A Warning Against False Teachers (3:1-3)
Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not irksome, but for you it is safe. Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the concision: for we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God, and glory in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh: [ASV]Phil 3:1-3
Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. I never get tired of telling you these things, and I do it to safeguard your faith. Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved. For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort, [NLT] Phil 3:1-3
And that’s about it, friends. Be glad in God! I don’t mind repeating what I have written in earlier letters, and I hope you don’t mind hearing it again. Better safe than sorry—so here goes. Steer clear of the barking dogs, those religious busybodies, all bark and no bite. All they’re interested in is appearances—knife-happy circumcisers, I call them. The real believers are the ones the Spirit of God leads to work away at this ministry, filling the air with Christ’s praise as we do it. We couldn’t carry this off by our own efforts, and we know it— [MSG]Phil 3:1-3
There was no Gem sent Wednesday because I met unexpected complication as I approached this Gem. I knew it was challenging, but it was more debated than I imagined. So it has taken me longer to pull all the threads together. Once I had done my work, I cast my eye over the commentaries to see what others say. [I can do that a whole lot easier than what you can do.] I found even the first two words send the commentators into debate. The passage as you know starts with:
Τὸ λοιπόν:- In conclusion, finally, for the rest, and now, now then, so then, it remains, for the rest, that’s about it, whatever happens, Dear . . .
The debate centres on why Paul includes this segment on the Dogs, the Circumcision brigade. But many commentators see this Finally differently.
- Some see it as a new section.
- Some see it as an interruption to insert a new topic Paul has just thought of.
- Some see it as a break which starts Paul’s practical exhortations.
- Some see it as a totally new subject with no connection to what has gone before.
- Very few see it as being connected to something Paul has already discussed.
As to the connectedness or the relevance, the conmentators are equally divided:
- The whole is a prolonged conclusion, and this segment is an interruption, where the conclusion has temporarily been forgotten.
- This is a new topic, unconnected to what Paul has been saying.
- Τὸ λοιπόν can occur more than once in a portion and doesn’t necessarily mark a conclusion; rather just a new topic.
- It’s highly likely Paul was drawing the letter to an end and heard some news about the Judaisers (those pushing circumcision on new Christian converts).
- Paul was distracted and added something he hadn’t intended to add.
Sometimes I wonder why I bother looking at the commentaries; it just gives me more work to do with little return. So what should we think about this?
- Did Paul indeed get distracted?
- Is this section about the Dogs totally unconnected with what has gone before it?
- Or is Paul picking up on something he has already mentioned and weaving into his conclusion?
Take a moment to ponder what you think about it and then continue reading, or not. . .
My conclusion or my take on the connection is that it is linked to Paul’s comment “To write the same things is not irksome, not a problem, doesn’t cause me to hesitate or wear me out” – Ian’s expanded version.
The various versions have a different take on this as you can see from what Eugene Peterson gave us in the Message above. His sense is that the same things were written in other letters to the Philippians. The commentators spend time discussing whether:
- “To write the same things” refers to previous statements in the same letter (Namely Philippians). or
- “To write the same things” refers to previous correspondence with the Philippians (i.e. Other lost letters as in the case of the Corinthians letters),
- Refers to oral teaching given when Paul was in Philippi.
My conclusion on this is a simple one faced with the words in THIS letter to the Philippians. Surely the connection links back to Phil 1:27-30 where Paul referred to the enemies of faith and the need for the saints in Philippi to stand together and fight for the faith, not being intimidated by their enemies but rather trusting Christ to save them, while considering the struggle as a privilege to suffer for Him. Doesn’t that make perfect sense of this connection? I think so. Therefore Paul’s comments on the Judaising Dogs is something he has already talked about in this same letter. All Paul is doing here is picking up on a specific group who are the enemies to the faith of the saints in Philippi.
Now having cleared up the confusion I will press on to the subtlety present in what Paul wrote here. The following is what I intended to deal with before I looked at the commentators to check if there was anything else that needed covering and stepped into the muck.
Paul’s words in this short section are emotional and sharply critical of the Judaisers. That bunch of Jewish traditionalists. Paul wanted to keep the Philippian believers safe spiritually from these Jews who cling to the traditions and rituals associated with the Law. Of which the prime example they wanted to promote was the need to be circumcised in order to be saved. I.e. the need to keep all the Laws and traditions of Moses. These Judaisers could have either been Jews pressuring the Philippians converts from outside the body of believers or worse yet, Jewish believers in Christ who held on to the rite of circumcision claiming it was still required in order to be saved. Paul uses a strong word picture to refer to these Judaisers – Dogs. Now we will explore in some detail his word picture. Having to deal with the earlier focus of this Gem has now turned this Gem into a long one. But I would like to keep it all together. Remember you have missed out on one Gem this week so I guess you can consider what is to follow as part two of Gem 1962. Blame the commentators.
Take a break at this point and have a strong cup of coffee or leave the tea bag in for longer. Perhaps you need something from the top shelf when Ian delves into these kinds of Gems. But whatever you need, do it, in order to fully understand what Paul is doing here. Back in a mo!
