Philippians 3:16

στοιχεῖν. So the sentence ends א*AB, 17, copt sah, Hil Aug. אcKL, the mass of cursives, syrr æth add the words κανόνι, τὸ αὐτὸ φρονεῖν. So Wordsw., alone among recent editors. Lightfoot writes ad loc., “the words after στοιχεῖν in the received text (κανόνι, τὸ αὐτὸ φρονεῖν) are interpolated from Galatians 6:16; Philippians 2:2. Of these κανόνι is a correct gloss, while τὸ αὐτὸ φρονεῖν expresses an idea alien to the context.”

16. πλὴν. “Only.” He qualifies the thought of certain present differences of view, by a plea for all the agreement possible.

εἰς δ ἐφθάσαμεν. “(As regards) the point we have reached.” Φθάνειν, in classical Greek, implies properly arrival beforehand, out-stripping; and so 1 Thessalonians 4:15, οὐ μὴ φθάσωμεν τοὺς κοιμηθέντας. Later, and ordinarily in N.T., it loses much of this speciality, and means little but “to arrive.” Yet in most places a shadow of its proper meaning can be traced; the arrival is usually either sudden or difficult. Cp. Matthew 12:28, ἄρα ἔφθασεν ἐφʼ ὑμᾶς ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ: Romans 9:31, εἰς νόμον δικαιοσύνης οὐκ ἔφθασε. Here we may trace a hint of difficulty; the thought of the toilsome race is still present; as if to say, “as regards the point we have succeeded in reaching.”—On the rendering of ἐφθάσαμεν by an English perfect, see above, note on ἔλαβον, Philippians 3:12.

τῷ αὐτῷ στοιχεῖν. “Take your steps on the same (principle).” Στοιχεῖν, more than περιπατεῖν, suggests the step, the detail. Cp. Romans 4:12, τοῖς στοιχοῦσι τοῖς ἴχνεσι, κτλ.—The use of “the infinitive for the imperative” is familiar in classical Greek, especially in the earlier writers; e.g. Soph. O.T. 462, κἂν λάβῃς μʼ ἐψευσμένον φάσκειν ἔμʼ ἤδη μαντικῇ μηδὲ φρονεῖν. The construction is regularly used in address to others (see Alford here), not in appeals to self; we render here therefore, “Take your steps, &c.”

Here, as in so many places, the Apostle makes a sidelong reference to the need of the spirit of unity at Philippi. “As regards the point they have reached,” they are besought to cultivate a conscious harmony in principle and practice.
On the reading of this verse, see critical note.