later in the verse suggests a rather more elaborate occasion than an ordinary meal.

¹¹ tn This term, δοχή (doch), is a third term for a meal (see v. 12) that could also be translated “banquet, feast.”

¹² sn Normally the term means crippled as a result of being maimed or mutilated (L&N 23.177).

¹³ tn Here “and” has been supplied between the last two elements in the series in keeping with English style.

¹⁴ sn This list of needy is like Luke 7:22. See Deut 14:28-29; 16:11-14; 26:11-13.

¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate that this follows from the preceding action. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

¹⁶ sn You will be blessed. God notes and approves of such generosity.

¹⁷ sn The passive verb will be repaid looks at God’s commendation.

¹⁸ sn A quotation from Prov 3:34.