The Fallible Study Bible

The Fallible · Synthetic · Study Bible

Matthew6:19–21

Treasures in Heaven

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Matthew 6:19–21 — Treasures in Heaven. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

19

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Mē thēsaurizete hymin thēsaurous epi tēs gēs hopou sēs kai brōsis aphanizei kai hopou kleptai dioryssousin kai kleptousin

Word by word18 · parsed
ΜὴMē[Do] notG3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
θησαυρίζετεthēsaurizetestore upG2343
√ θησαυρίζω — to amass or reserve (literally or figuratively)VerbPresent Imperative Active2nd Person Plural
thēsaurizō: to amass or reserve (present imperative active, 2nd plural) The whole unit turns on this verb, which is not forbidden but relocated: the identical form reappears in v. 20 as a command. Pulpit: Lay up treasure indeed, but in the right place. The present tense sets the prohibition against an ongoing habit of accumulation, which is why the sentence can be obeyed only over time.
ὑμῖνhyminfor yourselvesG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounDative 2nd Person Plural
sy: thou (dative plural, of advantage) A dative of advantage, and it is kept in both halves. Pulpit: observe that in both cases it is for yourselves. Christ does not forbid self-interest here; he relocates it.
θησαυροὺςthēsauroustreasuresG2344
√ θησαυρός — a deposit, iNounAccusative Masculine Plural
thēsauros: a deposit, treasure (accusative masculine plural) Poole defines the noun from its formation: something laid up for tomorrow, for future time. That is the exact point of vulnerability the next clause attacks, since tomorrow is the one thing earth cannot guarantee.
ἐπὶepionG1909
√ ἐπί — properly, meaning superimposition (of time, place, order, etcPreposition
τῆςtēsG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Feminine Singular
γῆςgēsearthG1093
√ γῆ — soilNounGenitive Feminine Singular
gē: soil, earth (genitive feminine singular, after epi) Pulpit reads the case deliberately: our Lord here wishes to emphasize the locality as such, over against v. 20 where the stress falls on the nature and quality of the place. Earth is named as a postal address before it is named as a risk.
ὅπουhopouwhereG3699
√ ὅπου — what(-ever) where, iAdverb
σὴςsēsmothG4597
√ σής — a mothNounNominative Masculine Singular
sēs: a moth A rare word, occurring in only three verses in the Verifier's count, and it tells us what ancient wealth was. Barnes: their treasures, in fact, consisted much in beautiful and richly-ornamented articles of apparel. Benson cites Macknight to the same effect. The moth is not a quaint detail; it is the specific predator of the specific asset class.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
βρῶσιςbrōsisrustG1035
√ βρῶσις — (abstractly) eating (literally or figuratively)NounNominative Feminine Singular
brōsis: eating (nominative feminine singular) The abstract noun of eating. Paired with the moth it widens the loss from wardrobe to storehouse, and Gill presses it toward blasting, mildew and vermin in the corn. What corrodes silver and what spoils grain are named by one word, because they are one process: slow consumption.
ἀφανίζειaphanizeidestroyG853
√ ἀφανίζω — to render unapparent, iVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
aphanizō: to render unapparent The verb of vanishing, used five times in the New Testament, and Matthew has already used it three verses earlier of hypocrites who disfigure their faces (6:16). Pulpit makes the cross-reference explicitly. The same word that described religion performed for appearance now describes wealth losing its appearance: both are undone by the same verb.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ὅπουhopouwhereG3699
√ ὅπου — what(-ever) where, iAdverb
κλέπταιkleptaithievesG2812
√ κλέπτης — a stealer (literally or figuratively)NounNominative Masculine Plural
διορύσσουσινdioryssousinbreak inG1358
√ διορύσσω — to penetrate burglariouslyVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
dioryssō: to dig through A rare word (four verses), and physically exact. Cambridge: an expression applicable to the mud walls of Oriental huts. Barnes and Pulpit agree the wall itself, not a lock, is the weak point. The picture is not a safe cracked but a house holed.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
κλέπτουσινkleptousinstealG2813
√ κλέπτω — to filchVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
20

But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de thēsaurizete hymin thēsaurous en ouranō hopou sēs oute brōsis oute aphanizei kai ou hopou kleptai dioryssousin oude kleptousin

