Philippians 3:2

Philippians 3:2 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.
• New International Version (NIV)Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation!

Context of Philippians 3:2

1My Christian friends, there are a few more things that I want to say. You belong to the Lord, so be happy! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again. And it will help to keep you safe. Be very careful! Some people are teaching bad things. They say that you must cut your bodies. They are like dangerous dogs. Do not believe them! 3But we are truly God's people. And it is not because someone has circumcised us. It is God's own Spirit that leads us to worship God. We thank God because of what Christ Jesus has done for us. We know that it is not human ideas that can save us. 4For myself, I could have trusted those human ideas. Perhaps somebody may think that they could trust in those things to save them. Then I would have an even better reason to trust in them.

Philippians 3:2 word by word

Βλέπετε τοὺς κύνας, βλέπετε τοὺς κακοὺς ἐργάτας, βλέπετε τὴν κατατομήν·Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Bewareβλέπωblepō · to seeG991
• of dogsὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• of dogsκύωνkuōn · dogG2965
• ofἐργάτηςergatēs · workerG2040
• evilκακόςkakos · evil/harm: evilG2556
• of the concisionκατατομήkatatomē · mutilationG2699

Cross-references for Philippians 3:2

• Proverbs 26:11A sick dog goes back to eat what it could not keep in its stomach. A fool goes back and makes the same mistakes again.
• Isaiah 56:10Israel's guards are blind! They do not see what is happening. They are all like dogs that cannot make a noise. They cannot warn people about danger. They love to lie on the ground and they dream while they sleep.
• Matthew 7:6Do not give special things that are for God to dogs. The dogs will turn round and attack you. Do not throw valuable things to pigs. The pigs will only stand on them and bury them in the dirt.’
• Matthew 24:10At that time, many people who believe in me will stop believing. They will put some of my disciples in the power of their rulers. They will hate each other.
• Galatians 5:15So you must not live like wild animals. Wild animals fight and they eat each other. If you live like that, be very careful! You may destroy one another completely.
• 2 Timothy 4:14Alexander, the man who makes things from metal, caused a lot of trouble for me. The Lord will punish him because of the wrong things that he did.
• 2 Peter 2:22You know these true proverbs: ‘After a dog has been sick, it returns to eat it again.’ Also: ‘After you wash a pig, it will quickly roll in the dirt again.’ These words describe how the false teachers live.
• Revelation 22:15But other people must stay outside the city: wicked people; people who do magic; people who have sex in a wrong way; people who murder other people; people who worship idols; everyone who likes to tell lies and deceive people.
• Philippians 3:19In the end, God will destroy them. Their stomach is what they worship. They are proud of things that should make them ashamed. Their thoughts are full of things that belong to this world.
• Psalms 119:115Go away from me, you evil people! I will obey my God's commands.
• Matthew 7:22On the day when God judges people, many of them will say, “Master, Master! We used your authority and we spoke a message from you. We used your authority and we sent bad spirits out of people. We used your authority to do many powerful things.”
• 2 Corinthians 11:13Those people are false apostles. They do not work in an honest way. They try to make people think that Christ has sent them as his apostles.
• Galatians 5:13My Christian friends, God has chosen you to serve him as free people. But you are still weak and human. So you are not free to do anything that you might want to do. Instead, you must serve one another, because you love each other.
• 1 Timothy 1:19You must continue to trust God. Always do what you know to be right. Some people have refused to do what is right, even when they know what they should do. As a result, they no longer believe God's true message.
• 2 Timothy 3:1Let me tell you this. During the last days of this world, there will be times of great trouble.
• 2 Timothy 4:3Do this, because a time will come when people will not listen to God's true message. Instead, they will want to hear all kinds of new messages that will make them happy. So they will find many teachers for themselves who will tell them what they want to hear.

Commentaries on Philippians 3:2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2Beware of dogs - The Jews, who have here the same appellative which they formerly gave to the Gentiles: because the Gentiles were not included in the covenant, they called them Dogs; and themselves, the children of the Most High. Now, they are cast out of the covenant and the Gentiles taken in; therefore they are the dogs, and the Gentiles the children. Evil workers - Judaizing teachers, who endeavored to pervert the Gospel. The concision - · The cutting…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2Beware of dogs - Dogs in the east are mostly without masters; they wander at large in the streets and fields, and feed upon offals, and even upon corpses; compare 1 Kings 14:11; 1 Kings 16:4; 1 Kings 21:19. They are held as unclean, and to call one a dog is a much stronger expression of contempt there than with us; 1 Samuel 17:43; 2 Kings 8:13. The Jews called the pagan dogs, and the Muslims call Jews and Christians by the same name. The term dog also is…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2those dogs, those workers of evil: Here, Paul reverses the traditional Jewish practice of calling non-Jewish people dogs (see Mark 7:27–28). Paul directs his strongest insults at Jews who taught that non-Jewish people must be circumcised to be saved (see 2 Corinthians 11:13–15; Galatians 1:6–9; 5:1–6, 12).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. Beware--Greek, "Have your eye on" so as to beware of. Contrast "mark," or "observe," namely, so as to follow Php 3:17. dogs--Greek, "the dogs," namely, those impure persons "of whom I have told you often" (Php 3:18, 19); "the abominable" (compare Re 21:8, with Re 22:15; Mt 7:6; Tit 1:15, 16): "dogs" in filthiness, unchastity, and snarling (De 23:18; Psa 59:6, 14, 15; 2Pe 2:22): especially "enemies of the cross of Christ" (Php 3:18; Psa 22:16, 20). The…Read the comment

Topics related to Philippians 3:2

• Concision
• Dog (Sodomite?)
• Hypocrisy
• Minister, Christian
• Watchfulness

In the dictionaries

• Belly
• Concision
• Count
• Dog
• Earthly
• Gain
• God
• Mean
• Press
• Safe

Commentaries on Philippians 3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings