ALTHOUGH I MYSELF MIGHT HAVE CONFIDENCE EVEN IN THE FLESH: kaiper ego echon (PAPMSN) pepoithesin kai en sarki: (2 Cor 11:18-22)

“Though I am in the possession of confidence too in the flesh.”

If the "false circumcision" could brag, how much more so could he!

Eadie adds that...

The apostle had declared of himself, that he belonged to those who have no confidence in the flesh; and lest his opponents should imagine that his want of confidence in the flesh was simply the absence of all foundation for it, and that he was making a virtue of necessity, he adds, that he had all the warrant any man ever had—nay, more warrant than most men ever had—to trust in the flesh. (Epistle of St. Paul to the Philippians - 387 page book in Pdf)

Spurgeon comments...

So that, if anybody could have boasted of what he was by birth, what he was by profession, what he was by the display of religious zeal, Paul could have boasted as boldly as anyone could, for in all those respects he was second to nobody. You know that it is a very easy thing, or it ought to be a very easy thing, for some people to be humble, for they have nothing to be proud of, but here is a man who had much of which he might have been proud. According to the letter of the law, he was a diamond of the first water; yet see what a different verdict he gives after grace has opened his eyes.

IF ANYONE ELSE HAS A MIND TO PUT CONFIDENCE IN THE FLESH I FAR MORE: ei tis dokei (3SPAI) allos pepoithenai (RAN) en sarki ego mallon:

Has a mind (1380) (dokeo)  may denote either to think or to seem and could be read "if any man thinks in himself".

Paul for the moment, places himself on the same ground as his antagonists to show that even according to their standards, he had superior ground for confidence. He then begins to take inventory of the human attainments and merits in which he might trust. These are Paul's "religious credentials". For argument's sake, Paul plays the part of his opponents so that he may show how much better he can play it than they.

I far more - Spurgeon notes that...

If anybody might, Paul might. If birth, if education, or if external religiousness could have saved anybody in the world, it would have saved Saul of Tarsus.

Eadie writes that...

As his manner is, the apostle “goes off” in an allusion to his own history and experience. As he proceeds, the emotion deepens into vehemence, and while he muses for a moment on his own inner life, the thoughts welling “out of the abundance” of his heart arrange themselves into a lyrical modulation. He boasts of being a true son of Israel, not sprung from one of the tribes which had so early apostatized, but from the honoured tribe of Benjamin. He was also of untainted descent—an adherent of the “most straitest sect” —ardent in his profession, as evinced by his persecution of the church—performing with scrupulous exactness every rite of fasting, tithing, or sacrifice, so that had salvation been awarded to the fervent and punctual devotions of the chamber or the sanctuary, he might have died in confidence and peace. Therefore he now proceeds to enumerate the advantages which he possessed, in which he might have trusted, and in some of which he did once trust. The Judaizing fanatics could not say, that he made light of these privileges because he had none of them; for he had more than most of them, and yet he felt their utter insignificance. The persons whom the apostle had in his eye were in some respects behind him: at least he says—“I more.” Some of them might be proselytes circumcised in manhood; others might be of mixed blood; others may have been originally of Sadducean creed: while few of them had manifested that uniform obedience to the law which had distinguished him, and that downright devotedness to Judaism which had led him to seek the extirpation of its young and vigorous rival by violence and blood. (Epistle of St. Paul to the Philippians - 387 page book in Pdf)

circumcised the eighth day: peritome oktaemeros: (Ge 17:12; Luke 2:21; Jn 7:21-24)

Circumcision (4061) (peritome from perí = around + témno = cut off) refers literally to cutting and removal of the foreskin. (Click word study of peritome)

In circumcision an eighth–day man.  Converts to Judaism were circumcised in maturity, Ishmaelites in their thirteenth year. But Paul was neither. He was no proselyte but was a pure-blooded Jew.

Eadie notes that...

Circumcision on the eighth day was according to divine enactment. Gen. 17:12; Lev. 12:3. The apostle was a born Jew, and on the appointed day had received the seal of the Abrahamic covenant. The rite was for no reason deferred, and if any merit accrued from strict compliance with the law, he had it. The apostle makes good his declaration not only of "I possess", but of "I more". The proselytes and Idumeans could not say so, for only in riper years could they be circumcised. Paul, therefore, left all such boasters behind him (Epistle of St. Paul to the Philippians - 387 page book in Pdf)

of the nation of Israel: ek genous Israel: (Acts 22:3; 2 Cor 11:22)

Not only was he not a proselyte, but he was not the son of proselytes. If any of his readers were Gentile proselytes to Judaism the things recorded in Ephesians would have been true of them...

remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. (See note Ephesians 2:12)

Paul's pedigree is presented. Even the most stellar pedigree will not merit entry into heaven.

Nation (1085) (genos from ginomai = to become or come into being) refers to offspring or posterity and in this context refers to the entire nation of Israel.

Of (ek) means "out of" and here is used to denote origin, the class or country of Paul who was not out of Esau but out of Jacob and thus a member of God’s chosen earthly people.

of the tribe of Benjamin: phules Beniamin: (Ro 11:1)

Tribe (5443) (phule from phúlon = race, tribe, class <> phúo = generate, produce) means race, lineage, kindred. It describes a nation or people descended from a common ancestor (See Benjamin, The Tribe Of)

Paul belonged to the tribe of Benjamin, a tribe highly thought of, source of the first king of Israel (whose name - "Saul - he bore), the tribe that remained loyal to David (when 10 others revolted), and which formed with Judah the foundation for the restored nation after the captivities.

Eadie adds that...

The apostle means to derive some honour from his tribal lineage. It could scarcely be from this, that the first king of Israel belonged to this tribe, or that the apostle bore the royal name. Benjamin was a favourite son by a favourite wife, and the tribe is styled by Moses the “beloved of the Lord.” Deut. 33:12. That tribe also had the capital and temple in its canton, was long identified with the great tribe of Judah, and had returned with it to Palestine, while the more northern tribes had almost ceased to exist as distinct branches of the house of Israel. He could give his genealogy. Ro. 11:1.

a Hebrew of Hebrews: Hebraios ec Hebraion: (Ge 14:13; 40:15; 41:12; 1Sa 4:6; Jonah 1:9; Acts 6:1; 2Cor 11:22)

Wuest says Paul

was the son of Hebrew parents who had retained their Hebrew language and customs, in contrast to the Hellenized Jews who read the Old Testament in the Greek language. (Wuest, K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Eerdmans or Logos)

In contrast with Greek-speaking Jews (Hellenists), Paul came from a family that had retained the original Hebrew language and customs.

Spurgeon comments...

That is, one who observed all the minutiae and details of the ceremonial law,, and a good deal more, — the traditions of the elders which hung like moss about the old stone of Jewish ceremonialism. Paul had observed all that.

Eadie explains that...

the force of the phrase (Hebrew of Hebrews) goes beyond immediate parentage. He was aware of no hybrid Gentile admixture, though his ancestors may have lived in Gentile countries. He was sprung of pure Hebrew blood, there having been no cross marriage to taint the descent. Thus does the apostle characterize his lineage:— circumcised on the eighth day, and therefore no foreign convert admitted in mature life, but having parents who coveted and transmitted the Abrahamic rite for their family;—of the stock of Israel, and having a hereditary right to the seal of the national covenant with all its blessings;—of the tribe of Benjamin, able to ascertain and prove his descent, and not of one of any of the tribes geographically lost or individually absorbed by the rest;—a Hebrew of the Hebrews, descended from a long line of pure ancestry, without any accidental infusion on either side of foreign blood. There is a species of climax. A proselyte might circumcise his child on the eighth day; another might be of the stock of Israel and yet his mother might not be a Jewess, as was the case with Obed and Timothy; for such a one might be of the tribe of Benjamin and yet not a Hebrew of the Hebrews. Extraction of undoubted purity distinguished him, while some of his opponents, with all their Judaizing zeal, could make no such assertion - "I far more"

Having enumerated his privileges as a member of Abraham's race, the apostle proceeds to show how he improved them. What he had enjoyed as a child was not lost upon him as a man. He was not contented with being one of the Jewish mass, but he sought in riper years to realize the advantages of his birth. Not satisfied with a passive possession of blood and birth, he laboured to appropriate all its blessings. He was a religious man—sincerely and intelligently attached to the law and all the venerated traditions of the fathers, and not simply a born Jew, proud of his ancestry, but indifferent to their faith—venerating the name of Moses, but careless of his law, save in so far as national customs had habituated him to its observance. Could the same be said of all his adversaries who now made such an outcry about the Abrahamic rite? (Epistle of St. Paul to the Philippians - 387 page book in Pdf)

as to the Law, a Pharisee: kata nomon Pharisaios: (Acts 23:6; 26:4,5)

First his pedigree and now his practice.

A Pharisee - Paul was a passionate adherent of the strictest religious tradition among the Jews. The Pharisees were noted for their strong attachment to the law—for their observance of all its ceremonial minutiae—and their determination, at all hazards, to uphold its validity.

Pharisee as described in Easton's Bible Dictionary were...

separatists (Hebrew persahin, from parash, "to separate"). They were probably the successors of the Assideans (i.e., the "pious"), a party that originated in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes in revolt against his heathenizing policy. The first mention of them is in a description by Josephus of the three sects or schools into which the Jews were divided (B.C. 145). The other two sects were the Essenes and the Sadducees. In the time of our Lord they were the popular party (John 7:48). They were extremely accurate and minute in all matters appertaining to the law of Moses (Matt. 9:14; 23:15; Luke 11:39; 18:12). Paul, when brought before the council of Jerusalem, professed himself a Pharisee (Acts 23:6-8; 26:4, 5).

There was much that was sound in their creed, yet their system of religion was a form (external) and nothing more (Jesus described them)

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. (Mt 23:27)

Theirs was a very lax morality (Matt. 5:20; 15:4, 8; 23:3, 14, 23, 25; John 8:7). On the first notice of them in the New Testament (Matt. 3:7), they are ranked by our Lord with the Sadducees as a "generation of vipers." They were noted for their self-righteousness and their pride (Matt. 9:11; Luke 7:39; 18:11, 12). They were frequently rebuked by our Lord (Matt. 12:39; 16:1-4).

From the very beginning of his ministry the Pharisees showed themselves bitter and persistent enemies of our Lord. They could not bear His doctrines, and they sought by every means to destroy His influence among the people. (see more description of Pharisees)

Eadie sums up noting that...

Zeal (2205) (zelos from zeo = to be hot or fervent) describes an eagerness and ardent interest in pursuit of something and can have a good sense but in context (and as used most often in NT) here zelos has an evil sense, meaning envy, jealousy, anger.

Persecutor (1377) (dioko from dio = pursue, prosecute, persecute) is a verb meaning to follow or press hard after, pursue with earnestness and diligence in order to obtain, go after with the desire of obtaining. In context dioko means to pursue with repeated acts of enmity. It means to systematically organize a program to oppress and harass people.

Spurgeon writes that Paul...

was most zealous in the cause that he thought right. Bitterly, cruelly, even to the death, did he persecute the believers in Jesus.

Eadie adds that...

The apostle had been no passive supporter of the law. While he upheld it, he upheld it with his might. And when the supremacy of that law seemed to be endangered by the growth of Christianity, with characteristic ardour and impetuosity he flung himself into the contest. He could not be a supine and listless spectator. The question was to him one of conscience and submission to divine authority, and therefore he deemed it his duty to imprison, torture, and kill the abettors of the infant faith, whose most malignant feature, as he thought, was its antagonism to Moses. Others might stand aloof, fold their hands in indifference, and yield a facile acquiescence in events as they occurred. But the disciple of Gamaliel was in terrible earnest. Believing that in speaking “words against Moses” there was open blasphemy, and that the glory of God and the spiritual interests of his country were in imminent hazard, he felt himself doing God service when he resolved to hunt down and extirpate the rising heresy, and “breathed out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord.” Foremost among the zealots stood Saul of Tarsus. Had his adversaries ever shown a similar fervour—had they so openly committed themselves? His zeal for the law outstripped theirs. (Epistle of St. Paul to the Philippians - 387 page book in Pdf)