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Php 3:12. Οὐχʼ ὅτι, not that, not as though) In his highest fervour, the apostle does not let go his spiritual sobriety.-ἔλαβον, I had received [attained]) the prize.-τετελείωμαι) τέλειος and τετελειωμένος differ. The former is applied to the man fully fit for running, Php 3:15-16; the latter to him who is nearest to the prize, at the very point of receiving [attaining] it.[44]-καὶ καταλάβω) Καὶ, even, is intensive; for καταλαμβάνω, to apprehend (comprehendere), is more than λαμβάνω, to take hold of (prehendere): λαμβάνειν, to take hold of, is done at the moment when the last step has been made; καταλαμβάνειν, to apprehend, is done when the man is in full possession. There is an example of one “on the very point of receiving” [attaining] at 2Ti 4:7-8 [Psa 73:23; Psa 73:28].-ἐφʼ ᾧ, since [but Engl. Vers. that for which]) The perception of the power of Christ influences the Christian.-καὶ κατελήφθην, I have been also apprehended) by a heavenly calling, Php 3:14; Acts [Act 9:6] Act 26:14; Act 26:19; 2Co 5:14. Christ, the author and finisher [consummator], when He consummated His own ‘race’ of faith, also consummates His people, Heb 12:2; where the very appellation, ἀρχηγοῦ, prince (author), implies His relation to His followers. Καὶ, also, is again intensive, so that the force of the first aorist [“I am apprehended”] may be observed denoting the present state of the apostle.
[44] Τέλειος means often not absolutely perfect, but one having attained the full limit of stature, strength, etc., which constitute the man’s τέλος, opposed to νεοι or παῖδες, youths or children. See 1Co 2:6. So Paul here, ver. 15, claims to be τέλειος, fully established in the things of God, no longer a babe in Christ. Yet in ver. 12 he denies that he is as yet τετελειωμένος (a race-course expression), i.e. crowned with the garland of victory, his course completed, and perfection absolutely reached. See Trench Syn.-ED.