Matthew 6:3

6:1-4 Our Lord next warned against hypocrisy and outward show in religious duties. What we do, must be done from an inward principle, that we may be approved of God, not that we may be praised of men. In these verses we are cautioned against hypocrisy in giving alms. Take heed of it. It is a subtle sin; and vain-glory creeps into what we do, before we are aware. But the duty is not the less necessary and excellent for being abused by hypocrites to serve their pride. The doom Christ passes, at first may seem a promise, but it is their reward; not the reward God promises to those who do good, but the reward hypocrites promise themselves, and a poor reward it is; they did it to be seen of men, and they are seen of men. When we take least notice of our good deeds ourselves, God takes most notice of them. He will reward thee; not as a master who gives his servant what he earns, and no more, but as a Father who gives abundantly to his son that serves him.

But when thou dost alms,.... Do it so privately, and with so much secrecy, that, if it was possible, thou mightest not know it thyself, much less make it known to others: let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth; acquaint not thy nearest and dearest friend with it; let not one that sits at thy left hand know what thou art doing with thy right hand; it is a proverbial and hyperbolical phrase, expressing the secrecy of the action. It is a Jewish canon (p), that "he that gives a gift to his friend out of love, may make it known, , "but not if it be by way of alms".'' (p) Piske Tosephot in Sabbat. c. 1. art. 134.

3 . when thou doest alms ] Observe that the singular number is used throughout these instructions on the subject of almsgiving and prayer, and in these only. These duties are essentially personal and individual. The teaching of the Talmud commends secrecy in almsgiving in such sayings as “he that doeth alms in secret is greater than Moses.” But the spirit of hypocrisy prevailed; the Pharisees taught and did not.

Matthew 6:3 . μὴ γνώτω : in proverbial form a counsel to give with simplicity. Let not even thy left hand, if possible even thyself, know, still less other men; give without self-consciousness or self-complacency, the root of ostentation.— ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ : known to the recipient, of course, but to no other, so far as you are concerned, hardly even to yourself. “Pii lucent, et tamen latent,” Beng.— ὁ βλέπων ἐ . τ . κ ., who seeth in the dark. “Acquainted with all my ways.” Psalms 139, a comfort to the sincerely good, not to the counterfeits.— ἀποδώσει σοι : a certainty, and not merely of the future. The reward is present; not in the form of self-complacency, but in the form of spiritual health, like natural buoyancy, when all physical functions work well. A right-minded man is happy without reflecting why; it is the joy of living in summer sunshine and bracing mountain air. The ἐν τῷ φανερῷ here and in Matthew 6:6 and Matthew 6:18 , a gloss by some superficial copyist, ignores the inward present reward, and appeals in a new form to the spirit of ostentation.

(3) Let not thy left hand know. —The phrase was probably proverbial, and indicates, in the form of free hyperbole, extremest secrecy. It is possible that there may be some reference to the practice of using the right hand in offering gifts at the altar. The symbolical application, though an afterthought, is yet suggestive. The “right hand” is the higher spiritual element in us that leads to acts of true charity, the “left” is the baser, self-seeking nature. We ought, as it were, to set a barrier between the two, as far as possible, i.e., to exclude that mingling of motives, which is at least the beginning of evil.

Matthew 6:3 . Σοῦ δέ ] in emphatic contrast to hypocrites. μὴ γνώτω ἡ ἀριστερά σου , κ . τ . λ .] The right hand gives , let not the left hand know it. Proverbial way of expressing entire freedom from the claiming anything like self-laudation. For sayings of a similar kind among the Fathers, see Suicer, Thes . I. p. 508. De Wette, following Paulus, thinks that what is referred to is the counting of the money into the left hand before it is given away with the right. This is out of place, for the warning is directed, not against a narrow calculating, but against an ostentatious almsgiving. For the same reason we must object to the view of Luther, who says: “When you are giving alms with the right hand, see that you are not seeking to receive more with the left, but rather put it behind your back,” and so on.

Let not thy left hand know ... - This is a proverbial expression, signifying that the action should be done as secretly as possible. The Hebrews often attribute actions to members which properly belong to persons. The encouragement for performing our acts of charity in secret is that it will be pleasing to God; that he will see the act, however secret it may be, and will openly reward it. If the reward is not granted in this life, it will be in the life to come. In multitudes of cases, however, alms given to the poor are "lent to the Lord" Proverbs 19:17 , and will be repaid in this life. Rarely, perhaps never, has it been found that the man who is liberal to the poor has ever suffered by it in his worldly circumstances.