Philippians 4:13 · King James Version I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
A commentator showing the problem from the inside
Matthew Henry, expounding this chapter around 1710 with the King James text in front of him,
stops more than once to explain what its English is actually saying. At verse 5 he goes behind the
English to the Greek to epieikes, which he says signifies a good disposition towards
other men
. At verse 6 he glosses a King James word whose everyday sense has since shifted.
Philippians 4:6 · King James Version Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
The line means, Henry writes, avoid anxious care and distracting thought in the wants and
difficulties of life
, and he then separates the two senses the one English word blurs:
There is a care of diligence which is our duty, and consists in a wise forecast and due
concern
.
At verse 13 he does the same with the verb
The word in the original is a participle of the present tense
, Henry notes, giving it as
en to endynamounti me Christo. That is the feature the King James form marks with its
archaic third-person ending, and the feature every later rendering has to carry some other way:
not strength issued once, but strength in continuous supply.
Read the renderings side by side
Rather than describe the differences, this page serves them. The verse is resolved below in four English versions so the wording is the evidence:
Philippians 4:13 · New International Version I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:13 · New American Standard Bible I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:13 · Amplified Bible I can do all things [which He has called me to do] through Him who strengthens and empowers me [to fulfill His purpose—I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency; I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses me with inner strength and confident peace.]