PHP 1:21 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

UST As for me, I live to honor the Messiah, and if I die, it will be even better for me.

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

OEB for to me life is Christ, and death is gain.

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

WMBB For to me to live is Messiah, and to die is gain.

NET For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain.

LSV for to me to live [is] Christ, and to die [is] gain.

FBV As far as I'm concerned, living is for Christ, and dying brings gain.

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

T4T As for me, I live in order to honor Christ. But if I die, it will be better for me than if I continue to live, because then I will be with him.

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

BBE For to me life is Christ and death is profit.

Moff As life means Christ to me, so death means gain.

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

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

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

YLT for to me to live [is] Christ, and to die gain.

Drby For for me to live [is] Christ, and to die gain;

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

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

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

KJB-1769 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

KJB-1611 For to me to liue is Christ, and to die is gaine.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above)

Bshps For Christe is to me lyfe, and death is to me aduantage.
(For Christ is to me life, and death is to me advantage.)

Gnva For Christ is to me both in life, and in death aduantage.
(For Christ is to me both in life, and in death advantage. )

Cvdl For Christ is to me life, & death is to me auautage.
(For Christ is to me life, and death is to me auautage.)

TNT For Christ is to me lyfe and deeth is to me a vauntage.
(For Christ is to me life and death is to me a vauntage. )

Wycl For me to lyue is Crist, and to die is wynnyng.
(For me to live is Christ, and to die is wynning.)

Luth Denn Christus ist mein Leben, und Sterben ist mein Gewinn.
(Because Christ is my life, and death is my Gewinn.)

ClVg Mihi enim vivere Christus est, et mori lucrum.[fn]
(Mihi because to_live Christ/Messiah it_is, and to_die lucrum. )

1.21 Mihi autem vivere Christus est, etc. Quasi diceret: Merito Christum magnifico sive vita, sive morte, quia Christus mihi vivere, id est mihi vita hic per fidem et spem, et in futuro per speciem. Pro hac vita mortale corpus tradidit, ut ipsum immortale in æternum recipiat, unde et subdit et mori lucrum.

1.21 Mihi however to_live Christ/Messiah it_is, etc. As_if would_say: Merito Christ/Messiah magnifico if/or life, if/or death, because Christ/Messiah to_me to_live, that it_is to_me life this/here through faith and hope, and in/into/on future through appearance. For this_way life mortale body he_delivered, as him immortale in/into/on eternal receive, from_where/who and I_submit and to_die lucrum.

UGNT ἐμοὶ γὰρ τὸ ζῆν Χριστὸς, καὶ τὸ ἀποθανεῖν κέρδος.
(emoi gar to zaʸn Ⱪristos, kai to apothanein kerdos.)

SBL-GNT ἐμοὶ γὰρ τὸ ζῆν Χριστὸς καὶ τὸ ἀποθανεῖν κέρδος.
(emoi gar to zaʸn Ⱪristos kai to apothanein kerdos.)

RP-GNT Ἐμοὶ γὰρ τὸ ζῇν, χριστός· καὶ τὸ ἀποθανεῖν, κέρδος.
(Emoi gar to zaʸn, ⱪristos; kai to apothanein, kerdos.)

TC-GNT Ἐμοὶ γὰρ τὸ ζῇν, Χριστός· καὶ τὸ ἀποθανεῖν, κέρδος.
(Emoi gar to zaʸn, Ⱪristos; kai to apothanein, kerdos. )

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, orange:accents differ (from our SR-GNT base).

TTN Tyndale Theme Notes:

Living for Christ

From prison Paul writes, “To me, living means living for Christ” (1:21). Why are believers called to devote their lives to Christ?

1. Believers acknowledge that they owe everything to Christ, including their salvation. Devoting their life to his service expresses their eternal indebtedness and gratitude (see Rom 12:1).

2. Believers acknowledge Christ as their master and Lord and submit to Christ’s rule in their lives. They recognize that they belong to the Lord and no longer live simply for themselves (see Rom 14:7-9; 2 Cor 5:14-15).

3. Believers now share in Christ’s death and resurrection—they have died to themselves and have risen with him (see Rom 6:3-14; cp. Gal 2:19-20). They have a new identity in Christ (Rom 8:14-17; Eph 1:11, 14; Phil 3:20).

4. Believers recognize that everything of value is found in Christ. Things of the world that once seemed important have lost their attraction; nothing compares to the infinite value of knowing Christ (Phil 3:7-11; Eph 1:3–3:21; Col 1:15–3:4).

Passages for Further Study

Rom 6:3-14; 8:14-17; 12:1; 14:7-9; 1 Cor 6:19; 2 Cor 5:14-15; Gal 2:19-20; Eph 1:11, 14; Phil 1:21; 3:7-11, 20

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 1:18e–26: Paul rejoiced because he expected that what was happening would lead to good, whether he lived or died

Paul wanted to bring honor to Christ whether he lived or died. He knew that dying and being with Christ would be the supreme good, but he also wanted to be with the Philippians to help them grow in their faith. And he expected that God would let him continue living and helping others.

Paragraph 1:21–26

Paul wanted very much to go and be with Christ, but it was more necessary for the Philippian believers that he continue living.

1:21a

For to me, to live is Christ,

¶ For as for me, I live only to honor Christ,
¶ This is because as far as I am concerned, the purpose of living is to glorify Christ,

For: This word introduces the reason why Paul hoped that he would always glorify Christ. It means “since” or “because.”

to me: In Greek this is an emphatic pronoun. In this verse it is put at the beginning of the sentence for added emphasis. It indicates a change in topic. Paul was now focusing on his personal situation. If you have emphatic pronouns in your language, you may be able to use one here.

to live is Christ: In Greek this is a short and dramatic statement. For Paul, the whole purpose of being alive was to know Christ, to love him, to serve him and to honor him. In some languages, however, a literal translation of the phrase to live is Christ will be meaningless or it may even have a wrong meaning. If this is a problem in your language, it may be possible to say:

If I continue to live it will be to honor Christ.

The meaning of my life is to know Christ.

1:21b

and to die is gain.

and when I die, it will be even better than living on earth!
and when I die, it will be better than if I continue living!

to die is gain: Paul meant that for him to die would be better that continuing to live because then he would be with Christ. However, if you translate the phrase to die is gain literally, your readers may not understand this. You could restate it as:

dying will be even better for me

Other possible translations that include more implicit information are:

when I die, that will be better for me because then I will be with Christ

when I die, it will result in something that is better than living on earth.

Parallel PHP 1:21

Section 1:18e–26: Paul rejoiced because he expected that what was happening would lead to good, whether he lived or died

Paragraph 1:21–26

1:21a

1:21b