Matthew 6:28

28 "And why be anxious about clothing? Think about the fields of wild irises, and how they grow. They neither work nor spin thread,

Matthew 6:28 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 6:28

And why take ye thought for raiment
Having exposed the folly of an anxious and immoderate care and thought, for food to support and prolong life, our Lord proceeds to show the vanity of an over concern for raiment:

consider the lilies of the field
or "the flowers of the field", as the Arabic version reads it, the lilies being put for all sorts of flowers. The Persic version mentions both rose and lily; the one being beautifully clothed in red, the other in white. Christ does not direct his hearers to the lilies, or flowers which grow in the garden which receive some advantage from the management and care of the gardener; but to those of the field, where the art and care of men were not so exercised: and besides, he was now preaching on the mount, in an open place; and as he could point to the fowls of the air, flying in their sight, so to the flowers, in the adjacent fields and valleys: which he would have them look upon, with their eyes, consider and contemplate in their minds,

how they grow;
in what variety of garbs they appear, of what different beautiful colours, and fragrant odours, they were; and yet

they toil not,
or do not labour as husbandmen do, in tilling their land, ploughing their fields, and sowing them with flax, out of which linen garments are made:

neither do they spin;
the flax, when plucked and dressed, as women do, in order for clothing; nor do they weave it into cloth, or make it up into garments, as other artificers do.

Matthew 6:28 In-Context

26 Look at the birds flying about! They neither plant nor harvest, nor do they gather food into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren't you worth more than they are?

27 Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to his life?

28 "And why be anxious about clothing? Think about the fields of wild irises, and how they grow. They neither work nor spin thread,

29 yet I tell you that not even Shlomo in all his glory was clothed as beautifully as one of these.

30 If this is how God clothes grass in the field -- which is here today and gone tomorrow, thrown in an oven -- won't he much more clothe you? What little trust you have!