Matthew 6:25
Encyclopedia
Matthew 6:25 is the twenty-fifth verse of the sixth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew
in the New Testament
and is part of the Sermon on the Mount
. This verse shifts the discussion from one of money to one of worry.
In the King James Version of the Bible
the text reads:
The World English Bible
translates the passage as:
For a collection of other versions see BibRef Matthew 6:25
Jesus has just told his followers that it is impossible to pursue both God and wealth. In this verse he begins a discussion of why one should not be over anxious about all material things. In this verse Jesus states that there is more to life than food and clothing, and implicitly warns that a focus on these practical concerns could distract from the focus on God. The word translated as life could also refer to the soul, but writers of the period did not see a distinction between the two concepts. This verse is also interpreted as a reminder that God provided one's life and one's body so one should not doubt that he will also provide the necessities of survival.
Fowler notes that the early manuscripts are divided on whether the verse includes the question "what will you drink." The absence of this question would make a clearer parallel with later verses, as while the questions about food and clothing are answered, this one is not.
The word translated as life literally means soul
, but when Jesus states that one should not be anxious about one's soul it is quite clear that this is meant in the Jewish sense of vitality or vigour, rather than the Christian theological idea of the soul. Thus the soul, which in this verse is portrayed as both eating or drinking, is more accurately translated as life. The word translated in this verse as eat is the same word frequently translated as rust
in Matthew 6:19.
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
in the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
and is part of the Sermon on the Mount
Sermon on the Mount
The Sermon on the Mount is a collection of sayings and teachings of Jesus, which emphasizes his moral teaching found in the Gospel of Matthew...
. This verse shifts the discussion from one of money to one of worry.
In the King James Version of the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
the text reads:
- Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for
- your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink;
- nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not
- the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
The World English Bible
World English Bible
The World English Bible is a public domain translation of the Bible that is currently in draft form. Work on the World English Bible began in 1997 and was known as the American Standard Version 1997...
translates the passage as:
- Therefore, I tell you, don’t be anxious for your life:
- what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor yet
- for your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more
- than food, and the body more than clothing?
For a collection of other versions see BibRef Matthew 6:25
Jesus has just told his followers that it is impossible to pursue both God and wealth. In this verse he begins a discussion of why one should not be over anxious about all material things. In this verse Jesus states that there is more to life than food and clothing, and implicitly warns that a focus on these practical concerns could distract from the focus on God. The word translated as life could also refer to the soul, but writers of the period did not see a distinction between the two concepts. This verse is also interpreted as a reminder that God provided one's life and one's body so one should not doubt that he will also provide the necessities of survival.
Fowler notes that the early manuscripts are divided on whether the verse includes the question "what will you drink." The absence of this question would make a clearer parallel with later verses, as while the questions about food and clothing are answered, this one is not.
The word translated as life literally means soul
Soul
A soul in certain spiritual, philosophical, and psychological traditions is the incorporeal essence of a person or living thing or object. Many philosophical and spiritual systems teach that humans have souls, and others teach that all living things and even inanimate objects have souls. The...
, but when Jesus states that one should not be anxious about one's soul it is quite clear that this is meant in the Jewish sense of vitality or vigour, rather than the Christian theological idea of the soul. Thus the soul, which in this verse is portrayed as both eating or drinking, is more accurately translated as life. The word translated in this verse as eat is the same word frequently translated as rust
Rust
Rust is a general term for a series of iron oxides. In colloquial usage, the term is applied to red oxides, formed by the reaction of iron and oxygen in the presence of water or air moisture...
in Matthew 6:19.