Matthew 6:29

And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(29) I say unto you.—The formula of emphasis is not without a special force here (comp. Matthew 18:10; Matthew 18:19). Man’s gaze was drawn to the “gorgeous apparel,” the gold-embroidered robes of kings and emperors. Jewish traditions as to the glory of Solomon represented even his attendants as clothed in purple, and with hair glittering with gold-dust. He, the true Son of David, saw in the simplest flower that grows a glory above them all. “The lily shames the king.”

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

6:25-34 There is scarcely any sin against which our Lord Jesus more warns his disciples, than disquieting, distracting, distrustful cares about the things of this life. This often insnares the poor as much as the love of wealth does the rich. But there is a carefulness about temporal things which is a duty, though we must not carry these lawful cares too far. Take no thought for your life. Not about the length of it; but refer it to God to lengthen or shorten it as he pleases; our times are in his hand, and they are in a good hand. Not about the comforts of this life; but leave it to God to make it bitter or sweet as he pleases. Food and raiment God has promised, therefore we may expect them. Take no thought for the morrow, for the time to come. Be not anxious for the future, how you shall live next year, or when you are old, or what you shall leave behind you. As we must not boast of tomorrow, so we must not care for to-morrow, or the events of it. God has given us life, and has given us the body. And what can he not do for us, who did that? If we take care about our souls and for eternity, which are more than the body and its life, we may leave it to God to provide for us food and raiment, which are less. Improve this as an encouragement to trust in God. We must reconcile ourselves to our worldly estate, as we do to our stature. We cannot alter the disposals of Providence, therefore we must submit and resign ourselves to them. Thoughtfulness for our souls is the best cure of thoughtfulness for the world. Seek first the kingdom of God, and make religion your business: say not that this is the way to starve; no, it is the way to be well provided for, even in this world. The conclusion of the whole matter is, that it is the will and command of the Lord Jesus, that by daily prayers we may get strength to bear us up under our daily troubles, and to arm us against the temptations that attend them, and then let none of these things move us. Happy are those who take the Lord for their God, and make full proof of it by trusting themselves wholly to his wise disposal. Let thy Spirit convince us of sin in the want of this disposition, and take away the worldliness of our hearts.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Consider the lilies of the field - The fourth consideration is taken from the care which God bestows on lilies. Watch the growing of the lily. It toils not, and it spins not; yet night and day it grows. With a beauty with which the most splendid monarch of the East was never adorned. it expands its blossom and fills the air with fragrance. Yet this beauty is of short continuance. Soon it will fade, and the beautiful flower will be cut down and burned. God "so little" regards the bestowment of beauty and ornament as to give the highest adorning to this which is soon to perish. When He thus clothes a lily - a fair flower, soon to perish - will he be unmindful of his children? Shall they dear to His heart and imbued with immortality - lack that which is proper for them, and shall they in vain trust the God that decks the lily of the valley?

Even Solomon in all his glory ... - The common dress of Eastern kings was purple, but they sometimes wore white robes. See Esther 8:15; Daniel 7:9. It is to this that Christ refers. Solomon, says he, the richest and most magnificent king of Israel, was not clothed in a robe of "so pure a white" as the lily that grows wild in the field.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

29. And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these—What incomparable teaching!—best left in its own transparent clearness and rich simplicity.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

See Poole on "Matthew 6:30".

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory,.... This is a certain truth, to be affirmed in the strongest manner, and to be believed, that not only men and kings too in general; but even particularly Solomon, the richest and most magnificent of all the kings of Israel, whose grandeur, and glory, exceeded all the princes of the earth; that even he, not in his common dress, but when "in his glory", and in "all" his glory, when arrayed with his royal and richest robes, with his crown on his head, and when seated on his throne,

was not arrayed like one of these lilies, or flowers of the field: for the glory and beauty of his garments were purely from art, but their's by nature; which can never be equalled by art. This phrase, "Solomon in all his glory", is the same which the Jewish doctors, in their writings, express by , "Solomon in his hour" (g): that is as their commentators explain it (h), , "in the time of his reign"; for they say he was first a king, and then a private person. Now, not whilst he was a private person, but when a king, in the height of his grandeur and magnificence, and when dressed out in the most splendid manner, he was exceeded in array by a single lily: or the sense is, in his royal apparel. For as the same doctors say,

"what is a man's "glory?" It is his clothing that is his outward glory; and again, garments are the glory of a man (i).''

(g) Misn. Bava Metzia, c. 7. sect. 1. T. Bab. ib. fol. 49. 1. & 83. 1. & 86. 2.((h) Jarchi & Bartenora in ib. (i) Tzeror Hammor, fol. 95. 1. & 99. 4. & 110. 4.

Geneva Study Bible

And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

Matthew 6:29. Ἐν πάσῃ τῇ δόξῃ αὐτοῦ] Not even (οὐδέ) Solomon when he appeared in all his glory, not merely in his royal robes (Kuinoel); it is in περιεβάλετο that the special part of the whole δόξα is first mentioned. On the δόξα of Solomon, see 2 Chronicles 9:15 ff.

αὐτοῦ, not αὑτοῦ. Observe further the ἕν: his glorious apparel was not equal to any one of these.

Expositor's Greek Testament

Matthew 6:29. λέγω δὲ: the speaker is conscious He makes a strong statement, but He means it.—οὐδὲ, not even Solomon the magnificent, most glorious of the kings of Israel, and on state occasions most gorgeously attired.—ἓν τούτων: the lilies are in view, and one of them is singled out to vie with Solomon.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

29. was not arrayed] Rather, arrayed not himself. The middle voice has a special force. Though he arrayed himself, the lilies, who trusted to God for their array, are more beautiful than he.

Bengel's Gnomen

Matthew 6:29. Δέγω, I say) Christ truly knew the dress of Solomon.—ὡς, as) sc. is clothed, or is.—ἓν, one) any one, not to say a whole garland.[287]—ΤΟΎΤΩΝ, of these) The pronoun is used demonstratively.

[287] Kings were wont to wear white robes; but these are surpassed by the whiteness of the lilies.—V. g.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 29. - Luke 12:27b almost verbally. Even Solomon... was not. The Greek lays still more stress: "not even Solomon." Arrayed. The idea of splendour, which in modern usage is often attached to "array," is wanting in περιεβάλετο. The simple rendering in Wickliffe, "was covered" (Vulgate, coopertus est), is less misleading. And so in ver. 31. Perhaps (vide Cart) the middle voice has its full reflexive meaning: Solomon with all his efforts failed. Like one of these. Even one, much less like all taken together. "Horum, demonstrativum" (Bengel). Matthew 6:29