circumcision (the rite · noun — dative singular feminine
day
ὀκταήμερος,oktaēmeros
G3637
an eight-day old person or act · adjective — nominative singular masculine
of
ἐκek
G1537
literal or figurative · preposition
stock
γένουςgenous
G1085
"kin" (abstract or concrete · noun — genitive singular neuter
Israel
Ἰσραήλ,Israēl
G2474
Israel (i.e. Jisrael) · noun — genitive singular masculine, a place
tribe
φυλῆςphulēs
G5443
an offshoot · noun — genitive singular feminine
Benjamin
Βενιαμίν,Beniamin
G958
Benjamin · noun — genitive singular masculine, a proper name
Hebrew
ἙβραῖοςHebraios
G1445
a Hebræan (i.e. Hebrew) or Jew · noun — nominative singular masculine, a people name
of
ἐξex
G1537
literal or figurative · preposition
Hebrews
Ἑβραίων,Hebraiōn
G1445
a Hebræan (i.e. Hebrew) or Jew · noun — genitive plural masculine, a people name
touching
κατὰkata
G2596
(prepositionally) down (in place or time) · preposition
law
νόμονnomon
G3551
law (through the idea of prescriptive usage) · noun — accusative singular masculine
Pharisee
Φαρισαῖος,Pharisaios
G5330
a separatist · noun — nominative singular masculine, a title
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
2 Corinthians 11:22 Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I.
Romans 11:1 I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
Acts 23:6 But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pha…
Genesis 17:12 And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought w…
Acts 22:3 I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught accordi…
Acts 26:4-5 My manner of life from my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews;
Luke 1:59 And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father.
Luke 2:21 And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before h…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Philippians 3:4-8
The apostle here proposes himself for an example of trusting in Christ only, and not in his privileges as an Israelite.
I. He shows what he had to boast of as a Jew and a Pharisee. Let none think that the apostle despised these things (as men commonly do) because he had them not himself to glory in. No, if he would have gloried and trusted in the flesh, he had as much cause to do so as any man: If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof to trust in the flesh, I more, Phi 3:4. He had as much to boast of as any Jew of them all. 1. His birth-right privileges. He was not a proselyte, but a native Israelite: of the stock of Israel. And he was of the tribe of Benjamin, in which tribe the templ…
In three particulars he shows how he "might have confidence in the flesh" (Phi 3:4): (1) His pure Jewish blood. (2) His legal preciseness and high status as such. (3) His zeal for the law. The Greek is literally, "Being in circumcision an eighth day person," that is, not one circumcised in later life as a proselyte, but on the eighth day after birth, as the law directed in the case of Jew-born infants.
of the tribe of Benjamin--son of Rachel, not of the maid-servant [BENGEL].
Hebrew of the Hebrews--neither one or other parent being Gentile. The "Hebrew," wherever he dwelt, retained the language of his fathers. Thus Paul, though settled in Tarsus, a Greek city, calls himself a Hebrew. A "…
Circumcised the eighth day - This was the time that the law required the males to be circumcised; and we find, from Gen 17:14, both in the Samaritan Pentateuch and in the Septuagint, though the clause is now lost out of the common Hebrew text, that the male child, which is not circumcised the eighth day, shall be cut off from among his people: this precept was literally observed in the case of St. Paul.
Of the stock of Israel - Regularly descended from the patriarch Jacob.
Of the tribe of Benjamin - The most favourite son of that patriarch and a tribe that did not revolt with Jeroboam, Kg1 12:21, nor pollute the worship of God by idolatry.
A Hebrew of the Hebrews - Though born in a heathen c…
The Church Fathers
"My Jewish identity," he says, "is in no way ambiguous. I do not come from a family that was only partially Jewish. I am a plant of freedom, a son of Rachel the beloved, on whose behalf the patriarch himself endured slavery."
"But who are you, most excellent man?" So I replied to him in jest. Then he told me frankly both his name and his family. "Trypho," says he, "I am called; and I am a Hebrew of the circumcision, and having escaped from the war lately carried on there I am spending my days in Greece, and chiefly at Corinth." "And in what," said I, "would you be profited by philosophy so much as by your own lawgiver and the prophets?"
For the occasion, indeed, of claiming Divine grace even for the Gentiles derived a pre-eminent fitness from this fact, that the man who set up to vindicate CoWs Law as his own was of the Gentiles, and not a Jew "of the stock of the Israelites." For this fact-that Gentiles are admissible to God's Law-is enough to prevent Israel from priding himself on the notion that "the Gentiles are accounted as a little drop of a bucket," or else as "dust out of a threshing-floor: " although we have God Himself as an adequate engager and faithful promiser, in that He promised to Abraham that "in his seed should be blest all nations of the earth; " and that out of the womb of Rebecca "two peoples and two nations were about to proceed," -of course those of the Jews, that is, of Israel; and of the Gentiles, that is ours.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Benjamin — Son of my right hand. (1.) The younger son of Jacob by Rachel (Gen. 35:18). His birth took place at Ephrath, on the road between Bethel and Bethlehem, at a short distance from the latter place. His…
Hebrew — A name applied to the Israelites in Scripture only by one who is a foreigner (Gen. 39:14, 17; 41:12, etc.), or by the Israelites when they speak of themselves to foreigners (40:15; Ex. 1:19), or when…
Hebrew of the Hebrews — One whose parents are both Hebrews (Phil. 3:5; 2 Cor. 11:22); a genuine Hebrew.
Jew — The name derived from the patriarch Judah, at first given to one belonging to the tribe of Judah or to the separate kingdom of Judah (2 Kings 16:6; 25:25; Jer. 32:12; 38:19; 40:11; 41:3), in…
Paul — =Saul (q.v.) was born about the same time as our Lord. His circumcision-name was Saul, and probably the name Paul was also given to him in infancy “for use in the Gentile world,” as “Saul” would be…
Benjamin, Tribe Of · Celebrated persons of: Paul — Celebrated persons of: Paul
Children · Circumcised on the eighth day — Circumcised on the eighth day
Circumcision · Performed on all males on the eighth day — Performed on all males on the eighth day
Formalism · 7:19; — 7:19;
Hebrew · .And his — .And his
Israel · .Etc — .Etc
Jews, The · Modern, divided into: Hebrews or pure Jews — Modern, divided into: Hebrews or pure Jews
Circumcised the eighth day,.... Circumcision was an appointment of God to Abraham, and his male issue; to him and them God gave the covenant of circumcision: this to Abraham personally was a sign and seal, that the righteousness of faith, which he had while he was an uncircumcised person, should come upon the uncircumcised Gentiles in the times or the Messiah, when the Gospel should come among them; and it was a distinguishing character of the Jews from the Gentiles, until the coming of Christ; it was typical of the effusion of his blood to cleanse from all the impurity of original and actual sin, and represented the circumcision of the heart. The Jews valued themselves much upon it, and tre…
Philippians 3:1-6
1. Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but you it is safe.
1. Quod reliquum est, fratres, mei, gaudete in Domino; eadem scribere vobis, me equidem, haud piget, vobis autem tutm est.
2. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.
2. Videte canes, videte malos operarios, videte concisionem.
3. For we are the cirmcumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
3. Nos enim sumus cicrcumcisio, qui spiritu Deum colimus, et gloriamur in Christo Iesu, non autem in carne confidimus.
4. Though I might also have confidence in…
If anyone could rely on Jewish credentials, Paul could: He practiced the strictest obedience to the Jewish law and was extremely zealous for the Jewish religion.
3:5 circumcised when I was eight days old: See Gen 17:12; Lev 12:3; Luke 1:59; 2:21. • Paul was a member of the Pharisees, the Jewish sect known for its strict observance of the law (see Acts 23:6; 26:5).
Paul · From the tribe of Benjamin, — From the tribe of Benjamin,
Pharisees, The · Character of: Zealous of the law — Character of: Zealous of the law
Zeal, Religious · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