Word by word19 · parsed
δὲdeButG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
de: but, and The hinge of the unit, and a light one: not a strong adversative but the ordinary connective carrying the reversal.
θησαυρίζετεthēsaurizetestore upG2343
√ θησαυρίζω — to amass or reserve (literally or figuratively)VerbPresent Imperative Active2nd Person Plural
ὑμῖνhyminfor yourselvesG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounDative 2nd Person Plural
θησαυροὺςthēsauroustreasuresG2344
√ θησαυρός — a deposit, iNounAccusative Masculine Plural
ἐνeninG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
en: in, on, by With the dative, location within. The preposition itself is unremarkable; its pairing against epi in v. 19 is not.
οὐρανῷouranōheavenG3772
√ οὐρανός — the skyNounDative Masculine Singular
ouranos: the sky, heaven (dative masculine singular) Ellicott identifies the deposit rather than the vault: the good works, or rather the character formed by them, which follow us into the unseen world. Gill offers a sharper mechanism, that earthly treasure is put into the hands of God in heaven by giving it away, citing Luke 12:33 and 1 Timothy 6:18. The two readings are not rivals, but Gill's makes the command actionable today and Ellicott's explains why it survives.
ὅπουhopouwhereG3699
√ ὅπου — what(-ever) where, iAdverb
σὴςsēsmothG4597
√ σής — a mothNounNominative Masculine Singular
οὔτεoute[and]G3777
√ οὔτε — not too, iConjunction
oute: neither, nor The first of the paired negatives that bracket moth and eating-away together, as the singular verb did in v. 19.
βρῶσιςbrōsisrustG1035
√ βρῶσις — (abstractly) eating (literally or figuratively)NounNominative Feminine Singular
οὔτεoutevvvG3777
√ οὔτε — not too, iConjunction
ἀφανίζειaphanizeido not destroyG853
√ ἀφανίζω — to render unapparent, iVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
aphanizō: to render unapparent Under the negation the verb is the exact counter-claim to v. 19: what earth's treasures do (vanish) is precisely what heaven's do not. JFB draws the contrast in two words, imperishable and unassailable. The claim is not that heaven's treasure is better guarded but that there is nothing there whose nature is to consume.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
οὐou. . .G3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
ὅπουhopouwhereG3699
√ ὅπου — what(-ever) where, iAdverb
κλέπταιkleptaithievesG2812
√ κλέπτης — a stealer (literally or figuratively)NounNominative Masculine Plural
διορύσσουσινdioryssousindo not break inG1358
√ διορύσσω — to penetrate burglariouslyVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
dioryssō: to dig through The rare burglary verb returns negated. Cambridge's note on v. 19 supplies the force: the mud wall is what fails, so a place with no such wall has no such failure.
οὐδὲoude. . .G3761
√ οὐδέ — not however, iConjunction
oude: nor, not however The last negative, closing the list. The interlinear's gloss column shows only dots here, because English needs no separate word for it.
κλέπτουσινkleptousin[and] stealG2813
√ κλέπτω — to filchVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
21

