What Does Luke 12:29 Mean in the King James?
And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Greek word behind “of doubtful mind” pictures being suspended aloft, so the verse sets the search for food and drink beside a mind left hanging in uncertainty.
THE MEANING
The verse meets you when getting food or drink takes over your attention. It places that outward search beside an inward suspension: a mind lifted and left hanging in uncertainty. The surrounding teaching holds this need within a picture of provision rather than endless securing.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie this undoes is that vigilance over every meal is the only thing keeping you from falling into uncertainty.
THE ROOT
ζητεῖτε
zēteite
GROWS FROM
ζητ-
To seek, look for, or desire.
“seek” in this verse is zēteite. The same Greek verb appears in Matthew 6:33, where the seeking is directed toward God’s governance. The verse’s movement is not from seeking to nothing, but from one object of seeking to another.
ALSO GROWS
zētētēs: Seeker, inquirer
ζητητής
This noun makes the active search in “seek” visible: attention is directed toward something being sought.
epizēteō: Seek after, desire earnestly
ἐπιζητέω
This related verb carries the same seeking into a more focused pursuit, showing how desire can be aimed.
μετεωρίζεσθε
meteōrizesthe
GROWS FROM
μετεωρ- (μετέωρος, meteōros)
Raised aloft, suspended, left hanging.
The phrase translated “of doubtful mind” carries an image of being suspended in the air, not only having an uncertain thought. That image places the inner unrest alongside the outward search for food and drink.
ALSO GROWS
meteōros: Raised high, suspended
μετέωρος
This adjective preserves the lifted and hanging image beneath the verb used in the verse.
meteor: A body or phenomenon seen in the sky; from Greek μετέωρον (meteōron), “thing aloft”
This English descendant retains the root’s sense of something high in the air, making the verse’s image of suspension easier to see.
THE PATTERN
The text loosens anxious preoccupation by locating sustenance in sustaining care.
Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.THE THREAD
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.The Greek verb behind “seek” is the same in both verses: Luke 12:29 names food and drink as objects of pursuit, while Matthew 6:33 turns that seeking toward the governance of God. The seeking is redirected, and “all these things” are promised as added.
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