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!
• 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.
• New Living Translation (NLT)But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better.

Context of Philippians 1:22

20as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. 21For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 24But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.

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 1:24But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.
• 2 Corinthians 10:3For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.
• Galatians 2:20I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
• Colossians 2:1For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face,
• 1 Peter 4:2so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.
• Psalms 71:18So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come.
• Isaiah 38:18For Sheol does not thank you; death does not praise you; those who go down to the pit do not hope for your faithfulness.
• Genesis 21:26Abimelech said, "I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, and I have not heard of it until today."
• Genesis 39:8But he refused and said to his master's wife, "Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge.
• Exodus 32:1When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, "Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him."
• Acts 3:17"And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers.
• Romans 11:2God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to 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