The words or what ye shall drink have uneven support. Some witnesses omit the whole phrase; others keep drink but change the connector between eating and drinking. The Textus Receptus gives the full pair with or.
“Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink.” — Matthew 6:25
Christ names the daily necessities of life: food, drink, and clothing. He then moves to birds and lilies. The full list is ordinary, not inflated. A body needs more than bread, and a disciple tempted by anxiety can worry over each need separately.
Critics point to early omission and to the possibility that a scribe expanded the pair under the influence of Luke 12:29. They also note that “eat and drink” is a fixed biblical combination.
That familiar combination may explain why some copies replace or with and. The received or matches anxious alternatives: What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear? A copyist reciting the stock phrase can level the connector.
The whole drink clause can disappear between neighboring short questions. Its omission leaves a balanced food/body and clothing/body saying, so no grammatical break calls it back.
“Take no thought”
In the Authorized Version, the phrase means “do not be anxious,” not “make no plans.” Joseph stored grain. Paul planned journeys. Proverbs commends the ant. Christ forbids the divided mind that treats provision as though no Father knows or gives.
The verse does not promise equal comfort to every saint. Birds die and believers can hunger. It says life and body come from a Father greater than the means that sustain them, and anxious mastery cannot add a cubit or hour.
The full received wording gives the worry its everyday voice. Eat, drink, wear: the list is as near as the next meal. Its broad support, natural triad, and the ready loss or leveling of the connector favor retaining every member. Christ does not scold bodily need. He moves the needy child’s eye from the empty cup to the Father.
The connector or also matches the next question: “Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?” Needs are distinguished before they are gathered under the Father’s gift. Anxiety moves from one item to another; Christ answers the divided catalogue with one providence.
Luke’s parallel does not make every agreement suspect. Jesus may have repeated this teaching, and both Evangelists may preserve a shared list. Where a whole phrase is omitted in one line, comparison can expose loss as readily as it can tempt addition. The direction must be argued rather than assumed.
Pastoral use should also respect material hardship. Telling a hungry person “take no thought” while withholding bread contradicts the Father whose care the verse proclaims. The same sermon that forbids anxious hoarding commands secret alms. Providence frees the disciple both to ask for daily bread and to become one means by which another receives it.
Sources and further reading
- Matthew 6:19–34; Luke 12:22–31; Philippians 4:6–13.
- Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, note on Matthew 6:25.
- Frederick H. A. Scrivener, A Plain Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament.