“Think of the Lilies” and Prov 6:6–11

¹ The saying also appears in Matt 6:25–34. Whatever the precise form of Matthew's source material, Matthew's original contribution to the saying is minimal. See Koester, Helmut, Ancient Christian Gospels: Their History and Development (London: S.C.M. and Philadelphia: Trinity, 1990) 326–27. I follow Mack, Burton L. (The Lost Gospel: The Book of Q and Christian Origins [San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1993] 95) in treating the passage as a single saying. For an additional view, see Bultmann, Rudolf, History of the Synoptic Tradition (Oxford: Blackwell, 1968) 88. Bultmann regards Luke 12:25 as an independent saying and suggests that Luke 12:26 and 28–30 may have originated separately as well.

² All scripture quotations are from the New English Bible (New York: Oxford University Press, 1976).

³ Carlston, Charles E., “Wisdom and Eschatology in Q,” in Delobel, Joël, ed., Logia: Les paroles de Jésus: Mémorial Joseph Coppens (BETL 59; Leuven: Leuven University Press, 1982) 111. At the same time, Carlston insists on the centrality of the wisdom tradition for interpreting Q, arguing, for instance, for a close connection between the δόξα (“glory, splendor”) of Luke 12:27 and “the ‘riches and honor’ which are given [Solomon] as a reward for his request for wisdom in the OT text” (p. 107 n. 41).