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Matthew 5:16 KJV
Matthew · chapter 5 · verse 16
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.Matthew 5:16 · King James Version
What Matthew 5:16 means
Let your light so shine before men is not an instruction to get noticed. Watch where the sentence lands: that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. The light is aimed past you on purpose.
Study note provided by TheWay Bible App, separate from the KJV text. Read the full chapter in context and compare interpretations. Report a correction.
Matthew 5:16 in context
14Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
15Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
16Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
17Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
18For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Commentary
Cross references
Key words (Strong's)
- glorifydoxazōto think, suppose, be of opinion, to praise, extol, magnify, celebrate, to honour, do…G1392 →
- beforeemprosthenin front, before, beforeG1715 →
- Fatherpatērgenerator or male ancestor, either the nearest ancestor father of the corporeal nature…G3962 →
- lightphōslight, the light, emitted by a lamp, a heavenly light such as surrounds angels when they…G5457 →
- shinelampōto shineG2989 →
- worksergonbusiness, employment, that which any one is occupied, that which one undertakes to do…G2041 →
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Christ had lately called his disciples, and told them that they should be fishers of men; here he tells them further what he designed them to be - the salt of the earth, and lights of the world, that they might be indeed what it was expected they should be. I. Ye are the salt of the earth.
— Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on verses 13-16