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whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things)"
(Phil. 3: 17-19).
No.10. The Witness of the Epistles.
The Witness of the Book of the Revelation.
pp. 201 - 204
Let us now consider the approach to, and the actual goal which the Apostle had before
him in Phil. 3: 11.
"If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead."
Eipos "If by any means" is used four times in the N.T. and in every case the
contingency is very real and the possibility of failure is stressed:
"If by any means they might attain to Phenice" (Acts 27: 12).
"If by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey" (Rom. 1: 10).
"If by any means I may provoke to emulation" (Rom. 11: 14).
"If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead" (Phil. 3: 11).
In the A.V. there is no indication that the `resurrection' about which the Apostle
entertained some uncertainty was something special. "The better resurrection" of
Hebrews 11: 35 and "the first resurrection" of Rev. 20: 4-6 carry with them this element
of distinction, but the A.V. has not allowed the original of Phil. 3: 11 that right. The
Received Text reads:
Ten exanastasin ton nekron "The out-resurrection from the dead".
The Critical Texts read:
Ten exanastasin ten ek nekron "The out-resurrection, that which is out from dead ones".
The presence of this word ek "out" is important, and indicates something over and
above "the hope of the resurrection" as may be seen in the following occurrence. While
we may admit that the Apostles, during the Lord's earthly ministry showed remarkable
slowness to apprehend the truth, we can at least believe that they were as far advanced as
to hold with the Pharisees the resurrection of the dead. How comes it then that when
Christ said to them that they should tell no man what they had seen "till the Son of Man
were risen from the dead" that they questioned one another "What the rising from the
dead should mean" (Mark 9: 10)? If we turn to the original we shall see that it was the
added "ek" that caused the problem. Till the Son of Man were risen "OUT FROM dead
ones". We turn to Luke 20: 35 and take a step further in this quest,
"But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection,
that which is out from the dead ones."
The word "obtain" is used in II Tim. 2: 10: