What Does Philippians 4:11-12 Mean?
Two renderings of the same sentence, the verses it belongs to, and what the passage is doing — so you can decide what it means rather than take someone's word for it.
"Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need." Philippians 4:11-12, King James Version
The same verse in modern English
"I am not saying this out of need, for I have learned to be content regardless of my circumstances. I know how to live humbly, and I know how to abound. In any and every situation I have learned the secret of being filled and being hungry, of having plenty and having need." Philippians 4:11-12, Berean Standard Bible
What it sits inside
A verse quoted on its own is the commonest way one gets misread. Here it is with what comes immediately before and after, in the King James Version.
Philippians 4:9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.
Philippians 4:10 But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity.
Philippians 4:11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
Philippians 4:12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Philippians 4:14 Notwithstanding ye have well done, that ye did communicate with my affliction.
A conversation built on it
Paul wrote those words from a prison cell. Not a retreat. Not a vacation. A chain. Contentment isn't having what you want. It's wanting what you have — and trusting that what you don't have, you don't need yet.
Questions people ask
What does Philippians 4:11-12 mean?
In modern English (Berean Standard Bible) it reads: “I am not saying this out of need, for I have learned to be content regardless of my circumstances. I know how to live humbly, and I know how to abound. In any and every situation I have learned the secret of being filled and being hungry, of having plenty and having need.” The King James rendering most people know is: “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.”
What is the context of Philippians 4:11-12?
The verses immediately around it read: (Philippians 4:9) Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you. (Philippians 4:10) But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity. (Philippians 4:11) Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. (Philippians 4:12) I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. (Philippians 4:13) I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. (Philippians 4:14) Notwithstanding ye have well done, that ye did communicate with my affliction.
How is Philippians 4:11-12 used in a conversation about this?
Paul wrote those words from a prison cell. Not a retreat. Not a vacation. A chain. Contentment isn't having what you want. It's wanting what you have — and trusting that what you don't have, you don't need yet.
Reading it is one thing. Saying what it stirs up is another.
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