MAT 6:3 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) But when you give to the poor, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT But you, giving alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing

UST Instead, when you give money to help poor people, you should do it as privately as possible.

BLB But you, doing acts of charity, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

AICNT “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

OEB But, when you do acts of charity, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

WEBBE But when you do merciful deeds, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand does,

WMBB (Same as above)

NET But when you do your giving, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

LSV But you, doing kindness, do not let your left hand know what your right hand does,

FBV When you give to the poor, don't let your left hand know what your right hand's doing.

TCNT But when yoʋ give to the needy, do not let yoʋr left hand know what yoʋr right hand is doing,

T4T Instead of doing as they do, when you give something to the poor, do not let other people know that you are doing that [MET].

LEB But you, when you[fn] practice charitable giving, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

6:3 *Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“practice”) which is understood as temporal

BBE But when you give money, let not your left hand see what your right hand does:

Moff When you give alms,
⇔ do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

Wymth But when you are giving in charity, let not your left hand perceive what your right hand is doing,

ASV But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:

DRA But when thou dost alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth.

YLT 'But thou, doing kindness, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth,

Drby But thou, when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand does;

RV But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
(But when thou/you dost/do alms/donations, let not thy/your left hand know what thy/your right hand doth/does: )

SLT But thou doing alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right does:

Wbstr But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:

KJB-1769 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
( But when thou/you dost/do alms/donations, let not thy/your left hand know what thy/your right hand doth/does: )

KJB-1611 But when thou doest almes, let not thy left hand know, what thy right doeth:
(But when thou/you dost/do alms/donations, let not thy/your left hand know, what thy/your right doth/does:)

Bshps But when thou doest thyne almes, let not thy left hande knowe, what thy ryght hande doeth,
(But when thou/you dost/do thine/your alms/donations, let not thy/your left hand know, what thy/your right hand doth/does,)

Gnva But when thou doest thine almes, let not thy left hand knowe what thy right hand doeth,
(But when thou/you dost/do thine/your alms/donations, let not thy/your left hand know what thy/your right hand doth/does, )

Cvdl But whe thou doest almes, let not thy lefte hande knowe, what thy righte hande doth;
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

TNT But when thou doest thine almes let not thy lyfte had knowe what thy righte had doth
(But when thou/you dost/do thine/your alms/donations let not thy/your lifte had know what thy/your right had doth/does )

Wycl But whanne thou doist almes, knowe not thi left hond what thi riyt hond doith, that thin almes be in hidils,
(But when thou/you dost/do alms/donations, know not thy/your left hand what thy/your right hand doth/does, that thin alms/donations be in hidils,)

Luth Wenn du aber Almosen gibst, so laß deine linke Hand nicht wissen, was die rechte tut,
(When you(sg) but Almosen give, so let your left hand not realise, what/which the right does,)

ClVg Te autem faciente eleemosynam, nesciat sinistra tua quid faciat dextera tua:[fn]
(Te however they_will_doe alms, nesciat left_side your what let_him_do right_hand your: )

6.3 Nesciat. Sinistra, vitia: dextera, virtutes. Quod ergo agit virtus, nesciat elatio, vel vana gloria, seu aliquod vitium: sed lux rectæ operationis fuget tenebras peccati.

6.3 Nesciat. Sinistra, vices: right_hand, by_virtues. That therefore acts virtue, nesciat proudo, or in_vain glory, seu somewhered vice/defect: but light rectæ operation fleet darkness of_sin.

UGNT σοῦ δὲ ποιοῦντος ἐλεημοσύνην, μὴ γνώτω ἡ ἀριστερά σου τί ποιεῖ ἡ δεξιά σου,
(sou de poiountos eleaʸmosunaʸn, maʸ gnōtō haʸ aristera sou ti poiei haʸ dexia sou,)

SBL-GNT σοῦ δὲ ποιοῦντος ἐλεημοσύνην μὴ γνώτω ἡ ἀριστερά σου τί ποιεῖ ἡ δεξιά σου,
(sou de poiountos eleaʸmosunaʸn maʸ gnōtō haʸ aristera sou ti poiei haʸ dexia sou,)

RP-GNT Σοῦ δὲ ποιοῦντος ἐλεημοσύνην, μὴ γνώτω ἡ ἀριστερά σου τί ποιεῖ ἡ δεξιά σου,
(Sou de poiountos eleaʸmosunaʸn, maʸ gnōtō haʸ aristera sou ti poiei haʸ dexia sou,)

