the Week of Christ the King / Proper 29 / Ordinary 34
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Bible Dictionaries
Nest
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament
or NEST.—Orientals, while often indifferent to the study and explanation of natural processes, have always been attracted by the provisions of instinct for the preservation of animal life. They observed the home-like motive of rest and safety in the selection and construction of birds’ nests (Job 29:18, Psalms 84:3; Psalms 104:17, Jeremiah 48:28; Jeremiah 49:16). In the Gospels the word translation ‘nest’ (κατασκήνωσις) means generally the place of night shelter for birds (Matthew 8:20), or where they alight in search of food during the day (Matthew 13:31-32). By contrasting His own with the more fortunate condition of the birds, Christ intimates that whoever, like the scribe, would follow Him to the uttermost, may for His sake have to endure loneliness, misunderstanding, and rejection. The reference to the mustard seed, which in its wild state produces a shrub reaching to the seat of a horse’s saddle, indicates that power of rapid expansion inherent in Christ’s Kingdom which has often surprised both its friends and its foes.
G. M. Mackie.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Nest'. Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdn/n/nest.html. 1906-1918.
