Grok on the Spanish word afán
‘Afán’ (plural ‘afanes’) is a Spanish noun. In English it most commonly means:
• eagerness, zeal, desire, or longing
• effort, hard work, or exertion Less frequently (and more archaically or regionally) it can mean hurry, trouble, or anxiety.
In Matthew 6:34
Traditional Spanish Bibles, especially the widely used Reina-Valera 1960, translate the verse as:
‘Así que, no os afanéis por el día de mañana, porque el día de mañana traerá su afán. Basta a cada día su propio mal’. Here the verb afanarse (‘no os afanéis’) and the noun afán carry the sense of anxious worry, care, or trouble—not the positive meanings of eagerness or zeal. The same root appears repeatedly in the surrounding passage (Matthew 6:25–34) about not being anxious for food, drink, or clothing.
This renders the Greek μεριμνάω (merimnaō = to be anxious / to worry / to be concerned).
English Bible equivalents
Common English renderings of Matthew 6:34 include:
• NIV: ‘Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.’
• ESV: ‘Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.’
• 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.’
Modern Spanish versions often replace afán/afanéis with clearer words such as preocuparse / preocupaciones (‘worry’ / ‘worries’).
In short: Outside Scripture, afán/afanes usually points to eagerness or effort. In Matthew 6:34 it specifically means the anxious care or trouble of the day, which English Bibles express as ‘worry,’ ‘anxiety,’ or ‘trouble.’