Bible Bites

A lot of scripture is metaphoric.

Maybe you know the Bible well, or maybe you have never opened one. Maybe you’ve had too many people try to use scripture against you. Here, we’ll break down the actual meaning of the words in the Greek (or Hebrew) to get the juice out of the verses, so you can use it to make your life better.

We worry how we come off to others. We take care with our hair, our clothes, etc to give an impression. For some people, a great deal of time and money is dedicated to this endeavor. But, what if we could be saved from all that effort, time, and money by letting ourselves become truly ourselves such that what emerges as our “appearance” is something unforgettable?

This is Matt 6:28-29:

(28) So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;

(29) And yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

This is part of a longer passage where Jesus is telling people to stop worrying about their lives. Not to worry about what they will eat or drink, or about their bodies and what they will wear, that life is “more than food and the body more than clothing.” The whole passage is Matt 6:25-34, and is most often referenced as a reminder that God will provide for you, that you’ll have enough to eat and enough clothes to wear, etc.

(28) “Worry” in the Greek is merimnaó, meaning distracted, “drawn in opposite directions,” divided.

The word “clothing” in the Greek is enduma, meaning “any outward covering that reveals something about the wearer’s identity, status, or condition.”

“Consider” is katamanthanó, meaning to learn thoroughly, to note carefully.

The lily in biblical times was a prized flower. They grew wild in the hills and would especially burst forth after a rainy season.

The field is referenced here, instead of hills, etc. The field was for most people their whole world.

“How they grow” is “in what manner they enlarge/increase.”

“Toil” here is kopiaó, meaning doing exhausting labor. And “spin” is the task of twisting fibers together to make cloth.

(29) Solomon was the third King of Israel and the son of King David. He was known for his wisdom and wrote the book of Proverbs in the Bible.

“In all his glory” doesn’t necessarily reference his appearance related to clothes, etc. “Glory” here is doxa, meaning intrinsic worth, honor, praise, splendor.

“Arrayed” is periballó, to clothe, to put around, to wrap around.

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So, what do we have?

Why are you drawn in opposite directions/distracted about the outward covering that reveals something about your identity or status? Learn thoroughly how the prized flower that grows wild in the hills enlarges and increases. They don’t work to exhaustion to pay for their covering, or do hours of repetitive work to make their coverings themselves. And yet the intrinsic value of one of the Kings of Israel was not wrapped like a lily.

We think think of “an outward covering that reveals something about the wearer’s identity, status, or condition” as being shirts, pants, dresses, coats, etc. However, an “outward covering” merely means what others can see, what others are perceiving about you, the outward clues upon which they are understanding your “identity, status, or condition.” What if this isn’t about clothes at all? What if this is about the aura you exude? The felling that is swept into the room when you enter?

When we look at the verses again from that perspective, we get this:

Why are you distracted by how you are coming off to other people? There is a prized flower that bursts forth after the rains. They don’t work their fingers to the bone to try to come off to other people a particular way; they enlarge/increase because of the rain that comes upon them. Even King Solomon, renown for his wisdom, respected by many throughout time, doesn’t come off to others the way these lilies come off to others.

The last piece is what the rain represents. What makes the lilies grow such that they exude a brilliant covering? Throughout the Bible, water and rain represents a refreshing, a cleansing, a promise from God. So it is easy to replace “rain” with God’s presence.

And so finally, we have:

Why are you distracted by how you are coming off to other people? Have a friendship with God such that you’re letting Him pour in that which will make you the most you that you can become. You don’t have to work to impress upon others some status or condition. If you allow your true self to emerge because of the fears and insecurities God will wash out of you, you will exude an outward impression to others that blows away even the impression others had of King Solomon.

(Here’s a way to start that friendship with Him. It’s easy.)