Philippians 2:21

English Standard Version

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Contextual Overview

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

all: Philippians 2:4, Isaiah 56:11, Malachi 1:10, Matthew 16:24, Luke 9:57-62, Luke 14:26, Acts 13:13, Acts 15:38, 1 Corinthians 10:24, 1 Corinthians 10:33, 1 Corinthians 13:5, 2 Timothy 1:15, 2 Timothy 3:2, 2 Timothy 4:10, 2 Timothy 4:16

the: Philippians 1:20, Philippians 1:21, 2 Corinthians 1:5, 2 Corinthians 5:14, 2 Corinthians 5:15

Reciprocal: Exodus 4:14 - anger Exodus 36:5 - General Judges 5:16 - sheepfolds Judges 8:6 - General 2 Samuel 3:21 - will gather 2 Kings 12:6 - the priests Nehemiah 5:16 - all my Hosea 10:1 - an empty vine Haggai 1:4 - to Luke 10:2 - are John 6:26 - Ye seek Romans 16:18 - serve Galatians 4:17 - zealously Philippians 3:19 - whose God

Cross-References

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Gill's Notes on the Bible

For all seek their own,.... Meaning not every individual, but the greatest part; and not merely such as were manifestly false teachers, but such as were with the apostle, as ministers of the word; and we may suppose him to be stripped, by one means or another, of the more valuable preachers of the Gospel, and to be in much such a case as he describes himself to be, in 2 Timothy 4:10. He had none with him, excepting a very few, but such as he speaks of in the preceding chapter, that preached Christ of envy, strife, and contention; and these chiefly sought their own worldly interest and advantage; they sought great things for themselves, and looked every man for his gain from his quarter, Demas like, loving this present world, 2 Timothy 4:10; they sought for dominion and authority over men, and their faith, to lord it over God's heritage, as Diotrephes, who loved to have the preeminence, 3 John 1:9; they sought for popular applause, for honour and glory of men, as the Pharisees of old did; and particularly their own ease and health, and did not choose to undertake such a fatiguing journey as from Rome to Philippi:

not the things which are Jesus Christ; they had no true regard to the Gospel of Christ, to the continuance, establishment, and spread of it in the world, or in any particular place; nor any hearty affection for the ordinances of Christ, and the retaining and preserving of them in their purity and simplicity; nor for the churches of Christ, and their spiritual good and welfare, as the Jews formerly, they cared not if the house of God lay waste, provided they dwelt in their ceiled houses; nor had they any concern for the honour and glory of Christ. But Timothy was a man of a quite different spirit and complexion; and which is another reason of the apostle's sending him to this place and people.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For all seek their own - That is, all who are with me. Who Paul had with him at this time is not fully known, but he doubtless means that this remark should apply to the mass of Christians and Christian ministers then in Rome. Perhaps he had proposed to some of them to go and visit the church at Philippi, and they had declined it because of the distance and the dangers of the way. When the trial of Paul came on before the emperor, all who were with him in Rome fled from him 2 Timothy 4:16, and it is possible that the same disregard of his wishes and his welfare had already begun to manifest itself among the Christians who were at Rome, so that he was constrained to say that, as a general thing, they sought their own ease and comfort, and were unwilling to deny themselves in order to promote the happiness of those who lived in the remote parts of the world. Let us not be harsh in judging them. How many professing Christians in our cities and towns are there now who would be willing to leave their business and their comfortable homes and go on embassy like this to Philippi? How many are there who would not seek some excuse, and show that it was a characteristic that they “sought their own” rather than the things which pertained to the kingdom of Jesus Christ?

Not the things which are Jesus Christ’s - Which pertain to his cause and kingdom. They are not willing to practice self-denial in order to promote that cause. It is implied here:

(1) That it is the duty of those who profess religion to seek the things which pertain to the kingdom of the Redeemer, or to make that the great and leading object of their lives. They are bound to be willing to sacrifice their own things - to deny themselves of ease, and to be always ready to expose themselves to peril and want if they may be the means of advancing his cause.

(2) That frequently this is not done by those who profess religion. It was the case with the professed Christians at Rome, and it is often the case in the churches now. There are few Christians who deny themselves much to promote the kingdom of the Redeemer; few who are willing to lay aside what they regard as their own in order to advance his cause. People live for their own ease; for their families; for the prosecution of their own business - as if a Christian could have anything which he has a right to pursue independently of the kingdom of the Redeemer, and without regard to his will and glory.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 21. For all seek their own — This must relate to the persons who preached Christ even of envy and strife, Philippians 1:15; these must be very careless whether souls were saved or not by such preaching; and even those who preached the Gospel out of good will might not be fit for such an embassy as this, which required many sacrifices, and consequently much love and zeal to be able to make them.