independentparticipialrelativepurposecausecomparativeconditionalphrase modifierdashed = verbless / suspended
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Rejoice — and beware: the true circumcision and the old credentials 3:1–6
vv. 1–2 — the standing command and the triple warning
1
Τὸ λοιπόν, ἀδελφοί μου, χαίρετε ἐν κυρίῳ.independent — Τὸ λοιπόν — the letter's refrain resumed
τὰ αὐτὰ γράφειν ὑμῖν ἐμοὶ μὲν οὐκ ὀκνηρόν, ὑμῖν δὲ ἀσφαλές.independent — verbless — repetition as a safeguard
2
βλέπετε τοὺς κύνας,independent — warning 1 — the Jewish epithet for outsiders turned back
βλέπετε τοὺς κακοὺς ἐργάτας,independent — warning 2 — 'workers' with bitter irony
βλέπετε τὴν κατατομήν.independent — warning 3 — κατατομή, the pun on περιτομή
v. 3 — the counter-claim: we are the circumcision
3
ἡμεῖς γάρ ἐσμεν ἡ περιτομή,independent — the claim — the name reclaimed
οἱ πνεύματι θεοῦ λατρεύοντεςparticipial — mark 1 — worship by the Spirit (θεοῦ read, not θεῷ)
καὶ καυχώμενοι ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦparticipial — mark 2 — the boast relocated
καὶ οὐκ ἐν σαρκὶ πεποιθότες,participial — mark 3 — confidence withdrawn from the flesh
vv. 4–6 — though I could boast: seven credentials
4
καίπερ ἐγὼ ἔχων πεποίθησιν καὶ ἐν σαρκί.participial — καίπερ concessive — the disclaimer before the boast
εἴ τις δοκεῖ ἄλλος πεποιθέναι ἐν σαρκί,conditional — protasis — leans on the retort below
ἐγὼ μᾶλλον·independent — apodosis, elliptical — two words carry the whole list
5
περιτομῇ ὀκταήμερος,phrase modifier — credential 1 — covenant-born, not proselyte
ἐκ γένους Ἰσραήλ,phrase modifier — credential 2 — the covenant name
φυλῆς Βενιαμίν,phrase modifier — credential 3 — the tribe of the first king
Ἑβραῖος ἐξ Ἑβραίων,phrase modifier — credential 4 — language and lineage unassimilated
κατὰ νόμον Φαρισαῖος,phrase modifier — credential 5 — the strictest party
6
κατὰ ζῆλος διώκων τὴν ἐκκλησίαν,participial — credential 6 — zeal proved by persecution
κατὰ δικαιοσύνην τὴν ἐν νόμῳ γενόμενος ἄμεμπτος.participial — credential 7 — the climax: law-righteousness, blameless
The great reversal — everything loss for Christ 3:7–11
vv. 7–8 — the ledger rewritten: gain, loss, refuse
7
ἀλλὰ ἅτινα ἦν μοι κέρδη, ταῦτα ἥγημαι διὰ τὸν Χριστὸν ζημίαν.independent — the reversal — the credential columns swapped, and it stands (perfect ἥγημαι)
8
ἀλλὰ μενοῦνγε καὶ ἡγοῦμαι πάντα ζημίαν εἶναιindependent — the escalation — μενοῦνγε: not just those things, everything
διὰ τὸ ὑπερέχον τῆς γνώσεως Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ κυρίου μου,cause — the ground — knowledge that outweighs the ledger
δι' ὃν τὰ πάντα ἐζημιώθην,relative — on τοῦ κυρίου μου — the loss actually taken
καὶ ἡγοῦμαι σκύβαλαindependent — the second ledger-entry — σκύβαλα, refuse for the dogs
ἵνα Χριστὸν κερδήσωpurpose — the one entry left in the gain column
vv. 9–11 — found in him: righteousness, knowledge, resurrection