TC-GNT Σοῦ δὲ ποιοῦντος ἐλεημοσύνην, μὴ γνώτω ἡ ἀριστερά σου τί ποιεῖ ἡ δεξιά σου,
(Sou de poiountos eleaʸmosunaʸn, maʸ gnōtō haʸ aristera sou ti poiei haʸ dexia sou, )

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 5:1–7:29: Jesus preached a sermon on a mountain

For many years, English versions and Christians have commonly referred to Matthew 5–7 as “The Sermon on the Mount.” In some translations, it may be helpful to include a heading for chapters 5–7 that is on a level above the section heading for 5:1–12.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

The Sermon on the Mountain

The sermon that Jesus preached on a mountain

Jesus taught people on the side of a mountain/hill

Paragraph 6:2–4

In the Greek text of this passage, the pronouns for “you” and “your” are all singular (except for 6:2e, which is plural). But the teaching applies to all of Jesus’ followers. So in some languages, it is more natural to use the plural form of “you” here.

6:3a

But when you give to the needy,

But you^(sing), whenever you give alms/money to a poor person,
But as for you, when you help poor people with money or another gift,

But: There is a contrast between 6:2 and 6:3. The contrast is between the actions of the hypocrites and the way that Jesus wants his followers to act. The BSB and many English versions indicate this contrast with the conjunction But.

Here are some other ways to translate this contrast:

As for you

However, you

when you give to the needy: The Greek clause that the BSB translates as when you give to the needy uses the same words as the clause translated as “when you give to the needy” in 6:2a. The meaning is the same.

In this clause, the pronoun you is emphasized in the Greek text. If your language has a way to emphasize the pronoun you, you may want to do so here.

Here are some examples:

when you yourself give

as for you, when you give

you, when you give to the needy

6:3b

do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

do not tell your left hand what your right hand is doing,
let no one know it. Do it in a way as if your left/one hand does not even know what your right/other hand is doing,
give in a way so that no one will know that you gave/helped.

do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing: This clause is a metaphor. Doing things without letting others know is compared to not letting your left hand know what your right hand is doing. One way that they are similar is that one group/side does not know what the other is doing.

Here are some other ways to translate this metaphor:

Keep the metaphor. For example:
don’t tell your left hand what your right hand is doing (NLT96)
do not let one hand know what the other hand is doing
Translate this clause as a simile and give the meaning. For example:
give privately in a way that is like your left hand not knowing what your right hand is doing
give so that even your best friend does not know what you are doing. It is like one of your hands does not know what the other hand is doing.
Translate the meaning of this clause without the metaphor. Here are some examples:
don’t let anyone know about it (CEV)
give in a hidden/private way so that no one will know that you gave

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / youcrowd

σοῦ & σου & σου

˱of˲_you & (Some words not found in SR-GNT: σοῦ Δέ ποιοῦντος ἐλεημοσύνην μή γνώτω ἡ ἀριστερά σοῦ τί ποιεῖ ἡ δεξιά σοῦ)

Even though Jesus is speaking to many disciples, he is addressing an individual situation, so you and your are singular throughout this verse. But if the singular form would not be natural in your language for someone who is speaking to a group of people, you could use the plural forms of you and your in your translation.

Note 2 topic: grammar-connect-time-simultaneous

ποιοῦντος ἐλεημοσύνην

doing alms

Here, the phrase giving alms identifies the situation in which people should follow this command. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a word or phrase that makes this relationship clearer. Alternate translation: [whenever you give alms] or [as you are giving alms]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / personification

μὴ γνώτω ἡ ἀριστερά σου τί ποιεῖ ἡ δεξιά σου

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: σοῦ Δέ ποιοῦντος ἐλεημοσύνην μή γνώτω ἡ ἀριστερά σοῦ τί ποιεῖ ἡ δεξιά σοῦ)

Here Jesus speaks of your left hand and your right hand as if they were people who could know and do things on their own. He means that giving alms should be done so secretly that even other body parts, if they could know things, would not know about it. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a comparable figure of speech or state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [do not let your best friend know what you are doing] or [do it so privately that, if your left hand were a person, he would not know what you had done]

Parallel MAT 6:3

Section 5:1–7:29: Jesus preached a sermon on a mountain

Paragraph 6:2–4

6:3a

6:3b