© 12 Colin Melbourne
KJV Bible English
Q: I’m learning English and came across the phrase, “sufficient unto the day” in a book I was studying. A friend says it is from the Bible, is that true, and if so, what does it mean?
Is the Best English
A: Sufficient unto the day is a common phrase used as an aphorism (a succinct basic truism) in modern colloquial English; for example when there’s discussion of an intractable problem that creates further difficulties; a forest fire, an oil-spill, earthquake, and so on.
Imagine assembly-line workers are on strike at a car factory. In-coming parts are piling up, showrooms are crying out for cars to sell, non-striking workers are idle. The company is losing money and the CEO demands to know of the beleaguered factory manager how long before the situation is resolved.
“I don’t know Sir, it’s one problem after another. Sufficient unto the day.”
It’s an elegant idiomatic way of saying, we have our hands full coping with today’s complications without looking ahead.
The phrase originates from the King James Bible of 1611, where Christ’s Sermon of the Mount includes the verse Mtt. 6:34 KJV;
Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
Here’s the proper Bible context of Christ’s words; Mtt: 6:25-34 KJV;
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?
Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
What is the biblical meaning of sufficient unto the day?
Each day has enough evil, trouble, and problems, of its own to cope with. So take each day as it comes, one at a time, and by the power of God, deal with things as they arise, don’t worry about them beforehand. The Lord will supply whatever is needed on the day; wisdom, knowledge, faith, power etc.
William Tyndale’s 1534 NT has;
Care not then for the morrow, but let the morrow care for itself; for the day present hath enough of his own trouble.
Clear enough, but as a Tyndale fan, I have to admit the KJV rendition of the final sentence is superior; Gorgeous English, and far more important: Absolute Truth.
Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
So attractive and memorable is this rolling phrase that it soon became common parlance abbreviated as; Sufficient unto the day.
Use it, that’s what English is for!
And don’t forget to give the Lord, and His Kingdom, first place in your life everyday, so that He can provide all you need, and you can overcome all evils.
What does it mean: To suffer fools gladly?
© 12 Colin Melbourne