4. 'Ev r& xpuvrp, in secret) The godly shine, but shine in secret. — 6 Harqp ffov, thy Father) John Despagne observes, that to em ploy the possessive pronoun of the first person singular, and say, " MY Father" is the exclusive privilege of the Only Begotten ; but " THY Father" is said to the faithful also ; FATHER, or OUR Father" by the faithful; see John xx. 17. — sv r& xpvKrti, in secret) He is Himself in secret, and performs His works in secret, and approves most those things which are done in secret. The whole essential being of things, has its existence in secret. — avoduffti, shall reward) This word, without the addition of Aurbg (Himself), expresses a reward awarded by God and not man. This reward is sure : see ver. 1. The Aurbg (Himself}, appears to have been inserted here, and the ev r& <pavtp& (openly) in ver. 4, 6, 18, from a fear that the words might have otherwise been rendered, " Thy Father, who seeth that, shall reward thee in secret."2
5. <J>iXovffiv, x.r.X., they love, etc.) and, therefore, make a prac tice of doing so. — sv rate, yuvious, in the corners) sc. where the streets meet. — eerures, standing) in order that they may be the more conspicuous.
6. 'Ev rSj xpwxrfyin secret) God both is, and sees, in secret.
7. My /3arroXoyjj<r»j«, use not vain repetitions) Gattaker has col lected from antiquity many persons called Battus, celebrated for their stammering, and thence for their frequent repetition of the same word (tautologia), and deriving their name from that cir cumstance. Hesychius3 renders /3arroXoy/a by apyoXoy/a (idle talking), axaipohoyia (unseasonable talking) : he says, " f3ctrrapi?eiv appears to me to be derived from an imitation of the voice," etc., and he explains ^arrapie^ln by tpXuctpiou* It is clear, therefore,
1 In the original, " Pii lucent sed latent." — (I. B.)
2 Rec. Text has O.VTOS with D. But BLZes&c Vulg. Memph. Versions, and Cyprian omit it. So also lv rut Qxvepy added in Rec. Text with o6c, is omitted in BDZ Vulg. Memph. Versions. — ED.
3 Hesychius. There were several distinguished men of this name. The individual here intended was a celebrated grammarian and lexicographer of Alexandria, who lived somewhere about the fourth century. — (I. B.)
* fietTTxpiffftos signified either originally stuttering, or derivatively idle prating : <pAi/ac/«, silly talk, nonsense, foolery. It is used also in the plural. The kindred adjective tp^votpoi is rendered tattlers in 1 Tim. v. 13, and the cognate participle fhuxpuy, prating in 3 John 10 by the Eng. Ver. — (I. B.)