Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
Parallel translations
- WEB “If therefore you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has anything against you,
- BSB So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,
- NKJV Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you,
- NASB Therefore, if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you,
- NLT “So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
If you recall at the altar that your brother has something against you, stop. It shows that reconciliation takes priority over worship.
Overview
Jesus teaches that broken relationships hinder true worship. To approach God while a brother holds a grievance is to ignore the heart of the Law. The verse calls disciples to take seriously the wrongs others hold against them, valuing reconciliation as part of genuine devotion to God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Mark 11:25And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
- Lev 6:2–6If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the LORD, and lie unto his neighbour in that which was delivered him to keep, or in fellowship, or in a thing taken away by violence, or hath deceived his neighbour;
- Matt 5:24Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
- Matt 8:4And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.
- Matt 23:19Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?
- Luke 19:8And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.
- 1 Sam 15:22And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
- Hos 6:6For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
- Amos 5:21–24I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.
- Lam 3:20My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me.
- Isa 1:10–17Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.
- Ezek 16:63That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord GOD.
- Gen 50:15–17And when Joseph’s brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him.
- 1 Kgs 2:44The king said moreover to Shimei, Thou knowest all the wickedness which thine heart is privy to, that thou didst to David my father: therefore the LORD shall return thy wickedness upon thine own head;
- Gen 42:21–22And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.
- Gen 41:9Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults this day:
- Deut 16:16–17Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 5:23 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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