Sparrow

The sparrow (Hebrew: tsippor, a general term for small birds; Greek: strouthion) was the most common small bird of Palestine and the cheapest available for sacrifice — two sparrows sold for a farthing (a quarter of an assarion, a very small coin), and five for two farthings (Matt. 10:29; Luke 12:6–7). The leper's cleansing ritual required two living birds (Lev. 14:4–7), and the poor could offer turtledoves or sparrows in place of larger animals.

Jesus uses the sparrow's low price as the basis for a powerful argument from the lesser to the greater: if not one sparrow falls to the ground without the Father's knowledge, how much more precious are his disciples. The saying establishes the universality of divine providence — extending even to the cheapest, most overlooked creature — as the ground of fearlessness in the face of persecution. The Psalmist's longing for the sparrow's freedom to nest near the altar (Ps. 84:3) uses the bird as a symbol of intimate access to God's dwelling.