Philippians 1:21

Philippians 1:21 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
• New International Version (NIV)For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
• New King James Version (NKJV)For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Context of Philippians 1:21

19You are praying for me and Jesus Christ's Spirit is helping me. So I know that what has happened to me will have a good result. Yes, God will rescue me. 20I never want to do anything that will cause me to be ashamed. I hope very much that I will never do that. I want to be brave now, as I always have been. In the way that I live, I want to show that Christ is very great. I want to do that if I continue to live. And I want to do that if I die. Christ is everything that I live for. If I die, that will be even better for me. 22But if I continue to live, I will be able to do more good things to help people. I do not know whether it would be better to live or to die. I do not know which to choose. 23Both of them seem very good to me. I want to leave this world so that I can be with Christ. That is a much better thing.

Philippians 1:21 word by word

Ἐμοὶ γὰρ τὸ ζῆν Χριστὸς καὶ τὸ ἀποθανεῖν κέρδος.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Forγάρgar · forG1063
• to meἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• to liveζάωzaō · to liveG2198
• ChristΧριστόςChristos · ChristG5547
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• to dieἀποθνήσκωapothnēskō · to dieG599
• gainκέρδοςkerdos · gainG2771
• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588

Cross-references for Philippians 1:21

• Philippians 1:20I never want to do anything that will cause me to be ashamed. I hope very much that I will never do that. I want to be brave now, as I always have been. In the way that I live, I want to show that Christ is very great. I want to do that if I continue to live. And I want to do that if I die.
• Philippians 2:21Everyone else thinks only about themselves. They have no interest in the things that are important to Jesus Christ.
• 1 Corinthians 1:30It is because of God's work that you now belong to Christ Jesus. As a result of Christ's death on the cross, we share in God's wise plan. Because we belong to Christ, God makes us right with himself. He makes us his own special people. He makes us free from the power of sin.
• Galatians 6:14But I do not want to say any great things about myself. The only thing that makes me great is our Lord Jesus Christ's death on the cross. Because of Christ's sacrifice on the cross, it is like I have also died. The things that belong to this world have become dead to me, and I have become dead to them.
• Colossians 3:4You have that new life because you belong to Christ. One day, Christ will show himself clearly to everyone. Then everyone will see that you are with him. They will see that you also are great, like he is.
• Philippians 1:23Both of them seem very good to me. I want to leave this world so that I can be with Christ. That is a much better thing.
• Isaiah 57:1When somebody who worships God dies, nobody else may think much about it. An honest person may suddenly die. Nobody really understands what is happening. God takes away his servants, so that evil things will not hurt them any more.
• Romans 8:35Christ will always continue to love us. Nothing can stop that! We may have troubles. Things may make us sad or afraid. People may do bad things to us. We may have no food or no clothes. There may be great danger. People may even try to kill us. But none of these things can stop Christ from loving us.
• 1 Corinthians 3:22Do not be proud of Paul, Apollos or Peter. We belong to you. All of this world, and life and death belong to you. The things of today and tomorrow belong to you. Everything belongs to you,
• 2 Corinthians 5:1Our bodies are like a tent that we live in here on earth. One day, that home will come to an end. But we know that God will give us a new home. It is not a house that a human builder has built. God has built it for us in heaven and we will live there for ever.
• 1 Thessalonians 4:13Our Christian friends, we want you to understand properly about your friends who have died. Then you will not continue to be sad about them. People who do not hope for any life after death are sad when their friends die. But you should not be upset like those other people.
• Revelation 14:13Then I heard a voice that spoke from heaven. It said, ‘Write this: From this time, people who continue to believe in the Lord and then they die will be very happy.’ God's Spirit says, ‘Yes, they will rest from their work. God will not forget the good things that they have done.’

Commentaries on Philippians 1:21

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21For to me to live is Christ - Whether I live or die, Christ is gain to me. While I live I am Christ's property and servant, and Christ is my portion; if I die - if I be called to witness the truth at the expense of my life, this will be gain; I shall be saved from the remaining troubles and difficulties in life, and be put immediately in possession of my heavenly inheritance. As, therefore, it respects myself, it is a matter of perfect indifference to me…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 21For to me to live is Christ - My sole aim in living is to glorify Christ. He is the supreme End of my life, and I value it only as being devoted to his honor - Doddridge. His aim was not honor, learning, gold, pleasure; it was, to glorify the Lord Jesus. This was the single purpose of his soul - a purpose to which he devoted himself with as much singleness and ardor as ever did a miser to the pursuit of gold, or a devotee of pleasure to amusement, or an…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
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 21to die is gain: For believers, death is not something to fear. It means going to be with Christ (see 1:23; compare John 5:24; 11:25–26; Romans 8:38–39).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2121. For--in either event (Php 1:20) I must be the gainer, "For to me," &c. to live is Christ--whatever life, time, and strength, I have, is Christ's; Christ is the sole object for which I live (Ga 2:20). to die is gain--not the act of dying, but as the Greek ("to have died") expresses, the state after death. Besides the glorification of Christ by my death, which is my primary object (Php 1:20), the change of state caused by death, so far from being a…Read the comment

Topics related to Philippians 1:21

• Death
• Decision
• Faith
• Intercession
• Love
• Resignation
• Servant
• Tact

In the dictionaries

• Christ
• Christ, Messiah
• Confirmation
• Conversation
• Flesh
• Furtherance
• Yea
• Commentaries
• Immortal; Immortality
• Paul, the Apostle

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