Bring it to God, all of it: “Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.” In Philippians 4:6, the Greek word is merimnaō (G3309): to worry, to be anxious about something. Strong’s traces it back to a word for being divided: a mind pulled several ways at once.
Get DeepWordWhat the original says
Behind “Be anxious” in this verse is the Greek word merimnaō (said meh-rim-NAH-oh).
It means to worry, to be anxious about something. Strong’s traces it back to a word for being divided: a mind pulled several ways at once.
This form, merimnate, is a command to many people, in a form that usually describes something ongoing rather than one moment. With the word before it, mēden, ‘nothing’, it reads word for word ‘about nothing be anxious’.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is ‘worry’ 11 times and ‘concern’ 5 times, counting their other forms. Paul uses it for caring well, too: the members of the body “should have mutual concern for one another” (1 Corinthians 12:25):
Word by word
| μηδὲν | μεριμνᾶτε | ἀλλ᾽ | ἐν | παντὶ | τῇ | προσευχῇ |
| nothing | do worry about | but | in | everything | the | by prayer |
Original form
What this tells us
Paul writes this letter in chains: “it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ” (Philippians 1:13). He does not know whether he will live or die. Just before this verse he says, “Rejoice in the Lord always” and “The Lord is near” (Philippians 4:4–5). The call not to worry comes from someone with plenty to worry about. The word behind “Be anxious” is merimnaō: to worry, to have your mind pulled several ways at once. Paul does not simply say stop. He gives the worry somewhere to go: “in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Every worry can become a request. The next verse says what happens then: “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). Paul does not promise that the problem disappears. He promises a guard at the door of your heart. Later in the same chapter he says, “I have learned to be content regardless of my circumstances” (Philippians 4:11). Learned, not born with it: the peace came over time. Here worry is treated as a signal to pray, not as a reason for shame. What would it look like to turn the thing on your mind right now into a request?
What the original says
Behind “do not worry” in this verse is the same Greek word, merimnaō (said meh-rim-NAH-oh).
It is the same word you met in Philippians 4:6: to worry, to be anxious about something.
This form, merimnate, is the same command form as in Philippians 4:6, here with mē, ‘not’: do not keep worrying. What follows says what about: “your life” and “your body”.
Jesus uses the word six times in this one passage (Matthew 6:25–34). In all, the Berean puts it as ‘worry’ 11 times, as in “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” (Matthew 6:27):
Word by word
| λέγω | ὑμῖν | μὴ | μεριμνᾶτε | τῇ | ψυχῇ | ὑμῶν |
| I say | to you | not | do be anxious about | the | life | of you |
Original form
What this tells us
Jesus is teaching on a mountainside, in the long sermon that begins, “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3). He has just said, “You cannot serve both God and money” (Matthew 6:24). Then he turns to the everyday fears that money seems to answer: what to eat, what to drink, what to wear. The word for “worry” is merimnaō, the same word Paul uses in Philippians. Jesus is not scolding people for having needs. He asks a question that puts the worry in its place: “Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?” Your life is bigger than the list of things you fear running out of. Then he points outside: “Look at the birds of the air: They do not sow or reap or gather into barns”, and yet “your heavenly Father feeds them” (Matthew 6:26). And he asks, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” (Matthew 6:27). Worry promises control and gives none. Christians have heard this as a call to trust, not as a rule against planning; Jesus himself speaks of a builder who will “first sit down and count the cost” (Luke 14:28). Your needs are real, and your Father knows them. The question this verse leaves you with is where you are looking: at the barns, or at the Father who feeds the birds.
What the original says
Behind “do not worry” in this verse is merimnaō again (said meh-rim-NAH-oh).
It is the same word: to worry, to be anxious. Here it comes twice in one sentence.
This form, merimnēsēte, is used with mē, ‘not’, to forbid something: do not worry. A few words later the same verb comes back as merimnēsei, “will worry”: tomorrow is the one doing the worrying.
In the Berean Standard Bible it is ‘worry’ 11 times in all. In the parable of the sower, “the worries of this life” choke the word (Matthew 13:22), and that is merimna, the noun from the same family:
Word by word
| μὴ | οὖν | μεριμνήσητε | εἰς | τὴν | αὔριον | ἡ |
| not | therefore | shall you be anxious | about | the | tomorrow | the |
Original form
What this tells us
These are the last words of Jesus’ teaching on worry. He has told his listeners to look at the birds and the lilies, and then given them a better place to put their attention: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33). The word is merimnaō again, twice in one verse: “do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.” There is something almost light in the way Jesus says it. Tomorrow can do its own worrying when it comes. It is not a job for today. He does not pretend today will be easy: “Today has enough trouble of its own.” That honesty is part of the comfort. Israel learned the same lesson in the desert, when God gave bread from heaven one day at a time: “Each day the people are to go out and gather enough for that day” (Exodus 16:4). Think of carrying groceries home: you can carry one day’s bag, but not a whole month’s at once. What part of tomorrow are you trying to carry today? This verse gives you permission to set it down until it arrives, and to trust that God will be there when it does.
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Download on the App StoreWhat the original says
Behind “you are worried” in this verse is merimnaō (said meh-rim-NAH-oh), the word you met in Philippians and Matthew.
It is the same word: to worry, to be anxious, a mind pulled several ways.
This form, merimnas, is a plain statement to one person, about now: you are worried. The next word, thorubazē, “upset”, is a word for inner commotion.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is ‘worry’ 11 times and ‘concern’ 5 times. Paul uses it of his own care for the churches (2 Corinthians 11:28 uses the noun, “my concern for all the churches”):
Word by word
| κύριος | Μάρθα | Μάρθα | μεριμνᾷς | καὶ | θορυβάζῃ | περὶ |
| Lord | Martha | Martha | you are anxious | and | troubled | about |
Original form
What this tells us
Jesus has come to the home of two sisters. “a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home” (Luke 10:38), and while her sister Mary “sat at the Lord’s feet listening to His message” (Luke 10:39), “Martha was distracted by all the preparations to be made” (Luke 10:40). At last she bursts out: “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?” The word for “worried” is merimnaō. Jesus says her name twice, gently: “Martha, Martha.” He does not call her work bad; welcoming guests mattered, and she was welcoming him. He names what was happening inside her: “you are worried and upset about many things.” Then he says, “But only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, and it will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:42). Martha’s worry had turned a good thing into a weight she carried alone. Many Christians read this story not as prayer against work but as an order of things: first sitting with Jesus, then serving from there. If your worry is about many things, Jesus says your name the way he said hers. The one thing is still open to you: to sit with him for a while before you get up again.
What the original says
Behind the word “anxiety” in this verse is the Greek word merimna (said MEH-rim-nah).
It means worry, anxious care: the noun from the same family as merimnaō. Strong’s traces it to the idea of being distracted, pulled apart.
This form, merimnan, is a noun, and the verse begins with the word before it, pasan, “all”: all your anxiety. Peter joins this sentence to the one before it; casting your anxiety is part of humbling yourself under God’s hand.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is ‘worries’ 4 times, as in “the worries of this life” (Mark 4:19), and ‘anxiety’ only here:
Word by word
| πᾶσαν | τὴν | μέριμναν | ὑμῶν | ἐπιρίψαντες | ἐπ᾽ | αὐτόν |
| all | the | anxiety | of you | having cast | upon | him |
Original form
What this tells us
Peter writes to Christians scattered across many provinces, “throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia” (1 Peter 1:1), many of them suffering for their faith. Just before this verse he says, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, so that in due time He may exalt you” (1 Peter 5:6). The word for “anxiety” is merimna, the noun for worry. Peter says all of it, not only the big worries: “Cast all your anxiety on Him.” His verb for cast is the one Luke uses when the disciples “threw their cloaks over” the colt Jesus rode (Luke 19:35): a deliberate throw, onto something strong enough to carry it. The reason is short: “because He cares for you.” A psalm said the same long before: “Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you” (Psalm 55:22). Peter adds in the next breath, “Be sober-minded and alert” (1 Peter 5:8). Handing over your worry is not the same as not caring what happens. It is caring, and letting someone stronger hold it with you. You do not have to sort your worries into ones worth bringing and ones too small to mention. All of it can go to the One who cares for you.
What the original says
Behind the word “anxiety” in this verse is the Hebrew word sar’appim (said sar-ah-PEEM).
It means anxious, disquieting thoughts: the kind that crowd in and will not stop. It is used only twice in the Old Testament, here and in Psalm 139:23.
This form, sar’appai, is plural with ‘my’ joined to the end: my anxious thoughts, many of them. The word before it means ‘in the multitude of’, so the verse begins, word for word, ‘in the multitude of my anxious thoughts’.
The Berean has it twice: ‘anxiety’ here, and ‘concerns’ in “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns” (Psalm 139:23):
Word by word
| בְּרֹב | שַׂרְעַפַּי | בְּקִרְבִּי | תַּנְחוּמֶיךָ | יְשַׁעַשְׁעוּ | נַפְשִׁי |
| in · multitude of | disquieting thoughts · my | in · inner being · my | consolations · your | they delighted | self · my |
Original form
What this tells us
Psalm 94 is a cry for justice. It opens, “O LORD, God of vengeance” (Psalm 94:1), and asks, “Who will rise up for me against the wicked?” (Psalm 94:16). The writer has nearly gone under. When he said his foot was slipping, “Your loving devotion, O LORD, supports me” (Psalm 94:18). The word for “anxiety” here is sar’appim: anxious thoughts, the kind that crowd in at night and keep circling. In Hebrew the verse begins with a crowd of them, ‘in the multitude of my anxious thoughts’. Then comes the other half: “Your consolation delights my soul.” The psalm does not pretend the crowd goes away on its own. Something else comes in among the thoughts: comfort from God. A few verses later the writer says, “But the LORD has been my stronghold, and my God is my rock of refuge” (Psalm 94:22). Think of a room full of loud voices, and then one voice you trust begins to speak, and the whole room changes. If your mind is crowded today, you can pray this verse just as it stands: when anxiety overwhelms me, let your comfort delight my soul. It is a prayer the Bible itself gives you to use.
What the original says
Behind the word “Anxiety” in this verse is the Hebrew word de’agah (said deh-ah-GAH).
It means worry, anxiety, a weight of care. Strong’s lists ‘care’, ‘fear’, ‘heaviness’ and ‘sorrow’ among the ways older Bibles put it.
This form, de’agah, is a noun, and it is the first word of the verse in Hebrew: anxiety comes first. The verb after it means to bow down: worry bends the heart.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is ‘anxiety’ 4 times, as here:
Word by word
| דְּאָגָה | בְלֶב | אִישׁ | יַשְׁחֶנָּה | וְדָבָר | טוֹב | יְשַׂמְּחֶנָּה |
| anxiety | in · heart of | a person | it bows down · it | and · a word | good | it makes glad · it |
Original form
What this tells us
Proverbs is a book of short sayings about everyday life: work, money, friendship, and the power of words. A few verses earlier it says, “the tongue of the wise brings healing” (Proverbs 12:18). This saying is about what worry does to a person, and what a few words can do in return. The word for “Anxiety” is de’agah: worry, care, a heaviness. The picture is physical. It “weighs down the heart of a man”, and the Hebrew verb is the one for bowing down, the way a heavy load bends someone’s back. The writer does not call worry silly. He says it is heavy. Then the turn: “but a good word cheers it up.” The relief in this proverb comes through a word, spoken by someone. Proverbs says the same elsewhere: “Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones” (Proverbs 16:24). Often God’s comfort reaches a heavy heart through another person’s mouth. Who could you tell about the weight you are carrying? And who near you might need a good word from you today?
Behind "worry" are 7 different words
Your English Bible says "worry" 24 times. Behind it stand several Hebrew and Greek words:
Reflect
Read it as yours
Peter wrote this sentence for people under real pressure. Read it slowly, as if it were addressed to you:
Name it
What are you worried about today? Write it down plainly, then turn it into a request, the way Philippians 4:6 says: “by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving”.
Carry with you
What is one worry you could hand to God today, and then leave with him?
A note
Anxiety that will not lift is not a failure of faith. If it stays heavy, or keeps you from sleeping, eating or working, talking with a doctor, a counselor or a pastor can help.