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Philippians 3:11

if somehow I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Philippians 3:11 · New American Standard Bible
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.
  • BSB and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
  • NKJV if, by any means, 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 attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage.
  • Rev 20:5The rest of the dead didn’t live until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
  • Acts 23:6But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Men and brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. Concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am being judged!”
  • Acts 26:7which our twelve tribes, earnestly serving night and day, hope to attain. Concerning this hope I am accused by the Jews, King Agrippa!
  • Heb 11:35Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, not accepting their deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.
  • 2 Cor 11:3But I am afraid that somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve in his craftiness, so your minds might be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
  • Ps 49:7none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give God a ransom for him.
  • 1 Cor 9:27but I beat my body and bring it into submission, lest by any means, after I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected.
  • 1 Cor 9:22To the weak I became as weak, that I might gain the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some.
  • Luke 14:14and you will be blessed, because they don’t have the resources to repay you. For you will be repaid in the resurrection of the righteous.”
  • Rom 11:14if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh, and may save some of them.
  • 2 Th 2:3Let no one deceive you in any way. For it will not be, unless the departure comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of destruction,
  • John 11:24Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
  • Acts 27:12Because the haven was not suitable to winter in, the majority advised going to sea from there, if by any means they could reach Phoenix, and winter there, which is a port of Crete, looking northeast and southeast.
  • 1 Th 3:5For this cause I also, when I couldn’t stand it any longer, sent that I might know your faith, for fear that by any means the tempter had tempted you, and our labor would have been in vain.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (4)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Philippians videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Philippians 3:11YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PhilippiansMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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.