Philippians - Verse-by-Verse Biblical Exegesis

with (ellipsis) Christ (Pred. Nom.; spiritual self-esteem in
Gate 6), likewise (adjunctive, comparative), dying (avpoqnh,|skw,
AAInf., Culminative, a gerund used as the subj. of a verb,
Articular; "to have died") is (ellipsis) gain (Pred. Nom.;
advantageous, profitable, interest earned on the principal).
WHO Philippians 1:21 evmoi. ga.r to. zh/n Cristo.j kai. to. avpoqanei/n ke,rdoj
VUL Philippians 1:21 mihi enim vivere Christus est et mori lucrum
LWB Philp. 1:22 But since this living in the flesh is for me the fruit of [additional] production
[rewards], then I do not know which one [living or dying] I should choose for myself.
KW Philp. 1:22 But if for me [continued] life in this physical existence be my lot, this very thing
[namely, continued life on earth] is that in which the fruit of my ministry will be involved and is
the condition of that fruit being produced.
KJV
Philippians 1:22 But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall
choose I wot not.
TRANSLATION HIGHLIGHTS
Even though Paul sees happiness in either continuing to live or to die and be face-to-face with
Christ, he does realize that is he continues to live (Static Present tense), he has the opportunity of
producing more fruit for the Lord. This fruit or spiritual production would also mean additional
rewards for him at the Judgment Seat of Christ. So Paul does not know (Tendential Present tense)
whether he should choose (Deliberative Future tense) continued life on earth or dying and being in
the presence of the Lord. Paul is in a philosophical quandary. Now let me ask you a few questions. If
Paul was facing death, and the after-life he expected was to be “asleep” for a couple thousand years,
would he be in a quandary? There is no benefit in dying today if you are merely going to be asleep
for an unknown period of time.
If you had the choice of living and continuing to produce fruit or dying and being in a limbo state for
years, would you find it tough to choose between the two? The reason Paul was having a problem
deciding which was better was because he knew that after he died he would be face-to-face with
Christ. That fact makes the whole decision-making process more complicated, doesn’t it? We do not
fear death because we know that we will be immediately in the presence of the Lord afterwards. The
Bible teaches the exact opposite of an intermediate, sleeping state. Soul sleep, also known as
psychopannychia, is a heresy; John Calvin destroyed such nonsense (in a book bearing the same
name) centuries ago.
REVELANT OPINIONS
Paul is tossed to and fro between the desire to labour for Christ here on earth and the desire to be