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Selected Verse: Matthew 6:19 - King James
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Mt 6:19 |
King James |
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
CONCLUDING ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE KINGDOM--HEAVENLY-MINDEDNESS AND FILIAL CONFIDENCE. (Mat. 6:19-34)
Lay not up for ourselves treasures upon earth--hoard not.
where moth--a "clothes-moth." Eastern treasures, consisting partly in costly dresses stored up (Job 27:16), were liable to be consumed by moths (Job 13:28; Isa 50:9; Isa 51:8). In Jam 5:2 there is an evident reference to our Lord's words here.
and rust--any "eating into" or "consuming"; here, probably, "wear and tear."
doth corrupt--cause to disappear. By this reference to moth and rust our Lord would teach how perishable are such earthly treasures.
and where thieves break through and steal--Treasures these, how precarious! |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth - Treasures, or wealth, among the ancients, consisted in clothes or changes of raiment, as well as in gold, silver, gems, wine, lands, and oil. It meant an abundance of "anything" that was held to be conducive to the ornament or comfort of life. As the Orientals delighted much in display, in splendid equipage, and costly garments, their treasures, in fact, consisted much in beautiful and richly-ornamented articles of apparel. See Gen 45:22, where Joseph gave to his brethren "changes of raiment;" Jos 7:21, where Achan coveted and secreted "a goodly Babylonian garment." Compare also Jdg 14:12. This fact will account for the use of the word "moth." When we speak of "wealth," we think at once of gold, and silver, and lands, and houses. When a Hebrew or an Orientalist spoke of wealth, he thought first of what would make a "display;" and included, as an essential part, splendid articles of dress. The "moth" is a small insect that finds its way to clothes and garments, and destroys them. The "moth" would destroy their apparel, the "rust" their silver and gold; thus all their treasure would waste away. The word rendered "rust" signifies anything which "eats into," and hence, anything which would consume one's property, and may have a wider signification than mere rust.
And where thieves break through and steal - The houses in the East were not unfrequently made of clay hardened in the sun, or of loose stones, and hence it was comparatively easy, as it was not uncommon, for thieves to "dig through" the wall, and effect an entrance in that way. See the notes at Job 24:16. |
| Vincent's Word Studies, by Marvin R. Vincent [1886] |
Lay not up treasures (μὴ θησαυρίξετε)
Lit., treasure not treasures. So Wyc., Do not treasure to you treasures. The beautiful legend of St. Thomas and Gondoforus is told by Mrs. Jameson ("Sacred and Legendary Art"): "When St. Thomas was at Caesarea, our Lord appeared to him and said, 'The king of the Indies, Gondoforus, hath sent his provost, Abanes, to seek for workmen well versed in the science of architecture, who shall build for him a palace finer than that of the Emperor of Rome. Behold, now I will send thee to him.' And Thomas went, and Gondoforus commanded him to build for him a magnificent palace, and gave him much gold and silver for the purpose. The king went into a distant country and was absent for two years; and St. Thomas, meanwhile instead of building palace, distributed all the treasures among the poor and sick; and when the king returned he was full of wrath, and he commanded that St. Thomas should be seized and cast into prison, and he meditated for him a horrible death. Meantime the brother of the king died, and the king resolved to erect for him a most magnificent tomb; but the dead man, after that he had been dead four days, suddenly arose and sat upright, and said to the king, 'The man whom thou wouldst torture is a servant of God; behold, I have been in Paradise, and the angels showed to me a wondrous palace of gold and silver and precious stones; and they said, 'This is the palace that Thomas, the architect, hath built for thy brother, King Gondoforus.' And when the king heard these words, he ran to the prison, and delivered the apostle; and Thomas said to him, 'Knowest thou not that those who would possess heavenly things have little care for the things of this earth? There are in heaven rich palaces without number, which were prepared from the beginning of the world for those who would purchase the possession through faith and charity. Thy riches, O king, may prepare the way for thee to such a palace, but they cannot follow thee thither.'"
Rust (βρῶσις)
That which eats; from the verb βιβρώσκω, to eat. Compare corrode, from the Latin rodo, to gnaw.
Doth corrupt (ἀφανίξει)
Rev., consume. The same word which is used above of the hypocrites concealing their faces. The rust consumes, and therefore causes to disappear. So Wyc., destroyeth.
Break through (διορύσσουσιν)
Lit., dig through, as a thief might easily penetrate the wall of a common oriental house of mud or clay. The Greek name for a burglar is τοιχωρύχος, wall-digger. Compare Job 24:16, "In the dark they dig through houses." Also Eze 12:5. Wyc., Thieves delve out. |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| Lay not up for yourselves - Our Lord here makes a transition from religious to common actions, and warns us of another snare, the love of money, as inconsistent with purity of intention as the love of praise. Where rust and moth consume - Where all things are perishable and transient. He may likewise have a farther view in these words, even to guard us against making any thing on earth our treasure. For then a thing properly becomes our treasure, when we set our affections upon it. Luk 12:33. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth - What blindness is it for a man to lay up that as a treasure which must necessarily perish! A heart designed for God and eternity is terribly degraded by being fixed on those things which are subject to corruption. "But may we not lay up treasure innocently?" Yes.
1st. If you can do it without setting your heart on it, which is almost impossible: and
2dly. If there be neither widows nor orphans, destitute nor distressed persons in the place where you live.
"But there is a portion which belongs to my children; shall I distribute that among the poor?" If it belongs to your children, it is not yours, and therefore you have no right to dispose of it. "But I have a certain sum in stock, etc.; shall I take that and divide it among the poor?" By no means; for, by doing so, you would put it out of your power to do good after the present division: keep your principal, and devote, if you possibly can spare it, the product to the poor; and thus you shall have the continual ability to do good. In the mean time take care not to shut up your bowels of compassion against a brother in distress; if you do, the love of God cannot dwell in you.
Rust - Or canker, βρωσις, from βρωσκω, I eat, consume. This word cannot be properly applied to rust, but to any thing that consumes or cankers clothes or metals. There is a saying exactly similar to this in the Institutes of Menu: speaking of the presents made to Brahmins, he says, "It is a gem which neither thieves nor foes take away, and which never perishes." Chapter of Government, Institute 83.
Where thieves do not break through - Διορυσσουσι, literally dig through, i.e. the wall, in order to get into the house. This was not a difficult matter, as the house was generally made of mud and straw, kneaded together like the cobb houses in Cornwall, and other places. See Clarke on Mat 7:27 (note). |
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
8 For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation.
9 Behold, the Lord GOD will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up.
28 And he, as a rotten thing, consumeth, as a garment that is moth eaten.
16 Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay;
16 In the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the daytime: they know not the light.
12 And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you: if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty change of garments:
21 When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.
22 To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment.
5 Dig thou through the wall in their sight, and carry out thereby.
16 In the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the daytime: they know not the light.
33 Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.