Matthew 6:17
New International Version
But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,

New Living Translation
But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face.

English Standard Version
But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,

Berean Standard Bible
But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,

Berean Literal Bible
But you fasting, anoint your head and wash your face,

King James Bible
But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;

New King James Version
But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,

New American Standard Bible
But as for you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,

NASB 1995
“But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face

NASB 1977
“But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face

Legacy Standard Bible
But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face

Amplified Bible
But when you fast, put oil on your head [as you normally would to groom your hair] and wash your face

Christian Standard Bible
But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,

Holman Christian Standard Bible
But when you fast, put oil on your head, and wash your face,

American Standard Version
But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head, and wash thy face;

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
But you whenever you fast, wash your face and anoint your head.

Contemporary English Version
Instead, comb your hair and wash your face.

Douay-Rheims Bible
But thou, when thou fastest anoint thy head, and wash thy face;

English Revised Version
But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head, and wash thy face;

GOD'S WORD® Translation
When you fast, wash your face and comb your hair.

Good News Translation
When you go without food, wash your face and comb your hair,

International Standard Version
But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,

Literal Standard Version
But you, fasting, anoint your head, and wash your face,

Majority Standard Bible
But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,

New American Bible
But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,

NET Bible
When you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,

New Revised Standard Version
But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,

New Heart English Bible
But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face;

Webster's Bible Translation
But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head, and wash thy face;

Weymouth New Testament
But, whenever you fast, pour perfume on your hair and wash your face,

World English Bible
But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,

Young's Literal Translation
'But thou, fasting, anoint thy head, and wash thy face,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Proper Fasting
16When you fast, do not be somber like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward. 17But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18so that your fasting will not be obvious to men, but only to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.…

Cross References
Ruth 3:3
Therefore wash yourself, put on perfume, and wear your best clothes. Go down to the threshing floor, but do not let the man know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking.

2 Samuel 12:20
Then David got up from the ground, washed and anointed himself, changed his clothes, and went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they set food before him, and he ate.


Treasury of Scripture

But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face;

anoint.

Ruth 3:3
Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the floor: but make not thyself known unto the man, until he shall have done eating and drinking.

2 Samuel 14:2
And Joab sent to Tekoah, and fetched thence a wise woman, and said unto her, I pray thee, feign thyself to be a mourner, and put on now mourning apparel, and anoint not thyself with oil, but be as a woman that had a long time mourned for the dead:

Ecclesiastes 9:8
Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment.

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Matthew 6
1. Giving to the Needy
5. The Lord's Prayer
16. Proper Fasting
19. Store up Treasures in Heaven
25. Do Not Worry
33. but seek God's kingdom.














(17) Anoint thine head, and wash thy face.--Both these acts were rigidly prohibited by the traditions of the Elders on the Day of Atonement, and by implication on other fast days also. They were the outward signs of joy (Ecclesiastes 9:8), and were therefore looked on as unsuitable for a time of mourning. The disciples of Christ were to hide their contrition and self-discipline, and even when the heart knew its own bitterness were to be blithe and cheerful, opening their griefs only to their Father in heaven.

Openly.--Here again the artificial antithesis is to be rejected as an interpolation.

Verse 17. - But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face. If both these were, among the Jews, done daily, Christ's command would mean - make no external sign of fasting; dress and appear as usual. But as anointing, at least, cannot be proved to have been a daily habit (though expressly forbidden during the stricter kinds of fasts, see Schurer, II. 2:212), especially with the mixed classes whom our Lord was addressing, and as it was with the ancients rather a symbol of special joy, it is safer to take it in this sense here. Thus our Lord will mean - so far from appearing sad, let your appearance be that of special joy and gladness. "By the symbols of joy and gladness he bade us be joyful and glad when we fast" (Photius, in Suicer, 1:186).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
But
δὲ (de)
Conjunction
Strong's 1161: A primary particle; but, and, etc.

[when] you
σὺ (sy)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Nominative 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

fast,
νηστεύων (nēsteuōn)
Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3522: To fast, abstain from food. From nestis; to abstain from food.

anoint
ἄλειψαί (aleipsai)
Verb - Aorist Imperative Middle - 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 218: To anoint: festivally, in homage, medicinally, or in anointing the dead. To oil.

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

head
κεφαλὴν (kephalēn)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 2776: From the primary kapto; the head, literally or figuratively.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

wash
νίψαι (nipsai)
Verb - Aorist Imperative Middle - 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 3538: To wash; mid. I wash my own (hands, etc.). To cleanse; ceremonially, to perform ablution.

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

face,
πρόσωπόν (prosōpon)
Noun - Accusative Neuter Singular
Strong's 4383: From pros and ops; the front, i.e. The countenance, aspect, appearance, surface; by implication, presence, person.


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NT Gospels: Matthew 6:17 But you when you fast anoint your (Matt. Mat Mt)
Matthew 6:16
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