The Meaning of Matthew 6:26 Explained

Matthew 6:26

KJV: Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

YLT: look to the fowls of the heaven, for they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather into storehouses, and your heavenly Father doth nourish them; are not ye much better than they?

Darby: Look at the birds of the heaven, that they sow not, nor reap, nor gather into granaries, and your heavenly Father nourishes them. Are ye not much more excellent than they?

ASV: Behold the birds of the heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye of much more value then they?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Behold  the fowls  of the air:  for  they sow  not,  neither  do they reap,  nor  gather  into  barns;  yet  your  heavenly  Father  feedeth  them.  Are  ye  not  much  better than  they? 

What does Matthew 6:26 Mean?

Context Summary

Matthew 6:19-26 - What To Seek And Whom To Serve
What is in our inner life which answers to the eye of the body? Some have said that it is the intellect; others the heart. But it is truer to say that it is the inner purpose and intention of the soul.
When our physical eye is in an unhealthy condition, the image is doubled and blurred. To use a common expression, it has a squint, such as affected the noble face of Edward Irving, the noted English clergyman. We are told that as a babe he was laid in a wooden cradle, in the side of which was a small hole through which he watched what was going on. This distorted his vision through life. So we may look two ways at once.
The endeavor to serve God and mammon, to stand well with both worlds, to lay up treasures on earth and at the same time be rich toward God, is a spiritual squint. John Bunyan tells of Mr. Facing-Both-Ways, who kept one eye on heaven and the other on earth; who sincerely professed one thing and sincerely did another. He tried to cheat God and Devil, but in the end cheated only himself and his neighbors. [source]

Chapter Summary: Matthew 6

1  Giving to the Needy
5  The Lord's Prayer
16  Proper Fasting
19  Store up Treasures in Heaven
25  Do Not Worry
33  but seek God's kingdom

What do the individual words in Matthew 6:26 mean?

Look at the birds of the air that not they sow nor do they reap do they gather into barns and the Father of you - Heavenly feeds them Not you much are more valuable than they
ἐμβλέψατε εἰς τὰ πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ὅτι οὐ σπείρουσιν οὐδὲ θερίζουσιν συνάγουσιν εἰς ἀποθήκας καὶ Πατὴρ ὑμῶν οὐράνιος τρέφει αὐτά οὐχ ὑμεῖς μᾶλλον διαφέρετε αὐτῶν

ἐμβλέψατε  Look 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Imperative Active, 2nd Person Plural
Root: ἐμβλέπω  
Sense: to turn one’s eyes on.
εἰς  at 
Parse: Preposition
Root: εἰς  
Sense: into, unto, to, towards, for, among.
πετεινὰ  birds 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Neuter Plural
Root: πετεινόν  
Sense: flying, winged.
τοῦ  of  the 
Parse: Article, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
οὐρανοῦ  air 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: οὐρανός  
Sense: the vaulted expanse of the sky with all things visible in it.
ὅτι  that 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: ὅτι  
Sense: that, because, since.
σπείρουσιν  they  sow 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: ἐπισπείρω 
Sense: to sow, scatter, seed.
οὐδὲ  nor 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: οὐδέ  
Sense: but not, neither, nor, not even.
θερίζουσιν  do  they  reap 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: θερίζω  
Sense: to reap, harvest.
συνάγουσιν  do  they  gather 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: συνάγω  
Sense: to gather together, to gather.
εἰς  into 
Parse: Preposition
Root: εἰς  
Sense: into, unto, to, towards, for, among.
ἀποθήκας  barns 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Plural
Root: ἀποθήκη  
Sense: a place in which anything is laid by or up.
Πατὴρ  Father 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: προπάτωρ 
Sense: generator or male ancestor.
ὑμῶν  of  you 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive 2nd Person Plural
Root: σύ  
Sense: you.
  - 
Parse: Article, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
οὐράνιος  Heavenly 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: οὐράνιος  
Sense: heavenly.
τρέφει  feeds 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: τρέφω  
Sense: to nourish, support.
μᾶλλον  much 
Parse: Adverb
Root: μᾶλλον  
Sense: more, to a greater degree, rather.
διαφέρετε  are  more  valuable 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 2nd Person Plural
Root: διαφέρω  
Sense: to bear or carry through any place.
αὐτῶν  than  they 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive Neuter 3rd Person Plural
Root: αὐτός  
Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself.