Passage

Philippians 3.5-6

Book: Philippians · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

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.

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, (Philippians 3:3-8, ASV)

WEB

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.

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 (Philippians 3:3-8, WEB)

KJV

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.

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, (Philippians 3:3-8, KJV)

YLT

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!

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, (Philippians 3:3-8, 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 verses list the credentials introduced in Philippians 3:4, which Paul goes on to count as loss for Christ (Philippians 3:7-8).
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 inherited credentials. "circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews" (Philippians 3:5, ASV). Circumcision on the eighth day followed the law (Genesis 17:12, Leviticus 12:3) and marked Paul as born within the covenant, not a convert circumcised as an adult. "Stock" is genos (G1085), descent. Paul names his tribe again in Romans 11:1, "For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin" (Romans 11:1, ASV). Benjamin gave Israel its first king, "Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin" (Acts 13:21, ASV), whose name Paul bore (Acts 13:9).

"A Hebrew of Hebrews" is debated. Hebraios (G1445) can stress pure Hebrew descent on both sides. It can also stress language and culture: in Acts 6:1 "Hebrews" and "Grecian Jews" are two groups within the Jerusalem church, apparently distinguished by language, and Paul addresses a Jerusalem crowd in Hebrew in Acts 21:40-22:2. On the second reading Paul means he was raised in a Hebrew-speaking, traditional family, not merely of Jewish descent. The two readings are compatible, and many take both to be in view.

The chosen credentials. "as touching the law, a Pharisee" (Philippians 3:5, ASV): Paul says the same before the council, "I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees" (Acts 23:6, ASV), and before Agrippa, "after the straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee" (Acts 26:5, ASV). "as touching zeal, persecuting the church" (Philippians 3:6, ASV) uses zēlos and ekklēsia. Paul describes the same zeal in Galatians: "being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers" (Galatians 1:14, ASV). Zeal for the law had a model in Phinehas, who "was jealous with my jealousy" (Numbers 25:11, ASV). The last item, blamelessness in "the righteousness which is in the law" (dikaiosynē, nomos), sets up the contrast with the righteousness "from God by faith" in 3:9.

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.

G2205 - zelos, zelos, Strong's G2205
G1343 - dikaiosyne, dikaiosyne, Strong's G1343
G1577 - ekklesia, ekklesia, Strong's G1577
G3551 - nomos, nomos, Strong's G3551
G1096 - ginomai, ginomai, Strong's G1096

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

People:

Lexicon:

G2205 - zelos, via Philippians 3.6
G3551 - nomos, via Philippians 3.5-9

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.