Matthew 5:12

5:12 Rejoice and be glad because your reward is great in heaven, for they persecuted the prophets before you in the same way.

Matthew 5:46

5:46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even the tax collectors ¹  do the same, don’t they?

Matthew 6:1

Pure-hearted Giving

6:1 “Be ²  careful not to display your righteousness merely to be seen by people. ³  Otherwise you have no reward with your Father in heaven.

Matthew 6:6

6:6 But whenever you pray, go into your room, ⁴  close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you. ⁵ 

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¹ sn The tax collectors would bid to collect taxes for the Roman government and then add a surcharge, which they kept. Since tax collectors worked for Rome, they were viewed as traitors to their own people and were not well liked.

² tc ‡ Several mss (א L Z Θ Ë¹ 33 892 1241 1424 al) have δέ (de, “but, now”) at the beginning of this verse; the reading without δέ is supported by B D W 0250 ˹³ Ï lat. A decision is difficult, but apparently the conjunction was added by later scribes to indicate a transition in the thought-flow of the Sermon on the Mount. NA²⁷ has δέ in brackets, indicating reservations about its authenticity.

³ tn Grk “before people in order to be seen by them.”

⁴ sn The term translated room refers to the inner room of a house, normally without any windows opening outside, the most private location possible (BDAG 988 s.v. ταμεῖον 2).

⁵ tc See the tc note on “will reward you” in 6:4: The problem is the same and the ms support differs only slightly.