Matthew 6:18

Matthew 6:18 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
• New International Version (NIV)so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
• English Standard Version (ESV)that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
• New King James Version (NKJV)so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

Context of Matthew 6:18

16Jesus then said, ‘You may decide to fast for some time. But do not look sad so that people know you are doing a special thing. Hypocrites want people to see how good they are. They make their faces dirty. Then other people can see that they are fasting. I tell you this: people have praised them and that is the only gift that they will get. 17But when you fast for some time, you should wash your face. Make your hair look nice. Then other people will not know that you are doing a special thing. But God, your Father, will know. You do not see him but he sees what you do secretly. He will give you good things in return. 19Do not want to have many valuable things here in the world. Insects or water can destroy those kinds of things. Or people may come into your house and they can rob you of those things. 20Instead, you should want to have valuable things in heaven. Insects and water cannot destroy anything there. Men cannot rob you of your things there.

Matthew 6:18 word by word

ὅπως μὴ φανῇς τοῖς ἀνθρώποις νηστεύων ἀλλὰ τῷ πατρί σου τῷ ἐν τῷ κρυφαίῳ. καὶ ὁ πατήρ σου ὁ βλέπων ἐν τῷ κρυφαίῳ ἀποδώσει σοιRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Thatὅπωςhopōs · thatG3704
• thou appearφαίνωphainō · to shine/appearG5316
• notμήmē · notG3361
• unto menὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• unto menἄνθρωποςanthrōpos · a humanG444
• to fastνηστεύωnēsteuō · to fastG3522
• butἀλλάalla · butG235
• untoπατήρpatēr · fatherG3962
• thyσύsu · youG4771
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• secretκρυπτόςkruptos · hiddenG2927
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• which seethβλέπωblepō · to seeG991
• shall rewardἀποδίδωμιapodidōmi · to payG591
• openlyφανερόςphaneros · clearG5318

Cross-references for Matthew 6:18

• 2 Corinthians 5:9But all the time we want to please the Lord. We want to do that while we are still at home in our body here on earth. We also want to please him when we go away from these bodies.
• 2 Corinthians 10:18Who is really good? It is not the person who praises himself. It is the person that the Lord says is a good person.
• Colossians 3:22Slaves, always obey your human masters. Do not do good work only when they can see you. Some people only work to make other people like them. Instead, serve your masters well because you want to. That will show that you respect the Lord as your master.
• 1 Peter 2:13Obey all people who have authority in this world. Obey them, because you are servants of the Lord Jesus. First of all, obey the king, who rules everyone.
• Matthew 6:4Nobody else will know about the good thing that you have done. But God sees the things that you do secretly. In return, he will give you good things.’
• Romans 2:6He will give to each person what they ought to have because of the things that they have done.
• 1 Peter 1:7The purpose of these troubles is to show whether you really trust God. When you believe in Jesus, that is more valuable even than gold. People put gold into a hot fire to see if it is really good. And even gold will come to an end one day. But if you continue to trust God in your troubles, he will be very happy. On the day when Jesus Christ returns and appears to everyone, God will praise you. He will say that you have done well. That will be great!

Commentaries on Matthew 6:18

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18Thy father which seeth in secret - Let us not be afraid that our hearts can be concealed from God; but let us fear lest he perceive them to be more desirous of the praise of men than they are of that glory which comes from Him. Openly - . These words are omitted by nine MSS. in uncial letters; and by more than one hundred others, by most of the versions, and by several of the primitive fathers. As it is supported by no adequate authority, Bengel…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 16-18Verses 16-18 Religious fasting is a duty required of the disciples of Christ, but it is not so much a duty itself, as a means to dispose us for other duties. Fasting is the humbling of the soul, Psa 35:13; that is the inside of the duty; let that, therefore, be thy principal care, and as to the outside of it, covet not to let it be seen. God sees in secret, and will reward openly.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1818. That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly--The "openly" seems evidently a later addition to the text of this verse from Mt 6:4, 7, though of course the idea is implied.Read the comment

Topics related to Matthew 6:18

• Commandments
• Fasting
• God Continued...
• Motive
• Pharisees
• Religion

In the dictionaries

• Add
• Appear
• Closet
• Consider
• Corrupt
• Countenance
• Despise
• Fast
• Father
• Forgive

Commentaries on Matthew 6

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Catena Aurea
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• John Lightfoot Commentary
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings