Matthew

a 6:1 — your righteousness (τὴν δικαιοσύνην ὑμῶν / tēn dikaiosynēn hymōn) ↩ back to text

Tier 1 — Lexical Anchor: δικαιοσύνη dikaiosynē is right conduct that conforms to God’s will; in Matthew it names the way of life Jesus requires (Matthew 5:6, 10, 20; 6:33). Verse 1 is a heading over the three examples that follow: giving (6:2–4), prayer (6:5–15), and fasting (6:16–18). “To be seen” renders πρὸς τὸ θεαθῆναι pros to theathēnai, from θεάομαι theaomai, “to look at as a spectator,” the verb behind “theater.” NA28 reads “righteousness”; the Majority Text and Textus Receptus read “alms” (ἐλεημοσύνην eleēmosynēn), which narrows the heading to the first example only.

Tier 2 — Canonical Mesh: Moses ties righteousness to doing the commandments (Deuteronomy 6:25). Daniel urges a king to break off his sins “by righteousness” and his iniquities by showing mercy to the poor (Daniel 4:27), where the Aramaic צִדְקָה ṣiḏqâ can mean both righteousness and almsgiving. Jesus has just said that the disciples’ righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 5:20), and He will close this section with “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33).

Tier 3 — Historical / Cosmological Horizon: In Second Temple Judaism, almsgiving, prayer, and fasting formed a recognized triad of piety: “Prayer with fasting is good, and almsgiving with righteousness” (Tobit 12:8). The Hebrew צְדָקָה ṣəḏāqâ (“righteousness”) was coming to mean “almsgiving,” which explains how scribes could substitute “alms” for “righteousness” here. TWB follows NA28, supported by the earliest manuscripts; the change to “alms” is best explained as scribes making the heading match verse 2.

Variant record: main text “righteousness (δικαιοσύνην, dikaiosynēn)”; alternative “alms (ἐλεημοσύνην, eleēmosynēn)”. Witnesses: NA28: main; Codex Sinaiticus (original hand): main; Codex Vaticanus: main; Codex Bezae: main; Majority Text: alternative; Textus Receptus: alternative. Decision: NA28 reading retained.

b 6:2 — the hypocrites (οἱ ὑποκριταί / hoi hypokritai) ↩ back to text

Tier 1 — Lexical Anchor: ὑποκριτής hypokritēs was the ordinary Greek word for a stage actor, one who plays a part behind a mask. Jesus uses it for those whose piety is a performance staged for an audience (6:2, 5, 16). “They have their reward in full” renders ἀπέχουσιν apechousin, a commercial term found on ancient receipts meaning “paid in full”: the applause is the whole payment, and nothing remains owing.

Tier 2 — Canonical Mesh: Matthew uses the word more than any other Gospel writer, especially in the seven woes against the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 23:13–29). Jesus applies Isaiah 29:13 to them: “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me” (Matthew 15:7–8). In Matthew 7:5 the same word is turned on anyone who judges a brother while ignoring his own fault.

Tier 3 — Historical / Cosmological Horizon: Theaters stood in Greek cities across the region, and Matthew’s Greek-speaking readers knew the actor and his mask. “Sound a trumpet” is not attested as a literal practice for almsgiving; interpreters have connected it with the trumpet-shaped offering chests in the temple (Mishnah Sheqalim 6:5), with trumpets blown at public fasts, or simply with a vivid figure of self-advertisement, which is the most likely reading. The issue is not giving in public but giving for the audience.

c 6:4 — will repay you (ἀποδώσει σοι / apodōsei soi) ↩ back to text

Tier 1 — Lexical Anchor: ἀποδίδωμι apodidōmi means to give back what is due, to pay or repay. “In secret” (ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ en tō kryptō) describes both where the alms are given and where the Father sees. The repayment is God’s, and the text does not say whether it comes now or at the judgment (compare Matthew 16:27). The Majority Text and Textus Receptus add “openly” (ἐν τῷ φανερῷ en tō phanerō) at 6:4 and 6:6, and the Textus Receptus also at 6:18, making the reward a public one; the earliest manuscripts lack the word.

