Do not be like them
This phrase serves as a direct instruction from Jesus, urging His followers to distinguish themselves from the practices of the pagans or hypocrites. The Greek word for "like" is "homoioi," which implies a resemblance or imitation. In the context of Matthew 6, Jesus is addressing the manner in which people pray. The historical context reveals that during this time, many religious leaders and pagans engaged in repetitive and ostentatious prayers to gain attention or favor. Jesus calls His followers to a higher standard, emphasizing sincerity and authenticity in their relationship with God.

for your Father
The term "Father" is translated from the Greek "Pater," which denotes a personal and intimate relationship. This was a revolutionary concept for Jesus' audience, as it emphasized a personal connection with God rather than a distant or impersonal deity. The use of "Father" underscores the familial relationship believers have with God, highlighting His care, provision, and authority. This relationship is foundational to understanding the nature of prayer and the confidence believers can have in approaching God.

knows what you need
The Greek word for "knows" is "oida," which implies a complete and full understanding. This suggests that God's knowledge of our needs is not superficial but profound and comprehensive. The historical context of this assurance is significant, as it contrasts with the pagan belief that gods needed to be informed or persuaded through elaborate rituals. Jesus reassures His followers that God is already aware of their needs, emphasizing His omniscience and the futility of trying to manipulate or inform God through prayer.

before you ask Him
This phrase highlights the preemptive nature of God's knowledge and care. The Greek word "pro" (before) indicates that God's awareness of our needs precedes our requests. This is a comforting assurance that God is proactive in His care for us, and it encourages believers to trust in His provision. The scriptural context here aligns with the broader biblical narrative of God's sovereignty and His intimate involvement in the lives of His people. It invites believers to approach prayer with confidence, knowing that they are communicating with a God who is already attentive to their circumstances and needs.

(8) Your Father knoweth.--This truth is rightly made the ground of prayer in one of the noblest collects of the Prayer Book of the English Church--"Almighty God, the Fountain of all wisdom, who knowest our necessities before we ask, and our ignorance in asking." Comp. St. Paul's "We know not what we should pray for as we ought" (Romans 8:26). But why then, it may be asked, pray at all? Why "make our requests known unto God" (Philippians 4:6)? Logically, it may be, the question never has been, and never can be, answered. As in the parallel question of foreknowledge and free will, we are brought into a region in which convictions that seem, each of them, axiomatic, appear to contradict each other. All that can be done is to suggest partial solutions of the problem. We bring our wants and desires to God (1) that we may see them as He sees them, judge how far they are selfish or capricious, how far they are in harmony with His will; (2) that we may, in the thought of that Presence and its infinite holiness, feel that all other prayers--those which are but the expression of wishes for earthly good, or deliverance from earthly evil--are of infinitely little moment as compared with deliverance from the penalty and the power of the sin which we have made our own; (3) that, conscious of our weakness, we may gain strength for the work and the conflict of life in communion with the Eternal, who is in very deed a "Power that makes for righteousness." These are, if we may so speak, the lines upon which the Lord's Prayer has been constructed, and all other prayers are excellent in proportion as they approach that pattern. Partial deviations from it, as in prayers for fine weather, for plenty, and for victory, are yet legitimate (though they drift in a wrong direction), as the natural utterance of natural wants, which, if repressed, would find expression in superstition or despair. It is better that even these petitions, though not the highest form of prayer, should be purified by their association with the highest, than that they should remain unuttered as passionate cravings or, it may be, murmuring regrets.

Verse 8. - Be not ye therefore like. Revised Version omits "ye," as the emphatic personal pronoun is not expressed. The connexion of thought is - Seeing you are expected to shun heathen error (Meyer), do not allow yourselves to reproduce heathen practices. By observing these you would be taking a definite way of becoming like (passive, or rather middle, ὁμοιωθῆτε) those who ordinarily practise them. For; i.e. you stand on a different footing altogether from the heathen; you are intimately related to One above, who knows your wants, even before you express them to him. Your Father; Revised Version margin, "some ancient authorities read God your Father." So אָ, B, sah. (ὁ Θεός is bracketed by Westcott and Hort). The insertion is at first sight suspicious, but as there is no trace of such an addition in vers. 1, 4, 6, 14. 18 (in ver. 32 only אָ), it is hard to see why it should have been interpolated here. Its omission, on the other hand, is easily accounted for by its absence in those passages. The internal evidence, therefore, corroborates the strong external evidence of אָ, B. Our Lord here said "God" to emphasize the majesty and power of "your Father." Knoweth; i.e. intuitively (οϊδεν); el. ver. 32.

Parallel Commentaries ...


[Do] not
μὴ (mē)
Adverb
Strong's 3361: Not, lest. A primary particle of qualified negation; not, lest; also (whereas ou expects an affirmative one) whether.

be like
ὁμοιωθῆτε (homoiōthēte)
Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Passive - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 3666: To make like, liken; I compare. From homoios; to assimilate, i.e. Compare; passively, to become similar.

them,
αὐτοῖς (autois)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

for
γὰρ (gar)
Conjunction
Strong's 1063: For. A primary particle; properly, assigning a reason.

your
ὑμῶν (hymōn)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

Father
Πατὴρ (Patēr)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3962: Father, (Heavenly) Father, ancestor, elder, senior. Apparently a primary word; a 'father'.

knows
οἶδεν (oiden)
Verb - Perfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1492: To know, remember, appreciate.

what
ὧν (hōn)
Personal / Relative Pronoun - Genitive Neuter Plural
Strong's 3739: Who, which, what, that.

you
ἔχετε (echete)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 2192: To have, hold, possess. Including an alternate form scheo skheh'-o; a primary verb; to hold.

need
χρείαν (chreian)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 5532: From the base of chraomai or chre; employment, i.e. An affair; also occasion, demand, requirement or destitution.

before
πρὸ (pro)
Preposition
Strong's 4253: A primary preposition; 'fore', i.e. In front of, prior to.

you
ὑμᾶς (hymas)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

ask
αἰτῆσαι (aitēsai)
Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active
Strong's 154: To ask, request, petition, demand. Of uncertain derivation; to ask.

Him.
αὐτόν (auton)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.


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NT Gospels: Matthew 6:8 Therefore don't be like them for your (Matt. Mat Mt)