Matthew 6.25-34 forms a unit in itself and calls for absolute commitment to God and his kingdom (verse 33) rather than to earthly possessions. It continues the main theme of the preceding paragraph, that is, the necessity for complete devotion to the service of God. There is a parallel in Luke, but it appears in a different context (12.22-34).

Therefore (Good News Translation “This is why”) forms only a loose connection in the context. The presence of the complete formula (Therefore I tell you) in both Matthew and Luke (12.22) suggests that the words were taken over from the special source shared by Matthew and Luke, where Therefore may have had a closer connection with the context. In this verse translators most often indicate a rather loose connection, with transitions such as “And so I tell you,” “I tell you, then,” or “So I tell you.”

Anxious about is translated by the equivalent of “worry about” in Good News Translation, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, An American Translation, Barclay, Phillips. Either translation is an accurate rendering of the Greek. One commentator expresses the meaning as “You must not be distracted by cares.” The verb occurs four more times in this passage (verses 27, 28, 31, 34) and in 10.19. There are several ways languages express the meaning of do not be anxious about. Some say “Don’t be overly concerned,” “Don’t let the worries distract you,” or “Don’t allow the cares to bother you too much.”

The Greek word rendered life literally means “soul.” However, it is not here used in contrast to body, but appears as a word that is nearly synonymous, since both terms really refer to one’s own self. The use of the word in this verse, as elsewhere in the Bible, indicates that the “soul” is not to be understood as an eternal part in man, but as his entire being. In the Jewish sense, “soul” is the basic element in a person’s vitality, requiring food for sustenance, and is thereby essentially synonymous with life. Good News Translation interprets with this same meaning but with considerable restructuring: “do not be worried about the food and drink you need in order to stay alive.” A number of other modern translations are also dynamic; for example, “Stop worrying about what you are going to eat and drink to keep you alive” (Barclay), “don’t worry about living—wondering what you are going to eat or drink” (Phillips), and “do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink” (New International Version). Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch ties this clause with the next: “Do not worry about food and drink and your clothing. Life is more than food and drink, and the body is more than clothing.” The use of “Stop worrying about” (Barclay) is based on the observation that the Greek verb tense is a present imperative, implying a command to stop doing some action already in progress. Barclay also uses this same form in the second half of the command: “Stop worrying about the clothes you are going to wear to keep your body warm.”

Some translations have said “Don’t be overly concerned about the things that relate to your life, such as what you’re going to eat or drink” or “You should not always be preoccupied by (or, worrying yourself about) things to keep alive with, such as food or drink.”

Nor about your body, what you shall put on is rather awkward for English speakers. A number of modern translations have restructured similarly to Good News Translation: “… and clothes to cover your body” (New English Bible), “… or use for clothing” (New American Bible), and “… nor about your body and how you are to clothe it” (Jerusalem Bible). This phrase can also be “nor about what clothes you’ll cover your body with” or “nor about the clothing you need to protect your body.”

Good News Translation prefaces Is not life more than food with “After all.” This phrase does not represent any specific words in the Greek text; it is introduced in English because the need is felt for a transitional.

Is not introduces a rhetorical question in Greek which expects the answer “Yes.” New Jerusalem Bible changes the question form of the Greek text to a statement: “Surely life is more than food, and the body more than clothing!” New English Bible and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, among others, restructure similarly. In some languages a question will be formed at the end of a sentence, as in “Life means more than food and the body means more than clothing, isn’t that so?”

The concepts of life being more than food and the body more than clothing often need to be restructured if readers are to understand what is meant. Some ways will be to say “What is important in life is much more than food,” “There is much more to life than just food,” or “There is much more of importance to life than food.” Similarly the second part may be “There are things more important to our bodies than clothing.”

Of course, any one of these statements can be expressed as a question, as in the text: “Isn’t there more to life than just food?” “Aren’t there things more important to our bodies than clothing?” and so on.

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 .