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 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

20according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. 21For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. 23For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. 24Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.

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 1:24Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.
• 2 Corinthians 10:3For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.
• Galatians 2:20I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which 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 what a great conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh,
• 1 Peter 4:2that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.
• Psalms 71:18Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, do not forsake me, Until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to everyone who is to come.
• Isaiah 38:18For Sheol cannot thank You, Death cannot praise You; Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your truth.
• Genesis 21:26And Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, nor had I heard of it until today.”
• Genesis 39:8But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand.
• Exodus 32:1Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for 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“Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers.
• Romans 11:2God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying,

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