Passage

Philippians 3.3

Book: Philippians · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not irksome, but for you it is safe. 2. Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the concision:

3. for we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God, and glory in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh:

though I myself might have confidence even in the flesh: if any other man thinketh to have confidence in the flesh, I yet more: 5. circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; (Philippians 3:1-5, ASV)

WEB

Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not tiresome, but for you it is safe. 2. Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision.

3. For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh;

though I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If any other man thinks that he has confidence in the flesh, I yet more: 5. circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; (Philippians 3:1-5, WEB)

KJV

Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe. 2. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.

3. For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: 5. Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; (Philippians 3:1-5, KJV)

YLT

As to the rest, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord; the same things to write to you to me indeed is not tiresome, and for you [is] sure; 2. look to the dogs, look to the evil-workers, look to the concision;

3. for we are the circumcision, who by the Spirit are serving God, and glorying in Christ Jesus, and in flesh having no trust,

though I also have [cause of] trust in flesh. If any other one doth think to have trust in flesh, I more; 5. circumcision on the eighth day! of the race of Israel! of the tribe of Benjamin! a Hebrew of Hebrews! according to law a Pharisee! (Philippians 3:1-5, YLT)

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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 verse answers the warning against "the concision" in Philippians 3:2 and introduces Paul's list of credentials (Philippians 3:4-6).
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

"We are the circumcision" answers a wordplay. Verse 2 warned against "the concision," katatomē (G2699, found only there in the New Testament), a word for cutting or mutilation. Verse 3 claims the real word, peritomē (G4061): "for we are the circumcision" (Philippians 3:3, ASV). Paul gives the covenant name to believers in Christ, in a church that included Gentile converts such as the jailer of Acts 16:27-34.

Three marks define the true circumcision. They "worship by the Spirit of God, and glory in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh" (Philippians 3:3, ASV). "Worship" is latreuō (G3000), a word for religious service. "Glory" is kauchaomai (G2744), to boast. "Flesh" is sarx, here meaning human standing and achievement, the confidence that 3:4-6 then lists.

The manuscripts differ on "Spirit of God." The ASV reads "worship by the Spirit of God," while the KJV reads "worship God in the spirit." The difference reflects a variant in the Greek. On either reading, worship is defined by the Spirit rather than by a rite in the flesh.

The idea has Old Testament roots. The law itself calls for circumcision of the heart (Deuteronomy 10:16; 30:6), as do the prophets (Jeremiah 4:4). Paul states the same principle at Romans 2:29: "circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit not in the letter" (Romans 2:29, ASV). For the credentials Paul goes on to list, see Philippians 3:5 and Philippians 3:4-11.

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.

G4561 - sarx, sarx, Strong's G4561
G4151 - pneuma, pneuma, Strong's G4151
G5547 - christos, christos, Strong's G5547
G2424 - Iesous, Iesous, Strong's G2424
G2316 - theos, theos, Strong's G2316

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Gentiles Cannot Be Saved Objection Defeater

Notes

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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.