Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageThey have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I lived as a Pharisee according to the strictest sect of our religion.
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GThey have known me from the start, and if they are willing to testify, can confirm that I lived as a Parush according to the strictest school of our religion.
KJV
King James VersionWhich knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.
BSB
Berean Standard BibleThey have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I lived as a Pharisee, adhering to the strictest sect of our religion.
Footnotes
αἵρεσιν (hairesis) is rendered "school" in F.O.G and "sect" in F.O.G Message. In the first century the word carried no negative force — it denoted a philosophical or religious school of thought, as one might speak of a school of Greek philosophy. The Pharisees occupied the most rigorous observance position within Jewish life. "School" (F.O.G) preserves this neutral, intellectual sense; "sect" (F.O.G Message) follows modern convention, though modern ears may hear it as slightly marginalising. The later English sense of "heresy" (derived from the same Greek root) was not yet attached to the word.
