Matthew 6:32

τὰ ἔθνη, again a reference to heathen practice; in Matthew 6:7 to their “battology” in prayer, here to the kind of blessings they eagerly ask (ἐπιζητοῦσιν); material only or chiefly; bread, raiment, wealth, etc. I never realised how true the statement of Jesus is till I read the Vedic Hymns, the prayer book and song book of the Indian Aryans. With the exception of a few hymns to Varuna, in which sin is confessed and pardon begged, most hymns, especially those to Indra, contain prayers only for material goods: cows, horses, green pastures, good harvests.

To wifeless men thou givest wives,

And joyful mak'st their joyless lives;

Thou givest sons, courageous, strong,

To guard their aged sires from wrong,

Lands, jewels, horses, herds of kine,

All kinds of wealth are gifts of thine

Thy friend is never slain; his might

Is never worsted in the fight.

Dr. Muir, Sanskrit Texts, vol. v., p. 137.

οἶδεν γὰρ ὁ πατὴρ ὑ.: Disciples must rise above the pagan level, especially as they worship not Indra, but a Father in heaven, believed in even by the Indian Aryans, in a rude way, under the name of Dyaus-Pitar, Heaven-Father. γὰρ explains the difference between pagans and disciples. The disciple has a Father who knows, and never forgets, His children's needs, and who is so regarded by all who truly believe in Him. Such faith kills care. But such faith is possible only to those who comply with the following injunction.

Matthew 6:33. ζητεῖτε πρῶτον. There is considerable variation in the text of this counsel. Perhaps the nearest to the original is the reading of [44], which omits τοῦ θεοῦ with [45], and inverts the order of βασ. and δικαι. Seek ye His (the Father's) righteousness and kingdom, though it may be against this that in Luke (Luke 12:31) the kingdom only is mentioned, πρῶτον also being omitted: Seek ye His kingdom. This may have been the original form of the logion, all beyond being interpretation, true though unnecessary. Seeking the kingdom means seeking righteousness as the summum bonum, and the πρῶτον is implied in such a quest. Some (Meyer, Sevin, Achelis) think there is no second, not even a subordinate seeking after earthly goods, all that to be left in God's hands, our sole concern the kingdom. That is indeed the ideal heroic attitude. Yet practically it comes to be a question of first and second, supreme and subordinate, and if the kingdom be indeed first it will keep all else in its proper place. The πρῶτον, like the prayer against temptation, indicates consideration for weakness in the sincere. προστεθήσεται, shall be added, implying that the main object of quest will certainly be secured.

[44] Codex Vaticanus (sæc. iv.), published in photographic facsimile in 1889 under the care of the Abbate Cozza-Luzi.

[45] Codex Sinaiticus (sæc. iv.), now at St. Petersburg, published in facsimile type by its discoverer, Tischendorf, in 1862.