Tier 2 — Canonical Mesh: “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for his deed” (Proverbs 19:17). God searches and knows the hidden person (Psalm 139:1–4; Hebrews 4:13). The same promise closes each of the three examples (Matthew 6:4, 6, 18), and Jesus later says the Son of Man “will repay each person according to his deeds” (Matthew 16:27).

Tier 3 — Historical / Cosmological Horizon: First-century readers lived in an honor culture in which public generosity bought public standing; inscriptions honoring benefactors stood in every city. Jesus moves the whole exchange out of the public eye: the giver is to seek honor from one witness only. The addition of “openly” is best explained as scribes supplying a contrast to “in secret.”

Variant record: main text “will repay you (ἀποδώσει σοι, apodōsei soi)”; alternative “will repay you openly (ἀποδώσει σοι ἐν τῷ φανερῷ, apodōsei soi en tō phanerō)”. Witnesses: NA28: main; Codex Sinaiticus: main; Codex Vaticanus: main; Codex Bezae: main; Majority Text: alternative; Textus Receptus: alternative. Decision: NA28 reading retained.

d 6:6 — your inner room (τὸ ταμεῖόν σου / to tameion sou) ↩ back to text

Tier 1 — Lexical Anchor: ταμεῖον tameion is a storeroom or inner chamber; in a typical village house it was often the one room with a lockable door. The singular “you” in verse 6 (after the plural in verse 5) addresses each disciple personally.

Tier 2 — Canonical Mesh: The wording echoes Isaiah 26:20 in the Septuagint: “Go, My people, enter your chambers (ταμιεῖα tamieia), shut your door.” Elisha “shut the door behind the two of them and prayed to the Lord” (2 Kings 4:33). Daniel prayed with his windows open toward Jerusalem (Daniel 6:10), so the point is not secrecy for its own sake but the absence of an audience. Jesus Himself withdraws to pray alone (Matthew 14:23; 26:36–39).

Tier 3 — Historical / Cosmological Horizon: Jews prayed at set times, and the hours of prayer could find a person in the street or the marketplace; standing to pray was the normal posture. Jesus does not forbid public prayer, which He practiced (Matthew 11:25; 14:19), but prayer chosen for its visibility. The storeroom, the least impressive room in the house, becomes the place where the Father who is in secret is met.

e 6:7 — babble on as the Gentiles do (μὴ βατταλογήσητε ὥσπερ οἱ ἐθνικοί / mē battalogēsēte hōsper hoi ethnikoi) ↩ back to text

Tier 1 — Lexical Anchor: βατταλογέω battalogeō is not found in any earlier Greek text; it may imitate the sound of meaningless repetition (“batta-batta”), or come from an Aramaic word meaning “to speak idly.” It is explained by πολυλογία polylogia, “many words.” ἐθνικός ethnikos means a Gentile, a person of the nations as distinct from Israel. The problem is not length or repetition as such, since Jesus prays the same words three times in Gethsemane (Matthew 26:44), but the belief that quantity of words secures a hearing.

Tier 2 — Canonical Mesh: The prophets of Baal called on Baal’s name “from morning until noon,” shouting and limping around the altar, and “there was no voice, and no one answered” (1 Kings 18:26–29). “Let your words be few” (Ecclesiastes 5:2). Moses says the nations’ worship went to beings that are “not God” (Deuteronomy 32:17, Septuagint δαιμονίοις daimoniois), and Paul repeats this of pagan sacrifice (1 Corinthians 10:20).

Tier 3 — Historical / Cosmological Horizon: Greek and Roman prayer often piled up a god’s names and titles to be sure the right deity was addressed and bound by the request, and the Greek Magical Papyri preserve long strings of divine names and unintelligible syllables meant to compel a power to act. Within the Divine Council worldview, the nations had been placed under lesser spiritual powers (Deuteronomy 32:8–9; see the TWB note on Matthew 6:32), and their prayers were a negotiation with gods who had to be persuaded or manipulated. Jesus sets the disciples’ prayer against that background: they address a Father who already knows their need (6:8).

f 6:9 — Our Father who is in the heavens (Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς / Pater hēmōn ho en tois ouranois) ↩ back to text

Tier 1 — Lexical Anchor: πατήρ patēr, “father,” here in the vocative. “In the heavens” renders the plural ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς en tois ouranois; the Greek plural reflects the Hebrew שָׁמַיִם šāmayim, which is always plural in form. TWB keeps the plural wherever Matthew uses it, as in Matthew 5:16 and 5:45, and renders the singular as “heaven” (6:10, 20). The plural “our” makes this a prayer of the community, even when prayed alone (6:6). Luke’s shorter form opens simply “Father” (Luke 11:2), likely reflecting Jesus’ Aramaic אַבָּא ʾabbāʾ (Mark 14:36).

Tier 2 — Canonical Mesh: Israel called God “our Father” in the prophets (Isaiah 63:16; 64:8; Jeremiah 3:19; Malachi 2:10). Believers cry “Abba! Father!” by the Spirit (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6). The Lord “has established His throne in the heavens,” where His angels and hosts do His word (Psalm 103:19–21), and Micaiah saw Him seated on His throne with “all the host of heaven” standing beside Him (1 Kings 22:19).

Tier 3 — Historical / Cosmological Horizon: Jewish prayer of the period addressed God as Father, though usually with added titles; Sirach 23:1 prays to the “Lord, Father and Master of my life.” For first-century hearers, “in the heavens” located God in His throne room, surrounded by the divine council of heavenly beings who serve Him. The prayer is addressed to the One who presides over that assembly, not to any of its members.

g 6:9 — let Your name be hallowed (ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου / hagiasthētō to onoma sou) ↩ back to text

Tier 1 — Lexical Anchor: ἁγιασθήτω hagiasthētō is an aorist passive imperative, third person, of ἁγιάζω hagiazō, “to make holy, treat as holy.” English has no third-person imperative, so TWB renders “let … be hallowed” in each of the first three petitions to keep their parallel form. The passive leaves the actor open: the petition asks that God’s name be treated as holy, and in the prophets it is God Himself who acts to do this. The “name” stands for God’s revealed character and reputation.

Tier 2 — Canonical Mesh: “I will vindicate the holiness of My great name, which has been profaned among the nations … and the nations will know that I am the Lord” (Ezekiel 36:23; compare Isaiah 29:23). Israel was not to profane the name (Leviticus 22:32; Exodus 20:7). Before His death Jesus prays, “Father, glorify Your name,” and a voice answers from heaven (John 12:28).

Tier 3 — Historical / Cosmological Horizon: The ancient Jewish prayer known as the Kaddish, whose core many scholars date early, opens in a strikingly similar way: “Magnified and sanctified be His great name in the world … may He establish His kingdom.” Jesus’ hearers would have recognized the pattern of their own prayers. In a world where each nation honored its own gods, the petition asks that the God of Israel be acknowledged as holy among all peoples.

h 6:10 — as in heaven, so also on earth (ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς / hōs en ouranō kai epi gēs) ↩ back to text

Tier 1 — Lexical Anchor: ἐλθέτω elthetō (“let … come”) and γενηθήτω genēthētō (“let … be done”) are aorist imperatives like “let … be hallowed.” Here “heaven” is singular (οὐρανῷ ouranō), unlike the plural of 6:9. The closing phrase “as in heaven, so also on earth” most naturally governs all three petitions: the name honored, the kingdom present, and the will done on earth as they already are in heaven. βασιλεία basileia means reign or royal rule as well as realm. “Will” renders θέλημα thelēma, what God desires and decrees.

Tier 2 — Canonical Mesh: God’s angels “do His word” and His hosts “do His will” in heaven (Psalm 103:20–21); He does as He pleases “among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth” (Daniel 4:35). Daniel sees the kingdom given to the holy ones of the Most High (Daniel 7:27). Jesus prays the same words in Gethsemane: “Your will be done” (Matthew 26:42). Revelation announces the answer: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Messiah” (Revelation 11:15).

Tier 3 — Historical / Cosmological Horizon: On the Divine Council reading of Scripture, the earth is contested ground. After Babel the nations were allotted to lesser heavenly powers (Deuteronomy 32:8–9, reading “sons of God” with the Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint), some of whom became hostile rulers; Daniel speaks of a heavenly “prince of Persia” resisting God’s messenger (Daniel 10:13, 20), and the devil offers Jesus “all the kingdoms of the world” (Matthew 4:8–9). Heaven is where God’s will is done without resistance. To pray for His kingdom to come is to ask Him to reclaim the earth from every rival power.

i 6:11 — daily bread (τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον / ton arton hēmōn ton epiousion) ↩ back to text

Tier 1 — Lexical Anchor: ἐπιούσιος epiousios occurs only here and in Luke 11:3 and is not securely attested in any earlier Greek. Origen thought the Gospel writers had coined it (On Prayer 27.7). Proposals include “necessary for existence” (from ἐπί epi + οὐσία ousia, “being”), “for the coming day” (from ἡ ἐπιοῦσα hē epiousa, “the next day”), and “daily.” Jerome reported that a Hebrew gospel known to him read מָחָר māḥār, “tomorrow.” TWB keeps the familiar “daily,” which fits “today” in the same line and the next day’s provision implied by the other options; the uncertainty is recorded here.

Tier 2 — Canonical Mesh: The manna was gathered “a day’s portion every day” (Exodus 16:4), and none could be stored. “Feed me with the bread that is my portion” (Proverbs 30:8). The petition fits Jesus’ later teaching not to be anxious about tomorrow (Matthew 6:34). Jesus calls Himself the true bread from heaven (John 6:32–35).

Tier 3 — Historical / Cosmological Horizon: Day laborers in Galilee were paid at evening for the day’s work (Matthew 20:8), and many households lived one day’s wages from hunger. For them, bread for today or for tomorrow was not a figure of speech. Early Christian writers also read the petition of spiritual food and of the bread of the coming kingdom; the text’s first sense is ordinary food received from the Father.

j 6:12 — our debts (τὰ ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν / ta opheilēmata hēmōn) ↩ back to text

Tier 1 — Lexical Anchor: ὀφείλημα opheilēma is a debt, what is owed. Jesus’ Aramaic חוֹבָא ḥôḇāʾ meant both a debt and a sin, which explains why Luke’s form reads “forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us” (Luke 11:4). ἀφίημι aphiēmi means to release or cancel. NA28 reads the aorist “we have forgiven” (ἀφήκαμεν aphēkamen); the Majority Text and Textus Receptus read the present “we forgive” (ἀφίεμεν aphiemen).

Tier 2 — Canonical Mesh: Jesus comments on this petition immediately (Matthew 6:14–15) and later tells the parable of the servant forgiven a vast debt who would not forgive a small one (Matthew 18:23–35). The Law commanded a regular release of debts (Deuteronomy 15:1–2) and a year of liberty (Leviticus 25:10), where the Septuagint uses the related noun ἄφεσις aphesis, “release.” Paul pictures the record of debt canceled at the cross (Colossians 2:14).

Tier 3 — Historical / Cosmological Horizon: Debt was a crushing reality in first-century Galilee, where loans against land and harvest could end in debt slavery (compare Matthew 18:25). Jesus’ hearers would hear the petition in economic as well as moral terms. The verse does not make forgiveness by God a wage earned by forgiving others; it describes forgiven people as those who release their debtors, as verses 14–15 then underline.

k 6:13 — do not bring us into temptation (μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν / mē eisenenkēs hēmas eis peirasmon) ↩ back to text

Tier 1 — Lexical Anchor: πειρασμός peirasmos ranges from a test or trial (which may prove someone true) to a temptation (an enticement to sin). εἰσφέρω eispherō means to bring or lead into. TWB renders “temptation,” the sense the word carries in Jesus’ Gethsemane warning (Matthew 26:41), and records the wider meaning here. The petition asks God not to lead His people into a trial that would overcome them.

Tier 2 — Canonical Mesh: God tested Israel in the wilderness “to know what was in your heart” (Deuteronomy 8:2), and the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness “to be tempted by the devil” (Matthew 4:1). James insists that God tempts no one to evil (James 1:13), and Paul promises that God will not let believers be tested beyond what they can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13). Jesus tells the sleeping disciples, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation” (Matthew 26:41). Revelation speaks of “the hour of trial” coming on the whole world (Revelation 3:10).

Tier 3 — Historical / Cosmological Horizon: A Jewish evening prayer recorded in the Talmud asks, “Bring me not into the power of sin, nor into the power of temptation” (Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 60b). Many Jews also expected a final time of tribulation before the kingdom came. The disciples, who have just heard Jesus’ own testing (Matthew 4:1–11), are taught to ask that they be kept from the trial rather than to seek it.

l 6:13 — the evil one (τοῦ πονηροῦ / tou ponērou) ↩ back to text

Tier 1 — Lexical Anchor: πονηροῦ ponērou is genitive and may be masculine (“the evil one”) or neuter (“evil”). Matthew uses ὁ πονηρός ho ponēros as a title for Satan (Matthew 13:19, where Mark 4:15 has “Satan,” and 13:38), and the article favors a person here, so TWB renders “the evil one”; “evil” remains possible. ῥύομαι rhyomai means to rescue or deliver, as from an enemy. The doxology familiar from the King James Version (“For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”) is not in NA28; see the variant record below.

Tier 2 — Canonical Mesh: Jesus prays for His disciples, “Keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15). The whole world “lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19), and believers take up faith to quench his flaming darts (Ephesians 6:16). The doxology echoes David’s prayer: “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory” (1 Chronicles 29:11). Paul writes, “The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed” (2 Timothy 4:18).

Tier 3 — Historical / Cosmological Horizon: Within the Divine Council worldview, the prayer closes where Matthew’s story of Jesus’ ministry began: with the tempter (Matthew 4:1–11). The disciples pray as subjects of the coming kingdom who still live in territory where a hostile power is at work, and they ask the Father for rescue rather than trusting their own strength. The doxology first appears in a shorter form in the Didache 8:2, an early Christian manual: “for Yours is the power and the glory forever.” Its absence from the earliest manuscripts and its varying forms suggest it entered Matthew from church worship, where closing a prayer with praise was standard Jewish practice.

Variant record: main text “but deliver us from the evil one. [no doxology]”; alternative “adds: For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. (ὅτι σοῦ ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία καὶ ἡ δύναμις καὶ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. ἀμήν. — hoti sou estin hē basileia kai hē dynamis kai hē doxa eis tous aiōnas. amēn.)”. Witnesses: NA28: main; Codex Sinaiticus: main; Codex Vaticanus: main; Codex Bezae: main; Origen, Tertullian, Cyprian: main (comment on the prayer without it); Didache 8:2: shorter form without “kingdom” and “Amen”; Majority Text: alternative; Textus Receptus: alternative. Decision: NA28 reading retained.

m 6:16 — they disfigure their faces (ἀφανίζουσιν γὰρ τὰ πρόσωπα αὐτῶν / aphanizousin gar ta prosōpa autōn) ↩ back to text

Tier 1 — Lexical Anchor: A wordplay: ἀφανίζω aphanizō means “to make unseen, obscure, disfigure,” and the purpose is ὅπως φανῶσιν hopōs phanōsin, “so that they may appear.” They hide their faces in order to be seen. σκυθρωπός skythrōpos is “sad-faced, gloomy.” Anointing the head and washing the face (6:17) were ordinary daily grooming, so the disciple who fasts is to look as he does on any other day.

Tier 2 — Canonical Mesh: Isaiah exposes a fast of sackcloth and ashes that leaves injustice untouched and describes the fast God chooses (Isaiah 58:3–7). “Rend your hearts and not your garments” (Joel 2:13). Daniel in mourning did not anoint himself (Daniel 10:3). The Pharisee in Luke’s parable says, “I fast twice a week” (Luke 18:12), and the disciples of John ask why Jesus’ disciples do not fast (Matthew 9:14–15).

Tier 3 — Historical / Cosmological Horizon: The Law required one fast a year, on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:29), but devout Jews of the period added voluntary fasts, often on Mondays and Thursdays. Signs of fasting such as ashes on the head, unwashed hair, and torn clothing were visible to everyone. The Didache 8:1 later tells Christians not to fast “with the hypocrites” on Monday and Thursday but on Wednesday and Friday, showing how early this passage shaped Christian practice.

n 6:19 — treasures on earth (θησαυροὺς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς / thēsaurous epi tēs gēs) ↩ back to text

Tier 1 — Lexical Anchor: θησαυρίζετε θησαυρούς thēsaurizete thēsaurous is a cognate construction, literally “do not treasure up treasures.” σής sēs is the clothes moth, since fine garments were a form of wealth. βρῶσις brōsis means “eating” and is usually rendered “rust” (corrosion eating metal), though it may refer to vermin. Thieves “break in,” literally “dig through” (διορύσσω diorussō), because village walls were of mud brick or rubble that could be tunneled.

Tier 2 — Canonical Mesh: James warns the rich that their garments are moth-eaten and their gold and silver have corroded (James 5:2–3). Jesus tells the rich young man that selling his possessions will give him “treasure in heaven” (Matthew 19:21; compare Luke 12:33). Paul urges the rich to store up a good foundation for the future (1 Timothy 6:19). “The moth will eat them up like a garment” (Isaiah 51:8).

Tier 3 — Historical / Cosmological Horizon: Jewish wisdom already spoke of storing treasure with God through obedience and mercy: “Lay up your treasure according to the commandments of the Most High, and it will profit you more than gold” (Sirach 29:11), and “you will be laying up good treasure for yourself against the day of necessity” (Tobit 4:9). Jesus’ hearers would understand “treasure in heaven” as what God credits and keeps, not as a description of heaven’s furnishings.

o 6:22 — if your eye is healthy (ἐὰν οὖν ᾖ ὁ ὀφθαλμός σου ἁπλοῦς / ean oun ē ho ophthalmos sou haplous) ↩ back to text

Tier 1 — Lexical Anchor: ἁπλοῦς haplous means “single, simple, undivided,” and so “sound, healthy” of an eye; the related noun ἁπλότης haplotēs means “generosity” (Romans 12:8; 2 Corinthians 9:11). Its opposite in verse 23 is πονηρός ponēros, “evil.” TWB renders “healthy” and “evil” and records the idiom: in Hebrew usage an “evil eye” is a stingy, grudging eye, and a “good eye” a generous one. The saying stands between treasure (6:19–21) and two masters (6:24), and both images concern money.

Tier 2 — Canonical Mesh: Moses warns against letting “your eye be evil toward your poor brother” and refusing a loan as the year of release approaches (Deuteronomy 15:9). “Whoever has a bountiful eye (טוֹב־עַיִן ṭôḇ-ʿayin) will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor” (Proverbs 22:9); a man with an evil eye hastens after wealth (Proverbs 28:22). In the parable of the vineyard workers, the owner asks, “Is your eye evil because I am good?” (Matthew 20:15).

Tier 3 — Historical / Cosmological Horizon: Many ancient thinkers held that the eye sent out light rather than only receiving it (Plato, Timaeus 45b–c), so the eye was a lamp, and its condition showed what was within. The Testament of Issachar praises ἁπλότης haplotēs, single-minded integrity, as freedom from envy and greed. Hearers would take the saying as a moral image: a generous, undivided eye fills the whole person with light, and a grasping eye darkens them.

p 6:24 — God and wealth (θεῷ … καὶ μαμωνᾷ / theō … kai mamōna) ↩ back to text

Tier 1 — Lexical Anchor: μαμωνᾶς mamōnas is the Aramaic word מָמוֹנָא māmônāʾ carried over into Greek; older English versions kept it as “mammon.” It means wealth or property of every kind, not only money, and may come from the root אמן ʾmn, “that in which one trusts.” TWB renders “wealth” so that every reader understands the saying; it is lowercase because the word is not a divine name. The personification is still plain from the context: wealth is set beside God as one of “two masters.” δουλεύω douleuō means to serve as a slave, and κύριος kyrios is a master or owner. “Hate … love” is a Semitic idiom of preference and allegiance rather than emotion (Genesis 29:31; Malachi 1:2–3).

Tier 2 — Canonical Mesh: Luke records the same saying (Luke 16:13) together with “the mammon of unrighteousness” (Luke 16:9, 11). Paul calls covetousness idolatry (Colossians 3:5) and the love of money a root of all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10). Jesus has already answered the tempter, “You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve” (Matthew 4:10, quoting Deuteronomy 6:13).

Tier 3 — Historical / Cosmological Horizon: The word appears in Hebrew and Aramaic texts of the period, including the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Targums, always meaning wealth, often with “of unrighteousness” or “of falsehood.” Medieval writers later turned “Mammon” into the name of a demon, and Milton placed him among the fallen angels in Paradise Lost, but that is a later development and not the meaning here. Within a Divine Council reading, the force of the saying is allegiance: Israel could not serve the Lord and other gods (Joshua 24:15), and the disciple cannot divide service between God and a rival lord that demands trust.

q 6:25 — do not be anxious about your life (μὴ μεριμνᾶτε τῇ ψυχῇ ὑμῶν / mē merimnate tē psychē hymōn) ↩ back to text

Tier 1 — Lexical Anchor: μεριμνάω merimnaō means to be anxious or preoccupied; the word occurs six times in 6:25–34. ψυχή psychē here means one’s physical life, the life sustained by food, paired with the body sustained by clothing (compare the TWB note on Genesis 1:20). NA28 includes “or what you will drink” in brackets because some early witnesses lack it; TWB retains it with the majority of manuscripts.

Tier 2 — Canonical Mesh: “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you” (Psalm 55:22), which 1 Peter 5:7 echoes: “casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.” Paul writes, “Do not be anxious about anything” (Philippians 4:6). In the parable of the sower, “the anxiety of the age” chokes the word (Matthew 13:22), and Jesus tells Martha she is “anxious and troubled about many things” (Luke 10:41).

Tier 3 — Historical / Cosmological Horizon: The command is not a call to idleness: birds still seek their food, and the hearers were farmers, fishermen, and laborers. The contrast is between work and worry. Read in the Second Temple setting, the passage draws on Israel’s wisdom tradition of learning from creation (Proverbs 6:6; Job 12:7–10) and on the conviction that the Creator who feeds His creatures is the disciples’ Father.

r 6:27 — add a single cubit to his span of life (προσθεῖναι ἐπὶ τὴν ἡλικίαν αὐτοῦ πῆχυν ἕνα / prostheinai epi tēn hēlikian autou pēchyn hena) ↩ back to text

Tier 1 — Lexical Anchor: ἡλικία hēlikia can mean either length of life (“age, life-span”) or bodily height (“stature,” Luke 19:3). πῆχυς pēchys is a cubit, the length of a forearm, about eighteen inches (45 centimeters). Older translations read “stature,” but adding a foot and a half to one’s height is no small thing, while the context concerns staying alive. TWB renders “span of life,” with the cubit used figuratively of time.

Tier 2 — Canonical Mesh: “You have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before You” (Psalm 39:5) measures a life by a unit of length in the same way. Job says a person’s days are determined (Job 14:5). Luke’s parallel adds, “If then you are not able to do even a very little thing, why are you anxious about the rest?” (Luke 12:25–26).

Tier 3 — Historical / Cosmological Horizon: Ancient readers were used to measuring life in terms of length, as in the Psalms, and to the proverbial brevity of life. The rhetorical question needs no answer: anxiety cannot lengthen a life by even a little. The point, against an anxious age, is that the length of each life rests with the Father.

s 6:30 — you of little faith (ὀλιγόπιστοι / oligopistoi) ↩ back to text

Tier 1 — Lexical Anchor: ὀλιγόπιστος oligopistos, from ὀλίγος oligos (“little”) and πίστις pistis (“faith, trust”), is addressed only to disciples. Matthew uses it four times (6:30; 8:26; 14:31; 16:8) and the related noun ὀλιγοπιστία oligopistia once (17:20). It describes not unbelief but faith too small for the moment. The grass “thrown into the oven” refers to dried plants used as fuel in a clay baking oven (κλίβανος klibanos).

Tier 2 — Canonical Mesh: The disciples are called “you of little faith” in the storm (Matthew 8:26), Peter as he sinks (14:31), and the disciples when they worry about bread (16:8). Solomon’s splendor astonished the queen of Sheba (1 Kings 10:4–7), yet wildflowers surpass it.

Tier 3 — Historical / Cosmological Horizon: A saying attributed to Rabbi Eliezer the Great is close in thought: “Whoever has bread in his basket and says, ‘What shall I eat tomorrow?’ is one of those of little faith” (Babylonian Talmud, Sotah 48b), using the Hebrew phrase קְטַנֵּי אֲמָנָה qəṭannê ʾămānâ. Jesus’ hearers would know Solomon as the very picture of royal glory, and the “lilies of the field,” probably the wildflowers that cover Galilee’s hills in spring, as the commonest of plants.

t 6:32 — the nations (τὰ ἔθνη / ta ethnē) ↩ back to text

Tier 1 — Lexical Anchor: ἔθνος ethnos is a nation or people; the plural τὰ ἔθνη ta ethnē renders the Hebrew גּוֹיִם gôyim, the nations as distinct from Israel. TWB renders “the nations” here, where the contrast is between peoples and their worship, and “the Gentiles” for ἐθνικοί ethnikoi in 6:7. ἐπιζητέω epizēteō means to seek eagerly, to strive after.

Tier 2 — Canonical Mesh: When the Most High divided the nations, He fixed their boundaries “according to the number of the sons of God,” but the Lord’s portion was His people (Deuteronomy 32:8–9, Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint); the host of heaven was “allotted to all the peoples” (Deuteronomy 4:19). Israel itself credited Baal with its grain, wine, and oil, not knowing that the Lord had given them (Hosea 2:5, 8). The risen Jesus sends His disciples to make disciples of “all the nations” (Matthew 28:19).

Tier 3 — Historical / Cosmological Horizon: Across the ancient world, food, rain, and fertility were sought from gods of storm, harvest, and household, and much ritual existed to secure them. On a Divine Council reading, the nations “seek” these things from the lesser powers to whom they had been given over, gods who must be fed with sacrifice and won over. Jesus’ disciples have a different relationship altogether: their heavenly Father already knows what they need. The contrast is not that Gentiles want food and disciples do not, but where each looks for it.

u 6:33 — the kingdom of God and His righteousness (τὴν βασιλείαν [τοῦ θεοῦ] καὶ τὴν δικαιοσύνην αὐτοῦ / tēn basileian [tou theou] kai tēn dikaiosynēn autou) ↩ back to text

Tier 1 — Lexical Anchor: ζητεῖτε zēteite is a present imperative, “keep seeking.” προστεθήσεται prostethēsetai, “will be added,” is a divine passive: God adds these things. NA28 prints “of God” (τοῦ θεοῦ tou theou) in brackets because Codex Sinaiticus lacks it (“His kingdom and His righteousness”) and Codex Vaticanus reads “His righteousness and kingdom”; TWB follows the bracketed text. Matthew usually writes “kingdom of the heavens,” but uses “kingdom of God” here and in a few other places (12:28; 19:24; 21:31, 43).

Tier 2 — Canonical Mesh: Righteousness in Matthew is chiefly the conduct God requires (Matthew 5:6, 10, 20; 6:1), though some read it here as God’s saving righteousness, His faithfulness in setting things right, as in Isaiah 51:5–8. Solomon asked for wisdom, and God added riches and honor (1 Kings 3:11–13). “I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread” (Psalm 37:25). The kingdom of God is “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17).

Tier 3 — Historical / Cosmological Horizon: For Jesus’ hearers, the kingdom of God meant the long-awaited reign of Israel’s God over His people and the nations, the hope voiced in the prayer of 6:10. Seeking it “first” sets its priority over the necessities just named. Interpreters differ on whether “His righteousness” means the righteous life God requires or the righteousness God gives; TWB records both readings.

Variant record: main text “the kingdom of God and His righteousness (τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὴν δικαιοσύνην αὐτοῦ, tēn basileian tou theou kai tēn dikaiosynēn autou)”; alternative “His kingdom and His righteousness, without “of God” (Sinaiticus); His righteousness and kingdom (Vaticanus)”. Witnesses: NA28: main (“of God” in brackets); Codex Sinaiticus: alternative; Codex Vaticanus: alternative, with the order reversed; Majority Text: main; Textus Receptus: main. Decision: NA28 reading retained.