What Does Matthew 6:5 Mean in the King James?
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.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The prayer’s audience becomes its wage: they perform to appear before people, and people’s notice is what they receive.
THE MEANING
When prayer is arranged to catch human eyes, recognition is the return it brings. The verse speaks now wherever devotion is shaped around being noticed. The attention they seek is already their reward.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that being seen proves a prayer is directed toward God: here, visibility itself is the reward named.
THE ROOT
ὑποκριταί
hypokritai
GROWS FROM
ὑποκρίνομαι
hypokrinomai
to play a part, act, or pretend
“hypocrites” in this verse is hypokritai. The word carries the sense of acting a part; the verse then shows that part being played for an audience. The performance seeks to become visible, and the audience’s notice completes its wage.
ALSO GROWS
hypokritēs: actor; one who plays a part
ὑποκριτής
It makes the performance already present in “hypocrites” explicit.
hypokrisis: acting; pretense
ὑπόκρισις
It names the performed appearance that the verse links to being seen by others.
φανῶσιν
phanōsin
GROWS FROM
φαίνω
phainō
to bring to light or make appear; to shine or become visible
“be seen” in this verse is phanōsin. The wording carries the sense of appearing before others, not merely having someone notice an already private act. The performance is aimed at becoming visible, so visibility is part of what the prayer seeks.
ALSO GROWS
phainomai: to appear, become visible
φαίνομαι
It shares the appearance and visibility at the center of the verse.
phaneros: visible, manifest
φανερός
It shows the same root’s movement from appearing to being plainly seen.
προσεύχεσθαι
proseuchesthai
GROWS FROM
εὔχομαι
euchomai
to pray, wish, or vow
“pray” in this verse is proseuchesthai. Prayer is an appeal or wish directed toward someone; here, the stated aim of appearing before people reveals the audience the act is trying to reach. The verse distinguishes prayer’s form from the witness it seeks.
ALSO GROWS
euchē: prayer or vow
εὐχή
It preserves the prayer and vow sense in the root behind the verb.
proseuchē: prayer
προσευχή
It is the noun form for prayer, sharing the root in the word used here.
THE PATTERN
The audience an act seeks shapes the recognition it receives and can expose the difference between outward display and inward reality.
But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.THE THREAD
Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.The Greek noun μισθός (misthos, wage or reward) appears in both verses. Together they make the exchange plain: an act aimed at human sight receives human notice, while the Father’s reward belongs to a different audience.
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