to search (inquire) for · verb — present active indicative, 1st person singular
gift
δόμα,doma
G1390
a present · noun — accusative singular neuter
but
ἀλλ᾽all᾽
G235
properly · conjunction
desire
ἐπιζητῶepizētō
G1934
to search (inquire) for · verb — present active indicative, 1st person singular
fruit
καρπὸνkarpon
G2590
fruit (as plucked) · noun — accusative singular masculine
abound
πλεονάζονταpleonazonta
G4121
to do · verb — present active participle, accusative singular masculine
to
εἰςeis
G1519
to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
your
ὑμῶνhymōn
G5216
of (from or concerning) you
account
λόγονlogon
G3056
something said (including the thought) · noun — accusative singular masculine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Titus 3:14 And let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful.
Hebrews 6:10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the s…
2 Corinthians 9:9-13 (As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever.
John 15:8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
Luke 14:12-14 Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen,…
John 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain:…
2 Corinthians 9:5 Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren, that they would go before unto you, and make up beforehand your bounty, whereof ye…
Philippians 4:11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Philippians 4:10-19
In these verses we have the thankful grateful acknowledgment which the apostle makes of the kindness of the Philippians in sending him a present for his support, now that he was a prisoner at Rome. And here,
I. He takes occasion to acknowledge their former kindnesses to him, and to make mention of them, Phi 4:15, Phi 4:16. Paul had a grateful spirit; for, though what his friends did for him was nothing in comparison of what he deserved from them and the obligations he had laid upon them, yet he speaks of their kindness as if it had been a piece of generous charity, when it was really far short of a just debt. If they had each of them contributed half their estates to him, they had not given…
a gift--Greek, "the gift." Translate, "It is not that I seek after the gift, but I do seek after the fruit that aboundeth to your account"; what I do seek is your spiritual good, in the abounding of fruits of your faith which shall be put down to your account, against the day of reward (Heb 6:10).
Adam Clarke on Philippians 4:17
Not because I desire a gift - I do not speak thus to incite you to send me a farther gift; I speak this on the general subject, because I wish you to bear such fruit as shall abound to your account in the day of the Lord.
John Gill on Philippians 4:17
Not because I desire a gift,.... This commendation of them he entered into, not because he desired another present to be made to him, either by them or others; he was not a man of such a disposition, he was not like one of those that could never have enough; he was fully satisfied and highly contented with what he had; he was not like the false teachers, that made merchandise of men; he sought not theirs, but them:
but I desire fruit that may abound to your account; he had planted them, or had been an instrument in planting of them, as trees of righteousness, Isaiah 61:3; and his great desire was to see fruits of righteousness grow upon them, Philippians 1:11; by which sometimes are meant a…
The Church Fathers
"I am not in want," Paul says, "nor do I ask for these things out of my own need. But you ought to practice benevolence simply in order that your abundance of benevolence may be for me the fruit of your good deeds.… When I either ask God on your behalf or give him thanks on your account, there is fruit for me in my prayer on your account, so long as I know that you are abounding in benevolence."
"Not that I seek for the gift." As he said above, "Not that I speak in respect of want"; that is stronger than this. For it is one thing, that he who is in want, should not seek, and another that he who is in want should not even consider himself to be in want. "Not that I seek for the gift," he says, "but I seek for the fruit, that increaseth to your account." Not mine own. Seest thou, that the fruit is produced for them? This say I for your sake, says he, not for my own, for your salvation. For I gain nothing when I receive, but the grace belongeth to the givers, for the recompense is yonder in store for givers, but the gifts are here consumed by them who receive. Again even his desire is combined with praise and sympathy. When he had said, I do not seek, lest he should again render them remiss, he adds.
For all the righteous possess the sacerdotal rank. And all the apostles of the Lord are priests, who do inherit here neither lands nor houses, but serve God and the altar continually. Of whom Moses also says in Deuteronomy, when blessing Levi, "Who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not known thee; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, and he disinherited his own sons: he kept Thy commandments, and observed Thy covenant." But who are they that have left father and mother, and have said adieu to all their neighbours, on account of the word of God and His covenant, unless the disciples of the Lord? Of whom again Moses says, "They shall have no inheritance, for the Lord Himself is their inheritance." And again, "The priests the Levites shall have no part in the whole tribe of Levi, nor substance with Israel; their substance is the offerings (fructifications) of the Lord: these shall they eat." Wherefore also Paul says, "I do not seek after a gift, but I seek after fruit."
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Epaphroditus — Fair, graceful; belonging to Aphrodite or Venus the messenger who came from Phillipi to the apostle when he was a prisoner at Rome (Phil. 2:25-30; 4:10-18). Paul mentions him in words of esteem and…
Beneficence · 18:5,7-9; — 18:5,7-9;
Fruits · Illustrative: Of good works — Illustrative: Of good works
Love To Man · Exemplified: Philippians — Exemplified: Philippians
Philippi · Contributes to the maintenance of Paul — Contributes to the maintenance of Paul
Unselfishness · .Paul — .Paul
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Philippians 4:15-23
15. Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only.
15. Nostis autem et vos Philippenses, quod initio Evangelii, qunado exivi ex Macedonia, nulla mecum Ecclesia in ratione dati et accepti, nisi vos soli.
16. For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity.
16. Nam et Tessalonicam semel atque iterum mihi, quod opus erat, misistis:
17. Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.
17. Non quia requiram donum, sed requiro fructum, qui exsuperet in rationem vestram.
18. But I have all, an…
I don’t say this because I want a gift from you: Paul preferred to support himself (see Acts 18:3; 1 Cor 4:12; 9:3-18; 2 Cor 11:7-11; 12:14-15). • The reward would be a blessing from God.
