Charles Ellicott Commentary Luke 12:27-31

"Consider the lilies, how they grow: they toil not, neither do they spin; yet I say unto you, Even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God doth so clothe the grass in the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven; how much more [shall he clothe] you, O ye of little faith? And seek not ye what ye shall eat, and what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: but your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. Yet seek ye his kingdom, and these things shall be added unto you." — Luke 12:27-31 (ASV)

Consider the lilies how they grow. See Notes on Matthew 6:28-33.

There are, however, some noticeable variations, such as:

1. In Luke 12:27, in the better manuscripts, they spin not, they weave not.
2. The use in Luke 12:29 of a new verb, Neither be ye of doubtful mind.

This word is not found elsewhere in the New Testament and is, to that extent, characteristic of St. Luke’s special culture.

But its etymology and its classical use make it equivalent to "Be not tossed to and fro like a ship out on the open sea." Taken this way, it presents a parallel to St. James’s description of the "man that wavereth," as like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed (James 1:6).