Matthew 6:16

American Standard Version (1901)

Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may be seen of men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have received their reward.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

Ὅταν δὲ νηστεύητε, μὴ γίνεσθε, ὥσπερ οἱ ὑποκριταὶ, σκυθρωποί: ἀφανίζουσιν γὰρ τὰ πρόσωπα αὐτῶν, ὅπως φανῶσιν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις νηστεύοντες. Ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ὅτι Ἀπέχουσιν τὸν μισθὸν αὐτῶν.

Transliteration

Hotan de nēsteuēte, mē ginesthe, hōsper the hypokritai, skythrōpoi: aphanizousin gar the prosōpa of them, hopōs phanōsin to the anthrōpois nēsteuontes. Amēn legō to you, hoti Apechousin the misthon of them.

Grammar Details

• *Hotan de nēsteuēte*: temporal conjunction + contrastive particle + present active subjunctive, 2nd plural - but whenever you fast
• *mē ginesthe*: negative particle + present middle/passive imperative, 2nd plural - do not become
• *hōsper*: comparative adverb - just as/like
• *hypokritai*: nominative, masculine, plural - hypocrites/actors
• *skythrōpoi*: nominative, masculine, plural - gloomy faced/sad-looking
• *aphanizousin gar*: present active indicative, 3rd plural + causal conjunction - for they disfigure
• *prosōpa*: accusative, neuter, plural - faces/countenances
• *hopōs phanōsin*: purpose conjunction + aorist passive subjunctive, 3rd plural - so that they might appear
• *anthrōpois*: dative, masculine, plural - to men/people
• *nēsteuontes*: present active participle, nominative, masculine, plural - fasting
• *Amēn legō*: Hebrew term + present active indicative, 1st singular - truly I say
• *hoti Apechousin*: declarative conjunction + present active indicative, 3rd plural - that they have in full
• *misthon*: accusative, masculine, singular - reward/payment

Word Meanings

• *nēsteuēte*: fast/abstain from food
• *ginesthe*: become/be/make yourselves
• *skythrōpoi*: gloomy faced/sad-looking/with a mournful expression
• *aphanizousin*: disfigure/make unrecognizable/make unsightly
• *prosōpa*: faces/countenances/appearances
• *phanōsin*: might appear/be seen/be visible
• *nēsteuontes*: fasting/abstaining from food
• *Apechousin*: have received in full/have completely/have exhausted their reward

Referenced Verses

• Isa 58:3-5 : 3 Wherefore have we fasted, [say they], and thou seest not? [wherefore] have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find [your own] pleasure, and exact all your labors. 4 Behold, ye fast for strife and contention, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye fast not this day so as to make your voice to be heard on high. 5 Is such the fast that I have chosen? the day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a rush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to Jehovah?
• Matt 6:2 : 2 When therefore thou doest alms, sound not a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have received their reward.
• Matt 6:5 : 5 And when ye pray, ye shall not be as the hypocrites: for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have received their reward.
• Luke 18:12 : 12 I fast twice in the week; I give tithes of all that I get.
• Ps 35:13 : 13 But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I afflicted my soul with fasting; And my prayer returned into mine own bosom.
• Ps 69:10 : 10 When I wept, [and chastened] my soul with fasting, That was to my reproach.
• Ps 109:24 : 24 My knees are weak through fasting; And my flesh faileth of fatness.
• 1 Cor 7:5 : 5 Defraud ye not one the other, except it be by consent for a season, that ye may give yourselves unto prayer, and may be together again, that Satan tempt you not because of your incontinency.
• Acts 10:30 : 30 And Cornelius said, Four days ago, until this hour, I was keeping the ninth hour of prayer in my house; and behold, a man stood before me in bright apparel,
• Matt 9:14-15 : 14 Then come to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not? 15 And Jesus said unto them, Can the sons of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then will they fast.
• Mark 2:18 : 18 And John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting: and they come and say unto him, Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not?
• Luke 2:37 : 37 and she had been a widow even unto fourscore and four years), who departed not from the temple, worshipping with fastings and supplications night and day.
• Dan 9:3 : 3 And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.
• Zech 7:3-5 : 3 [ and] to speak unto the priests of the house of Jehovah of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years? 4 Then came the word of Jehovah of hosts unto me, saying, 5 Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh [month], even these seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?
• Mal 3:14 : 14 Ye have said, It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept his charge, and that we have walked mournfully before Jehovah of hosts?
• 2 Sam 12:16 : 16 David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth.
• 2 Sam 12:21 : 21 Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread.
• 1 Kgs 21:27 : 27 And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.
• Neh 1:4 : 4 And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days; and I fasted and prayed before the God of heaven,
• Esth 4:16 : 16 Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast in like manner; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.
• Acts 13:2-3 : 2 And as they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. 3 Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.
• Acts 14:23 : 23 And when they had appointed for them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they had believed.
• 2 Cor 6:5 : 5 in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings;
• 2 Cor 11:27 : 27 [ in] labor and travail, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.