Bible Strands
Luke 12:23
For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus speaks to His disciples, commanding them to cease anxiety over life and body immediately before pointing to God’s care for ravens (Luke 12:22–24). He delivers this instruction during a teaching moment focused on material provision and divine trust.
The words — ψυχὴ (psuchē) translates literally as “life,” and τροφῆς (trophēs) means “food” or “sustenance.” The comparative phrase πλεῖόν ἐστιν τῆς τροφῆς establishes that life inherently exceeds its physical nourishment in value.
The thread — The priority of life over possessions runs through Job 2:4, where Satan asserts a man will surrender all for his life, and Proverbs 13:8, which contrasts wealth’s ability to ransom life with its inability to protect the poor. These passages frame life as possessing intrinsic worth that material goods cannot match.
Why it lands — The text states that life and body hold greater value than food and clothing, requiring readers to stop treating material security as the primary concern. It asks readers to reallocate their attention from acquiring necessities to recognizing the superior worth of their own existence.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.
Cross-references
- Job 2:6 “Very well,” said the LORD to Satan. “He is in your hands, but you must spare his life.”
- Proverbs 13:8 Riches may ransom a man’s life, but a poor man hears no threat.
- Job 2:4 “Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give up all he owns in exchange for his life.
- Acts 27:18 We were tossed so violently that the next day the men began to jettison the cargo.
- Job 1:12 “Very well,” said the LORD to Satan. “Everything he has is in your hands, but you must not lay a hand on the man himself.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.
- Genesis 19:17 As soon as the men had brought them out, one of them said, “Run for your lives! Do not look back, and do not stop anywhere on the plain! Flee to the mountains, or you will be swept away!”
- Acts 27:38 After the men had eaten their fill, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea.