ris3n's Apologetics Codex
Philippians 3.13-14
Page Nav

Passage

Philippians 3.13-14

Book: Philippians · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

There are ads on our codex that pay for hosting and keep the codex free. If you can, please consider whitelisting ris3n.com or allowing scripts to support the work.

Sponsored

Brands, events, influencers advertise here

ASV

11. if by any means I may attain unto the resurrection from the dead. 12. Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect: but I press on, if so be that I may lay hold on that for which also I was laid hold on by Christ Jesus.

13. Brethren, I count not myself yet to have laid hold: but one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before, 14. I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

  1. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, be thus minded: and if in anything ye are otherwise minded, this also shall God reveal unto you: 16. only, whereunto we have attained, by that same rule let us walk. (Philippians 3:11-16, ASV)
WEB

11. if by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12. Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect; but I press on, if it is so that I may take hold of that for which also I was taken hold of by Christ Jesus.

13. Brothers, I don’t regard myself as yet having taken hold, but one thing I do. Forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before, 14. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

  1. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, think this way. If in anything you think otherwise, God will also reveal that to you. 16. Nevertheless, to the extent that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule. Let us be of the same mind. (Philippians 3:11-16, WEB)
KJV

11. If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. 12. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.

13. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

  1. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. 16. Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing. (Philippians 3:11-16, KJV)
YLT

11. if anyhow I may attain to the rising again of the dead. 12. Not that I did already obtain, or have been already perfected; but I pursue, if also I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by the Christ Jesus;

13. brethren, I do not reckon myself to have laid hold; and one thing, the things behind indeed forgetting, and to the things before stretching forth 14. to the mark I pursue for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

  1. As many, therefore, as [are] perfect, let us think this, and if [in] anything ye think otherwise, this also shall God reveal to you, 16. but to what we have come, by the same rule walk, the same thing think; (Philippians 3:11-16, YLT)

See this page's graph and discover linked topics

Setting

  • Speaker: Paul the Apostle, writing with Timothy named as co-sender (Philippians 1:1).
  • Audience: The Church at Philippi, in a Roman colony of Macedonia (Acts 16:12), founded on the mission narrated in Acts 16 and addressed with its bishops and deacons (Philippians 1:1). The church had sent Paul a gift by Epaphroditus (Philippians 2:25-30, 4:18). The verses sit in Paul's denial that he has already arrived (Philippians 3:12-16), which follows his account of counting his credentials loss for Christ (Philippians 3:4-11).
  • Location: Written from imprisonment (Philippians 1:7, 1:13). The place is debated: Rome is the traditional identification, and Ephesus and Caesarea are proposed as alternatives.
  • Time period: Depends on the imprisonment: c. AD 60-62 if Rome, c. AD 57-59 if Caesarea, the mid-50s if Ephesus.

Theological reading

The picture is a runner in a race. "forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before, I press on toward the goal unto the prize" (Philippians 3:13-14, ASV). "Stretching forward" is epekteinomenos (G1901), found only here in the New Testament, of a body straining toward the finish. "Goal" is skopos (G4649), also unique in the New Testament, the mark a runner keeps in view. "Prize" is brabeion (G1017), which Paul uses again of the runner in 1 Corinthians 9:24, "but one receiveth the prize" (1 Corinthians 9:24, ASV).

"Press on" is the verb Paul once used for persecuting. The verb is diōkō (G1377). In 3:6 it described Paul "persecuting the church" (Philippians 3:6, ASV). The same energy that once drove him against the church now drives him toward Christ. "Forgetting the things which are behind" in context includes the credentials of 3:5-6 that he has counted loss, and need not mean that Paul erases memory of the past, since he has just recounted it.

"Count not myself" answers any claim to perfection. "I count not myself yet to have laid hold" (Philippians 3:13, ASV) uses logizomai, to reckon or assess. In 3:12 Paul denies he is "already made perfect," yet in 3:15 he addresses "as many as are perfect" (teleioi, teleios). The play on the word suggests that mature believers are precisely those who know they have not yet reached the goal.

What "the high calling" means is debated. The phrase is anō klēsis, literally "the upward call." One reading takes it as God's call that comes from above, as in "partakers of a heavenly calling" (Hebrews 3:1, ASV). Another takes it from the games, where the winner was summoned up to receive the prize, so that the call is to come up and receive it. Both readings place the prize in God's hands and "in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:14, ASV), and 3:20 locates the believer's citizenship in heaven.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Notes

Your annotations.

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.