Matthew 6:27

Easy-to-Read Version

You cannot add any time to your life by worrying about it.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Can any of you add one moment to his life span

King James Version (1611)
Which of you by taking thought, can adde one cubite vnto his stature?

King James Version
Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

English Standard Version
And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

New American Standard Bible
"And which of you by worrying can add a single day to his life's span?

New Century Version
You cannot add any time to your life by worrying about it.

Amplified Bible
"And who of you by worrying can add one hour to [the length of] his life?

Geneva Bible (1587)
Which of you by taking care is able to adde one cubite vnto his stature?

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?

Legacy Standard Bible
And which of you by worrying can add a single cubit to his life span?

Berean Standard Bible
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

Contemporary English Version
Can worry make you live longer?

Complete Jewish Bible
Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to his life?

Darby Translation
But which of you by carefulness can add to his growth one cubit?

George Lamsa Translation
Who is among you who by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

Good News Translation
Can any of you live a bit longer by worrying about it?

Lexham English Bible
And who among you, by being anxious, is able to add one hour to his life span?

Literal Translation
But who of you by being anxious is able to add one cubit onto his stature?

American Standard Version
And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit unto the measure of his life?

Bible in Basic English
And which of you by taking thought is able to make himself a cubit taller?

Hebrew Names Version
"Which of you, by being anxious, can add one cubit to the measure of his life?

International Standard Version
Can any of you add a single hour to your span of lifeadd one cubit to your height">[fn] by worrying?

Etheridge Translation
But who among you by being anxious can add to his stature one cubit?

Murdock Translation
And who of you that shall be anxious, can add to his stature a cubit?

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Which of you, by takyng of carefull thought, can adde one cubite vnto his stature?

English Revised Version
And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit unto his stature?

World English Bible
Which of you, by being anxious, can add one cubit to the measure of his life?

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
Are ye not much better than they? And which of you by taking thought can add to his age the smallest measure?

Weymouth's New Testament
Which of you by being over-anxious can add a single foot to his height?

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
But who of you thenkynge mai putte to his stature o cubit?

Update Bible Version
And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to the measure of his life?

Webster's Bible Translation
Which of you by anxious care can add one cubit to his stature?

New English Translation
And which of you by worrying can add even one hour to his life?

New King James Version
Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

New Living Translation
Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

New Life Bible
Which of you can make himself a little taller by worrying?

New Revised Standard
And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
But who from among you, being anxious, can add to his stature one cubit?

Douay-Rheims Bible
And which of you by taking thought, can add to his stature one cubit?

Revised Standard Version
And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life?

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
Which of you (though he toke thought therfore) coulde put one cubit vnto his stature?

Young's Literal Translation
`And who of you, being anxious, is able to add to his age one cubit?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Which of you (though he toke thought therfore) coulde put one cubit vnto his stature?

Mace New Testament (1729)
who by all his sollicitude can add one moment to his age?

THE MESSAGE
"Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.

Simplified Cowboy Version
Can a little bit of worry really do anything to add a single moment more to your life?

Contextual Overview

²⁵ "So I tell you, don't worry about the things you need to live—what you will eat, drink, or wear. Life is more important than food, and the body is more important than what you put on it. ²⁶ Look at the birds. They don't plant, harvest, or save food in barns, but your heavenly Father feeds them. Don't you know you are worth much more than they are? ²⁷ You cannot add any time to your life by worrying about it. ²⁸ "And why do you worry about clothes? Look at the wildflowers in the field. See how they grow. They don't work or make clothes for themselves. ²⁹ But I tell you that even Solomon, the great and rich king, was not dressed as beautifully as one of these flowers. ³⁰ If God makes what grows in the field so beautiful, what do you think he will do for you? It's just grass—one day it's alive, and the next day someone throws it into a fire. But God cares enough to make it beautiful. Surely he will do much more for you. Your faith is so small! ³¹ "Don't worry and say, ‘What will we eat?' or ‘What will we drink?' or ‘What will we wear?' ³² That's what those people who don't know God are always thinking about. Don't worry, because your Father in heaven knows that you need all these things. ³³ What you should want most is God's kingdom and doing what he wants you to do. Then he will give you all these other things you need. ³⁴ So don't worry about tomorrow. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Tomorrow will have its own worries.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

by: Matthew 5:36, Psalms 39:6, Ecclesiastes 3:14, Luke 12:25, Luke 12:26, 1 Corinthians 12:18

