Paul now takes great pains in giving a brief account of his past religious life. The purpose is to let his readers understand why he has warned them in such blunt terms, and to refute the claims of his opponents. For the purpose of argument he deliberately places himself in the position of an authentic Jew.

I is emphatic. The shift from “we” to “I” and the frequent use of “I” show what Paul has to say here is personal. The tone of the argument makes it clear that he does not rely on outward privileges and ceremonies, thus I could, of course…. The phrase put my trust in such things is literally “having confidence even in the flesh,” and “in the flesh” is used three times in succession. To avoid redundancy, Good News Translation renders the second occurrence in such things, the context making it perfectly clear what is referred to (New English Bible “that kind”). The third occurrence is again rendered as in external ceremonies. For the meaning of trust, see 2.24.

The phrase of course may be rendered in some languages as “there is every reason for me to…,” or “I would be fully justified in….”

Put my trust in such things may be expressed as “put my confidence in such ceremonies,” or “believe that such things as would happen to my body would be valuable.” The reference here is not merely to circumcision as an outward ceremony; it involves much more, a matter of total ritual observance. One may even say “put my trust in being the kind of person I am.”

I have even more reason to feel that way adequately brings out the sense and force of a terse expression in Greek which means literally “I more” (cf. Barclay “I have an even stronger claim”).

Quoted with permission from Luo, I-Jin. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Philippians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1977. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .