Matthew 6:29

29 But I say to you that even Solomon in all of his splendor wasn't dressed like one of these.

Matthew 6:29 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 6:29

And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory,
&c.] 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 (wtevb hmlv) , "Solomon in his hour" F7: that is as their commentators explain it F8, (wtwklm teb) , "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 F9.''


FOOTNOTES:

F7 Misn. Bava Metzia, c. 7. sect. 1. T. Bab. ib. fol. 49. 1. & 83. 1. & 86. 2.
F8 Jarchi & Bartenora in ib.
F9 Tzeror Hammor, fol. 95. 1. & 99. 4. & 110. 4.

Matthew 6:29 In-Context

27 Who among you by worrying can add a single moment to your life?
28 And why do you worry about clothes? Notice how the lilies in the field grow. They don't wear themselves out with work, and they don't spin cloth.
29 But I say to you that even Solomon in all of his splendor wasn't dressed like one of these.
30 If God dresses grass in the field so beautifully, even though it's alive today and tomorrow it's thrown into the furnace, won't God do much more for you, you people of weak faith?
31 Therefore, don't worry and say, ‘What are we going to eat?' or ‘What are we going to drink?' or ‘What are we going to wear?'
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