<p>4:16 <i>For even in Thessalonica you sent often to my need</i>- How are we to square this with Paul's claims elsewhere that he did not receive personal support but was self supporting financially? Maybe the answer is in the way that Paul saw his brethren&rsquo;s need as his personal need. We see this by studying the apparent contradiction between Paul&rsquo;s comment that the Philippians sent support to him repeatedly for <i>his</i> necessities (Phil. 4:16), and the way he boasts to the Corinthians (2 Cor. 11:7) and Thessalonians (1 Thess. 2:9) that he did not receive personal financial support from others, but worked with his own hands so as to be self-supporting (see too Acts 20:33-35). Yet he wrote those things at roughly the same time as the Philippians were sending him help towards &lsquo;my necessities&rsquo;. The conclusion seems to be that Paul viewed the necessities of his converts as <i>his</i> personal necessities- hence he can say that the Philippians sent money and support for <i>his</i> necessities, whilst at the same time truly stating that he took no <i>personal</i> support from his converts. Perhaps he is arguing that he took donations to support others, but not for himself.</p>