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.
• 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.
• 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

20I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted 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 go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.

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 it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.
• 2 Corinthians 10:3For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.
• Galatians 2:20I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
• Colossians 2:1I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally.
• 1 Peter 4:2As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.
• Psalms 71:18Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come.
• Isaiah 38:18For the grave cannot praise you, death cannot sing your praise; those who go down to the pit cannot hope for your faithfulness.
• Genesis 21:26But Abimelek said, “I don’t know who has done this. You did not tell me, and I heard about it only today.”
• Genesis 39:8But he refused. “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care.
• Exodus 32:1When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”
• Acts 3:17“Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders.
• Romans 11:2God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed 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