Philippians 1:22

Philippians 1:22 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.
• New International Version (NIV)If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know!
• English Standard Version (ESV)If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.
• New King James Version (NKJV)But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell.

Context of Philippians 1:22

20It is my own eager expectation and hope, that [looking toward the future] I will not disgrace myself nor be ashamed in anything, but that with courage and the utmost freedom of speech, even now as always, Christ will be magnified and exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 21For to me, to live is Christ [He is my source of joy, my reason to live] and to die is gain [for I will be with Him in eternity]. If, however, it is to be life here and I am to go on living, this will mean useful and productive service for me; so I do not know which to choose [if I am given that choice]. 23But I am hard-pressed between the two. I have the desire to leave [this world] and be with Christ, for that is far, far better; 24yet to remain in my body is more necessary and essential for your sake.

Philippians 1:22 word by word

εἰ δὲ τὸ ζῆν ἐν σαρκί, τοῦτό μοι καρπὸς ἔργου· καὶ τί αἱρήσομαι οὐ γνωρίζω.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Butδέde · thenG1161
• ifεἰei · ifG1487
• I liveζάωzaō · to liveG2198
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• the fleshσάρξsarx · fleshG4561
• thisοὗτοςhoutos houtoi hautē hautai · this/he/she/itG3778
• the fruitκαρπόςkarpos · fruitG2590
• ofἔργονergon · workG2041
• myἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• yetκαίkai · andG2532
• whatτίςtis · which?G5101
• I shall chooseαἱρέωaihreomai · to chooseG138
• I wotγνωρίζωgnōrizō · to make knownG1107
• notοὐou · noG3756
• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588

Cross-references for Philippians 1:22

• Philippians 1:24yet to remain in my body is more necessary and essential for your sake.
• 2 Corinthians 10:3For though we walk in the flesh [as mortal men], we are not carrying on our [spiritual] warfare according to the flesh and using the weapons of man.
• Galatians 2:20I have been crucified with Christ [that is, in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body I live by faith [by adhering to, relying on, and completely trusting] in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
• Colossians 2:1For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those [believers] at Laodicea, and for all who [like yourselves] have never seen me face to face.
• 1 Peter 4:2so that he can no longer spend the rest of his natural life living for human appetites and desires, but [lives] for the will and purpose of God.
• Psalms 71:18And even when I am old and gray-headed, O God, do not abandon me, Until I declare Your [mighty] strength to this generation, Your power to all who are to come.
• Isaiah 38:18For Sheol cannot praise or thank You, Death cannot praise You and rejoice in You; Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.
• Genesis 21:26Abimelech said, “I do not know who did this thing. Indeed, you did not tell me, and I did not hear of it until today.”
• Genesis 39:8But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, with me in the house, my master does not concern himself with anything; he has put everything that he owns in my charge.
• Exodus 32:1Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, they gathered together before Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”
• Acts 3:17“Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance [not fully aware of what you were doing], just as your rulers did also.
• Romans 11:2God has not rejected His [chosen] people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?

Commentaries on Philippians 1:22

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 22But if I live in the flesh - Should I be spared longer, I shall labor for Christ as I have done; and this is the fruit of my labor, that Christ shall be magnified by my longer life, Philemon 1:20. Yet what I shall choose I wot not - Had I the two conditions left to my own choice, whether to die now and go to glory, or whether to live longer in persecutions and affliction, (glorifying Christ by spreading the Gospel), I could not tell which to prefer.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 22But if I live in the flesh - If I continue to live; if I am not condemned and make a martyr at my approaching trial. This is the fruit of my labour - The meaning of this passage, which has given much perplexity to commentators, it seems to me is, “If I live in the flesh, it will cost me labor; it will be attended, as it has been, with much effort and anxious care, and I know not which to prefer - whether to remain on the earth with these cares and the…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 21-26Verses 21-26 Death is a great loss to a carnal, worldly man, for he loses all his earthly comforts and all his hopes; but to a true believer it is gain, for it is the end of all his weakness and misery. It delivers him from all the evils of life, and brings him to possess the chief good. The apostle's difficulty was not between living in this world and living in heaven; between these two there is no comparison; but between serving Christ in this world and…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2222. Rather as Greek, "But if to live in the flesh (if), this (I say, the continuance in life which I am undervaluing) be the fruit of my labor (that is, be the condition in which the fruit of my ministerial labor is involved), then what I shall choose I know not (I cannot determine with myself, if the choice were given me, both alternatives being great goods alike)." So Alford and Ellicott. Bengel takes it as English Version, which the Greek will bear by…Read the comment

Topics related to Philippians 1:22

• Death
• Minister, Christian
• Resignation
• Tact
• Zeal, Religious

In the dictionaries

• Confirmation
• Conversation
• Flesh
• Furtherance
• Yea
• Commentaries
• Eschatology of the New Testament
• Philippians, the Epistle to the
• Resurrection

Commentaries on Philippians 1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings