Matthew 6 · Verse 21

Matthew 6:21

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Matthew 6:21, King James Version

Matthew 6:21 in other translations

BSB	For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
WEB	for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
ASV	for where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also.
YLT	for where your treasure is, there will be also your heart.
DARBY	for where thy treasure is, there will be also thy heart.
BBE	For where your wealth is, there will your heart be.
Webster	For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

What does Matthew 6:21 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

21. For where your treasure is--that which ye value most. there will your heart be also--"Thy treasure--thy heart" is probably the true reading here: "your," in Lu 12:34, from which it seems to have come in here. Obvious though this maxim be, by what multitudes who profess to bow to the teaching of Christ is it practically disregarded! "What a man loves," says Luther, quoted by Tholuck, "that is his God. For he carries it in his heart, he goes about with it night and day, he sleeps and wakes with it; be it what it may--wealth or pelf, pleasure or renown." But because "laying up" is not in itself sinful, nay, in some cases enjoined (2Co 12:14), and honest industry and sagacious enterprise are usually rewarded with prosperity, many flatter themselves that all is right between them and God, while their closest attention, anxiety, zeal, and time are exhausted upon these earthly pursuits. To put this right, our Lord adds what follows, in which there is profound practical wisdom.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 21 Where your treasure is - If God be the treasure of our souls, our hearts, i.e. our affections and desires will be placed on things above. An earthly minded man proves that his treasure is below; a heavenly minded man shows that his treasure is above.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Matthew 6:19-24

Worldly-mindedness is a common and fatal symptom of hypocrisy, for by no sin can Satan have a surer and faster hold of the soul, under the cloak of a profession of religion. Something the soul will have, which it looks upon as the best thing; in which it has pleasure and confidence above other things. Christ counsels to make our best things the joys and glories of the other world, those things not seen which are…

Read the full comment on Matthew 6:19-24 →

Matthew 6:21 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

ὅπουhopouWhereG3699

γάρgarforG1063

ἐστινestinisG1510

ὁhotheG3588

θησαυρόςthēsaurostreasureG2344

σου,souof you [one]G4771

ἐκεῖekeithereG1563

ἔσταιestaiwill beG1510

καὶkaialsoG2532

ἡhētheG3588

καρδίαkardiaheartG2588

σου.¶souof you [one].G4771

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Matthew 6:21

Colossians 3:1-3
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
Luke 12:34
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
2 Corinthians 4:18
While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Proverbs 4:23
Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
Isaiah 33:6
And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the Lord is his treasure.
Hebrews 3:12
Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
Jeremiah 4:14
O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?
Matthew 12:34
O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
Acts 8:21
Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.
Romans 7:5-7
For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.
Jeremiah 22:17
But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.
Philemon 1:3
Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

where.
Isa 33:6; Lu 12:34; 2Co 4:18
there.
12:34; Pr 4:23; Jer 4:14; 22:17; Ac 8:21; Ro 7:5-7; Phm 1:3,19
Col 3:1-3; Heb 3:12

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Matthew 6:20
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
Matthew 6:21
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Matthew 6:22
The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

Read all of Matthew 6

Matthew 6:21 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Porque donde estuviere vuestro tesoro, allí estará vuestro corazón.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	car là où est ton trésor, là sera aussi ton cœur.
German Elberfelder 1871	denn wo dein Schatz ist, da wird auch dein Herz sein.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Ubi enim est thesaurus tuus, ibi est et cor tuum.