More: Matthew 13:24-30,36-43 KP2 Parable of the wheat and tares

More: Revelation 2:8-11 RC2 Smyrna

More: Matthew 5:4 B2 Good grief: the consolation prize of comfort

More: Sermon on the Mount: TenWordPin verse model

More: Sermon on the Mount: TenWordPin verse model

The ancient Greek word "τοῦτο" ≈ "this" in a grammatically "neuter" sense. Interestingly, Aristotle reports that the "neuter" is often used, as a Solecism, where the "masculine" would otherwise be used. Could the "this" being revealed by a "person" by way of a solecism?

The ancient Greek word "ἕτερος" ≈ "one or other of two" and could be "one after the other". From this, comes the ancient Greek word "ἑτέρως" ≈ "differently, otherwise".

More: Solecisms

More: Other similar differences

More: Philippians 3:15-17 towards the mark

• 7. (kill) Matthew 6:12-15: Let go of stupid things (such as fasting).
• 6. (honor parents, tradition) Matthew 6:16-18: Let go of the appearance of fast food disappearing. Do not eat the fruit. Do not feed the birds.
• 5. (Sabbath, honor, treasure, bread) Matthew 6:19-21: Treasure deceptions of eating compared to not eating.
• 4. (adultery) Who might be the thieves who deceptively tunnel?
• 3. (steal) What method might the thief use to deceive?
• 2. (lie) What is the nature of the thieves? When and how do they operate?
• 1. (covet) What should be your strategy in relation to the thieves?



More: Matthew 6:19-21: A treasury of treasures of which to treasure

• "φάγητε" ≈ "eat" (as used).
• "παγίδα" ≈ "trap".
• Sounds "f" and "p", "t" and "d".

Previous verses in this sequence on "not eating" as in "fasting" appear to relate to this part of this verse. In any case: Do not eat the fruit. Do not feed the birds. Does the "Father" "feed" the "birds"?

More: Matthew 6:16-18 The appearance of fast food disappearing

More: Matthew 6:24 A wealth of logical ideas on mammon

The ancient Greek word "μερίζω" ≈ "sever, cut off, divide, distribute" and comes from "μέρος" ≈ "part, portion, share" and which is the source of "μέριμνα" ≈ "portion, part" and is related to the ancient Greek words for "care" is in the "cares" of this "world" and "anxious" is an about getting one's "share" or "part".

More: Matthew 12:22-28 Kingdoms divided against themselves

More: Matthew 12:22-28 Kingdoms divided against themselves

Some of these verb inflections have the ancient Greek word "μνᾶ" ≈ "sum of money, weight" embedded in them. This is a possible play on words.

Luke has "ten" servants rather than the "three" in Matthew. The "talents" in Matthew, which appears to be a code word, is change to a unit of money at the time. Luke does not say here how the "ten" "pounds" are distributed.

The ancient Greek word "μνᾶ" ≈ "sum of money, weight" equivalent to 100 drachmas. The Greek word is from the Aramaic which is from the Akkadian.

Luke has the servants "occupied" until he returns. Matthew, changing the mistranslation of (literal) "goods" to (figurative) "goals", implicitly lets the servants know what they should be doing.

More: Luke 19:11-28 Parable of the talents in Luke

The ancient Greek word "τροφῆς" ≈ "food" (genitive singular) from "τροφή" ≈ "nourishment, food, nurture, education".

The ancient Greek word "τρόπαιον" ≈ "trophy" and is, through Latin and French, the source of the English word "trophy". The word is from "τροπή" ≈ "route, turning of an enemy". A related word is "στροφής" ≈ "turn, direct, twist" (genitive singular).
Note the sound similarity of English "p" and "f" as in the Greek "π" and "φ".

The English word "cardinal" comes, through French, from the Latin word "cardinalis" ≈ "pertaining to a hinge" which comes from "cardo" ≈ "hinge". You would not want to be "unhinged"!

It is interesting that that the word "cardinal" is the name of a "bird". Early European settlers in North America were reminded of the red robes and hats worn by Roman Catholic cardinals which provided the name for the "cardinal" "bird".

Jesus does not use the idea of a "bird" in a good sense. The Greek word for "bird" is a play on words with the Greek word for "deny".

More: Matthew 23:6-12 Taking it to the birds

More: The Catholic Church and the Pope

• "ἐνδόμησις" ≈ "building" (edification).
• "δώματα" ≈ "houses" from "δῶμα" ≈ "house".
• "δοματα" ≈ "gifts" (rare) from "δόμα" ≈ "gift" (rare).



More: Matthew 7:15 Sheep dogs and wolf dogs

Many sports teams have bird names.

