Philippians 1:21 BSB

Philippians 1:21

For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

KJV

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

⋯

Commentary

4 voices

Ambrose of Milan

On the Decease of His Brother Satyrus, Book 2 (397)

We see, then, that this death is a gain and life a penalty, so that Paul says: "To me to live is Christ and to die is gain." What is Christ but the death of the body, the breath of life? And so let us die with Him, that we may live with Him.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

For 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 aspirant for fame to ambition.

Charles Spurgeon

1834–1892

The New Park Street Pulpit, Sermon No. 146: “The Good Man's Life and Death” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) (1857)

HOW OMINOUSLY these words follow each other in the text—“live,” “die.” There is but a comma between them, and surely as it is in the words so is it in reality. How brief the distance between life and death! In fact there is none. Life is but death’s vestibule, and our pilgrimage on earth is but a journey to the grave. The pulse that preserves our being beats our death march, and the blood which circulates our life is floating it onward to the deeps of death. To-day we see our friends in health, to-morrow we hear of their decease.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

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.

Voices on this verse

loading…

Original language & word study

9 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
Ἐμοὶ	Emoi	To me myself	G1473 →
γὰρ	gar	for	G1063 →
τὸ	to	<the>	G3588 →
ζῆν	zēn	to live	G2198 →
Χριστὸς	Christos	[is] Christ	G5547 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
τὸ	to	<the>	G3588 →
ἀποθανεῖν	apothanein	to die	G599 →
κέρδος.	kerdos	[is] gain.	G2771 →

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved…
leads to
- Galatians 5:24
  Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
- 2 Corinthians 5:15
  And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and was raised again.
- Romans 6:4–6
  We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of…
- Colossians 3:3–4
  For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
- 2 Corinthians 4:10–11
  We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.
Through
2 Corinthians 5:1
Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is dismantled, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
leads to
- 1 John 3:2
  Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as…
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Job 19:25–26
  But I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end He will stand upon the earth.
Through
Philippians 1:23
I am torn between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better indeed.
leads to
- 2 Corinthians 5:8
  We are confident, then, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

Featured studies on this passage

The Apostle Paul in Prison — Rembrandt van Rijn

On Philippians 1:21

Philippians: the Study Guide

Open the study →

Walks through Philippians 1

Eternal Security, and the Five Warnings of Hebrews

Open the study →

Walks through Philippians 1

The Intermediate State

Between death and resurrection, Scripture says the Christian dead are both with Christ and asleep — set the passages side by side and see how they resolve.

Open the study →

About Philippians

The Arrival at Calvary — obedient unto death — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)

Philippians: the study guide →Read chapter 1 →The featured study →

Continue: Philippians 1 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About Philippians

Where the connections lead

The record, by era

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About Philippians