ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Philippians 3.4-11

Book: Philippians · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

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:

4. 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; 6. as touching zeal, persecuting the church; as touching the righteousness which is in the law, found blameless. 7. Howbeit what things were gain to me, these have I counted loss for Christ. 8. Yea verily, and I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but refuse, that I may gain Christ, 9. and be found in him, not having a righteousness of mine own, even that which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith: 10. that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed unto his death; 11. if by any means I may attain unto the resurrection from the dead.

  1. 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, (Philippians 3:2-13, ASV)
WEB

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;

4. 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; 6. concerning zeal, persecuting the assembly; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, found blameless. 7. However, I consider those things that were gain to me as a loss for Christ. 8. Yes most certainly, and I count all things to be a loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and count them nothing but refuse, that I may gain Christ 9. and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, that which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10. that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed to his death; 11. if by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

  1. 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, (Philippians 3:2-13, WEB)
KJV

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.

4. 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; 6. Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. 7. But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. 8. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 9. And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: 10. That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; 11. If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

  1. 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, (Philippians 3:2-13, KJV)
YLT

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,

4. 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! 6. according to zeal persecuting the assembly! according to righteousness that is in law becoming blameless! 7. But what things were to me gains, these I have counted, because of the Christ, loss; 8. yes, indeed, and I count all things to be loss, because of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, because of whom of the all things I suffered loss, and do count them to be refuse, that Christ I may gain, and be found in him, 9. not having my righteousness, which [is] of law, but that which [is] through faith of Christ, the righteousness that is of God by the faith, 10. to know him, and the power of his rising again, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, 11. if anyhow I may attain to the rising again of the dead.

  1. 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 (Philippians 3:2-13, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: Paul the Apostle, writing with Timothy named as co-sender (Phil 1:1).
  • Audience: The church at Philippi, a Roman colony in Macedonia and the first congregation Paul planted in Europe (Acts 16:11-40). The letter names overseers and deacons at 1:1 and thanks the church for repeated financial support.
  • Location: Written from imprisonment. Paul refers to his bonds and to "Caesar's household" (Phil 1:13, 4:22); the traditional identification is Roman custody, with Ephesus and Caesarea proposed as alternatives.
  • Time period: c. AD 60-62 on the traditional Roman-imprisonment dating.

Theological reading

The unit is Paul's autobiography deployed as an argument, and its logic depends on a point readers often invert.

The argument is from success, not failure. Paul is not saying he tried the law and could not keep it. He is claiming every credential his opponents hold, four inherited and three achieved (3:5-6), culminating in being "found blameless" as to the law's righteousness. Only someone who possessed these could renounce them without the renunciation looking like sour grapes. An argument from failure would be weaker.

The commercial ledger. Kerdos (gain) becomes zēmia (loss) becomes skybala (refuse). Verse 7 uses a perfect tense for a settled past reckoning; verse 8 shifts to the present, "I am counting," so the valuation is ongoing rather than a single transaction at conversion.

The pivot at verse 9 is about origin. Not a righteousness ek nomou, out of law, but one ek theou, from God, through faith. The two are contrasted by source, not by quality, which is the precise doctrinal claim.

Verses 10 and 11 name the goal. Knowing Him, the power of His resurrection, the fellowship of His sufferings, conformity to His death, and arrival at the resurrection. A single article ties the power and the sufferings together, so they are not offered as alternatives.

Where this unit sits in the debate over Paul. It is a principal text for the argument, associated with Krister Stendahl and developed in different directions by the New Perspective, that the West read a guilt-ridden introspective conscience back into Paul. Verse 6 does not describe a tormented conscience. Whether that observation requires the larger New Perspective conclusions is contested, and it should be presented as a genuine exegetical dispute rather than as a settled result in either direction.

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; see Lexicon Roadmap.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

People:

Lexicon:

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.