Anxiety

The Greek Word: Merimnaō

The New Testament word most often translated "anxious" or "take thought" is merimnaō (μεριμνάω, Strong's G3309). The noun form is merimna (μέριμνα, G3308) — "anxiety, worry, care." The verb comes from a root meaning "to be pulled in different directions" — literally, to be drawn apart. The picture is of the mind divided, unable to settle.

The Greek word appears in Jesus's most extended teaching on anxiety:

Matthew 6:25 — "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?"

"Take no thought" is KJV English for mē merimnate — "stop being pulled apart" or "do not be anxious." The Greek imperative is specifically directed at what we would call worry — the divided, fretful state of mental preoccupation — not at thoughtful planning.

The passage continues for ten verses (Matthew 6:25–34), using the verb merimnaō six times. It is Scripture's longest continuous teaching on anxiety.

Jesus's Argument Against Anxiety

Jesus's anxiety teaching has a specific structure:

• Anxiety fails the proportion test. Life is more than food; the body more than clothing (v. 25). Anxiety focuses on smaller things at the expense of larger ones.
• Anxiety fails the observation test. Birds are fed without sowing; lilies are clothed without spinning (v. 26, 28–30). The created order does not sustain itself by anxious effort.
• Anxiety fails the efficacy test. "Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?" (v. 27). Worry produces no measurable result.
• Anxiety fails the identity test. The Gentiles seek these things (v. 32). Disciples are to have a different orientation.
• Anxiety fails the providence test. "Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things" (v. 32). God's knowledge precedes the need.
• Anxiety fails the timing test. "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself" (v. 34). Tomorrow's resources are not today's.

Paul on Anxiety: Philippians 4:6–7

Philippians 4:6–7 — "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

"Be careful for nothing" is KJV English for mēden merimnate — "in nothing be anxious." Paul uses the same Greek verb as Matthew 6:25. The structure:

• Negative command — stop the anxiety.
• Positive replacement — prayer, supplication, thanksgiving. The anxiety is not merely to be suppressed but redirected into a different practice.
• Promised result — the peace of God as a guard. The Greek phrourēsei ("shall keep") is a military word — peace as a sentinel standing watch over heart and mind.

Paul wrote Philippians from Roman imprisonment (Philippians 1:13), awaiting a verdict that could go either way. The teaching about anxiety is not from a position of external ease. See also Be Anxious for Nothing.

Peter: Casting Cares on God

1 Peter 5:7 — "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you."

The Greek is pasan tēn merimnan hymōn epiripsantes ep' auton — "casting all your anxiety upon him." The verb epiripsantes (from epirriptō) literally means "to throw upon." The grammatical construction is a participle — "casting" — grammatically subordinate to the previous verse's "humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God" (v. 6). The two actions form one posture: humility before God expressed as throwing anxiety onto him.

The reason given is the key: "hoti autō melei peri hymōn" — "because it matters to him concerning you." The word melei means "it is a care, it is a concern." God is not indifferent. Anxiety can be cast on him because it is already his concern.

The Old Testament Pattern

The Hebrew Bible does not use a single anxiety-word the way the NT uses merimnaō, but the pattern is present across the Psalms and wisdom literature:

• Psalm 55:22 — "Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved."
• Psalm 37:7 — "Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him."
• Psalm 42:5, 11 — "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and [why] art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God."
• Proverbs 12:25 — "Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad."
• Isaiah 26:3 — "Thou wilt keep [him] in perfect peace, [whose] mind [is] stayed [on thee]: because he trusteth in thee."
• Isaiah 41:10 — "Fear thou not; for I [am] with thee: be not dismayed; for I [am] thy God."

The Psalmist often brings anxiety directly to God in complaint — not suppressing it, but addressing it to him. The movement is from disquiet (hamah) to trust (batach).

What the Anxiety Passages Do Not Say

Honest reading of Scripture's anxiety passages requires noting what they do not claim:

• They do not promise the absence of anxious thoughts. The commands "do not be anxious" and "cast your care" presume the experience of anxiety as a starting point. Scripture addresses people who do experience anxiety; it teaches what to do with it, not how never to feel it.
• They do not promise the removal of all difficult circumstances. Paul wrote Philippians in chains. Jesus told the disciples "in the world ye shall have tribulation" (John 16:33). Peace is promised; the absence of trouble is not.
• They do not speak directly to clinical anxiety disorders. The biblical writers did not have modern categories of generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, or OCD. The passages address the universal human experience of worry; they do not substitute for mental health care where that is needed. The biblical pattern of bringing concerns to God through prayer and community sits alongside, not against, competent medical and therapeutic help.

The Pattern: Honest, Redirected, Sustained

Across the biblical material, the pattern for handling anxiety has three moves:

• Honest naming. The Psalms bring anxiety into words before God, not around him. Jesus in Gethsemane: "my soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death" (Matthew 26:38).
• Redirection into prayer. Philippians 4:6 — "in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving." 1 Peter 5:7 — casting onto God.
• Return to trust. The Psalms typically do not end where they begin. Psalm 42 starts in disquiet and ends in "hope thou in God."

Summary

• Greek: merimnaō — "to be pulled in different directions."
• Jesus's anxiety teaching — Matthew 6:25–34, with six uses of the verb.
• Paul's replacement pattern — Philippians 4:6–7 — prayer + supplication + thanksgiving as the redirection.
• Peter's image — 1 Peter 5:7 — casting care onto God because he cares.
• OT pattern — Psalms bring anxiety before God and move through it toward trust.