Matthew 6:1

Bible in Basic English (1941)

Take care not to do your good works before men, to be seen by them; or you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

Προσέχετε τὴν ἐλεημοσύνην ὑμῶν μὴ ποιεῖν ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, πρὸς τὸ θεαθῆναι αὐτοῖς: εἰ δὲ μή γε μισθὸν οὐκ ἔχετε παρὰ τῷ Πατρὶ ὑμῶν τῷ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς.

Transliteration

Prosechete the eleēmosynēn of you mē poiein emprosthen of the anthrōpōn, pros the theathenai to them: ei de mē ge misthon not echete with the Patri of you the in the ouranois.

Grammar Details

• *Prosechete*: present active imperative, 2nd plural - take heed/beware/pay attention
• *eleēmosynēn*: accusative, feminine, singular - alms/charitable giving/act of mercy
• *mē poiein*: negated present active infinitive - not to do/practice
• *emprosthen*: preposition - before/in front of
• *anthrōpōn*: genitive, masculine, plural - of men/people
• *pros*: preposition + accusative - toward/for
• *theathenai*: aorist passive infinitive - to be seen/noticed
• *ei de mē ge*: conditional negative particle combination - otherwise/if not/else
• *misthon*: accusative, masculine, singular - reward/payment/wages
• *echete*: present active indicative, 2nd plural - you have
• *Patri*: dative, masculine, singular - with/by Father
• *ouranois*: dative, masculine, plural - heavens

Word Meanings

• *Prosechete*: pay attention to/be careful about/watch out
• *eleēmosynēn*: charitable deed/mercy/almsgiving
• *emprosthen*: before/in the presence of/in front of
• *theathenai*: to be gazed at/to be viewed/to be observed
• *misthon*: reward/compensation/wage
• *ouranois*: heavens/sky/celestial realm

Referenced Verses

• Matt 23:5 : 5 But all their works they do so as to be seen by men: for they make wide their phylacteries, and the edges of their robes,
• Heb 6:10 : 10 For God is true, and will not put away from him the memory of your work and of your love for his name, in the help which you gave and still give to the saints.
• Gal 6:12 : 12 Those who have the desire to seem important in the flesh, put force on you to undergo circumcision; only that they may not be attacked because of the cross of Christ.
• John 12:43 : 43 For the praise of men was dearer to them than the approval of God.
• Deut 24:13 : 13 But be certain to give it back to him when the sun goes down, so that he may have his clothing for sleeping in, and will give you his blessing: and this will be put to your account as righteousness before the Lord your God.
• Matt 6:4-6 : 4 So that your giving may be in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will give you your reward. 5 And when you make your prayers, be not like the false-hearted men, who take pleasure in getting up and saying their prayers in the Synagogues and at the street turnings so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, They have their reward. 6 But when you make your prayer, go into your private room, and, shutting the door, say a prayer to your Father in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will give you your reward.
• Matt 6:9 : 9 Let this then be your prayer: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.
• Matt 6:16 : 16 And when you go without food, be not sad-faced as the false-hearted are. For they go about with changed looks, so that men may see that they are going without food. Truly I say to you, They have their reward.
• Matt 10:41-42 : 41 He who gives honour to a prophet, in the name of a prophet, will be given a prophet's reward; and he who gives honour to an upright man, in the name of an upright man, will be given an upright man's reward. 42 And whoever gives to one of these little ones a cup of cold water only, in the name of a disciple, truly I say to you, he will not go without his reward.
• Matt 16:6 : 6 And Jesus said to them, Take care to have nothing to do with the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
• Matt 16:27 : 27 For the Son of man will come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he will give to every man the reward of his works.
• 2 John 1:8 : 8 Keep watch over yourselves, so that you do not make our work of no effect, but may get your full reward.
• Matt 23:13 : 13 But a curse is on you, scribes and Pharisees, false ones! because you are shutting the kingdom of heaven against men: for you do not go in yourselves, and those who are going in, you keep back.
• Matt 23:28-30 : 28 Even so you seem to men to be full of righteousness, but inside you are all false and full of wrongdoing. 29 A curse is on you, scribes and Pharisees, false ones! because you put up buildings for housing the dead bodies of the prophets, and make fair the last resting-places of good men, and say, 30 If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in the blood of the prophets.
• Matt 25:40 : 40 And the King will make answer and say to them, Truly I say to you, Because you did it to the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.
• Mark 8:15 : 15 And he said to them, Take care to be on the watch against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.
• Luke 11:35 : 35 So take care that the light which is in you is not dark.
• Luke 12:1 : 1 At that time, when thousands of the people had come together, in such numbers that they were crushing one another, he said first to his disciples, Have nothing to do with the leaven of the Pharisees, which is deceit.
• Luke 12:15 : 15 And he said to them, Take care to keep yourselves free from the desire for property; for a man's life is not made up of the number of things which he has.
• Ps 112:9 : 9 He has given with open hands to the poor; his righteousness is for ever; his horn will be lifted up with honour.
• Ezek 33:31 : 31 And they come to you as my people come, and are seated before you as my people, hearing your words but doing them not: for deceit is in their mouth and their heart goes after profit for themselves.
• Dan 4:27 : 27 For this cause, O King, let my suggestion be pleasing to you, and let your sins be covered by righteousness and your evil-doing by mercy to the poor, so that the time of your well-being may be longer.
• Zech 7:5 : 5 Say to all the people of the land and to the priests, When you went without food and gave yourselves to grief in the fifth and the seventh months for these seventy years, did you ever do it because of me?
• Zech 13:4 : 4 And it will come about in that day that the prophets will be shamed, every man on account of his vision, when he is talking as a prophet; and they will not put on a robe of hair for purposes of deceit:
• Matt 5:16 : 16 Even so let your light be shining before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
• Matt 5:46 : 46 For if you have love for those who have love for you, what credit is it to you? do not the tax-farmers the same?
• Matt 5:48 : 48 Be then complete in righteousness, even as your Father in heaven is complete.
• Luke 16:15 : 15 And he said, You take care to seem right in the eyes of men, but God sees your hearts: and those things which are important in the opinion of men, are evil in the eyes of God.
• John 5:44 : 44 How is it possible for you to have faith while you take honour one from another and have no desire for the honour which comes from the only God?
• Heb 2:1 : 1 For this reason there is the more need for us to give attention to the things which have come to our ears, for fear that by chance we might be slipping away.
• Heb 11:26 : 26 Judging a part in the shame of Christ to be better than all the wealth of Egypt; for he was looking forward to his reward.
• 2 Kgs 10:16 : 16 And he said, Come with me and see how I am on fire for the Lord's cause. So he made him go with him in his carriage.
• 2 Kgs 10:31 : 31 But Jehu did not take care to keep the law of the Lord with all his heart: he did not keep himself from the sin which Jeroboam did and made Israel do.
• 1 Cor 9:17-18 : 17 But if I do it gladly, I have a reward; and if not, I am under orders to do it. 18 What then is my reward? This, that when I am giving the good news, I may give it without payment, not making use of my rights as a preacher of the good news.
• 2 Cor 9:9-9 : 9 As it is said in the Writings, He has sent out far and wide, he has given to the poor; his righteousness is for ever. 10 And he who gives seed for putting into the field and bread for food, will take care of the growth of your seed, at the same time increasing the fruits of your righteousness;