Not birds: Blackhawks, Red Wings, Flyers, Hornets

Some birds compete for the best "cheap", "cheap", "cheap" and go "cheaper", "cheaper", "cheaper".
The "nest" thing is to cover some bird (brain) jokes as a special "tweet". Perhaps these jokes are "for the birds". Instead of "winging it", let us investigate before we go into a "tail spin".

One area of "dinosaurs" is that of "flying dragons" or "flying dinosaurs". The "pterodactyl", a name coined by French naturalist and zoologist Georges Cuvier (1769-1832), comes from two Greek words.

• The ancient Greek word "πτερόν" ≈ "feather, wing" which is cognate with the English word "feather". The Greek word forms the "pter" part of the English word "helicopter".
• The ancient Greek word "δάκτυλος" ≈ "finger, toe" and may be related to the Latin word "digitus" ≈ "finger, toe" which is the source of the English word "digit".

[wing of the temple]

More: Dragons and dinosaurs throughout history

In the Middle Ages, the Catholic church wanted each parish church (area around the church) to have a rooster to remind everyone of Peter's denial.
This reminder often became a weather vane. The modern Greek word "ανεμοδείκτης" (a-neh-mo-THEE-ktees) ≈ "weather vane" is, literally, a "wind pointer" where the prefix is the modern Greek word "άνεμος" (A-neh-mos) ≈ "wind".

The Greek word for "deny" is a play on words with "bird". To "bird" Christ is to "deny" Christ. He will then "deny" or "bird" you. Do "birds" as false leaders, false teachers, etc., "crow" when they deceptively get someone to "deny" Christ? Do we see this in what happened, as an example, to Peter?

More: Deny the bird denial of yourself

More: Oh say can you see to affirm or deny

More: Parish the neighborhood thought

A "rooster" makes a "voice" just as a "pipe" in on "organ" is said to make a "voice". The settings on an "organ" are called "voices".

More: Music: Anacrusis and knocking

More: Music: amusing music

More: Parish the neighborhood thought

The ancient Greek word "οὐρανός" ≈ "heaven, air". Jesus uses the dative of "heaven" or "air" or "sky" as a play on words with "mind" of the "tail".
Wycliffe translates the Greek as the Middle English phrase "briddis" ≈ "birds" of "heuene" ≈ "heaven" as does the Wessex Old English phrase "fugeles" ≈ "birds" of "heofene" ≈ "heaven". The Old English word "briddis" for "bird" may be the source of the English word "bride".

More: Minding the tail of the sky

More: Foxes and birds and nests

The etymology of the Greek word for "lowly" or "humble" is not known. As a Spoonerism (exchanged consonants), the word for "lowly" or "humble" is a play on words with "birds"

Saying: Fly high as a bird. That is, a high flying bird.

The ancient Greek word "ὄρνεον" ≈ "bird" as in a generic bird and is the source of the Old English word "earn" ≈ "eagle" and the English word "ornithology" as the "study of birds" (coined in the 1600's).

The modern Greek word "όρνιο" (OR-nee-o) ≈ "vulture, bird of prey".

This word appears three times in the GNT, all in Revelation. The word is, however, used as a play on words by Jesus.

Use the noun for "bird" as a verb. What's your "ask"? [tennising]

• Greek: αρνησηται (say "ar-NEE-see-ta"), verb "deny".
• Greek: ορνησηται (say "or-NEE-see-ta"), verb "bird".

Paraphrase (with play on words): Whoever [bones, hostile] denies [birds] me before men, I will deny [bird] him before my Father in heaven.

• "ἀρνέομαι" ≈ "deny, disown, refuse, decline".
• "ὄρνεον" ≈ "bird" as in ornithology.

This play on word usage is not the same as the modern "flip" the "bird" action, though the word "flip" is similar in spirit to the Greek word for "worthy" as in "counter-balance" and the word translated as "variance" (in two verses).

More: Deny the bird denial of yourself

More: Matthew 5:13-16 Animal crackers

More: Flipping the pigeon bird as reality or perception

More: Matthew 10:32-37 Confess the sword before men

Luke correctly reports what people remembered as to the meaning of what Jesus said, sometimes using other words. This sometimes loses the additional meanings as recorded in Matthew.
Luke talks of "sparrows" and them not being "forgotten" by God.

More: Not forgetting to remember the forget-me-nots

More: Matthew 10: 28-31 Taking care of the sparrows

Jesus relates "devour" as in "eating" to "catcheth away" which is related to the word for "rapture". The KJV translates as "evil" or "wicked" the Greek word that means "oppression" or "oppressor".

More: Matthew 10: 28-31 Taking care of the sparrows

More: Crying wolf for the search and seizure of the rapture

More: Overly burdened in the cares and concerns of evil

More: Evil training is toilsome work: no pain no gain

More: Matthew 13:3-23 KP1 Parable of the sower

The Greek for "snatch away" is the word used for "rapture" and the source of the English word "harpoon". It is also used as "ravenous" in terms of "wolves".