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

gar hopou ho sou thēsauros estin ekei hē sou kardia estai kai

Word by word12 · parsed
γάρgarForG1063
√ γάρ — properly, assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensificationConjunction
gar: assigning a reason The whole unit rests on this particle: vv. 19 and 20 are commands, v. 21 is why.
ὅπουhopouwhereG3699
√ ὅπου — what(-ever) where, iAdverb
ὁhoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
σουsouyourG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 2nd Person Singular
sy: thou (genitive 2nd person singular) The singular pronoun here is a real textual matter, not a nuance. JFB reports it as probably the true reading and thinks the plural was imported from Luke 12:34; Pulpit says the singular was altered by the copyists to match the plurals earlier in the sentence. Our interlinear carries the singular while BSB renders the English plural, so the verse in front of the reader and the parse under it do not quite agree.
θησαυρόςthēsaurostreasureG2344
√ θησαυρός — a deposit, iNounNominative Masculine Singular
thēsauros: a deposit, treasure (nominative masculine singular) The plural treasures of vv. 19 and 20 collapse into one singular treasure. Ellicott presses exactly that: men may try to persuade themselves that they will have a treasure on earth and a treasure in heaven also, but in the long-run one or the other will assert its claim to be the treasure. The grammar has already made the choice singular.
ἐστινestinisG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
ἐκεῖekeithereG1563
√ ἐκεῖ — thereAdverb
ἡhēG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Feminine Singular
σουsouyourG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 2nd Person Singular
καρδίαkardiaheartG2588
√ καρδία — the heart, iNounNominative Feminine Singular
kardia: the heart Not the seat of feeling only but of will, thought and allegiance, which is why the verse functions as a diagnosis. Barnes states the practical inversion: to regulate the heart, it is therefore important that the treasure, or object of attachment, should be right. The heart is here the dependent variable, and the treasure is the one a person can actually move.
ἔσταιestaiwill beG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbFuture Indicative Middle3rd Person Singular
eimi: I exist (future indicative middle, 3rd singular) The future is the sting. Christ does not say the heart is already where the treasure is, but that it will go there, which makes the command in v. 20 preventive rather than merely corrective. JFB notes how routinely this obvious maxim is practically disregarded by those who profess to bow to the teaching of Christ.
καὶkaialsoG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
kai: and, also, even Adverbial here, also, binding heart to treasure as a second thing that follows the first.

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. The verb before the noun — 6:19

The sentence opens with a verb that contains its own object: θησαυρίζετε ... θησαυροὺς, treasure not up your treasures, as Ellicott renders it, noting the force the English lacks. Under Μὴ the imperative is present, so the ban falls on a running practice. Benson reads the placement as deliberate, that our Lord here makes a transition from religious to common actions and names the love of money as a second snare beside the love of praise. Then the reasons, and they are concrete rather than moral: Barnes and Benson (citing Macknight) both explain the moth by the fact that eastern wealth was largely wardrobe, and Cambridge adds that money was frequently buried in the ground in those unsettled times, since banks in the modern sense were unknown. Note what the Greek does with the two destroyers: σὴς καὶ βρῶσις are two nominatives, but ἀφανίζει is singular, one wasting agency wearing two faces. And the second word is not rust. Cambridge: lit., an eating away, it is not confined to corrosion of metals; Gill extends it to smut and vermin in the granary. Barnes puts the division plainly, that the moth would destroy their apparel and the rust their silver and gold. The thieves are the contrast to both: Pulpit observes that the first agents are physical or non-responsible, and here, human beings.

ii. The same command, re-aimed — 6:20

Verse 20 repeats verse 19 word for word (θησαυρίζετε ὑμῖν θησαυροὺς) and changes only the address. That is the argument. Pulpit catches the grammatical shading: ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς emphasizes the locality as such, while ἐν οὐρανῷ emphasizes rather the nature and quality of the locality. Pulpit also insists that the command is not reducible to almsgiving, since our Lord here does not mean to limit his reference to almsgiving but thinks of all that has been mentioned since Matthew 5:3. Ellicott identifies the deposit as the good works, or rather the character formed by them, which follow us into the unseen world; Gill argues for a harder-edged mechanism, that one lays up earthly treasure in heaven by liberally communicating to the poor, citing Luke 12:33 and 1 Timothy 6:18. Both are within the text. What the Greek adds to both is the pile of negatives, οὔτε ... οὔτε ... οὐ ... οὐδὲ, four where verse 19 had none, and the return of ἀφανίζει in the present tense so that the very process just described is denied any purchase. JFB compresses it: imperishable and unassailable.

iii. The reason, and the turn to the single hearer — 6:21

γάρ makes the last verse the ground of the first two, and two things change under it. The plurals become singular: the treasures become one θησαυρός, and the pronoun σου is parsed thy, not your, which both JFB and Pulpit discuss as a textual decision (JFB calls the singular probably the true reading and suspects the plural was imported from Luke 12:34; Pulpit says the singular was altered by the copyists, and adds that our Lord loves to speak to each soul individually). The other change is tense: ἐστιν present, ἔσται future. Poole states the consequence without ornament, that wherever you fix your treasure, your heart will be there also, thinking upon it, delighting in it. Ellicott draws the exclusion, that men may try to persuade themselves they will have a treasure on earth and a treasure in heaven also, but in the long-run one will assert its claim. Barnes gives the practical inversion that makes the whole unit workable: since the heart follows the treasure, the treasure is the handle. Henry names the stakes in his usual blunt way, that God requires the whole heart, and will not share it with the world.

