Philippians 3:5

Textus Receptus:
περιτομη οκταημερος εκ γενους ισραηλ φυλης βενιαμιν εβραιος εξ εβραιων κατα νομον φαρισαιος

King James:
Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;

Comments:
Circumcised the eighth day: Paul puts himself in the category of those he condemned in verse 2. His obedience to the law was complete, beginning with Leviticus 12:1-3.

Israel...Benjamin...Hebrew: Since the Israelites saw themselves as the people of God because of their political and ancestral identity, Paul points out that he was in the center of that identity long before he was in God's family. In Romans 9:1-5, Paul laments other Israelites who do not yet know Christ.

a Pharisee: As Jesus proves with His statement in Matthew 5:20, no one was closer to the perfection of the law than the Pharisees, but even they could not achieve the righteousness of God.

Expanded Paraphrase:
From the time that I was eight days old my life already exemplified the law--that's when I received the sign of the covenant, circumcision. I was born of Israel, in the tribe of Benjamin. Other Hebrews looked at me to know what it is to be Hebrew. No one kept the law more stringently than I did. I was a Pharisee.