Luke 12 - Indepthbible.org

2602 2603make cloth. But then, I tell you people, not even Solomon in all his glorious splendor was2604dressing like one of these. 12.28 If then in a field, the grass being today, and tomorrow into2601(...continued)generically of other colorful, beautiful flowers that dot the Palestinian countryside in the spring;e.g. the scarlet anemone, the Easter daisy, the autumn crocus, ranunculi, even poppies--all ofwhich have been suggested at times as meant by kri,na...Even if the flower cannot be specificallyidentified, the import of Jesus' words is clear: The 'lilies' do nothing to achieve their own beauty."(2, p. 979) But this is over-statement, they “do nothing.” The fact is that every flower is a living,acting factory, bringing up nutrients from the soil, building itself, and providing oxygen for humansand animals, among many other activities. What they don’t do, is attempt to accomplish tasksbeyond their God-given ability.2602The phrase auvxa,nei\ ouv kopia/| ouvde. nh,qei, "it grows: it does not work hard, neithermakes cloth," is changed to read ouvte. nhqei ouvte. u`fai,nei, "it neither works hard nor weaves" byBezae, the Sinaitic Syriac, the Curetonian Syriac, the Old Latin Manuscript a (with a differentword-order, see) Marcion (2nd century A.D., according to Tertullian, who died after 220 A.D.) andClement of Alexandria (who died before 215 A.D.).These variant readings do not change the meaning of Luke.Gilmour comments on verse 27 that these two verbs, "work hard" and "make cloth" refer tomen's work and women's work, side by side (p. 228). The flowers of the field do the tasks thatGod the Creator has assigned them--producing seed for the oncoming generation of plants,consuming carbon dioxide, producing oxygen, providing food for the grazing animals. They arenot lazy, doing nothing. They simply cannot, and do not, attempt to do the tasks assigned tohuman beings, both male and female.2603The conjunction o`,ti, “that,” is interpolated into the text at this point by Sinaiticus,Alexandrinus, Bezae, L, Psi, Families 1 and 13 of Minuscules, Minuscules 33, 892, 1424, someother Greek manuscripts, a majority of the Old Latin witnesses and Clement of Alexandria (whodied before 215 A.D.).It is not read by P45, P75, Vaticanus, W, Theta, Uncial Manuscript 070, the "MajorityText," the Old Latin Manuscript a or the Latin Vulgate.The interpolation does not change the meaning of Luke.2604Luke 12:27 has a parallel in Matthew 6:28b-29:Luke 12:27: katanoh,sate ta. kri,na pw/j auvxa,nei\ ouv kopia/| ouvde. nh,qei\ le,gwde. u`mi/n( ouvde. Solomw.n evn pa,sh| th/| do,xh| auvtou/ perieba,leto w`j e]n tou,twnÅ"Consider carefully the lilies, how they (literally 'it') grow (literally, 'grows'): they (literally, 'it')don't (literally 'doesn't') work hard nor make cloth. But then, I tell you people, not even Solomon in(continued...)1261