Matthew 6:1-4

Pure-hearted Giving

6:1 “Be ¹  careful not to display your righteousness merely to be seen by people. ²  Otherwise you have no reward with your Father in heaven. 6:2 Thus whenever you do charitable giving, ³  do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in synagogues ⁴  and on streets so that people will praise them. I tell you the truth, ⁵  they have their reward. 6:3 But when you do your giving, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 6:4 so that your gift may be in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you. ⁶ 

Matthew 23:5

23:5 They ⁷  do all their deeds to be seen by people, for they make their phylacteries ⁸  wide and their tassels ⁹  long.

Luke 18:22

18:22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have ¹⁰  and give the money ¹¹  to the poor, ¹²  and you will have treasure ¹³  in heaven. Then ¹⁴  come, follow me.”

Luke 18:28

18:28 And Peter said, “Look, we have left everything we own ¹⁵  to follow you!” ¹⁶ 

Luke 19:8

19:8 But Zacchaeus stopped and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, half of my possessions I now give ¹⁷  to the poor, and if ¹⁸  I have cheated anyone of anything, I am paying back four times as much!”

Luke 21:3-4

21:3 He ¹⁹  said, “I tell you the truth, ²⁰  this poor widow has put in more than all of them. ²¹  21:4 For they all offered their gifts out of their wealth. ²²  But she, out of her poverty, put in everything she had to live on.” ²³ 

John 12:43

12:43 For they loved praise ²⁴  from men more than praise ²⁵  from God.

Galatians 5:26

5:26 Let us not become conceited, ²⁶  provoking ²⁷  one another, being jealous ²⁸  of one another.

Philippians 1:15-18

1:15 Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill. 1:16 The latter do so from love because they know that I am placed here for the defense of the gospel. 1:17 The former proclaim Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, because they think they can cause trouble for me in my imprisonment. ²⁹  1:18 What is the result? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is being proclaimed, and in this I rejoice.

Yes, ³⁰  and I will continue to rejoice,

[6:1]  ¹ tc ‡ Several mss (א L Z Θ Ë¹ 33 892 1241 1424 al) have δέ (de, “but, now”) at the beginning of this verse; the reading without δέ is supported by B D W 0250 ˹³ Ï lat. A decision is difficult, but apparently the conjunction was added by later scribes to indicate a transition in the thought-flow of the Sermon on the Mount. NA²⁷ has δέ in brackets, indicating reservations about its authenticity.

[6:1]  ² tn Grk “before people in order to be seen by them.”

[6:2]  ³ 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).

[6:2]  ⁴ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.

[6:2]  ⁵ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[6:4]  ⁶ 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 Ë^1,13 33 al).

[23:5]  ⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[23:5]  ⁸ sn Phylacteries were small leather cases containing OT scripture verses, worn on the arm and forehead by Jews, especially when praying. The custom was derived from such OT passages as Exod 13:9; 16; Deut 6:8; 11:18.

[23:5]  ⁹ tn The term κράσπεδον (kraspedon) in some contexts could refer to the outer fringe of the garment (possibly in Mark 6:56). This edge could have been plain or decorated. L&N 6.180 states, “In Mt 23:5 κράσπεδον denotes the tassels worn at the four corners of the outer garment (see 6.194).”

[18:22]  ¹⁰ sn See Luke 14:33.

[18:22]  ¹¹ tn The words “the money” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[18:22]  ¹² sn See Luke 1:50-53; 6:20-23; 14:12-14.

[18:22]  ¹³ sn The call for sacrifice comes with a promise of eternal reward: …you will have treasure in heaven. Jesus’ call is a test to see how responsive the man is to God’s direction through him. Will he walk the path God’s agent calls him to walk? For a rich person who got it right, see Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-10.

[18:22]  ¹⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the conversation.

[18:28]  ¹⁵ tn Or “left our homes,” “left our possessions”; Grk “left our own things.” The word ἴδιος (idios) can refer to one’s home (including the people and possessions in it) or to one’s property or possessions. Both options are mentioned in BDAG 467 s.v. 4.b. See also I. H. Marshall, Luke (NIGTC), 688; D. L. Bock, Luke (BECNT), 2:1488.

[18:28]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “We have left everything we own and followed you.” Koine Greek often used paratactic structure when hypotactic was implied.

[19:8]  ¹⁷ sn Zacchaeus was a penitent man who resolved on the spot to act differently in the face of Jesus’ acceptance of him. In resolving to give half his possessions to the poor, Zacchaeus was not defending himself against the crowd’s charges and claiming to be righteous. Rather as a result of this meeting with Jesus, he was a changed individual. So Jesus could speak of salvation coming that day (v. 9) and of the lost being saved (v. 10).

[19:8]  ¹⁸ tn This is a first class condition in the Greek text. It virtually confesses fraud.

[21:3]  ¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[21:3]  ²⁰ tn Grk “Truly, I say to you.”

[21:3]  ²¹ sn Has put in more than all of them. With God, giving is weighed evaluatively, not counted. The widow was praised because she gave sincerely and at some considerable cost to herself.

[21:4]  ²² tn Grk “out of what abounded to them.”

[21:4]  ²³ tn Or “put in her entire livelihood.”

[12:43]  ²⁴ tn Grk “the glory.”

[12:43]  ²⁵ tn Grk “the glory.”

[5:26]  ²⁶ tn Or “falsely proud.”

[5:26]  ²⁷ tn Or “irritating.” BDAG 871 s.v. προκαλέω has “provoke, challenge τινά someone.”

[5:26]  ²⁸ tn Or “another, envying one another.”

[1:17]  ²⁹ tn Grk “thinking to cause trouble to my bonds.”

[1:18]  ³⁰ tn Or “But.” The conjunction ἀλλά (alla) may be emphatic or contrastive. If the former, the idea may be that Paul will continue rejoicing because of the proclamation of the gospel or because of his imminent release from prison (v. 19); if the latter, Paul is now turning his attention solely to this second reason to rejoice, viz., that he will soon be released from prison. In this latter view the clause should be translated, “But I will also rejoice since I know…”