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Matthew

About this book
Chapter 6

1 “Be careful not to display your righteousness merely to be seen by people.⁠ Otherwise you have no reward with your Father in heaven.⁠ 2 Thus whenever you do charitable giving, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in synagogues and on streets so that people will praise them. I tell you the truth, they have their reward!⁠ 3 But when you do your giving, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,⁠ 4 so that your gift may be in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you. 5 “Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites⁠ because they love to pray while standing in synagogues and on street corners so that people can see them. Truly I say to you, they have their reward! 6 But whenever you pray, go into your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.⁠ And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you. 7 When you pray, do not babble repetitiously like the Gentiles because they think that by their many words they will be heard.⁠ 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 So pray this way: “Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored,⁠ 10 may your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.⁠ 11 Give us today our daily bread,⁠ 12 and forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors.⁠ 13 And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.⁠ 14 “For if you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.⁠ 15 But if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive you your sins. 16 “When you fast, do not look sullen like the hypocrites, for they make their faces unattractive so that people will see them fasting.⁠ I tell you the truth, they have their reward! 17 When you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to others when you are fasting, but only to your Father who is in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you. 19 “Do not accumulate for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and devouring insect destroy and where thieves break in and steal.⁠ 20 But accumulate for yourselves treasures in heaven,⁠ where moth and devouring insect do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.⁠ 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body.⁠ If then your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light.⁠ 23 But if your eye is diseased, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!⁠ 24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.⁠ 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear.⁠ Isn’t there more to life than food and more to the body than clothing?⁠ 26 Look at the birds in the sky: They do not sow, or reap, or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you more valuable than they are?⁠ 27 And which of you by worrying can add even one hour to his life? 28 Why do you worry about clothing? Think about how the flowers of the field grow; they do not work or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these! 30 And if this is how God clothes the wild grass, which is here today and tomorrow is tossed into the fire to heat the oven, won’t he clothe you even more, you people of little faith? 31 So then, don’t worry saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For the unconverted pursue these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But above all pursue his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.⁠ 34 So then, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own.⁠

Texts in conversation

How Jesus's Forgiveness Teaching Echoes Sirach 28

Deuterocanon · New Testament

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Summary

Sirach teaches that forgiving others is required to receive forgiveness from God. In Matthew 6, Jesus appears to draw on this tradition, using similar language to teach that forgiving others is a requirement for being forgiven.

Passages

Sirach 28:2

Deuterocanon · Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
1 He who takes vengeance will find vengeance from the Lord, and he will surely make his sins firm. 2 Forgive your neighbor the hurt that he has done, and then your sins will be pardoned when you pray. 3 Does anyone harbor anger against another and expect healing from the Lord? 4 Upon a man like himself he has no mercy, and does he make supplication for his own sins? 5 He himself, being flesh, nourishes wrath. Who will make atonement for his sins?
195–180 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Sirach

Matthew 6:12

New Testament
9 So pray this way: “Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored, 10 may your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors. 13 And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. 14 “For if you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive you your sins.
70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Matthew

References

"... In Matthew’s Gospel we see the idea of reciprocity, the idea of conditionality, the link between mercy and forgiveness and the punishment that comes for reluctance to practise mercy/forgiveness. For the first Evangelist, refusing to show mercy to or to forgive others leads to God’s refusal to do the same to the unmerciful or unforgiving person. More than that, it calls for punishment upon them. This is powerfully stated in the parable of the unmerciful debtor in Matthew 18:23-35 and implicitly in Matthew 6:15. Demands to be merciful (Matt 5:7), not to retaliate (Matt 5:21-23), and not to judge (Matt 7:1-2) are also implied in this reading. This brings about the notion of accountability in forgiving ... The idea of accountability as related to mercy and forgiveness is very rare in biblical Judaism. Sirach 28:1-7 is the only very close early Jewish parallel. Verses 1-4 are most relevant ..."
Isaac Kahwa Mbabazi, “The Jewish Background to Interperonal Forgiveness in Matthew,” Africa Journal of Evangelical Theology 30.1 (2011): 15–34.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Sirach 28:2 and Matthew 6:12

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