Philippians 3:2

Jesus and other prophets used the term "dogs" to refer to opponents of God’s truth (Matthew 7:6; cf. Deuteronomy 23:18; 1 Samuel 17:43; 1 Samuel 24:14; Proverbs 26:11; Isaiah 56:10-11). The Jews habitually referred to Gentiles contemptuously as dogs (cf. Matthew 15:21-28). In ancient times many dogs were unclean, wild, vicious animals that threatened the safety of everyone.

"Paul now hurls this term of contempt back ’on the heads of its authors’ . . ., for to Paul the Jews were the real pariahs that defile the holy community, the Christian church, with their erroneous teaching." [Note: Ibid., p. 125. Cf. R. Jewett, "Conflicting Movements in the Early Church as Reflected in Philippians," Novum Testamentum 12 (1970):386; and Martin, p. 137.]

"This metaphor is full of ’bite,’ . . . Paul thus reverses the epithet; by trying to make Gentiles ’clean’ through circumcision, the Judaizers are unclean ’dogs.’" [Note: Fee, Paul’s Letter . . ., p. 295.]

The phrase "evil workers" (NABS) stresses the evil character of their labors. However "false circumcision" (NASB) or "mutilators of the flesh" (NIV, cf. Galatians 5:12) gives us the most insight into exactly whom Paul had in mind. [Note: See René A. López, "A Study of Pauline Passages with Vice Lists," Bibliotheca Sacra 168:671 (July-September 2011):301-16.]

These were evidently the Judaizers that plagued Paul and his converts throughout his ministry. O’Brien gave six options that scholars have suggested concerning the identity of this group, and he defended their being different from the opponents whom Paul mentioned in Philippians 1:14-17. [Note: P. T. O’Brien, Commentary on Philippians, pp. 101-6.] They taught that people could only enter the church through the vestibule of Judaism, and that once inside they needed to submit to the Mosaic Law. This was the so-called "Galatian heresy" that Paul dealt with extensively in his epistle to the Galatians. They emphasized circumcision because it was the rite that brought a person into Judaism, which they viewed as a prerequisite to justification (cf. Acts 15:1). False circumcision refers to circumcision for the wrong reasons, namely, circumcision contrary to the revelation of God in Scripture.