Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

Matthew 6:34

Final exhortation against care. Not in Luke's parallel section, therefore regarded by Weiss as a reflection appended by the evangelist, not drawn from apostolic doctrine. But it very fitly winds up the discourse. Instead of saying, Care not about food and raiment, the Teacher now says finally, Care not with reference to to-morrow, εἰς τὴν αὔριον (ἡμέραν understood). It comes to the same thing. To restrict care to to-day is to master it absolutely. It is the future that breeds anxiety and leads to hoarding. μεριμνήσει : future, with force of an imperative = let it, with genitive (αὐτῆς, W. H [46]) like other verbs of care; in Matthew 6:25, with accus. ἀρκετὸν : a neuter adjective, used as a noun; a sufficiency. τῇ ἡμέρᾳ, for each successive day, the article distributive. ἡ κακία, not the moral evil but the physical, the misery or affliction of life (not classical in this sense). In the words of Chrys. H. xxii., κακίαν φησι, οὐ τὴν πονηρίαν, μὴ γένοιτο, ἀλλὰ τὴν ταλαιπωρίαν, καὶ τὸν πόνον, καὶ τὰς συμφόρας. Every day has some such troubles: “suas afflictiones, quas nihil est necesse metu conduplicare”. Erasmus, Paraph. Fritzsche proposes a peculiar arrangement of the words in the second and third clauses. Putting a full stop after μεριμνήσει, and retaining the τὰ of T.R. before ἑαυτῆς, he brings out this sense: The things of itself are a sufficiency for each day, viz., the evil thereof.

[46] Westcott and Hort.

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Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

Matthew 6:34

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