Matthew 8:20 (DRB)

Passage

And Jesus saith to him: The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

Nearby Context

Matthew 8:18 And Jesus seeing great multitudes about him, gave orders to pass over the water.

Matthew 8:19 And a certain scribe came and said to him: Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou shalt go.

Matthew 8:20 And Jesus saith to him: The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

Matthew 8:21 And another of his disciples said to him: Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.

Matthew 8:22 But Jesus said to him: Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "jesus", "saith", "foxes", "holes", "birds", "nests", "hath", and "where". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "jesus" and "saith", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 19's "And a certain scribe came and said..." into verse 21's "And another of his disciples said to...", so "jesus" and "saith" belong inside that flow. In Matthew context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "jesus" and "saith" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.