1st Peter Chapter 5 verse 7 Holy Bible

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 7. - Casting all your care upon him; rather, all your anxiety μέριμνα. St. Peter is quoting, with slight alterations, the Septuagint Version of Psalm 55:22. We cast our anxiety upon God when we fulfill the Lord's commandment, "Take no thought [rather, 'be not anxious'], saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For your heavenly Fat. her knoweth that ye have need of all these things." God cares for us; therefore we must not be over-anxious, but trust in him. The participle is aorist, as if implying that we are to cast the whole burden of all our anxieties πᾶσαν τὴν μέριμναν ὑμῶν by one act of faith upon the Lord. For he careth for you. The Greek word is μέλει, quite different from the μέριμνα of the foregoing clause. The care which is forbidden is that anxiety about worldly things which harasses a man and distracts his mind, so that he cannot compose himself to prayer and holy meditation. God's care for us is calm, holy, thoughtful providence. He "knoweth that we have need of all these things;" and he maketh all things work together for good to his chosen, to them that love him.

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(7) Casting all your care upon him.--An adaptation of Psalm 55:22, according to the LXX. Anxiety implies not only some distrust of God's providence, but also some kind of belief that we may be able to manage better for ourselves; therefore here, as in the Sermon on the Mount, we are exhorted, especially in time of danger, simply to do what we know we ought to do, and to be unheeding about the rest."Lord, it belongs not to my careWhether I die or live."The confidence cannot be misplaced, for God is not forgetful of us. The play of words in the English does not represent anything in the original, where the two words for "care" are quite different.