What Does Matthew 6:18 Mean?
So that you do not appear to men as those who fast, but to your Father who is in the hidden; and your Father, who sees in the hidden, will give it back to you in the open.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.THE KEY
The Greek root behind “appear” also underlies “openly”: fasting hidden from people is still seen by the Father, whose response brings it into view.
THE MEANING
Your fast is outside people’s gaze but never outside the Father’s sight. The Father sees you in the hidden place and rewards you openly. Human recognition is not the measure of whether the act is seen.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse dissolves the belief that devotion counts only when other people notice it.
THE ROOT
φανῇς
phanēs phanerō
GROWS FROM
φαν-/φαιν- (phan-/phain-)
To appear, become visible, or bring to light.
“in the open” in this verse is phanēs phanerō. The verse’s “appear” and “openly” come from the same word family; English makes them sound like separate ideas. The contrast is about audience: human visibility is withheld, while the Father’s seeing can bring the act into the open.
ALSO GROWS
phaneros: Visible, manifest.
φανερός
The verse uses this related word for the open place where the Father rewards.
phanerōsis: Manifestation, disclosure.
φανέρωσις
This branch makes the root’s movement from hiddenness into visibility explicit.
κρυπτός
kryptos
GROWS FROM
κρυπτ-
krypt-
To hide or conceal.
“secret” in this verse is kryptos. The word names what is concealed from human view, but the verse does not equate concealment with absence. The Father sees in that hidden place.
ALSO GROWS
kryptō: To hide, conceal.
κρύπτω
The verb shows the action behind what is called secret.
apokryphos: Hidden away, concealed.
ἀπόκρυφος
This related word carries the same sense of being out of view, sharpening the verse’s contrast with what becomes open.
ἀποδώσει
apodōsei
GROWS FROM
δίδωμι (didōmi), within ἀποδίδωμι (apodidōmi)
To give; with apo-, to give back, render, or recompense.
“give it back” in this verse is apodōsei. The word translated “reward” is ἀποδίδωμι (apodidōmi), meaning “to render” or “give back.” The Father answers what he sees with a response, while the verse leaves that response in his hands.
ALSO GROWS
didōmi: To give, grant.
δίδωμι
The word’s base keeps the Father’s response grounded in giving.
apodosis: A giving back, repayment, recompense.
ἀπόδοσις
This related noun makes clear why the verse’s “reward” can carry the sense of a response rendered.
THE PATTERN
What is hidden from human eyes remains visible to God and can be brought into the open by God.
Even darkness does not darken from you; the night lights up like day, and darkness is as light to you.Therefore, judge nothing before its season, until the Lord comes, who will light up the hidden things of darkness, and will make visible the plans of the hearts. And then the praise will come to each one from God.And no creation is hidden before him, but all things are naked and bared at the throat to the eyes of him to whom our account belongs.THE THREAD
But the one who does the truth comes to the light, so that their deeds may be made visible, for they have been worked in God.John’s “made manifest” comes from the same word family behind “appear” and “openly” here. It shows deeds coming into the light as something wrought in God, rather than performed for an audience.
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