Matthew 6:5

b. Sincerity in prayer.

5. Prayest From sincerity in alms our Lord proceeds to sincerity in prayer. Hypocrites The Greek word is, literally, play actors. These anciently not only acted a part, but wore a mask. Hence they became a symbol of persons who assumed a false character, especially in religion. Standing A usual posture of the Jews in prayer. The early Christians followed a more uniform practice of kneeling. See Acts 9:40; Acts 20:36. The posture is not essential, but so far as the act is significant, kneeling is assuredly the more reverential. Dr. Thomson says of the Moslem prayers: “I would be glad to believe there was ordinarily any corresponding moral and religious feeling connected with this exterior manifestation of devotion. The Moslems themselves, however, have no such idea. They are rather afraid of any one who is especially given to prayer their prayers, I mean. They have a proverb: ‘If your neighbour has made the pilgrimage to Mecca once, watch him; if twice, avoid his society; if three times, move into another street.’“

Corners of the streets Where streets intersected and so brought large crowds. The Jerusalem Talmud is quoted as saying: “Rabbi Janai stood and prayed in the corner of the street Trippor, repeating an additional prayer at each of the four corners.”