Luke 12:28

Greek (Tischendorf 8th ed.)

English Translation

But if this is how God clothes the grass in the field, which today exists, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith?

World English Bible · Public Domain

Download a study sheet

One document with this verse’s original text, its word-by-word gloss line, the meaning frame, cross-references with their text, attributed commentary, and full source and license credits — printable, and it pastes into notes with its structure intact.

This verse Autodidact and up

Study sheet (.html) Plain text (.txt)

A passage Seminary Student

Up to 50 verses in one chapter. A passage sheet keeps up to 6 commentary sources and 12 cross-references per verse, in the order this page ranks them, and says so on the sheet whenever that leaves anything out. Ask for a single verse and you get the Autodidact verse sheet above.

Everything on this page stays free to read, with no account — the sheet is a download of what is already on screen, not access to it.

Want to remove ads? Support Godless Engineer

Word by word

More ways to search: Search by grammar → Find every occurrence → Compare this word →

Practice this passage: Drill this verse → Learn its vocabulary →

κλίβανον

klíbanos

G2823

“oven”

Noun, Accusative, Singular, Masculine

Appears 2× in the Greek New Testament
First appears at Matthew 6:30

Full Thayer's Definition

Origin: of uncertain derivation

TDNT: None

1. a clibanus, a earthen vessel for baking bread. It was broader at the bottom than above at the orifice, and when sufficiently heated by a fire kindled within, the dough was baked by being spread upon the outside. [but according to others, the dough was baked by being placed inside and the fire or coals outside, the vessel being perforated with small holes that the heat might better penetrate. 2. a furnace, oven

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

21: words
20: distinct lemmas
Gospels: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is κλίβανον oven G2823 — appearing just 2 times in the whole Greek New Testament.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

κλίβανον oven G2823 occurs in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. Also found in:

Matthew 6:30

Repetition

A word recurs within this verse:

τὸν the G3588 ×2

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Luke 12:28 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Isaiah 40:6 The voice of one saying, Cry. One said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the glory of it is as the flower of the field.
Matthew 14:31 Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand, took hold of him, and said to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"
Matthew 6:30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today exists, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, won't he much more clothe you, you of little faith?
Matthew 17:20 He said to them, "Because of your unbelief. For most assuredly I tell you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.
1 Peter 1:24 For, "All flesh is like grass, And all of man's glory like the flower in the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls;
Matthew 16:8 Jesus, perceiving it, said, "Why do you reason among yourselves, you of little faith, 'because you have brought no bread?'
Matthew 17:17 Jesus answered, "Faithless and perverse generation! How long will I be with you? How long will I bear with you? Bring him here to me."
Matthew 8:26 He said to them, "Why are you fearful, oh you of little faith?" Then he got up, rebuked the wind and the sea, and there was a great calm.

Luke 8:25 He said to them, "Where is your faith?" Being afraid they marveled, saying one to another, "Who is this, then, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?"

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Commentary

Notes on Luke 12:28 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Bengel's Gnomon

Johann Albrecht Bengel

Luk 12:28. Ἐν τῷ ἀγρῷ, in the field) This may be construed either with τὸν χόρτον: in which view, comp. Mat 6:30, τὸν χόρτον τοῦ ἀγροῦ: or else with ὄντα, so as to be in antithesis to εἰς κλίβανον.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 28. Into the oven] See Clarke on Mt 6:30.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

28. the grass...in the field] The common Scripture symbol for evanescence, Isa_40:6; 1Pe_1:24; Jas_1:10-11.

is cast into the oven] In the absence of wood this is the usual method of heating ovens in the East.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

If then God so clothe the grass,.... lilies and tulips; for they are no other than grass, weak, frail, fading, short lived flowers, which have all their gaiety and beauty from the great Creator of them:

which is today in the field, and tomorrow is cast into the oven: the grass is one day in the field, in all its verdure, glory, and beauty; and being cut down before evening, the next day it is withered and dried, and made fit to put into an oven, or under a furnace to heat them with:

how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith? The Persic version renders the words, "how much more excellent are ye than that, O ye of little faith?" they are more excellent in their nature, and of a longer duration, and are designed for greater ends and purposes; and therefore if God clothes the one in such a manner as he does, how much more will he not clothe the other? and such who are distrustful and diffident in this matter, may well be called men of little faith; See Gill on Mat 6:30.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

John Wesley's Explanatory Notes

The grass - The Greek word means all sorts of herbs and flowers.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges

28. ἐν ἀγρῷ τὸν χόρτον. ‘If, in the field, God so clothes,’ &c. The common Scripture symbol for evanescence, Isa 40:6; 1Pe 1:24; Jas 1:10-11.

εἰς κλίβανον βαλλόμενον. In the absence of wood grass is used to heat ovens in the East.

ἀμφιέζει. This is the reading of D. ἀμφιάζει, B.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

International Critical Commentary

28. εἰ δὲ ἐν ἀγρῷ. First with emphasis. “If in the field,” where such care might seem to be superfluous. AV. wrongly takes ἐν ἀγρῷ with ὄντα σήμερον, following Vulg. quod hodie in agro est. Both here and in Mt. the right connexion is, “which to-day is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven.” For κλίβανος, a portable oven, as distinct from ἰπνός, see D.B. The κλίβανος is often mentioned in LXX, generally as a simile for great heat (Psa 20:9; Hos 7:1, etc.); ἰπνός neither in LXX nor in N.T. Wood being scarce in Palestine, grass is commonly used as fuel. For ἀμφιάζει, which is a late word (Job 29:14, Job 31:19), see Veitch.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vincent's Word Studies in the New Testament

Marvin R. Vincent

Which is today in the field. Construe in the field with the grass; and render is absolutely : exists, lives. So Rev., the grass in the field which today is.

Oven [κλιβανον] . Strictly, a covered earthen vessel, wider at bottom than at top, in which bread was baked by putting hot embers round it. The regular oven or furnace is ijpnov. Herodotus, speaking of the papyrus - plant (byblus), the lower portion of which is used for food, says, "Such as wish to enjoy the byblus in full perfection, bake it first in a closed vessel [εν κλιβανω] , heated to a glow" (ii. 92).

And seek not what ye, etc. Ye is emphatic : "and ye, seek not what," etc.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Luke, in the Gospels, opens this verse with 21 words (20 distinct Greek lemmas). Its most distinctive word is klíbanos (“oven”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

The word klíbanos carries the sense “oven.” How does it shape the verse?
Matthew 6:30 shares the word «oven» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
“the” occurs 2× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
These translations render this verse differently. What is at stake in choosing one wording over another?
Reading how Bengel's Gnomon and Adam Clarke's Commentary read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

These translations choose different wording for 16 words in this verse.
“the” occurs 2× in this single verse.
20 distinct Greek lemmas span 21 words in this verse.