Matthew 6:34
Encyclopedia
Matthew 6:34 is the thirty-fourth, and final, 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 concludes the discussion of worry about material provisions.
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 6:34
Luz notes that there are two interpretations of this verse: an optimistic and a pessimistic one. The optimistic view is that this verse is a rephrasing of the ancient idea of carpe diem
, live each day to it fullest because one never knows what will happen tomorrow. The more pessimistic view, which Luz thinks is more likely, is that the evil of each individual day is so great and so overbearing that it is hard enough to get through one day, much less worry about those coming. Luz argues that while the previous verse is optimistic that in the long run the Kingdom of Heaven
will be proclaimed and all will be well, in the short run the future is little more than misery.
There are other interpretations of this verse. Fowler argues that one should not worry about tomorrow, as one is being presumptuous that one will live to see tomorrow, when God has not yet granted that extra day. Morris feels that the verse should be read as an argument to always defer worry to tomorrow, and that by doing so one will never have to worry today.
This verse is not found in Luke, and Schweizer, and other scholars, feel it was most likely a composition of the author of Matthew, a concluding remark for what had gone before. Morrow can either mean the next day in particular, or the future in general. The word here translated as evil (kakia), can mean that, but more likely it simply means trouble or difficulty, rather than the evil of Satan
. The verse also had parallels in the wisdom literature
of the period.
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 concludes the discussion of worry about material provisions.
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:
- Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for
- the morrow shall take thought for the things of
- itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
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 don’t be anxious for tomorrow,
- for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.
- Each day’s own evil is sufficient.
For a collection of other versions see BibRef Matthew 6:34
Luz notes that there are two interpretations of this verse: an optimistic and a pessimistic one. The optimistic view is that this verse is a rephrasing of the ancient idea of carpe diem
Carpe diem
Carpe diem is a phrase from a Latin poem by Horace that has become an aphorism. It is popularly translated as "seize the day"...
, live each day to it fullest because one never knows what will happen tomorrow. The more pessimistic view, which Luz thinks is more likely, is that the evil of each individual day is so great and so overbearing that it is hard enough to get through one day, much less worry about those coming. Luz argues that while the previous verse is optimistic that in the long run the Kingdom of Heaven
Kingdom of God
The Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven is a foundational concept in the Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.The term "Kingdom of God" is found in all four canonical gospels and in the Pauline epistles...
will be proclaimed and all will be well, in the short run the future is little more than misery.
There are other interpretations of this verse. Fowler argues that one should not worry about tomorrow, as one is being presumptuous that one will live to see tomorrow, when God has not yet granted that extra day. Morris feels that the verse should be read as an argument to always defer worry to tomorrow, and that by doing so one will never have to worry today.
This verse is not found in Luke, and Schweizer, and other scholars, feel it was most likely a composition of the author of Matthew, a concluding remark for what had gone before. Morrow can either mean the next day in particular, or the future in general. The word here translated as evil (kakia), can mean that, but more likely it simply means trouble or difficulty, rather than the evil of Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
. The verse also had parallels in the wisdom literature
Wisdom literature
Wisdom literature is the genre of literature common in the Ancient Near East. This genre is characterized by sayings of wisdom intended to teach about divinity and about virtue...
of the period.