1 Timothy 6:6

ἔστιν δὲ κ.τ.λ. But, &c. emphatic: εὐσέβεια is not a gainful trade, but for all that there is a sense in which godliness with contentment is great gain, not only for the next world, but also for this. Compare 1 Timothy 4:8, where εὐσέβεια has been declared to be πρὸς πάντα ὠφέλιμος, ἑπαγγελίαν ἔχουσα ζωῆς τῆς νῦν καὶ τῆς μελλούσης. That riches are not essential to true well-being was a commonplace of pre-Christian philosophy, which laid great emphasis on αὐτάρκεια or the ‘self-sufficiency’ of the wise man. Thus Cicero (Paradox. 6) has the aphorism: “contentum vero suis rebus esse maximae sunt certissimae divitiae.” In the LXX. the same thought is expressed in the Sapiential books: e.g. σύνταξον δέ μοι τὰ δέοντα καὶ τὰ αὐτάρκη (Proverbs 30:8), and ζωὴ αὐτάρκους ἐργάτου γλυκανθήσεται (Sir 40:18). Comp. Proverbs 15:16 and Ps. Solomon. 1 Timothy 5:18-19. St Paul’s words go deeper, inasmuch as they lay stress on εὐσέβεια as a chief condition of happiness, and recognise the proper place of αὐτάρκεια, as contentment not self-sufficiency. αὐτάρκεια occurs only once again in N.T., in 2 Corinthians 9:8, and there is equivalent to sufficiency; but the true parallel to the present passage is Philippians 4:11 ἔμαθον ἐν οἶς εἰμὶ αὐτάρκης εἶναι.