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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Philippians 3:4 - 3:6
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Paul's right to boast:
v. 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:
v. 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;
v. 6. concerning zeal, persecuting the Church; touching the righteousness which is in the Law, blameless.
Somewhat after the manner in which he had spoken 2Co_11:21-30, Paul here offers evidence why he might boast with reason, if he should choose to argue from the standpoint of the Judaizing teachers: Although I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have reliance on flesh, I more. The apostle would have reason to bring forward certain external advantages if he so chose, if there were any real benefit in so doing. He can meet the false teachers also in this field, on their own ground. If they were laboring under the perverted impression that everything depended upon these external things, then Paul has a much greater right to boast.
This he now proceeds to show: Eight days old as regards my circumcision: of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; according to the Law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the Church; concerning the righteousness in the Law, blameless. The apostle was not merely a Jewish proselyte, he had been born in Judaism and had been brought up under its rites from the outset. The Judaizing teachers whom Paul had in mind at this time may have been mere proselytes of the gate and unable to point back to such a record. Paul was by birth an Israelite, of the original stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin. His pedigree was unquestioned; whereas many Jews could no longer trace their descent exactly, Paul had proofs for his lineal descent from Benjamin. He was a true Hebrew according to the flesh, he could hold up his head with the best of them. And as for the Law, so far as the external zeal for the Law was concerned, he was a Pharisee, a member of the strictest sect among the Jews. There could be no doubt that Paul had been perfectly sincere, absolutely conscientious as a keeper of the Law, that he had a clean record before the Jews, though he had acted in moral blindness. Yea, more, in zeal he had been far above the average Jew; so zealous had he been before his conversion that he had been a persecutor of the Church, having attempted to eradicate the "new sect. " As for the righteousness, finally, which rests upon the Law, which gets its validity by the Law, he was blameless; he proved himself so earnest that no accusation on that score could be brought and sustained against him. So far as the external fulfillment of the Law was concerned, no one could have been more earnest or more successful. So he could easily challenge any one of the Judaizing opponents on any of the points upon which they usually harped, and overcome them.