Some take that passage as a comfort: “His eye is on the sparrow,” goes the song, “And I know he watches me.” Ironically, Jesus said it in the midst of dire warnings to his followers that they would face floggings, arrest, and even execution — hardly much comfort.* Jacques Ellul9 points out a common mistranslation: the Greek text simply has, “apart from your Father,” and says nothing about God’s will: It is to make things plain that “will” has been added. But the addition changes the meaning completely. In the one case, God wills the death of the sparrow, in the other death does not take place
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