toss in a remarkable manner'. So the Psalmist (Psa. 75:5), `speak not with a stiff (retorted) neck' (compare Isa.

If this derivation be true then Paul has used words twice which employ the use of the neck figuratively. In

chapter 1:20, the word `earnest expectation', apokaradokia, means `to look forward expectantly, as with the neck

stretched out, and the head thrust forward'. In one case it is the figure of the athlete, in the other the figure of a

braggart that is evoked by the word used. The one commended, the other condemned.

We can understand the choice of this word kauchaomoi in Galatians 6:14, `God forbid that I should glory

(boast), save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ'. This is the second mark of true circumcision. The third mark is

the negative statement `and have no confidence in the flesh' (Phil. 3:3). Paul had already shown that his confidence

was in the Lord (Phil. 1:6,25; 2:24), here he is but restating the fact in negative terms.

The mention, however, of any confidence in the flesh makes the apostle think of his past days as a Pharisee and

leads him to give the great `profit and loss' account which occupies verses 4-9. This passage is both structurally and

doctrinally in correspondence with the passage of Philippians 2:6-11, and must be given separate and careful

In the opening of this section, which commences with verse one of chapter 3, the apostle has declared positively

that the true believer `boasts' in Christ Jesus and then puts the matter negatively saying that such has `no confidence

in the flesh'. From one point of view, this is true of all men. No man really has any ground of confidence in

himself, but, alas, countless millions have never learned this most fundamental of lessons. Moreover, in Philippians

the apostle is not dealing so much with foundation truth as with the believer's subsequent outworking of the grace

already bestowed upon him. Consequently we have in Philippians, the `prize' rather than the `hope', and the figure

of the athlete and the race course is employed to enforce the great example of Christ which has already been given in

chapter 2. While it may be universally true that no man has any ground of confidence in the flesh, the special

purpose of Philippians demands that this shall not be accepted merely as a truism, but as a truth associated with

intelligent and experimental co-operation. From this angle if the words are to ring true, the apostle feels that

something personal is called for so that the condition `no confidence in the flesh' shall be the better appreciated. It

could be recorded to the credit of Moses, that he `refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter' because the

offer had been made to him. No such credit could be given to his brother Aaron, for no such opportunity had opened

to him. The apostle evidently felt that it was necessary that he should show that this repudiation of any boasting in

the flesh was something more than the proverbial attitude to `sour grapes' and so he proceeds to show that if any

other man thought that he had a ground of confidence in the flesh, then, he, the apostle, could beat him in his

boasting, he could say `I more'. Mallon is the comparative of mala `much', the superlative being malista, which

comes in Philippians 4:22 and is translated `chiefly'. The English `more' is used to translate a variety of Greek

words, eti is related to time or endurance, pleion with bulk, perissos with abundance and meizon with magnitude, but

mallon is expressed best by the adverb `rather', as will be found in such passages as Ephesians 4:28; 5:4,11 and also

in Philippians 1:12. The adjective `rathe' has dropped out of common use, but most readers will call to mind

Milton's phrase `the rathe primrose' which means `early, premature, coming before others, or before the usual time'.

Now in an epistle which uses the figure of a race course, the use of mallon `rather' is pointed, far more so than words

that mean bulk or abundance, and while the idiom of our language will not permit the translation `I rather', it should

be retained in the back of the mind, and Moffatt's translation `I can outdo him', though far from being literal, retains

the sense in a way that no literal rendering can do.

Writing to the Galatians, with another purpose in view, the apostle had said that he `profited in the Jew's religion

above many my equals in mine own nation' (Gal. 1:14), or as Moffatt renders the passage, `how I outstripped many

of mine own age and race', where again the word prokopto translated `profited' or `outstripped' is a word of progress.

The apostle substantiates this claim, by advancing evidence under three heads :

(1) He was a pure Israelite, circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel of the tribe of Benjamin, a

Hebrew of the Hebrews.

(2) He was by conviction a Pharisee and a persecutor of the church.