My interpretation of " beware of dogs' and evil workers Is a metaphor. To me he is explaining the evil of man. Dogs I would imagine were wild in this time. Pack animals. Not domesticated like today. They would have hunted together to devour their prey. Like many evil humans.
In Philippians 3:2, the term dogs in this text is actually making reference to a religious phrase. The Gentiles were considered dogs by the Jews.
There are two words in the New Testament that have to do with a dog. KUNARION is a household pet. And then we have a KUON. A KUON is a wild scavenger. And that's the animal used here.
Gentiles were called KUON'S, wild scavengers, impure, and grungy. So it was an insult to call somebody a KUON.
And so he's using the word KUON. He says beware of the dogs. That's the false teachers that come in.
Beware of evil workers, beware of the concision, which literally means mutilation.
PERITOME, to cut around, is the Greek word for circumcision. KATATOME, to cut off, is the word for mutilation. And Paul is using the exaggerated mind picture for us to say that people that go around cutting themselves in any way, shape, or form in order to better themselves spiritually, that's all they are doing is mutilating themselves.
Beware of those false teachers that say that you can come in and receive Christ, but you have to be circumcised. Beware of the evil workers. Beware of the dogs.
That's my take on it.
In Philippians 3:2, the term dogs in this text is actually making reference to a religious phrase. The Gentiles were considered dogs by the Jews.
There are two words in the New Testament that have to do with a dog. KUNARION is a household pet. And then we have a KUON. A KUON is a wild scavenger. And that's the animal used here.
Gentiles were called KUON'S, wild scavengers, impure, and grungy. So it was an insult to call somebody a KUON.
And so he's using the word KUON. He says beware of the dogs. That's the false teachers that come in.
Beware of evil workers, beware of the concision, which literally means mutilation.
PERITOME, to cut around, is the Greek word for circumcision. KATATOME, to cut off, is the word for mutilation. And Paul is using the exaggerated mind picture for us to say that people that go around cutting themselves in any way, shape, or form in order to better themselves spiritually, that's all they are doing is mutilating themselves.
Beware of those false teachers that say that you can come in and receive Christ, but you have to be circumcised. Beware of the evil workers. Beware of the dogs.
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