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

⚙ Our fallible reading, offered to be tested. The verse pair is often preached as a warning about greed, but the grammar makes a narrower and stranger claim. Nothing here condemns storing; the same verb, the same dative of advantage, the same accusative object stand in both commands, and only the address changes. Nor does Christ argue from morality in verse 19. He argues from engineering: moth, eating-away and diggers-through are simply what earth is made of, and ἀφανίζει is present tense, a loss already in progress while you read. Then verse 21 refuses to treat the heart as the thing to be fixed first. It is future, ἔσται, and it is a prediction, not a command: the heart is reported as a follower. If that is right, the text does not ask anyone to feel differently about money, which no one can do on demand, and it does not promise that loving God properly will reorganize your spending. It says the reverse, and it says it to one person at a time (σου, singular). Move the deposit and the affections will relocate to the new address, because that is what affections do. Which means the command is testable in a way most commands about the heart are not: a person who cannot make himself heavenly-minded can still make a transfer, and Gill's reading of verse 20, that the transfer is made by liberally communicating to the poor, describes a transaction an ordinary person can actually execute this week. Test it against the whole of Scripture before you trust it; we may be pressing the tense of one future verb further than it will bear.

The heart is not the thing you move; it is the thing that follows what you moved. (A synthesis line, not a verse.)

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The Lukan parallel: the same saying with the purse added verbal / quotation: confirmed

Luke 12:33-34 carries this saying almost intact, and Luke 12:34 repeats 6:21 nearly word for word. JFB notes the Lukan form is bolder, with its command to sell and give alms and to provide bags which wax not old. Ellicott reads our verse 20 through it, and Gill grounds his whole account of how treasure reaches heaven on Luke 12:33. Pulpit, honestly, doubts the arrangement rather than the words: he judges that discourse is not necessarily in historical position, and that our verses need not belong originally to it. The Verifier's shared lexemes are what carry the link; the question of which setting is original is left open.

Luke 12:33 · Luke 12:34

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G4597 σής (rare, in 3 vv), G2812 κλέπτης (16 vv) and G3699 ὅπου (76 vv) at Luke 12:33, plus G2344 θησαυρός (16 vv) and G3699 ὅπου at Luke 12:34. The rarity of σής plus the near-identical sentence at Luke 12:34 carries the verbal tier; Greek to Greek only.

Digging through: the burglar becomes the figure for the Day verbal / quotation: confirmed

διορύσσω, to dig through a wall, is a rare verb, and both other Synoptic uses turn it into eschatology: the householder who would have watched had he known the hour the thief was coming. Pulpit makes the cross-reference to Matthew 24:43 and Luke 12:39 explicitly, adding Job 24:16 from the LXX. The image is the same mud wall Cambridge describes, but the loss it illustrates changes: here your goods, there your readiness.

Matthew 24:43 · Luke 12:39

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G1358 διορύσσω (rare, in 4 vv) and G2812 κλέπτης (16 vv) at both Matthew 24:43 and Luke 12:39. A genuine verbal link inside one lexicon; not a quotation formula.

James hears this sermon and reports the verdict verbal / quotation: confirmed

James 5:2-3 reads as if the Lord's warning had already been carried out: garments moth-eaten, metal corroded, and treasure heaped up. JFB states it flatly, that in James 5:2 there is an evident reference to our Lord's words here, and Ellicott cites the same verse to explain the moth. Pulpit adds James 5:2, 3 alongside Isaiah 51:8. The Verifier's own basis is narrower than the commentators' judgment, so we record both and lean on the lexeme.

James 5:2 · James 5:3

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexeme G2343 θησαυρίζω (in 8 vv) at James 5:3; James 5:2 is named as an allusion by JFB (evident reference) and Ellicott rather than scored. This is allusion inside the Greek lexicon, not a citation formula, so the verbal tier records shared vocabulary only.

Made unapparent: the hypocrite's face and the moth's work verbal / quotation: confirmed

Three verses earlier Matthew used ἀφανίζω of hypocrites who disfigure their faces to be seen fasting (6:16); here the same rare verb describes what moth and eating-away do to wealth. Pulpit marks the link in passing (Ἀφανίζει, ver. 16, note) and glosses it here as the complete change in the appearance or even the complete destruction caused by these slow but sure enemies. ⚙ The repetition seems to us deliberate rather than accidental: Benson had already read the paragraph as one argument, the love of praise and the love of money as one snare with two objects, and the shared verb ties the two halves of the chapter at the level of vocabulary. The New Testament uses the word in only five verses, two of them in this chapter; James 4:14 supplies a third, where the life itself is the vapour that appears for a little and then is made to vanish, which is the same verdict passed on the same kind of possession.

Matthew 6:16 · James 4:14

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexeme G853 ἀφανίζω (rare, in 5 vv) at Matthew 6:16 and James 4:14. Greek to Greek. The reading of 6:16 and 6:19 as one argument is our inference from that shared rare verb plus Benson's structural note, not a claim any source makes in those words.

What else can be treasured up structural / thematic: confirmed

The verb θησαυρίζω is not morally loaded in itself, which is why the New Testament can run it in three directions. Luke 12:21 sets the man who treasures for himself against being rich toward God; Romans 2:5 turns it savagely, treasuring up wrath for the day of wrath; Paul uses it innocently of children laying up for parents and of the weekly collection. JFB makes exactly this concession, that laying up is not in itself sinful, nay, in some cases enjoined, citing 2 Corinthians 12:14. What determines the verdict in Matthew 6 is therefore not the act but the address.

Luke 12:21 · Romans 2:5 · 2 Corinthians 12:14 · 1 Corinthians 16:2

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexeme G2343 θησαυρίζω (in 8 vv) at Luke 12:21, Romans 2:5, 2 Corinthians 12:14 and 1 Corinthians 16:2 (Romans 2:5 also shares G2588 καρδία, 149 vv). Deliberately downgraded from verbal: the lexeme is shared but is used in unrelated senses in unrelated arguments, so what is confirmed is a common vocabulary of accumulation, not literary dependence.

The moth in the prophets structural / thematic: confirmed

Christ's moth is not a new image. JFB lists Job 13:28, Isaiah 50:9 and Isaiah 51:8 behind it, and Job 27:16 behind the stored-up raiment; Pulpit points to Isaiah 51:8, especially in the LXX. In Isaiah the moth is what happens to the persecutor while the righteousness of God stands forever, which is the same two-column comparison Christ draws, perishable against imperishable. ⚙ Reading Matthew 6:19 as a compression of that prophetic contrast seems to us well founded, but it remains an inference about a motif.

Isaiah 51:8 · Job 27:16 · Job 13:28

basis: Named by JFB (Job 27:16; Job 13:28; Isaiah 50:9; 51:8) and by Pulpit (Isaiah 51:8, especially LXX). No shared Strong's number can be scored, because the Hebrew and Greek lexicons do not cross; a verbal tier would require scoring the LXX, which our Verifier does not do. Recorded as a shared motif only.

The thief who comes to steal: a link we do not press flagged: verify source

The Verifier surfaces John 10:10, where the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy, sharing both of this passage's theft words. The vocabulary overlap is real. The interpretive jump is not established: Matthew's κλέπται are ordinary burglars in a wall, and John's thief is a figure for false shepherds. We record the lexical link and decline the identification.

John 10:10

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G2813 κλέπτω (in 11 vv) and G2812 κλέπτης (in 16 vv) at John 10:10. The lexemes are real but common, and no source in this brief connects the passages; flagged because the theological link would be ours alone.

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

Treasure in heaven is defined by a person, not a location ancient/widely-held

⚙ Matthew himself supplies the definition later, and Gill points the reader there: see Matthew 19:21, where the rich young ruler is told to sell, give to the poor, and have treasure in heaven, and where the sentence does not end at the treasure but at come, follow me. The second clause is what makes the first intelligible. Ellicott approaches this from the other side, glossing heavenly treasure as the character formed by good works and then reaching for the unsearchable riches of Christ (Ephesians 3:8). Henry makes the same move in his plainest register, that it is our wisdom to make our title to eternal life sure through Jesus Christ. Read this way 6:21 is not a moral aphorism at all but a christological test: it names where the heart will be by naming what it has banked on, and the apostolic answer is that the treasure and the Person are one. Paul says the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ (Colossians 2:3); Matthew's own parable makes the kingdom a treasure hidden in a field, for which a man sells all he has (Matthew 13:44).

Matthew 19:21 · Matthew 13:44 · Colossians 2:3 · Ephesians 3:8

The one who kept nothing where moth could reach it ancient/widely-held

⚙ The commands of vv. 19 and 20 were first obeyed by the one who gave them. He had no wardrobe to be moth-eaten and nowhere to lay his head, and the only garment of his the Gospels dwell on was taken by soldiers at the cross, which is the passage's third destroyer arriving in person. Paul states the transaction directly: though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). Barnes reaches the same riches by a different route, calling heavenly treasure the inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away of 1 Peter 1:4, and naming its holders heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ. The unassailable deposit JFB describes is not an account balance; it is a share in a resurrected life that death has already failed to hold.

2 Corinthians 8:9 · 1 Peter 1:4 · Romans 8:17

The maxim run backwards novel

⚙ Offered as our own reading and marked novel. If 6:21 states a law of hearts and not merely a rule for disciples, it can be read in the other direction: find where a heart has gone and you have found what it counted as treasure. Matthew 13:44 has a man sell everything he owns for one field, and Matthew 13:45-46 a merchant do the same for one pearl. Christian readers have long identified the buyer with the sinner and the treasure with the kingdom. ⚙ We think the sentence permits, without requiring, the harder inversion: that the one who gave up all he had for the field is the One who priced a people at the cost of himself (Acts 20:28, the church purchased with his own blood), and that his heart's location is thereby disclosed by where his treasure was placed. We mark this as our inference. None of the commentators in this brief takes that step at this verse, and a reading that turns a warning to disciples into a statement about the affections of God should be held loosely and tested against clearer Scripture.

Matthew 13:44 · Matthew 13:45-46 · Acts 20:28

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

  • Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
  • Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
  • Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
  • Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory (1871)
  • John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
  • Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1810s)
  • Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
  • Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
  • The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

Text. The one real textual question in the unit is at 6:21. Our interlinear parses σου as genitive second person singular (thy) in both halves, while BSB renders the English plural your. JFB judges thy treasure, thy heart probably the true reading here and thinks the plural came in from Luke 12:34; Pulpit says the singular was altered by the copyists to match the plurals earlier in the utterance. Readers should know that the English on the page and the parse beneath it are not reporting the same number.

Glosses. The interlinear's gloss column for 6:20 is an English-alignment artifact, not a translation: index 10 (οὔτε) shows a placeholder, and indices 13 (οὐ) and 17 (οὐδὲ) show only dots, because English does not need four separate negatives. All four are genuine negative particles in the Greek. Likewise the gloss rust at 6:19 index 10 renders βρῶσις, whose Strong's entry is eating, not corrosion; every commentator in this brief who touches the word (Ellicott, Cambridge, Gill, Pulpit) widens it beyond metal.

Sources. Poole's annotations on 6:19 and 6:20 contain no comment at all, only a redirect to 6:21, so he is quoted once. Geneva's notes on 6:20 and 6:21 are bare verse text, so his one substantive gloss sits at 6:19. Henry's entry is a single block covering 6:19-24, which is why his comment on the treasure appears under 6:20 here. Gill's note on 6:20 is capped in our source, and the truncated portion continues a rabbinic citation; we quoted only from the uncapped text. Both Gill and Pulpit relay the Haggada of Monobaz the king (Talmud Jerusalem, Peah 15b; Babli, Baba Bathra 11a), who says my fathers laid up treasure on earth, I lay up mine in heaven. It is a striking parallel, but it is rabbinic material of uncertain date relative to the Sermon, and neither dependence nor direction of influence can be established from it.

What is uncertain. Pulpit doubts that the Lukan setting of this saying is historically original; we have not resolved that, only recorded it. The reading that ties ἀφανίζω in 6:19 to its use in 6:16 is ours, built on the rarity of the verb and on Pulpit's cross-reference, not on an explicit argument in any source. The John 10:10 thread is flagged for exactly this reason: shared common vocabulary is not a shared claim. The force of the present imperative under μή (stop an ongoing practice rather than never begin one) is the standard grammatical account, but it is a tendency and not a rule, and we have not leaned any interpretation on it that the repetition in v. 20 does not already establish.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)