“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:”
- Date
- 1611
- Attribution
- Source identified
- Voice / speaker
- Reported speaker · Jesus
- English wording
- King James Version translation committees · from Biblical Hebrew / Aramaic / Koine Greek
What does this quote mean?
Attention is directed to ordinary flowers as a corrective to anxious preoccupation, making observation itself part of the teaching about worry.
Where does it come from?
Matthew 6:28, King James Version; Jesus points listeners to the lilies while discussing anxiety about clothing and material provision.
Who voices the line?
Reported speaker · Jesus. Matthew 6:28 in the King James Version preserves this wording as reported speech. The biblical passage remains the textual source while Jesus is stored as the local reported speaker.
The source author and the local speaker can be different, especially in fiction, drama, dialogue and poetry.
How should this attribution be read?
This wording is connected with the named source shown above. Translations and editions can vary, so consult the source note when exact wording matters.