Philippians Chapter 4 verse 11 Holy Bible
Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therein to be content.
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But I will not say anything about my needs, for I am able, wherever I am, to be dependent on myself.
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Not that I speak as regards privation, for as to me *I* have learnt in those circumstances in which I am, to be satisfied in myself.
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Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
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Not that I speak in respect to lack, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content in it.
read chapter 4 in WEB
not that in respect of want I say `it', for I did learn in the things in which I am -- to be content;
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Philippians 4 : 11 Bible Verse Songs
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 11. - Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. . He explains himself; it is not want that prompted his words. Literally, I learned (the verb is aorist); that is, when he became a Christian. The A.V. is verbally inaccurate in the following words, which mean literally, "In the circumstances in which I am." But the sense is the same. St. Paul is speaking of his present condition: he is content with it, though it involves all the hardships of captivity; his present contentment is a sample of his habitual frame of mind. Αὐτάρκης here rendered "content," is a common word in Greek philosophy. It means "self-sufficient," "independent." It is of frequent occurrence in Stoical treatises; but St. Paul uses it in a Christian sense; he is αυτάρκης in relation to man, but his αὐτάρκεια comes from God (2 Corinthians 9:8).
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(11) I have learned.--The "I" is here emphatic. There is evident reference to the habit peculiar to St. Paul, and made by him his especial "glory" (1Corinthians 9:14), of refusing that maintenance from the churches which was his of right. Compare his words to the Ephesian presbyters, "I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel. Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities" (Acts 20:33-34).Content.--The word (like the corresponding substantive in 2Corinthians 9:8; 1Timothy 6:6) properly means, self-sufficing. Such self-sufficiency was the especial characteristic claimed by the Stoics for the ideal wise man of their philosophy--a characteristic full of nobleness, so far as it involved the sitting loose to all the things of the world, but inhuman in relation to human affections, and virtually atheistic if it described the attitude of the soul towards the Supreme Power. Only in the first relation does St. Paul claim it here. It is difficult not to suppose that he does so with some reference to a philosophy so essentially Roman in practical development.