Now that you have had a break, let’s explore further what Paul wrote in his letter.
The word picture Paul chose of “dogs’ is deliberate. It has two points of comparison.
- Gentiles
- Wild dogs
Dogs to the Jews are the most despised of animals. To a Jew they are insolent, miserable, unclean creatures which feed on refuse and filth; they prowl around and scavenge for food. They steal and fight among themselves for the food they manage to get. They are savage, cunning, quarrelsome creatures which attack anyone who may approach them, especially when they are in the possession of scavenged food. it is unlikely that Paul is singling out any one of these characteristics of dogs but more likely considering all the features in a package. It is the package of characteristics that Paul likely has in mind rather than any one. But no doubt he is thinking of both dogs and Gentiles (which is normal for Jews). Except in this case he uses ‘dogs’ as the analogy for the Judaisers. Rather than using “dogs” to mean Gentiles or Greeks, he is likening the Judaisers to “dogs” with all of the above characteristics in mind. These Judaisers (Jewish proselytes) push the minutiae of the law on the new believers in Christ, insisting they can’t be saved without being circumcised. Paul uses two terms here.
[ergatai] the evil workers who harp on about works [erga]. These are labeled as evil [kakos] which is evil or bad morally. They are maliciously bent on evil, disrupting or destroying the faith of the new believers in Christ and seeking to drag them back to the rite of circumcision under the Mosaic Law. In other words, reliance on the rites and traditions of Judaism under the Mosaic Law. [ergatÄ“s] is the word mostly used in the New Testament for workmen, labourers and mostly used to refer to Christians working for the sake of God and His Gospel. Paul contrasts these two terms.Paul uses another word play, [peritomÄ“] meaning “cutting around’ and [katatomÄ“] meaning ‘cutting in pieces” or “mutilation”. Paul uses the same work play in Galatians on the topic of circumcision and wishes they would just “cut it off”. (Emasculate and not circumcise). The use of the word is deliberate. All of this word playing is to depict the Judaisers as mutilators of the flesh. The root verb [katatamnein] is used consistently in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) to mean mutilation and more specifically the mutilation, cuttings and incisions made on the body forbidden by the Mosaic Law – referring to the ritualistic practices of the heathen. But in this case Paul switches it to depict the Judaisers and the practice of circumcision as being like the wild dogs who rip and tear and mutilate human flesh all to no purpose other than evil.
Paul then adds to this short, concise section one more word with a dual meaning. [kauchaomai] “boasting” or “pride” has both a positive and a negative connotation. The false boasting of the Judaisers which accomplishes nothing but destroying faith in Christ and the kind of boasting or pride that is in Christ alone who is able to save.
The idea of the phrase taking pride in the flesh has two meanings:
- the false boasting of the Judaisers
- those who take pride only in what Christ has done
In the case of the boasting of the Judaisers the sense is mutilating the flesh by cutting it and / or taking pride in the flesh in the context of the self or the carnal man who has not yet been born of the Spirit of God. Paul uses the word [sarx] or “flesh” in this case in the context of the Judaisers with respect to their practice and reliance on the Mosaic Law to save you. But as Paul tells us in other places the Law was never meant for that purpose. The ritualistic cutting of the flesh will never save you.
What I suggest you do now is to read back over the three versions above
- Literal
- Dynamic Equivalence
- Free Translation
and put the pieces together for yourself, knowing what you know now. I believe you are now equipped to handle the subtle little differences and can decide what you think about them in an informed way.
You’re welcome.
The 10 Commandments / the law is like a mirror. It tells you how dirty you are but it can’t wash you clean!
Ian Vail
Our responsibility is NOT to preserve the previous generation’s Traditions– but rather to assure the Gospel’s relevance to EVERY GENERATION!
Jesus doesn’t need you to add your works to His sacrifice. Don’t try to pay for something that He already paid for.
Too many of us have a Christian vocabulary rather than a Christian experience.
Every Christian is either a missionary or an impostor
Thanks again Ian for focusing my mind on those things that count.
It is a pleasure Bryan. I was just drawing attention to what Paul was doing to ensure the Philippians understood the danger in what the Judaisers were doing. As Paul wrote in Galatians 3:3 “How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?” Or as more literal versions put it “perfected by the flesh?” Paul in Galatians is challenging the Judaisers again about their attempt to get the new Christian converts circumcised. The same old threat. “Not by might, not by power but by MY Spirit says the LORD. This motif runs throughout the Bible. Because the temptation to do it in our own strength runs deeply within each one of us.
good commentary enjoyed the analysis.
Thanks Ross, I am glad it helped. Paul’s response is a deep one. His word plays and his combination of subtlety and straight talk is deep. I am sure the Judaisers got the message. I just hope the Judaisers of today get the message too. But more importantly that we Christ followers are not tempted to end in the flesh as the Galatians were and the Philippians were enticed to do.