to seek (literally or figuratively) · verb — present active imperative, 2nd person plural
first
πρῶτονprōton
G4412
firstly (in time
the kingdom
βασιλείανbasileian
G932
properly · noun — accusative singular feminine
of God
θεοῦtheou
G2316
figuratively · noun — genitive singular masculine, a title
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
his
αὐτοῦ,autou
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular masculine
righteousness
δικαιοσύνηνdikaiosunēn
G1343
equity (of character or act) · noun — accusative singular feminine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
all
πάνταpanta
G3956
all · adjective — nominative plural neuter
these things
ταῦταtaûta
G5023
these things
shall be added
προστεθήσεταιprostethēsetai
G4369
to place additionally · verb — future passive indicative, 3rd person singular
unto you
ὑμῖνhymîn
G5213
to (with or by) you
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Luke 12:31 But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
John 6:27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: f…
Psalms 34:9-10 O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.
Psalms 84:11-12 For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
Mark 10:29-30 And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or…
Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
Proverbs 3:9-10 Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Matthew 6:25–end
There is scarcely any one sin against which our Lord Jesus more largely and earnestly warns his disciples, or against which he arms them with more variety of arguments, than the sin of disquieting, distracting, distrustful cares about the things of life, which are a bad sign that both the treasure and the heart are on the earth; and therefore he thus largely insists upon it. Here is,
I. The prohibition laid down. It is the counsel and command of the Lord Jesus, that we take no thought about the things of this world; I say unto you. He says it as our Lawgiver, and the Sovereign of our hearts; he says it as our Comforter, and the Helper of our joy. What is it that he says? It is this, and he t…
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you--This is the great summing up. Strictly speaking, it has to do only with the subject of the present section--the right state of the heart with reference to heavenly trod earthly things; but being couched in the form of a brief general directory, it is so comprehensive in its grasp as to embrace the whole subject of this discourse. And, as if to make this the more evident, the two keynotes of this great sermon seem purposely struck in it--"the KINGDOM" and "the RIGHTEOUSNESS" Of the kingdom--as the grand objects, in the supreme pursuit of which all things needful for the present life will…
But seek first the kingdom of God,.... Meaning either the Gospel, and the ministration of it; in which sense this phrase is often used, see Matthew 21:43 and which is diligently to be sought after, and into; to be constantly attended on, and to be preferred to our necessary food, to raiment, or riches, or any enjoyment of life: or else the kingdom of glory, which is prepared by God, and is his gift; for which he makes his people meet here, and will introduce them into it hereafter.
And his righteousness; the righteousness of God, which is revealed in the Gospel, and is what gives a right and title to the kingdom of heaven. This is not the righteousness of man, but of God; and is no other th…
The Church Fathers
Hyperichius said, 'Let your mind be always on the kingdom of heaven, and you will soon inherit it.'
But how gracefully has the Divine Wisdom arranged the order of the prayer; so that after things heavenly-that is, after the "Name" of God, the "Will" of God, and the "Kingdom" of God-it should give earthly necessities also room for a petition! For the Lord had withal issued His edict, "Seek ye first the kingdom, and then even these shall be added: " albeit we may rather understand, "Give us this day our daily bread," spiritually.
Behold, we see, dearest brothers, how many of you have gathered for the feast of the martyr: you bend your knees, you beat your breasts, you utter words of prayer and confession, you wet your faces with tears. But consider, I ask, your petitions; see whether you are asking in the name of Jesus, that is, whether you are seeking the joys of eternal salvation. For in the house of Jesus you do not seek Jesus, if in the temple of eternity you pray inappropriately for temporal things. Behold, one person in prayer seeks a wife, another asks for an estate, another requests clothing, another begs that food be given to him. And indeed when these things are lacking, they should be sought from almighty God. But we ought to remember continually what we have received from the command of our same Redeemer: "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." And so to ask these things from Jesus is not to err, provided they are not sought excessively.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Kingdom of God — (Matt. 6:33; Mark 1:14, 15; Luke 4:43) = “kingdom of Christ” (Matt. 13:41; 20:21) = “kingdom of Christ and of God” (Eph. 5:5) = “kingdom of David” (Mark 11:10) = “the kingdom” (Matt. 8:12; 13:19) =…
Oath — A solemn appeal to God, permitted on fitting occasions (Deut. 6:13; Jer. 4:2), in various forms (Gen. 16:5; 2 Sam. 12:5; Ruth 1:17; Hos. 4:15; Rom. 1:9), and taken in different ways (Gen. 14:22;…
Adoption · Should produce: Child-like confidence in God — Should produce: Child-like confidence in God
Matthew 6:31-34
Matthew 6:31-34
Luke 12:29-32
31. Be not therefore anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or what shall we drink? or with what shall we be clothed? 32. For all those things the Gentiles seek: for your heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of these things. 33. But rather seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. 34. Be not therefore anxious about tomorrow: for tomorrow will take care of itself. Its own affliction is sufficient for the day.
29. And seek not what you shall eat, or what you shall drink, and be not lifted on high. 30. For all these things the nations of the world seek: and your Father knoweth that you…
Here Jesus gives the positive alternative to worrying. Single-minded commitment to God and seeking his reign through Christ (see 6:19-24) must be the primary concern of Jesus’ disciples.
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
