Phil. 4:1-9, “Be Careful” or “Be Careful for Nothing”

WORD STUDY: "careful" (merimnaw, merimnaō)

Phil.4:6 (KJV): "Be careful for nothing: but in everything by prayer & supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God."

OTHER VERSIONS: NASV, NIV, ESV: anxious; Williams, Phillips: worried

Beck: worry; RSV, NEB: anxiety

CONCORDANCE STUDY:

The Greek verb “merimnaō” appears 19x in 17 verses; the noun “merimna” appears 6x in 6 verses; the negative adjective “amerimnos” is 2x in 2 verses.  (All those verses are mentioned somewhere in this post.)  It was also translated "careful" in Lk.10:41 KJV with the same context of "worry, anxiety". Often translated "take thought" in KJV. The root of these terms is a word that means to divide.  Thus we have the idea of a divided focus.

·       Mt.6:25,27,28,31,34 (Sermon on the Mount): all in context of being anxious for needs of this life & their supply.

·       Mt.10:19; Luke 12:11: don't worry about what to speak when under trial for Christ; the HS will give you the words to say.

·       Mt. 28:14: Jews told soldiers at the tomb they would appease the governor so they would be “secure” (without care).

·       Lk.12:22,25,26: worry about needs & their supply.  Different setting than Matt. 6; Luke records Jesus reply to the man who asked Him to get involved in the dispersing of his inheritance.

·       Lk. 21:34: take heed not to be weighed down by cares of this life so that the coming day takes you by surprise

·       I Cor. 7:32ab,33,34ab: husbands care for wife, family.

·       I Cor. 12:25: Christians care for other members of body

·       2 Cor. 11:28: Paul had troubles plus the care of the churches.

·       Phil. 2:20: someone to care for Philippians.

·       1 Pt. 5:7: cast all your care on Him for He cares (melei) for you.

In some cases we are told not to worry at all, in others the cares are legitimate.  How are we to differentiate?  Did the translators of the KJV have a reason not to use the stronger term “worry” that means you are worried about something you should not even think about?  Or did they make a distinction?  Before we come to our answer I want to add one more shore verse list in the next post.