SEV Biblia, Chapter 1:21
¶ Porque para mí el vivir es Cristo y el morir, ganancia.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Philippians 1:21
Verse 21. For to me to live is Christ] Whether I live or die, Christ is gain to me. While I live I am Christ's property and servant, and Christ is my portion; if I die-if I be called to witness the truth at the expense of my life, this will be gain; I shall be saved from the remaining troubles and difficulties in life, and be put immediately in possession of my heavenly inheritance. As, therefore, it respects myself, it is a matter of perfect indifference to me whether I be taken off by a violent death, or whether I be permitted to continue here longer; in either case I can lose nothing.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 21. For to me to live is Christ , etc.] Christ was his life efficiently, the efficient cause and author of his spiritual life; he spoke it into him, produced it in him, and disciplined him with it: and he was his life, objectively, the matter and object of his life, that on which he lived; yea, it was not so much he that lived, as Christ that lived in him; he lived by faith on Christ, and his spiritual life was maintained and supported by feeding on him as the bread of life: and he was his life, finally, the end of his life; what he aimed at throughout the whole course of his life was the glory of Christ, the good of his church and people, the spread of his Gospel, the honour of his name, and the increase of his interest; and this last seems to be the true sense of the phrase here; and to die is gain ; to himself, for death is gain to believers: it is not easy to say what a believer gains by dying; he is released thereby, and delivered from all the troubles and distresses of this life, arising from diseases of body, losses and disappointments in worldly things; from the oppressions and persecutions of wicked men; from indwelling sin, unbelief, doubts, and fears, and the temptations of Satan; he as soon as dies enters into the presence of God, where is fulness of joy, and is immediately with Christ, which is far better than being here, beholding his glory and enjoying communion with him; he is at once in the company of angels and glorified saints; is possessed of perfect holiness and knowledge; inherits a kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world, and wears a crown of life, righteousness, and glory; enters upon an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled; is received into everlasting habitations, into mansions of light, life, love, joy, peace, and comfort; is at perfect rest, and surrounded with endless pleasures. This is the common interpretation, and is countenanced by the Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, which read, to die, or if I die, it is gain to me: but instead of reading the words as consisting of two propositions, they may he considered as one, and the sense be either this; Christ is gain to me living or dying in life or in death; for Christ is the believer's gain in life; he is all in all, his righteousness, his wisdom, his sanctification, his redemption, his life, his light, his food, his raiment, his riches, his joy, peace, and comfort; he is everything to him he wants, can wish for, or desire: and he is his gain in death; the hope he then has is founded on him, and the triumphs of his faith over death and the grave arise from redemption by him; his expectation is to be immediately with him; and the glory he will then enter into will lie in communion with him, in conformity to him, and in an everlasting vision of him: or thus, for me to live and to die is Christ's gain; his life being spent in his service, in living according to his will, in preaching his Gospel, serving his churches, and suffering for his sake, was for his glory; and his death being for his sake, in the faith of him, and the steady profession of it, would be what would glorify him, and so be his gain likewise; and this seems to be the genuine sense of the words, which contain a reason of the apostle's faith, why he was persuaded Christ would be magnified or glorified in his body, whether by life or by death.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 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 servin Christ in this world and enjoying him in another. Not between two evi things, but between two good things; living to Christ and being with him. See the power of faith and of Divine grace; it can make us willin to die. In this world we are compassed with sin; but when with Christ we shall escape sin and temptation, sorrow and death, for ever. But those who have most reason to desire to depart, should be willing to remain in the world as long as God has any work for them to do. And the more unexpected mercies are before they come, the more of God will be seen in them.
Greek Textus Receptus
εμοι 1698 γαρ 1063 το 3588 ζην 2198 5721 χριστος 5547 και 2532 το 3588 αποθανειν 599 5629 κερδος 2771
Vincent's NT Word Studies
21. To me. Emphatic. Whatever life may be to others, to me, etc To live is Christ (to zhn Cristov). Lit, the living is Christ. Compare Gal. ii. 20. He has no thought of life apart from Christ.
Gain. As consummating the union with Christ. Compare Col. iii. 4; 2 Corinthians v. 1-8.
"Declare unto him if the light wherewith Blossoms your substance shall remain with you Eternally the same that it is now, And if it do remain, say in what manner, After ye are again made visible, It can be that it injure not your sight. As by a greater gladness urged and drawn They who are dancing in a ring sometimes Uplift their voices and their motions quicken; So, at that orison devout and prompt, The holy circles a new joy displayed In their revolving and their wondrous song. Who so lamenteth him that here we die That we may live above, has never there Seen the refreshment of the eternal rain." DANTE, "Paradiso," 14, 13-27.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
1:21 {For to me} (emoi gar). Fine example of the ethical dative. Paul gives his own view of living. {To live is Christ} (to zein cristos). No copula (estin), but to zein (the act of living present active infinitive) is the subject as is shown by the article to. Living is coextensive with Christ. {Gain} (kerdos). Old word for any gain or profit, interest on money (so in papyri). In N.T. only here, #Php 3:7; Tit 1:11. {To die} (to apoqanein, second aorist active infinitive, single act) is to cash in both principal and interest and so to have more of Christ than when living. So Paul faces death with independence and calm courage.