9
καὶ εὑρεθῶ ἐν αὐτῷ,purpose — the ἵνα chain's second verb — found in him at the audit
μὴ ἔχων ἐμὴν δικαιοσύνην τὴν ἐκ νόμουparticipial — the manner of being found — v. 6's boast renounced
ἀλλὰ τὴν διὰ πίστεως Χριστοῦ,phrase modifier — the antithesis — πίστεως Χριστοῦ as faith in Christ (objective genitive)
τὴν ἐκ θεοῦ δικαιοσύνην ἐπὶ τῇ πίστει,phrase modifier — apposition — source ἐκ θεοῦ, basis ἐπὶ τῇ πίστει
10
τοῦ γνῶναι αὐτὸν καὶ τὴν δύναμιν τῆς ἀναστάσεως αὐτοῦ καὶ κοινωνίαν παθημάτων αὐτοῦ,purpose — τοῦ + infinitive — the aim restated (on εὑρεθῶ, not on τῇ πίστει)
συμμορφιζόμενος τῷ θανάτῳ αὐτοῦ,participial — the knowing embodied — the σύμμορφος word-group opens (cf. v. 21)
11
εἴ πως καταντήσω εἰς τὴν ἐξανάστασιν τὴν ἐκ νεκρῶν.conditional — εἴ πως, backward — humility, not doubt: through his death to ἐξανάστασις
The runner — pressing on toward the prize 3:12–16
vv. 12–14 — not yet seized, still pursuing
12
Οὐχ ὅτι ἤδη ἔλαβον ἢ ἤδη τετελείωμαι,independent — Οὐχ ὅτι — the elliptical corrective ('I do not say that…')
διώκω δὲindependent — the runner's verb — the persecutor's διώκω converted
εἰ καὶ καταλάβω,conditional — εἰ καί, backward on διώκω — the pursuit's uncertain grasp
ἐφ' ᾧ καὶ κατελήμφθην ὑπὸ Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ.relative — ἐφ' ᾧ read as goal, not 'because' — seized in order to seize
13
ἀδελφοί, ἐγὼ ἐμαυτὸν οὐ λογίζομαι κατειληφέναι·independent — the self-assessment — emphatic ἐγὼ ἐμαυτόν
ἓν δέ,independent — aposiopesis — 'one thing' (the verb left unsaid)
τὰ μὲν ὀπίσω ἐπιλανθανόμενοςparticipial — the runner's discipline — no looking back
τοῖς δὲ ἔμπροσθεν ἐπεκτεινόμενος,participial — ἐπεκτεινόμενος — the sprinter stretched full-length
14
κατὰ σκοπὸν διώκω εἰς τὸ βραβεῖον τῆς ἄνω κλήσεως τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ.independent — the ἓν δέ resolved — goal, prize, upward call
vv. 15–16 — the mature mind, and holding the line
15
Ὅσοι οὖν τέλειοι, τοῦτο φρονῶμεν·independent — hortatory — τέλειοι with irony after οὐ τετελείωμαι (v. 12)
καὶ εἴ τι ἑτέρως φρονεῖτε,conditional — protasis — leans on the promise below
καὶ τοῦτο ὁ θεὸς ὑμῖν ἀποκαλύψει·independent — apodosis — correction left to God
16
πλὴν εἰς ὃ ἐφθάσαμεν, τῷ αὐτῷ στοιχεῖν.independent — imperatival infinitive — keep in line with ground already won
Two ways to walk — enemies of the cross, citizens of heaven 3:17–21
vv. 17–19 — the pattern, and the counter-pattern mourned
17
Συμμιμηταί μου γίνεσθε, ἀδελφοί,independent — the call — συμμιμηταί, imitation together
καὶ σκοπεῖτε τοὺς οὕτω περιπατοῦνταςindependent — σκοπεῖτε — the runner's word (v. 14) turned on models
καθὼς ἔχετε τύπον ἡμᾶς.comparative — the οὕτω…καθώς correlation — 'us' the τύπος
18
πολλοὶ γὰρ περιπατοῦσινcause — why the watching matters — the other walkers
οὓς πολλάκις ἔλεγον ὑμῖν,relative — the old warning recalled
νῦν δὲ καὶ κλαίων λέγω,relative — the relative continued — the warning now in tears
