Matthew 6:31

Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(31) Therefore . . .—The command which, in Matthew 6:25; Matthew 6:28, had before been given as general and abstract, is now enforced as the conclusion of a process of thought more or less inductive. A change in the tense, which we fail to express in English, indicates more special and personal application—“Do not take thought, do not be over-anxious now.”

Benson Commentary

Matthew 6:31-32. Therefore take no thought — Be no more distracted and torn in pieces, as it were, with anxious and unbelieving thoughts, Saying, What shall we eat, &c. — How shall we be provided for during the remainder of our lives? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek — Who are strangers to the promises of God’s covenant, and to the hopes of his glory. “It was the general character of the heathen, that they prayed to their gods, and laboured themselves, for no blessings but the temporal ones here mentioned, as is plain from the tenth Sat. of Juvenal; and that because they were in a great measure ignorant of God’s goodness, had erred fundamentally in their notions of religion, and had no certain hope of a future state.” See Ephesians 2:12. For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of these things — Your heavenly Father is far better acquainted with all your wants than you yourselves are, and does not disregard them. There is a noble antithesis in this passage. Christ sets God’s knowledge of our wants in opposition to the anxiety of the heathen about having theirs supplied, to intimate that the one is much more effectual for that purpose than the other.

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

Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field - What grows up in the field, or grows wild and without culture. The word "grass," applied here to the lily, denotes merely that it is a vegetable production, or that it is among the things which grow wild, and which are used for fuel.

Which today is - It lives today, or it lives for a day. It is short-lived, and seems to be a thing of no value, and is so treated.

Is cast into the oven - The Jews had different modes of baking. In early times they frequently baked in the sand, warmed with the heat of the sun. They constructed, also, movable ovens made of clay, brick, or plates of iron. But the most common kind, and the one here probably referred to, was made by excavating the ground 2 1/2 feet in diameter, and from 5 to 6 feet deep. This kind of oven still exists in Persia. The bottom was paved with stones. It was heated by putting wood or dry grass into the oven, and, when heated, the ashes were removed and the bread was placed on the heated stones. Frequently, however, the oven was an earthen vessel without a bottom, about 3 feet high, smeared outside and inside with clay, and placed upon a frame or support. Fire was made within or below it. When the sides were sufficiently heated, thin patches of dough were spread on the inside, and the top was covered, without removing the fire as in the other cases, and the bread was quickly baked.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

31. Therefore take no thought—solicitude.

saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

Matthew Poole's Commentary

See Poole on "Matthew 6:32".

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Therefore take no thought,.... That is, for the morrow, as it is explained, Luke 6:34 for it is lawful to take proper care and thought for present food, drink, and raiment; but not to be anxiously concerned for futurity;

saying, what shall we eat? or what shall we drink? or wherewithal shall we be clothed? These are a repetition of the several things instanced in, and are the very language and expressions of men of little faith; as in the above citation, , "what shall I eat tomorrow?"

Geneva Study Bible

Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Expositor's Greek Testament

Matthew 6:31-33. Renewed exhortation against care.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

31. take no thought] See Matthew 6:25.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 31. - Luke 12:29 has the difficult phrase, "Neither be ye of doubtful mind." Therefore take no thought (μὴ οϋν μεριμνήσητε). The shade of difference here and ver. 34 from ver. 25 cannot be expressed in an English translation. In ver. 25 a state of anxiety, here and ver. 34: one anxious thought, is forbidden. Matthew 6:31