Mat 6:26, 10:29-30 | Clarke | e4.org | Verse 26. Behold the fowls of the air ] The second reason why we should not be anxiously concerned about the future, is the example of the smaller animals, which the providence of God feeds without their own labour; though he be not their father. We never knew an earthly father take care of his fowls , and neglect his children ; and shall we fear this from our heavenly Father? God forbid! That man is utterly unworthy to have God for his father, who depends less upon his goodness, wisdom, and power, than upon a crop of corn, which may be spoiled either in the field or in the barn. If our great Creator have made us capable of knowing, loving, and enjoying himself eternally, what may we not expect from him, after so great a gift? They sow not, neither do they reap ] There is a saying among the rabbins almost similar to this-"Hast thou ever seen a beast or a fowl that had a workshop? yet they are fed without labour and without anxiety. They were created for the service of man, and man was created that he might serve his Creator. Man also would have been supported without labour and anxiety, had he not corrupted his ways. Hast thou ever seen a lion carrying burthens, a stag gathering summer fruits, a fox selling merchandise, or a wolf selling oil, that they might thus gain their support? And yet they are fed without care or labour. Arguing therefore from the less to the greater, if they which were created that they might serve me , are nourished without labour and anxiety, how much more I , who have been created that I might serve my Maker! What therefore is the cause, why I should be obliged to labour in order to get my daily bread? Answer, SIN." This is a curious and important extract, and is highly worthy of the reader's attention. See Schoettgen .

‏ Matthew 6:26

Verse 26. Behold the fowls of the air] The second reason why we should not be anxiously concerned about the future, is the example of the smaller animals, which the providence of God feeds without their own labour; though he be not their father. We never knew an earthly father take care of his fowls, and neglect his children; and shall we fear this from our heavenly Father? God forbid! That man is utterly unworthy to have God for his father, who depends less upon his goodness, wisdom, and power, than upon a crop of corn, which may be spoiled either in the field or in the barn. If our great Creator have made us capable of knowing, loving, and enjoying himself eternally, what may we not expect from him, after so great a gift?

They sow not, neither do they reap] There is a saying among the rabbins almost similar to this-"Hast thou ever seen a beast or a fowl that had a workshop? yet they are fed without labour and without anxiety. They were created for the service of man, and man was created that he might serve his Creator. Man also would have been supported without labour and anxiety, had he not corrupted his ways. Hast thou ever seen a lion carrying burthens, a stag gathering summer fruits, a fox selling merchandise, or a wolf selling oil, that they might thus gain their support? And yet they are fed without care or labour. Arguing therefore from the less to the greater, if they which were created that they might serve me, are nourished without labour and anxiety, how much more I, who have been created that I might serve my Maker! What therefore is the cause, why I should be obliged to labour in order to get my daily bread? Answer, SIN." This is a curious and important extract, and is highly worthy of the reader's attention. See Schoettgen.

‏ Matthew 10:29-30

Verse 29. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing?] ασσαριου. A Roman AS was one-tenth of a DENARIUS, which was about sevenpence-halfpenny, and one-tenth of sevenpence-halfpenny makes just three farthings.

The word ασσαριον, which we translate farthing, is found among the rabbins in the word aisar, which, according to Maimonides, is equal to four grains of silver, but is used among them to express a thing of the lowest, or almost no value. Our Lord seems to have borrowed the expression, One of them shall not fall on the ground, &c., from his own countrymen. In Bereshith Rabba, sec. 79, fol. 77, it is said: In the time in which the Jews were compelled to apostatize, Rab. Simeon, Ben. Jochai, and Eliezer his son hid themselves in a cave, and lived upon dry husks. After thirteen years they came out; and, sitting at the mouth of the cave, they observed a fowler stretching his nets to catch birds; and as often as the Bath Kol said dimos, escape! the bird escaped; but when it said spicula, a dart, the bird was taken. Then the rabbin said, Even a bird is not taken without Heaven, i.e. without the will of God, how much less the life of man! The doctrine intended to be inculcated is this: The providence of God extends to the minutest things; every thing is continually under the government and care of God, and nothing occurs without his will or permission; if then he regards sparrows, how much more man, and how much more still the soul that trusts in him!

Fall on the ground] Instead of επιτηνγην, Origen, Clement, Chrysostom, Juvencus, and six MSS. of Mathai, read ειςτηνπαγιδα into a snare. Bengel conjectures that it might have been written at first, επιτηνπαγην; that the first syllable πα being lost out of the word, γην, the earth, instead of παγην, snare, became the common reading.

Without your Father.] Without the will of your Father: της βουλης, the will or counsel, is added here by Origen, Coptic, all the Arabic, latter Persic, Gothic, all the Itala except two; Tert., Iren., Cypr., Novatian, and other Latin fathers. If the evidence be considered as insufficient to entitle it to admission into the text, let it stand there as a supplementary italic word, necessary to make the meaning of the place evident.

All things are ordered by the counsel of God. This is a great consolation to those who are tried and afflicted. The belief of an all-wise, all-directing Providence, is a powerful support under the most grievous accidents of life. Nothing escapes his merciful regards, not even the smallest things of which he may be said to be only the creator and preserver; how much less those of whom he is the Father, Saviour, and endless felicity! See Clarke on Lu 12:7.

Verse 30. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.] Nothing is more astonishing than the care and concern of God for his followers. The least circumstances of their life are regulated, not merely by that general providence which extends to all things, but by a particular providence, which fits and directs all things to the design of their salvation, causing them all to co-operate for their present and eternal good. Ro 5:1-5.