τοὺς ἐχθροὺς τοῦ σταυροῦ τοῦ Χριστοῦ,phrase modifier — the object named at last — enemies of the cross
19
ὧν τὸ τέλος ἀπώλεια,relative — indictment 1 — their τέλος
ὧν ὁ θεὸς ἡ κοιλίαrelative — indictment 2 — appetite enthroned
καὶ ἡ δόξα ἐν τῇ αἰσχύνῃ αὐτῶν,relative — indictment 3 — ὧν carried over: glory and shame inverted
οἱ τὰ ἐπίγεια φρονοῦντες.participial — indictment 4 — nominative for accusative (ad sensum): the earthbound mind
vv. 20–21 — the commonwealth in heaven and the body transformed
20
ἡμῶν γὰρ τὸ πολίτευμα ἐν οὐρανοῖς ὑπάρχει,independent — the counter-claim — emphatic ἡμῶν against the earthly-minded
ἐξ οὗ καὶ σωτῆρα ἀπεκδεχόμεθα κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν,relative — ἐξ οὗ on ἐν οὐρανοῖς — the awaited σωτήρ
21
ὃς μετασχηματίσει τὸ σῶμα τῆς ταπεινώσεως ἡμῶν σύμμορφον τῷ σώματι τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦrelative — the hope — σύμμορφον answers συμμορφιζόμενος (v. 10)
κατὰ τὴν ἐνέργειαν τοῦ δύνασθαι αὐτὸν καὶ ὑποτάξαι αὐτῷ τὰ πάντα.phrase modifier — the measure — power that subjects τὰ πάντα (Ps 8:6)
Analysis. Philippians 3 alternates between clipped commands on the margin and two long first-person chains, and the colors keep the two registers apart. Verses 1–6 are staccato: the rejoice command, the triple βλέπετε drumbeat, and the counter-claim ἡμεῖς ἐσμεν ἡ περιτομή carrying three teal participles — worshiping, boasting, trusting-not — before Paul's old credentials pile up as a dashed verbless stack of seven, all hanging from the two words ἐγὼ μᾶλλον. Verses 7–11 are the great reversal: two ἡγοῦμαι ledger-entries on the margin, and from the second a single chain runs to the chapter's greatest depth — ἵνα κερδήσω and εὑρεθῶ, the righteousness antithesis, τοῦ γνῶναι, conformity to his death, and at the bottom the olive εἴ πως line reaching for resurrection. Verses 12–16 put the runner's verbs back on the margin (διώκω twice), with the ἓν δέ fragment carrying its two participles of forgetting and straining. In vv. 17–21 one cause line (πολλοὶ γὰρ περιπατοῦσιν) grounds the watch-command, and the enemies of the cross carry a four-line indictment column — end, god, glory, mind — before the citizenship sentence answers it and descends from heaven through σωτῆρα to the transforming power. Cruxes the layout takes a side on: πίστεως Χριστοῦ (v. 9) is read as faith in Christ (objective genitive), with ἐπὶ τῇ πίστει qualifying the righteousness itself; ἐφ' ᾧ (v. 12) is read as 'that for which' I was seized, not 'because'; τοῦ γνῶναι (v. 10) restates the aim of εὑρεθῶ rather than depending on τῇ πίστει; εἴ πως (v. 11) hangs on συμμορφιζόμενος — resurrection reached through shared death — and is humility, not doubt; οἱ τὰ ἐπίγεια φρονοῦντες (v. 19) is the nominative slipping loose from the accusative τοὺς ἐχθρούς (ad sensum); and ἐξ οὗ (v. 20) looks back to ἐν οὐρανοῖς.