Matthew Chapter 6 verse 4 Holy Bible

ASV Matthew 6:4

that thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father who seeth in secret shall recompense thee.
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BBE Matthew 6:4

So that your giving may be in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will give you your reward.
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DARBY Matthew 6:4

so that thine alms may be in secret, and thy Father who sees in secret will render [it] to thee.
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KJV Matthew 6:4

That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
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WBT Matthew 6:4


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WEB Matthew 6:4

so that your merciful deeds may be in secret, then your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
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YLT Matthew 6:4

that thy kindness may be in secret, and thy Father who is seeing in secret Himself shall reward thee manifestly.
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Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 4. - And thy Father which seeth in secret (comp. ver. 6, note). Himself. Revised 'Version omits, with the manuscripts. Shall reward thee; Revised Version, shall recompense thee (ἀποδώσει σοι). Shall give to thee in full measure corresponding to the contents of that which is really due (cf. Isaiah 65:6, 7, LXX.). When this" recompense" shall be given is not stated. If, as is probable, our Lord is thinking of the" reward" of ver. 1 and Matthew 5:12, it would naturally be given at the judgment-day. Openly. Revised Version omits, with the manuscripts; similarly vers. 6,18. The interpolation was probably made not only because of the contrast suggested by "in secret," but also to indicate more precisely the time when God would do this.

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(4) That thine alms may be in secret.--Here again we have a principle rather than a rule. Publicity may be a duty, especially in public work. But this--gifts for schools, hospitals, and the like--is hardly contemplated in the word "alms," which refers rather to acts of mercy, to cases of individual suffering. Ostentation in those acts is what our Lord especially condemns.Thy Father which seeth in secret.--The attribute which we call the Omniscience of God is commonly dwelt on as calculated to inspire a just fear of the All-seeing One. He sees, we say, the evil deeds that are done in secret. Here it is brought before us as an encouragement and ground of hope. Do we feel isolated, not understood, not appreciated? He sees in secret and will reward.Shall reward thee openly.--A curious instance of an early attempt to improve on our Lord's teaching. The adverb "openly" is not found in the best MSS., and is now omitted by most editors. It would seem either as if a false rhetorical taste desired a more complete antithesis, or that the craving for public acknowledgment in the presence of men and angels asserted itself even here, and led men to add to the words of the divine Teacher. It need hardly be said that the addition weakens and lowers the force of the truth asserted. It is not necessarily in this way, "openly," that God rewards His servants, nor do the words point only to the reward of the last great day. The reward is at once immediate, and, it may be, secret--the hidden manna, the joy with which a stranger doth not intermeddle, and which no man taketh from us.