Philippians 4:6

μ. μερ. “In nothing be anxious.” μερ. is not common in earlier prose. It is used repeatedly in LXX of anxiety (a) approaching dread as Psalms 37:19, (b) producing displeasure as Ezekiel 16:42, (c) of a general kind as 1 Chronicles 17:9. For the thought Cf.4Ezr 2 27 : Noli satagere, cum venerit enim dies pressurae et angustiae … tu autem hilaris et copiosa eris. See the note on chap. Philippians 2:20 supr. προσευ. κ. τ. δεής. προσευχή emphasises prayer as an act of worship or devotion; δεήσις is the cry of personal need. See on chap. Philippians 1:4 supr. Curare et orare plus inter se pugnant quam aqua et ignis (Beng.). μετὰ εὐχ. The word is rarely found in secular Greek (e.g., Hippocr., Polyb., Diod.; see Rutherford, New Phrynichus, p. 69), or LXX. Paul uses it twelve times, but only twice with the article. Does not this imply that he takes for granted that thanksgiving is the background, the predominant tone of the Christian life? To pray in any other spirit is to clip the wings of prayer. αἴτημα is found three times in N.T. It emphasises the object asked for (see an important discussion by Ezra Abbot in N. Amer. Review, 1872, p. 171 ff.). “Prayer is a wish referred to God, and the possibility of such reference, save in matters of mere indifference, is the test of the purity of the wish” (Green, Two Sermons, p. 44). πρὸς τ. Θεόν. “In the presence of God.” A delicate and suggestive way of hinting that God's presence is always there, that it is the atmosphere surrounding them. Anxious foreboding is out of place in a Father's presence. Requests are always in place with Him. With this phrase Cf. Romans 16:26.