Matthew 6:16 BSB — MannaFest

Matthew 6:16

When you fast, do not be somber like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

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.

KJV

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

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Commentary

3 voices

Jerome

Commentary on Matthew (420)

(V. 16) For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to fast. Amen I say to you, they have received their reward. The word exterminate, which is frequently used in the books of Ecclesiastic writers, has a much different meaning than is commonly understood. For it means that those who are exiled are exterminated, as they are sent beyond the borders. Therefore, we should always understand this word in this sense: which is said in Greek as ἀφανίζουσι.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

When ye fast? - Our Lord does not enjoin either fasting, alms- deeds, or prayer: all these being duties which were before fully established in the Church of God. Disfigure - By the dust and ashes which they put upon their heads, as was usual at the times of solemn humiliation.

Anchor repaired 2026-08-10: was 6:25; content is Wesley on 6:16 (fasting), confirmed against source marker 16 in Explanatory Notes ch. 6.

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

When ye fast - A fast is termed by the Greeks νηϚις, from νη not, and εσθειν to eat; hence fast means, a total abstinence from food for a certain time. Abstaining from flesh, and living on fish, vegetables, etc., is no fast, or may be rather considered a burlesque on fasting. Many pretend to take the true definition of a fast from Isa 58:3, and say that it means a fast from sin.

J.C. Ryle

1816–1900

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew (1856)

There are three subjects brought before us in this part of our Lord’s sermon on the mount. These three are fasting, worldliness, and singleness of purpose in religion. Fasting, or occasional abstinence from food in order to bring the body into subjection to the spirit, is a practice frequently mentioned in the Bible, and generally in connection with prayer. David fasted when his child was sick; Daniel fasted when he sought special light from God; Paul and Barnabas fasted when they appointed elders; Esther fasted before going in to Ahasuerus.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

26 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
Ὅταν	Hotan	Whenever	G3752 →
δὲ	de	now	G1161 →
νηστεύητε,	nēsteuēte	you may fast,	G3522 →
μὴ	mē	not	G3361 →
γίνεσθε	ginesthe	do be	G1096 →
ὡς	hōs	like	G5613 →
οἱ	hoi	the	G3588 →
ὑποκριταὶ	hupokritai	hypocrites	G5273 →
σκυθρωποί·	skuthrōpoi	gloomy;	G4659 →
ἀφανίζουσιν	aphanizousin	they disfigure	G853 →
γὰρ	gar	for	G1063 →
τὰ	ta	the	G3588 →
πρόσωπα	prosōpa	appearance	G4383 →
αὐτῶν	autōn	of them	G846 →
ὅπως	hopōs	so that	G3704 →
φανῶσιν	phanōsin	they may appear	G5316 →
τοῖς	tois	<the>	G3588 →
ἀνθρώποις	anthrōpois	to men	G444 →
νηστεύοντες.	nēsteuontes	[as] fasting.	G3522 →
ἀμὴν	amēn	Amen	G281 →
λέγω	legō	I say	G3004 →
ὑμῖν	humin	to you	G4771 →
ἀπέχουσιν	apechousin	they have	G568 →
τὸν	ton	the	G3588 →
μισθὸν	misthon	reward	G3408 →
αὐτῶν.	autōn	of them.	G846 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Daniel 9:3
So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petition, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
leads to
- Jeremiah 33:3
  Call to Me, and I will answer and show you great and unsearchable things you do not know.
- Jeremiah 29:10–13
  For this is what the LORD says: “When Babylon’s seventy years are complete, I will attend to you and confirm My promise to restore you to this place.
- James 5:16–18
  Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail.
- Nehemiah 1:4–11
  When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
Through
Nehemiah 1:4
When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
leads to
- Daniel 9:3
  So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petition, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
- Psalms 137:1
  By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.
- Ezra 10:1
  While Ezra prayed and made this confession, weeping and falling facedown before the house of God, a very large assembly of Israelites—men, women, and children—gathered around him, and the people wept bitterly as well.
- Psalms 69:9–10
  because zeal for Your house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult You have fallen on me.