Biblion Bible Commentary
Read the introduction to Matthew · About this commentary
Do Not Sound a Trumpet
Matthew 6:1-4
1 “Be careful that you don’t do your charitable giving before men, to be seen by them, or else you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. · WEB
The chapter turns from the law's reach to the actor's motive — and names the audience a person is really performing for.
"Be careful that you don't do your charitable giving before men, to be seen by them, or else you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven" Matthew 6:1.
The verse governs the three paragraphs that follow — giving, praying, fasting — and it looks at first like a flat contradiction of the previous chapter, which commanded that light be seen Matthew 5:16. The two are resolved by the purpose clause in each. There the works are done that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven; here they are done to be seen by them. The visibility is identical and the intended audience is not.
"When you do merciful deeds, don't sound a trumpet before yourself, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets" Matthew 6:2.
The word rendered hypocrite was the ordinary term for a stage actor, and the whole chapter uses religion-as-performance as its picture: a role played to an audience, with the timing arranged. Whether anyone literally sounded a trumpet is beside the point; there are quieter ways of making sure the gift is noticed, and the sermon is not really about brass.
"Most certainly I tell you, they have received their reward."
The phrase is a commercial one — the word was used on receipts for payment in full — and it is the chapter's most unsettling sentence, repeated three times. Nothing is being withheld from these people. They wanted to be seen, they were seen, the transaction is closed and the account is settled. The tragedy is not that they are cheated but that they got exactly what they asked for.
"Don't let your left hand know what your right hand does" Matthew 6:3.
The image goes past concealment from others to a kind of unselfconsciousness — not merely giving without publicity but giving without keeping the tally oneself. A person who is carefully secret about their generosity and privately aware of how generous they are has moved the audience rather than removed it.
"Your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly" Matthew 6:4.
And the alternative is not that the deed goes unnoticed. It is noticed by the one whose noticing counts, and the reward is left undescribed — which is the point, since a giver who could specify it would be back in the market the trumpet belongs to.
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