1071 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But if thine eye be evil,.... If thou art of a sordid disposition, of an avaricious temper, if the sin of covetousness prevails over thee, thy whole body will be full of darkness: thy judgment will be so influenced by that sordid principle, that thou wilt not be able to discern what is agreeable to the law of God, or human reason; what is fitting...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
No man can serve two masters,.... Whose orders are directly contrary to one another: otherwise, if they were the same, or agreed, both might be served; but this is rarely the case, and seldom done. This is a proverbial expression, and is elsewhere used by Christ, Lu 16:13. The Jews have sayings pretty much like it, and of the same sense as when...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life,.... Since ye cannot serve both God and "mammon", obey one, and neglect the other. Christ does not forbid labour to maintain, support, and preserve, this animal life; nor does he forbid all thought and care about it, but all anxious, immoderate, perplexing, and distressing thoughts and cares;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Behold the fowls of the air,.... Not such as are brought up in houses, but which fly abroad in the air, wild; and are not supported by their own, or any human care, but by the care of God: Lu 12:24 particularly mentions the "ravens", referring probably to Psalms 147:9, and because they are very voracious creatures: and there it is said, "consider...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Which of you by taking thought,.... As Christ argued before, from the unnecessariness of anxious thoughts and cares, about the provisions of life; so here, from the unprofitableness of them; it being impossible for a man, with all his care and thought, to add one cubit unto his stature, or "to his age"; so the word is rendered, John 9:21 to the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory,.... 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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Wherefore if God so clothe the grass of the field..... These words are a conclusion from the former, and contain an argument from the lesser to the greater; that if God, for this is solely his work, so clothes the lilies, the flowers of the field, and whatever grows up out of the earth, in such a beautiful and splendid manner, as even to outdo...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Therefore take no thought,.... That is, for the morrow, as it is explained, Lu 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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For after all these things do the Gentiles seek,.... Or "the nations of the world", as in Lu 12:30. The Syriac reads it so here: the phrase, אומות העולם "the nations of the world", is used of the Gentiles, in distinction from the Israelites, thousands of times in the Jewish writings; it would be endless to give instances. These knew not God, nor...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But seek first the kingdom of God,.... Meaning either the Gospel, and the ministration of it; in which sense this phrase is often used, see Matthew 21:43 and which is diligently to be sought after, and into; to be constantly attended on, and to be preferred to our necessary food, to raiment, or riches, or any enjoyment of life: or else the kingdom...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Take therefore no thought for the morrow,.... Reference is had to Proverbs 27:1. "Boast not of thyself tomorrow": a man cannot promise or assure himself, that he shall have a morrow, and therefore it is great weakness and folly to be anxiously thoughtful about it. This is expressed in the Talmud (s), nearer the sense of Christ's words, after this...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Judge not, that ye be not judged. This is not to be understood of any sort of judgment; not of judgment in the civil courts of judicature, by proper magistrates, which ought to be made and pass, according to the nature of the case; nor of judgment in the churches of Christ, where offenders are to be called to an account, examined, tried, and dealt...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged,.... Both by God and men; to which agree those proverbial sentences used by the Jews; "He that judgeth his neighbour according to the balance of righteousness, or innocence, they judge him according to righteousness.'' (w) And a little after, "As ye have judged me according to the balance of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye?.... By "mote" is meant, any little bit of straw, or small splinter of wood, that flies into the eye, and does it damage, hinders its sight, and gives it pain; and designs little sins, comparatively speaking, such as youthful follies, human frailties, and infirmities, inadvertencies and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Or how wilt thou say to thy brother?.... This is not so much an interrogation, as an expression of admiration, at the front and impudence of such censorious remarkers, and rigid observators; who not content to point at the faults of others, take upon them to reprove them in a very magisterial way: and it is as if Christ had said, with what face...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye,.... Very rightly does our Lord call such a man an hypocrite, who is very free in remarking and reproving other men's sins, and covering his own; and indeed, one end of his critical observations, rigid censures, and rash judgments is, that he might be thought to be holier than he is....
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Give not that which is holy to the dogs,.... Dogs were unclean creatures by the law; the price of one might not be brought into the house of the Lord, for a vow, Deuteronomy 23:18 yea, these creatures were not admitted into several temples of the Heathens (h). Things profane and unclean, as flesh torn by beasts, were ordered to be given to them,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Ask and it shall be given you,.... This is to be understood of asking of God in prayer, for such things as are wanting; whether of a temporal nature, as food and raiment, which Christ, in the former chapter, had warned against an immoderate and anxious concern for; or of a spiritual nature, as grace, and wisdom to behave in a proper manner, both...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For everyone that asketh receiveth,.... For God is no respecter of persons; whoever makes application, be he a Jew, or a Gentile, rich or poor, bond or free, a man of great gifts, or mean parts, provided he asks aright, from right principles, and with right views, shall not lose his labour; but shall receive all such good things at the hand of...