Matthew 6:27
Greek (Tischendorf 8th ed.) Matthew 6:27 appears in the Greek New Testament. The text above is from the Tischendorf 8th edition. Each word links to its Strong’s number and a concise gloss. Click any word for its full Thayer’s Greek Lexicon entry."Which of you, by being anxious, can add one cubit to the measure of his life?
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Compare translations 3
The same verse in 3 English versions, stacked beneath the original-language interlinear above. Click any original word for its lexicon entry.
Each is an independent rendering of the whole verse — the interlinear is not word-aligned to these translations.
Highlighted words mark where these versions differ — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment.
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World English Bible Public Domain
"Which of you, by being anxious, can add one cubit to the measure of his life?
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King James Version Public Domain
Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
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unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
But which of you, being anxious, is able to add one cubit to his lifespan?
unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult).
Show all 19 translations
Every available English version of this verse, each an independent rendering of the whole verse.
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World English Bible Public Domain
"Which of you, by being anxious, can add one cubit to the measure of his life?
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Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
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Majority Standard Bible Public Domain
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
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King James Version Public Domain
Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
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American Standard Version (1901) Public Domain
And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit unto the measure of his life?
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Revised Version (1885) Public Domain
And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit unto his stature?
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Geneva Bible (1599) Public Domain
Which of you by taking care is able to adde one cubite vnto his stature?
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Douay-Rheims (1899) Public Domain
And which of you by taking thought, can add to his stature by one cubit?
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Young's Literal Translation Public Domain
`And who of you, being anxious, is able to add to his age one cubit?
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Literal Standard Version CC BY-SA 4.0
And who of you, being anxious, is able to add to his age one cubit?
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Unlocked Literal Bible CC BY-SA 4.0
Which one of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his lifespan?
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unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
But which of you, being anxious, is able to add one cubit to his lifespan?
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Darby Bible Public Domain
But which of you by carefulness can add to his growth one cubit?
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World Messianic Bible Public Domain
“Which of you by being anxious, can add one moment to his lifespan?
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Webster's Bible Public Domain
Which of you by anxious care can add one cubit to his stature?
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Free Bible Version CC BY-SA 4.0
Who of you by worrying can add a minute to your life?
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Bible in Basic English Public Domain
And which of you by taking thought is able to make himself a cubit taller?
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Text-Critical English NT CC BY 4.0
Which of you by being anxious can add a single moment to yoʋr span of life?
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Tyndale New Testament (1534) Public Domain
Which of you (though he toke thought therfore) coulde put one cubit vnto his stature?
Literal Standard Version (2020), Covenant Press — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). Unlocked Literal Bible (unfoldingWord) — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult). Free Bible Version, Dr. Jonathan Gallagher — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org).
Word by word
More ways to search: Search by grammar → Find every occurrence → Compare this word →
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- Appears 4× in the Greek New Testament
- First appears here
- Part of Speech
- Noun
- Case
- Accusative
- Number
- Singular
- Gender
- Masculine
Full Thayer's Definition
- τίς tís G5101 “who” Interrogative pronoun, Nominative, Singular, Masculine
- δὲ dé G1161 “but” Conjunction
- ἐξ ek G1537 “from” Preposition
- ὑμῶν hymeîs G5210 “you” Personal pronoun, 2nd person, Genitive, Plural
- μεριμνῶν merimnáō G3309 “to be anxious” Verb, Present, Active, Participle, Nominative, Singular, Masculine
- δύναται dýnamai G1410 “to be able” Verb, Present, Middle or Passive deponent, Indicative, 3rd person, Singular
- προσθεῖναι prostíthēmi G4369 “to add” Verb, Aorist, Active, Infinitive
- ἐπὶ epí G1909 “upon” Preposition
- τὴν ho G3588 “the” Article, Accusative, Singular, Feminine
- ἡλικίαν hēlikía G2244 “age” Noun, Accusative, Singular, Feminine
- αὐτοῦ autós G846 “he” Personal pronoun, Genitive, Singular, Masculine
- πῆχυν pēchys G4083 “cubit” Noun, Accusative, Singular, Masculine
- ἕνα heîs G1520 “one” Adjective, Accusative, Singular, Masculine
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 →
- 13
- words
- 13
- distinct lemmas
- Gospels
- section
Notable vocabulary
The rarest word here is πῆχυν cubit G4083 — appearing just 4 times in the whole Greek New Testament.
First appearance in Scripture
These words make their first canonical appearance in the Greek New Testament here:
Shared distinctive vocabulary
πῆχυν cubit G4083 occurs in 4 verses of the Greek New Testament. Also found in:
Cross-references
5Topical passages linked to Matthew 6:27 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.
- Luke 12:25–26 Which of you by being anxious can add a cubit to his height?
- Ecclesiastes 3:14 I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; and God has done it, that men should fear before him.
- Psalms 39:5–6 Behold, you have made my days handbreadths. My lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely every man stands as a breath." Selah.
- Matthew 5:36 Neither shall you swear by your head, for you can't make one hair white or black.
- 1 Corinthians 12:18 But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body, just as he desired.
Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).
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.
Matthew, in the Gospels, opens this verse with 13 words (13 distinct Greek lemmas). Its most distinctive word is pēchys (“cubit”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.
Discussion questions
- What does “cubit” (pēchys) contribute to the verse as a whole?
- 3 words make their first appearance in Scripture here. What does this debut establish?
- How does Luke 12:25, which shares the word «cubit», read alongside this verse?
- The translations on this page render this verse differently — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment. What might account for the different wordings?
- Compare how Bengel's Gnomon and Meyer's Critical & Exegetical Commentary read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?
Things to notice
- 3 words make their first canonical appearance in Scripture here.
- These translations choose different wording for 10 words in this verse.
- 13 distinct Greek lemmas span 13 words in this verse.
Commentary
Notes on Matthew 6:27 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
Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Meyer's Critical & Exegetical Commentary
Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer
Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Expositor's Greek Testament
ed. W. Robertson Nicoll
The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Geneva Bible (1599)
Geneva Bible translators
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke's Commentary
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne
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
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Trapp's Complete Commentary
John Trapp
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Matthew Poole's English Annotations
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Whedon's Commentary on the Bible
Daniel D. Whedon
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Wesley's Explanatory Notes
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Kretzmann's Popular Commentary
Paul E. Kretzmann
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament
William Burkitt
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The People's New Testament
B. W. Johnson
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
unfoldingWord translationNotes
Door43 World Missions Community
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges
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.
Alford’s Greek Testament
Henry Alford
Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
International Critical Commentary
International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.