Solomon, son and successor to King David, was noted for his great wealth. Many readers will not know who Solomon was, so translators should say “King Solomon” or “the great King Solomon.” More information about him can be put in the glossary.

In all his glory can be “in all his wealth” or “who was so rich.”

Like one of these refers back to the noun translated “lilies” in verse 28. Good News Translation has “as one of these flowers” because “flowers” was used there by Good News Bible. The choice of a noun here will naturally be determined by the interpretation given in verse 28.

The text says that even Solomon was not arrayed like one of these. This means that “Even the clothing of King Solomon was not as splendid (or, as beautiful) as the clothing of one of these flowers” or “Even King Solomon didn’t have clothes as beautiful as any of these flowers.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .