Matthew 6:17

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

Majority Standard Bible

In The King James Version

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

In Context

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.

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.

Read all of Matthew 6

Cross References

Ruth 3:3Therefore 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 14:2So Joab sent to Tekoa to bring a wise woman from there. He told her, “Please pretend to be a mourner; put on clothes for mourning and do not anoint yourself with oil. Act like a woman who has mourned for the dead a long time.

Daniel 10:2In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three full weeks.

Matthew Henry on Matthew 6:17-19

The Sermon on the Mount. 16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; 18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. We are here cautioned against hypocrisy in fasting, as before in almsgiving, and in… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Matthew 6:17