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MATTHEW 6:7 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
Matt 6:6Matt 6:8
“But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.”
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. The Gentile prayer practice of verbal accumulation — repetitive formulas, long invocations, the hope that quantity of words will produce divine attention — is the second error corrected before the Lord's Prayer is given. The many words of pagan prayer reflect a theology of petition that attempts to compel the deity through persistent verbal pressure. The empty phrases (battalogeo, possibly onomatopoeia for babbling) are the opposite of the focused, trusting address that Jesus models in the prayer that follows. Isaiah 29:13 describes worship with the lips while the heart is far away — the heap of words without engagement is the verbal equivalent.

Church Fathers on Matthew 6:7

As the hypocrites use to set themselves so as to be seen in their prayers, whose reward is to be acceptable to men; so the Ethnici (that is, the Gentiles) use to think that they shall be heard for their much speaking; therefore He adds, 'When ye pray, do not ye use many words.'

Augustine · 4th century

Hereby He dissuades from empty speaking in prayer; as, for example, when we ask of God things improper, as dominions, fame, overcoming of our enemies, or abundance of wealth. He commands then that our prayers should not be long; long, that is, not in time, but in multitude of words. For it is right that those who ask should persevere in their asking; 'being instant in prayer,' as the Apostle instructs; but does not thereby enjoin us to compose a prayer of ten thousand verses,…

Chrysostom · 4th century

What He condemns is many words in praying that come of want of faith; 'as the Gentiles do.' For a multitude of words were needful for the Gentiles, seeing the daemons could not know for what they petitioned, until instructed by them; they think they shall be heard for their much speaking.

Gloss (Glossa Ordinaria) · medieval compilation · ord.
Read all 12 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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