Continuing . . .
Okay, I know people are going to wonder how one gets "tzidkot" from
Matthew 6:2 when Matthew is intact in the Greek, and the KJV reads "alms". So let me explain.
First of all, we already know that Yeshua is discussing the subject of "righteousness" because of the previous Verse 5:20, where the KJV DOES clearly use the word "righteousness". And we all already know that the exact Hebrew equivalent for "righteousness" is TZEDEKAH. That much is already known because that is the Hebrew equivalent used in the Septuagint. Following this context, most commentators admit that the following section of Mattew 6:1-4 is a section where the Master is introducing what he is about to discuss in his discourse, and they admit that the Master is expounding deeply upon the contrast between "righteousness" and what one is to PRACTICE. The entire Chapter expounds upon "righteousness" (tzedakah) in the practice of very specific ACTS of righteousness. Here he outlines the basic principle governing our Acts of Righteousness.
In
Matthew 6:1 the Verse reads in the KJV:
"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."
Now you can look this up. Some manuscripts, upon which the KJV and NKJV are based, have the Greek word ELEEMOSUNEN, translated as "alms", or "charitable deeds". If this is the correct word, that would basically mean that this Verse is referring exclusively to the act of Almsgiving, or charitable deeds.
But, older manuscripts, upon which the ASV and NASV are based, have the Greek word DIKAIOSUNEN, translated "righteousness", which would make the Verse to speak in more general terms, establishing a basic principle that is to be applied to ALL acts of righteousness, and in particular the specific acts which the Master is preparing here to elaborate on; namely, charity, prayer, and fasting (6:1-24), chief points of the GEMILUT HASADIM and of
Deuteronomy 6-17). This would make Verse 1 a kind of introductory statement prefacing his teaching on these Righteous Acts. The Hebrew equivalent for DIKAIOSUNEN would be TZIDKOT, or GEMILUT TZIDKOT, meaning "Deeds of Righteousness", or "Acts of Righteousness".
So
Matthew 6:1 would more correctly be translated as:
"Take heed that ye do not your DEEDS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in Heaven."
The "DEEDS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS" in Hebrew would be GEMILUT TZIDKOT, which are "the Righteous Acts".
Matthew 6:2 immediately goes into a discussion of the first Righteous Act . . . Charity (2-4). Charity is covered in The Torah as part of The Laws of Tithing. Many people do not realize that in The Bible there are actually THREE distinct and separate Tithes. One of these Tithes was the Ma'aser Kesafim, or a Poor Tithe.
The same body of Commandments that list eating only "clean" meats and the Sabbath, also commands one to love "strangers", to give charity (also called tzedakah) to the poor and needy, and other "acts of kindness". The Pirkei Abot, a book of the Mishnah, teaches that the Universe depends on three things: on Torah (God's Law), on Abodah (service to God, which means prayer), and on Gemilut Hasadim ("Acts of Piety") (see, Abot 1:2). The Mishnah also describes Gemilut Hasadim as one of the few Mitzwot (Commandments) for which there is no minimum amount sufficient to satisfy your obligation (Pe'ah 1:1; reiterated in Talmud Chagigah 7a). That verse also describes Gemilut Hasadim as one of the few things that one derive benefit from in this world and yet still be rewarded for in the World-To-Come (This context sheds some interesting light on what Yeshua meant in
Matthew 6:19-21).
Matthew 6:6 moves on to the next Righteous Act (Gemilut Tzidkah) . . . Prayer (5-15). What many do not realize is that the specific kind of prayer the Master is talking about here has nothing to do with public prayer or spontaneous praying, but has to do with the Jewish practice of Daily Ritual Prayer, known in those days as the Shela'ot, and is known today as Tefilot by Orthodox Jews.
Matthew 6:9-13 is particularly interesting in this context, because it introduces what is today called the Paternoster or "The Lord's Prayer", which would be recognized in Judaism as a classic example of a BIRKHAT. A BIRKHAT is a prayer blessing recited at a specific moment during a ceremony or ritual. In this case, the Master is referring to the context of the three traditional Daily Ritual Prayers that every Jew did (see for example
Daniel 6:10). It was the custom of the Jews back then to recite certain "birkhat" prayers during these three Shela'ot. Different sects emphasized different "birkhot". The Master here is revealing for HIS disciples a "birkhah" which they can use for their own Shela'ot. Syrian Orthodox and Coptic Christians to this day still recite this birkhah this way. The Lord's Prayer is known in Aramaic as the ABWON Prayer, and in Hebrew it is called The Abeinu (the "Our Father").
The Book of Acts shows that the Apostles continued to keep these three Daily Prayers (
Acts 2:15; 3:1; 10:9; 12:12). I think it is likely that they recited The Abwon as part of this daily ritual.
As long as The Temple stood in Jerusalem, the three Daily Prayers (the Shela'ot, or Tefilot today) were made at the hours of the Daily Sacrifice (
Num. 28:1-10). But whenever there is no Temple standing, the three Shela'ot are still binding (see
Dan. 6:10). These Shela'ot ritual prayers are themselves accepted by God as the Daily Sacrifice (
Psalm 141:2). And this applies for today as that The Temple of wood and stone is no more, and now The Tabernacle of God is with men (
Rev. 21:3).
The phrase in
Matthew 6:9, "after this manner" tells us that this prayer was intended to be a formal PATTERN in the kind of traditional prayers used in Judaism known as a BIRKHAH.
The KADDISH and the AMIDAH are two traditional Jewish formal prayers with roughly similar structure which pre-date the Lord's Prayer, and some scholars believe that the Lord's Prayer was actually modeled on these older Jewish prayers.
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