a followed by wi
here, by µή-
ποτε With οὐκ ἔχετε παρὰ τῷ πατρὶ ὑμῶν τῷ ἐν τοῖς * οὐρανοῖς. »ἐλεημοσύνην, μὴ “σαλπίσῃς ἔμπροσθέν σου, ὥσπερ οἱ ὑπο- κριταὶ ποιοῦσιν ἐν ταῖς συναγωγαῖς καὶ ἐν ταῖς "ῥύμαις, ὅπως δοξασθῶσιν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων: duty λέγω ὑμῖν, ἀπέχουσι τὸν ἁτ Cor. xv. 52 and several times in Revel.
subj. Lk. xxi.34. Tous h. xxiii.
phrase Sir. vii. 10. Tobitiv.7. Acts x. 2; xxiv. 17. xiv.ar. Acts ix. 11; xii. 10.
ας VI. 1. “*MPOXEXETE! τὴν ἐλεημοσύνην: ὑμῶν μὴ ποιεῖν Ep- with inf. προσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, πρὸς τὸ "θεαθῆναι αὐτοῖς: εἰ δὲ µήγε, μισθὸν
σ > 2. οταν ουν
eLk
1 δε after προσεχετε in 4.7, inserted by Tisch. and by W.H. within brackets. BD have no δε It might have fallen out by similar ending (τε); on the other hand, it would stand here appropriately as a connecting particle of transition.
2 SBD have δικαιοσυνην; doubtless the true reading, as a general caution against counterfeit righteousness was to be looked for first ; then particular examples: alms,
prayer, fasting.
* Tisch., on the authority of ΝΏ 1, 33, omits τοις.
that, not all conceivable attributes, is what is in view. os, not in degree, that were a discouraging demand, but in kind. The kind very necessary to be emphasised in view of current ideas and practice, in which holiness was dis- sociated from love. The law ‘ Be holy for | am holy "’ (Lev. xi. 44) was taken negatively and worked out in separation from the reputedly sinful. Jesus gave it positive contents, and worked it out in gracious love.
Cuapter VI. ΤΗΕ Sermon Con- TINUED. From Scribe law, the main theme of vv. 21-48, the Teacher passes to speak of Pharisaic practice. Ver. 1 describes the general character of Pharisaic righteousness. Then follow three special examples: alms, vv. 2-4; prayer, vv. 5-6; fasting, vv. 16-18. The transition from the one theme to the other was almost inevitable, and we may be sure that what follows formed part of the instruction on the hill.
Ver. α. © ere (τὸν νοῦν under- stood), to attend to; here, with μὴ following, take heed, be on your guard against.—Sixatoovryyy, not ύνην (T. R.), is the reading demanded in a gene- ral introductory statement. Alms formed a very prominent part of Pharisaic right- eousness, and was in Rabbinical dialect
called righteousness, 77) TS (vide Weber,
. 273), but it was not the whole, and it is a name for the whole category that is wanted in ver. 1. If Jesus spoke in Aramaic He might, as Lightfoot (Hor. Hebr.) suggests, use the word tsedakah both in the first and in the following three verses; in the first in the general
sense, in the other places in the special sense of αἱπῃδ.---ἔμπροσθεν τ. ἀνθρώπων. In chap. v. 16 Christ commands disciples to let their light shine before men, Here He seems to enjoin the contrary. The contradiction is only apparent. The two places may be com- bined in a general rule thus: Show when tempted to hide, hide when tempted to show. The Pharisees were exposed, and yielded, to the latter temptation. They did their righteous- \ ness, 7 τὸ θεαθῆναι, to seen. Their virtue was theatrical, and that meant doing only things which in matter and mode were commonly ad- mired or believed by the doers to be. This spirit of ostentation Christ here and elsewhere represents as the leading feature of Pharisaism.—«l δὲ µήγε, a combination of four particles frequently occurring in the Gospels, meaning: if at least ye do not attend to this rule, then, etc. yéis a very expressive particle, de- rived by Klotz, Devar. ii. 272, from ΓΕΩ, i.¢., EAQ, or from ἄγε, and explained as meant to render the hearer attentive. Baumlein, dissenting from Klotz’s’ derivation, agrees substantially with his view of its meaning as isolating a thought from all else and placing it alone in the light (Untersuchungen uber Griechische Partikeln, p. 54) = ‘‘ Mark my words, for if you do not as I advise then,” etc.— αρ» οὐκ ἔχετε: on μισθὸν, vide ν. 46. he meaning is that theatrical virtue does not count in the Kingdom of God. Right motive is essential there. There may be a reward, there must be, else theatrical religion would not be so common ; but it is not παρὰ τῷ πατρί.