Matthew 6:7

7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.

Matthew 6:7 in Other Translations

7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

7 "And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.

7 “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again.

7 "The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They're full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God.

7 And in praying use not vain repetitions, as the Gentiles do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

7 "When you pray, don't ramble like heathens who think they'll be heard if they talk a lot.

7 When you pray, don't babble like the idolaters, since they imagine they'll be heard for their many words.

7 "When you pray, do not keep talking on and on the way ungodly people do. They think they will be heard because they talk a lot.

Matthew 6:7 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 6:7

But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions
Saying the same things over and over again,

as the Heathens do,
as the worshippers of Baal, from morning till noon, ( 1 Kings 18:26 ) . This our Lord observes, to dissuade from such practices, because the Gentiles, who were odious to the Jews, used them, and the Jews were guilty of the same; had they not, there would not have been any need of such advice:

for they think they shall be heard for their much speaking;
as did the Jews, who, under pretence of "long prayers", devoured widows' houses; and with whom it is an axiom, that "everyone (hnen hlyptb) (hbrmh) , that multiplies prayer is heard" ^F8; and whoever prolongs his prayer, his prayer does not return empty; and he that is long in prayer, his days are prolonged ^F9: and, according to their canons, every day a man ought to pray eighteen prayers. Moreover, their prayer books abound in tautologies, and in expressing the same things in different words, and by a multiplicity of them.

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FOOTNOTES:

F8 T. Hieros. Taaniot, fol. 67. 3.
F9 Zohar in Exod. fol. 104. 4.

Matthew 6:7 In-Context

5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.

8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

9 “This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,

Cross References

• 1. Ecclesiastes 5:2
• 2. 1 Kings 18:26-29