And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
Parallel translations
- WEB Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
- BSB Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.”
- NKJV And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
- NASB And Jesus *said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
- NLT But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus warns that following him means sharing his homelessness and hardship, for even he has no settled place to rest. Discipleship demands willingness to forgo comfort and security.
Overview
Jesus answers the scribe by describing his own life of poverty and rejection, using 'Son of Man,' his favored self-designation drawn from Daniel 7. The point is not literal destitution but the cost of joining a Lord the world will not receive. To follow Christ is to value him above earthly security, sharing in both his rejection and his coming glory.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- Ps 84:3Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God.
- Luke 2:7And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
- Isa 53:2–3For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
- 2 Cor 8:9For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.
- Luke 2:16And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
- Ps 104:17Where the birds make their nests: as for the stork, the fir trees are her house.
- Luke 2:12And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
- Luke 8:3And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance.
- Ps 109:22For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.
- Ps 40:17But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.
- Ps 69:29But I am poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.
- Matt 16:27For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
- Matt 17:9And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.
- Matt 19:28And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
- Matt 12:32And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.
- Matt 12:40For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
- Matt 12:8For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.
- Dan 7:13I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
- Matt 16:13When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 8:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.