Reciprocal: Ecclesiastes 1:15 - crooked 1 Timothy 1:19 - made

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Which of you by taking thought,.... As Christ argued before, from the unnecessariness of anxious thoughts and cares, about the provisions of life; so here, from the unprofitableness of them; it being impossible for a man, with all his care and thought, to

add one cubit unto his stature, or "to his age"; so the word is rendered, John 9:21 to the days of his life, he is so solicitous about; for a cubit may as well be applied to a man's age, as an "hand's breadth" is to his days, Psalms 39:5. Nor is it so reasonable to think, that Christ should be speaking of making such an addition to a man's height; though that, to be sure, is an impossible thing: since the far greater part of Christ's hearers must be come to their full growth, and could not hope to have any addition made to their height; though they might hope to add to their days; much less such a monstrous one as that of a cubit, and which is a strong reason against the other sense of the word, and for this: for our Lord is speaking of something very small, which men cannot do; as appears from what Luke says, Luke 12:26 "If ye then be not able to do that which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?" Whereas, to add a cubit to a man's height, is a great deal:

"the stature of a middling man (says f Bartenora) is three cubits.''

And to add one more, makes a large addition to his stature; but to apply this to a man's age, is a small matter, and yet is what men cannot do: the sense of the words is this, that no man, by all the care and thought he can make use of, is ever able to add one cubit, or the least measure to his days; he cannot lengthen out his life one year, one month, one day, one hour; no, not one moment.

f In Misn. Erubim, c. 4. sect. 5. & Negaim, c. 13. sect. 11.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Which of you, by taking thought - The third argument is taken from their extreme weakness and helplessness. With all your care you cannot increase your stature a single cubit. God has ordered your height. Beyond his appointment your powers are of no avail, and you can do nothing. So of raiment. He, by His providence, orders and arranges the circumstances of your life. “Beyond” that appointment of His providence, beyond his care for you, your efforts avail nothing. Seeing, then, that he alike orders your growth and the supply of your needs, how obvious is the duty of depending upon him, and of beginning all your efforts, feeling that He only can grant you the means of preserving life.

One cubit - The cubit was originally the length from the elbow to the end of the middle finger. The cubit of the Scriptures is not far from 22 inches. Terms of “length” are often applied to life, and it is thought by many to be so here. Thus, it is said, “Thou hast made my days as a handbreadth” Psalms 39:5; “Teach me the measure of my days” Psalms 39:4. In this place it is used to denote a “small length.” You cannot increase your stature even a cubit, or in the smallest degree. Compare Luke 12:26.

Stature - This word means “height.” The original word, however, means oftener “age,” John 9:21; “He is of age;” so also John 9:23. If this be its meaning here, as is probable (compare Robinson, Lexicon), it denotes that a man cannot increase the length of his life at all. The utmost anxiety will not prolong it one hour beyond the time appointed for death.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Matthew 6:27. Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? — The third reason against these carking cares is the unprofitableness of human solicitude, unless God vouchsafe to bless it. What can our uneasiness do but render us still more unworthy of the Divine care? The passage from distrust to apostasy is very short and easy; and a man is not far from murmuring against Providence, who is dissatisfied with its conduct. We should depend as fully upon God for the preservation of his gifts as for the gifts themselves.

Cubit unto his stature? — I think ηλικιαν should be rendered age here, and so our translators have rendered the word in John 9:21, αυτος ηλικιαν εχει he is of age. A very learned writer observes, that no difficulty can arise from applying πηχυν a cubit, a measure of extension, to time, and the age of man: as place and time are both quantities, and capable of increase and diminution, and, as no fixed material standard can be employed in the mensuration of the fleeting particles of time, it was natural and necessary, in the construction of language, to apply parallel terms to the discrimination of time and place. Accordingly, we find the same words indifferently used to denote time and place in every known tongue. Lord, let me know the MEASURE of my days! Thou hast made my days HAND-BREADTHS, Psalms 39:5. Many examples might be adduced from the Greek and Roman writers. Besides, it is evident that the phrase of adding one cubit is proverbial, denoting something minute; and is therefore applicable to the smallest possible portion of time; but, in a literal acceptation, the addition of a cubit to the stature, would be a great and extraordinary accession of height. See Wakefield.