Biblion Bible Commentary
Read the introduction to Philippians · About this commentary
Enemies of the Cross
Philippians 3:17-19
17 Brothers, be imitators together of me, and note those who walk this way, even as you have us for an example. · WEB
Paul offers himself as a pattern, and then describes the alternative in a sentence he says he wept over.
Brothers, be imitators together of me, and note those who walk this way, even as you have us for an example. The confidence is not vanity; it is the necessity of a world with no New Testament, where a way of living had to be shown before it could be read.
The word for example is the one used of a die's impression — a pattern that reproduces itself.
Then verse 18, and the tone breaks: for many walk, of whom I told you often, and now tell you even weeping, as the enemies of the cross of Christ. Whatever else this is, it is not polemic delivered with satisfaction. Paul reports his own tears mid-accusation.
Verse 19 gives four marks, and they run downward. Whose end is destruction — the terminus. Whose god is the belly — appetite as the thing actually obeyed. Whose glory is in their shame — the inversion complete, where what should cause embarrassment is displayed. And who think about earthly things, which is phronein one last time.
That final mark is the diagnosis under the other three. The mind is set on what is here, and everything else follows from where the attention rests.
settled What this mark means