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Passage Research

Philippians 3 — Sermon Preparation

Paul counts all his former privileges as loss compared to knowing Christ and presses on toward the resurrection and the upward call of God. Below is a research summary for Philippians 3, drawn from openly licensed scholarly databases — original-language morphology, classic sermons from the church fathers through the Puritans, and ancient geography data.

21
verses
337 / 144
Greek words / lemmas
37
classic sermon excerpts
10
preachers & commentators

Philippians 3 in the Greek

Distinctive vocabulary of this chapter, based on original-language morphology.

GreekTransliterationStrong'sCountKJV renderings
καταλαμβάνωkatalambánōG26383apprehend, attain, come upon, comprehend
φρονέωphronéōG54263set the affection on, care, mind, regard
ἡγέομαιhēgéomaiG22333account, chief, count, esteem
διώκωdiṓkōG13773ensue, follow, given to, persecute
δικαιοσύνηdikaiosýnēG13433righteousness
ζημίαzēmíaG22092damage, loss
ἙβραῖοςHebraîosG14452Hebrew

How preachers through history handled this text

37 public-domain excerpts on Philippians 3, from the church fathers to the Puritans.

Spurgeon10Alexander MacLaren9Calvin4Chrysostom4Matthew Henry3John Wesley2George Whitefield2+3 more

“This simple dependence and earnestness of soul, were not mentioned as if the apostle had gained the prize, or were already made perfect in the Saviour's likeness. He forgot the things which were behind, so as not to be content with past labours or present measures of grace. He reached forth, stretched himself forward towards his point; expressions showing great concern to become more and more like unto Christ. He who runs a race, must never stop short of the end, but press forward as fast as he can; …”

— Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise), on Philippians 3:12–30 (Public Domain)

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