Organization: Current Science Tel: +44 71 323 0323 Fax: +44 71 580 1938
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.words-l
Date:         Tue, 10 Nov 1992 20:24:46 GMT
From:         Graham Toal <gtoal@CURSCI.CO.UK>
Subject:      Re: Biblical thought for the day...
Comments: To: Words-L and the Bandwidth Hogs <words-l@uga.cc.uga.edu>

>Mat 6:5
> And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for

: Jesus is not talking about prayer here. "Eleemosyne" means alms. The first
: element of the word should be familiar from Kyrie eleeson, "Lord have
: mercy." The verse really says,
: "And when you do alms, don't sound the trumpet before you, just as
: the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets so that
: people see them . . ."

I think you are reading the wrong part of Matthew.  That's Matthew 6:2.

"Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound 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 their reward."

Your confusion is probably because it is like the similar verse nearby,
which I was quoting; Matthew 6:5

 "And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for
 they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the
 streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their
 reward."

If you care however to go back to the original Greek for that one
I'd be happy to hear what it says.

> comes from thin air; these words are not in the Greek. Is this the
> King James version? I'd have hoped that it was more accurate.
> Again, the passage should read,
> "But when you do alms, let not your left hand know what your right
> hand is doing, so that your alms may be in secret. And your
> father, seeing [this done] in secret, will reward you."

All very interesting, but that's Matthew 6:3 and 6:4
 "But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right
 hand doeth:
 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret
 himself shall reward thee openly."

I was quoting Matthew 6:6
 "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast
 shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which
 seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."

By the way, Ruth's interpretation (which was that it was about not
repeating prayers by rote) is covered explicitly in Matthew 6:7, which
leaves me to wonder exactly what 6:6 must mean in that case...:

 "But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for
 they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking."

> I think that Jesus was condemning conspicuous and often hypocritical
> displays of piety, not telling his followers to go pray in a closet.

I think he was doing both actually.

> The point is that people interpret the Bible in various ways,

My point precisely.

> but unfortunately their interpretations sometimes are based on
> translations that do not reflect the clear, usually precise
> Greek of the original. Bill

Well, when you've done your sword drills for the evening Bill, come back
and tell us what the Greek really was...

G
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