Saying: You'll be birdseed. The "seed" that was "snatched away" in parable 1 appears to have been deposited (by the "birds") in parable 2 as "weeds" and then grows into a "tree" in parable 3 so that those "birds" have a place to make their "nests".

More: Matthew 12:29 Snatching the raptured goods from the strong man

More: Exodus 18: Hierarchy as a man-made tree structure

More: Matthew 13:3-23 KP1 Parable of the sower

Is the "kingdom of heaven" actually "heaven" as in the "kingdom of God"?

• "βασίλεια των ουρανών" ≈ "kingdom of heaven" or "kingdom of the air".
• "πετεινα του ουρανου" ≈ "birds of the air" or "birds of heaven".
• Wycliffe uses the phrase "briddis of heuene" or "birds of heaven".

Some will attempt to "fix" a perceived "error" in the Bible text by asserting their opinion (or glory) that "kingdom of God" and "kingdom of heaven" are the same thing.

If birds represent "evil" or "oppression" (parable 1), are there any birds in heaven?

More: Matthew 13:3-23 KP1 Parable of the sower

More: Matthew 10: 28-31 Taking care of the sparrows

More: Foxes and birds and nests

In Revelation, Babylon is described as a "watch" of every "unclean" and "hateful" type of "bird". Are they "watching" those in the "watch"?

Some Greek manuscripts add a "beast" as a land animal.
In Matthew 7, the house built on sand will be "cut off" and "fall".

More: Matthew 10: 28-31 Taking care of the sparrows

More: Revelation 18:1-24 Cagey birds and the end of Babylon

The ancient Greek word "φυλάσσω" ≈ "watch" is related to "φυλακή" ≈ "watch, prison". The KJV translates the same word as "hold" and then "cage" and takes a viewpoint on who is "watching" and who is being "watched".

Discuss: How might the world be a "cage" or "watch" for a believer?

• The Greek word for "cage" is that of a "prison" as in something that is "watched".
• The Greek word for "bird" is not the word used in Matthew but is that of "fowl", as used by John, or "hen", as used in Matthew and Luke.



More: Caged birds: Hezekiah shows treasure to Babylon

More: Matthew 23:5 Broad prison boxes and head shackles

More: Revelation 18:1-24 Cagey birds and the end of Babylon

The "wind" may be related to the "birds" who do not "sow" neither do they "reap".

More: An unlawful wind as an air of the spirit

The ancient Greek word "κόραξ" ≈ "raven, crow" and is onomatopoeic, as is the English word "crow". Luke uses "ravens" (used once GNT).

In ancient Greece, to tell someone to "go to hell" was to say, literally, "to the ravens".

As noun code words, Jesus defines the "man" is as the "householder" as the "Son of Man". In all the parables that refer to a "householder", four other times with this word, only in Matthew, the "householder" also appears to be Jesus as God. Similar verses in Luke and Mark are translated as the "goodman of the house" or "master of the house".

Luke will often use the ancient Greek word "οἰκονόμος" ≈ "manager of the house, steward" which is the source of the English word "ecomonics" or, literally, "laws of the house".

More: Matthew 13:3-23 KP1 Parable of the sower

More: A wise opportunity to be prudent

More: Matthew 13:51-52 KP8 Parable of new and old codes

The English word "barn" comes from the Middle English word "berne" ≈ "barn" which comes from the Old English word "bern" ≈ "barn".

The original meaning was that of a compound of the Old English word "berene" ≈ "barley" and the Old English word "ærn" ≈ "dwelling" as in a "barn".

That is, the word "barn" is a shortened form of "barley dwelling".

The Greek word for "separate", often translated as "judge" is related to the Greek word for "barley".

More: Matthew 7:1-2 Here comes the judge, but just barley

Both football players and farmers like to be "outstanding in their field".

More: A hot time to harvest - now and later

The step omitted by Jesus is the "grow" part. The "birds" work the growing harvest by "pecking" and taking part of the harvest (first parable), and, in turn, sowing "weeds" (second parable). You are "rather different" (at least you should be). The KJV, influenced by the Latin, says "much better".

The "birds" are used by Jesus as a symbol of "false teachers" who "prey", rather than "pray", on others. The "wolf" or "wolf-dog", as contrasted to a "sheep-dog", and the "snake" or "viper" appear to be used in the same manner.

The "ask", "seek" and "knock" sequence can be seen in the "sow", "grow" and "harvest" sequence.
The "Holy Spirit" is part of the "worker" process as in the "kingdom" of "heaven" or the "kingdom" of the "air" where one must deal with the "birds" of the "air".

