and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Parallel translations
- WEB if by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
- KJV If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
- NKJV if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
- NASB if somehow I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
- NLT so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Paul's aim in knowing Christ is to share in the resurrection of the dead. This is the goal toward which his whole life is bent.
Overview
Continuing from his desire to know Christ in his death (3:10), Paul names the final hope: bodily resurrection to glory. The phrase 'if by any means' expresses humble earnestness, not doubt about salvation. His confidence rests on Christ's own resurrection, the guarantee that all who are united to him will be raised.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Luke 20:35–36But those who are considered worthy to share in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage.
- Rev 20:5The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years were complete. This is the first resurrection.
- Acts 23:6Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. It is because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.”
- Acts 26:7the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to realize as they earnestly serve God day and night. It is because of this hope, O king, that I am accused by the Jews.
- Heb 11:35Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused their release, so that they might gain a better resurrection.
- 2 Cor 11:3I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ.
- Ps 49:7No man can possibly redeem his brother or pay his ransom to God.
- 1 Cor 9:27No, I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.
- 1 Cor 9:22To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.
- Luke 14:14and you will be blessed. Since they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
- Rom 11:14in the hope that I may provoke my own people to jealousy and save some of them.
- 2 Th 2:3Let no one deceive you in any way, for it will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness—the son of destruction—is revealed.
- John 11:24Martha replied, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
- Acts 27:12Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided to sail on, if somehow they could reach Phoenix to winter there. Phoenix was a harbor in Crete facing both southwest and northwest.
- 1 Th 3:5For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter had somehow tempted you and caused our labor to be in vain.
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Christ at the center
The one who, being in the form of God, emptied himself to the point of death on a cross and was exalted to the name above every name — the joy and prize of the believer.
How Philippians 3:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.