Philippians 3:5

The Apostle seems to feel a certain natural pride in recounting his hereditary privileges. περιτομῇ ὀκταήμ. The dative of περιτ. must be read, expressing the sphere to which ὀκταήμ. belongs. Literally: “Eight-days-old as regards my circumcision”. A.V. satisfies the requirements. He was born in Judaism, and lost none of its advantages from the outset. Proselytes were circumcised as adults. For the usage in this sense see the elaborate list of parallels in Wetstein on John 11:39. ἐκ γένους Ἰ. ἐκ often denotes the class or country of a man, e.g., John 3:1. Paul shared in the glories of the covenant-people. Israel was the theocratic name. φυλῆς Β. B. This tribe stood high in Jewish estimation, not only as descending from Rachel, Jacob's best-loved wife, but as remaining loyal to the house of David, and, after the exile, forming with Judah the foundation of the future nation. Ἑβρ. ἐξ Ἑβρ. For the phrase cf. Herodt., 2, 143, Πίρωμιν ἐκ Πιρώμιος; Plat., Phaedr., 246 [32] A, ἀγαθοὶ καὶ ἐξ ἀγαθῶν. The force of these words has been variously estimated. Lft [33]. and others draw a contrast between Ἑβραῖος and Ἑλληνιστής, the former being a Jew who retained the Hebrew language and customs (see Acts 6:1). But Euseb., H.E., 2, 4, 2, applies the designation to Philo, and in Praep. Evang., xiii., 11, 2, to Aristobulus, both of them Greek-speaking Jews with little if any knowledge of Hebrew. Cf. 2 Corinthians 11:22. The Greek Comm [34]., Th. Mps [35]. and Thdrt [36]., believe that, in using the ancient name, Paul wishes to emphasise the purity of his lineage. Probably they are right. κατὰ νόμον. Are we to distinguish between νόμος and ὁ νόμος in Paul? Attempts have been made (notably that of Gifford, Romans in Speaker's Comm [37]., pp. 41 48) to show that when Paul omits the article he is thinking mainly of the principle of law as a method of justification in opposition to faith, etc. In our judgment it has been made abundantly clear by Grafe (Die paulinische Lehre vom Gesetz, pp. 1 11) that, for the Apostle, νόμος with or without the article means the O.T. revelation of the will of God. He makes no distinction between a general conception of Divine law and the special one of the Mosaic law. The Mosaic law is for him the Divine law pure and simple, and therefore has a universal bearing. There are, of course, modifications of this central idea, but they can all be satisfactorily accounted for. Often the insertion or omission of the article with νόμος is entirely a question of formal grammar. Here νόμος is plainly the law of Moses. φαρισαῖος. Cf. Acts 23:6. For an interesting discussion of the influence of the school of Hillel upon Paul see Wabnitz, Revue Théol., xiii., p. 287 ff. The survivals of Rabbinic doctrines and methods in Paul's thought, however, must neither be exaggerated, nor, because they are Rabbinic, be contemptuously dismissed. “If God was not moving in the Rabbinic thought of Christ's day, what reason have we to say He … moves in the thought of to-day?” (P. T. Forsyth). Almost certainly Paul's family must have been in thorough sympathy with strict Judaism. No doubt he would be disowned by them, and this, as Ramsay notes (St. Paul, p. 36), would give special force to his words in Philippians 3:8 infr.

[32] Codex Alexandrinus (sæc. v.), at the British Museum, published in photographic facsimile by Sir E. M. Thompson (1879).

[33] Lightfoot.

[34] Commentators.

[35]. Mps. Theodore of Mopsuestia.

[36] drt. Theodoret.

[37] Commentators.