A term for "babbler" in Greek is that of a "bird" that goes around pecking at seeds as in talking but not doing real work.

In Acts 17 at Mars Hill, Paul is ridiculed as doing what the people saying it about him are doing.


The ancient Greek word "σπερμόλογος" ≈ "picking up seeds" as does a bird. Figuratively it meant gossiping.

• "οὐράνιος" ≈ "heaven, sky".
• "τρεφει" ≈ "feeds"
• "στρέφειι" ≈ "turn, direct, twist"

More: Matthew 5:39 Turning the other cheek

More: Matthew 5:42 Do not loan shirk

The "birds" appear to "work" but do not do useful "work". The "laborers" are needed for the future "harvest". We see other verses where the "Father" feeds both the "birds" and the others. What can separate you from the love of Christ?

Spiros Zodhiates (Greek-American Bible scholar, author and ministry innovator) published an audio version of the GNT (Nestle/Aland 26 edition) using modern Greek pronunciation which is used in many colleges and universities.
The same play on words can be heard in ancient Greek and in modern Greek. It is interesting that when Spiros Zodhiates reads this verse, he puts in a distinct and somewhat long (and unusual) pause between the two words that would otherwise be heard as a play on words in Greek. [English trains and strains]

Jesus says that the Father sends rain on both the just and the unjust. Some of that "rain" is sent on houses built on "sand" and on "rock", with different results.

Note: "βροχή" ≈ "rain" GNT. "κλοπή" ≈ "theft". "βρέχω" ≈ "wet, drench, rain"."βρόχος" ≈ "noose, snare (for birds)"

More: Matthew 7:24-27 Building a house on sand

More: Building a house on sand continued

More: Building a house

More: Tower of Babel: Two houses attempted using sand

The KJV translation is somewhat contrived from the actual Greek word order.

• Greek word order: ... and the Father (of) yours (in) the heavens feeds them not you rather different (of/from) them.
• Paraphrase: ... and the Father (of) yours (in) the heavens feeds [turns away from] them. Not you! Rather, (you) be different (imperative) (of/from) them (the birds).

The paraphrase does not need to change the Greek word order nor change the meanings of the words. The "not" you fits with the play on words. Was that what Jesus really meant?

The ancient Greek word "δῐεφέρετε" ≈ "different" (second person plural imperfect active indicative).

The ancient Greek word "διαφέρω" ≈ "carried through, different" with a sense of a "different" way or type as in it "makes a difference".
In many places, the Latin Vulgate changed "different" to "better".

• Paraphrase: ... you are different (not better) than many of the sparrows.
• Paraphrase: ... how different (not better) is a man (than) a sheep.

The word comes from two Greek words.

• The ancient Greek prefix "δια" ≈ "through" as in the English word "diameter".
• The ancient Greek word "φέρω" ≈ "bring, carry" and is related to the English word "bear" (as in carrying something) and the Latin word "fero" ≈ "bear, carry".

The modern Greek word "διαφέρω" (thee-a-FEH-ro) ≈ "differ, be different".

More: Deferring on a difference of opinion on differences

Does this verse refer to "age" or "height"?

Biblical dimensions are based on the "cubit". Can a "cubit" be a measure of "time" as in "age" or "maturity"?

• "πῆχυν" ≈ "forearm, cubit" (accusative singular).



More: A cubit discussion at arms length

More: Luke 19:1-11 A short discussion on stature

What is the "yardstick" or "ruler" by which age or maturity should be measured?

… can add a single hour to your span of life? NRSV (New Revised Standard Version)
… can add a single hour to his life? NASB (New American Standard Bible)

Phrase: "One foot in the grave" (distance with time meaning).
The Greek for "stature" has a meaning of "age". The word "cubit" can be taken in the sense of time as in extending the span of life.


Discuss: How might this verse relate to mammon?

More: Luke 19:1-11 A short discussion on stature

• "προσθεῖναι" ≈ "add" (last part has the last part of "bird").

Some ugly play on words: (Spoonerisms).

• "ἡλικία" ≈ "age, maturity".
• "η κυρία" ≈ "the woman" (leader, harlot).
• "πῆχυν" ≈ "forearm, cubit" (accusative singular).
• "κῆπον" ≈ "garden, orchard, enclosure" (accusative singular)



More: Punishment by Spoonerisms: switched consonants

It appears we are to be "different" than the "birds".

Coming up: Lilies, Solomon, grass, oven, little faith.

The Epistle of Barnabas interprets birds and nets from Proverbs 1:17 in the LXX. Both use the Greek word for "bird" that emphasizes the "wing".

A bird net works much better if there is some food on which the birds desire to eat. It might be "deceptive" food.

More: The taste of false teaching

More: Epistle of Barnabas