Dogs (2965) kuon by Greek Word Studies

Dogs (2965) (kuon) (See dictionary articles) in the ancient word dogs here were mangy, flea-bitten, vicious, starved scavengers, that tended to run in packs, dig through garbage and occasionally even attack humans. The poet Homer uses it of men and women, implying recklessness in the former, and shamelessness in the latter. Gentiles of the Christian era were called dogs by the Jews. Paul uses kuon as an ironic term of reproach which was also commonly used by the Judaizers to express their contempt for Gentiles in general. In context this phrase most probably refers to Jews who professed to believe in Christ but depended upon keeping the rituals of Judaism for their salvation. Their salvation was faith plus works which is not real salvation. They insisted that unless one kept the Law of Moses, he would not be saved. Paul regards this teaching as dangerous and subversive to the true gospel of Christ. Some commentators explain "dogs" here in Philippians 3:2 as homosexuals on the basis of (Dt 23:17,18) but I think this would not fit the context in view of Paul's derogatory term ("false circumcision") that appears to describe Judaizers. Spurgeon wrote that... They are like to dogs. If they fawn upon you, they will bemire you, if they do not bite you. Eadie comments that... This hard expression, dogs (kuon), must be judged of by Eastern usage and associations. In very early times the name was applied as an epithet of reproach. In Homer the term is not of so deep a stain, especially as given to women; yet it resembled, in fact, the coarse appellative employed among the outcasts of society. Iris calls Athena, and Hera calls Artemis, by the term kuon; nay, Helen names herself one. Il. 8.423, 21.481. In the Odyssey, too, the female servants of Ulysses receive the same epithet. Odyss. 18.338, 19:91, 154. In countries to the east of Greece, the term was one of extreme contempt, and that seemingly from the earliest times. The dogs there were wild and masterless animals, prowling in the evening, feeding on garbage, and devouring unburied corpses, as savage generally as they were greedy. Isaiah 56:11. The fidelity of the dog is recognized in the Odyssey, 17.291, and by Aeschylus, Agam. 607. But rapacity and filth (2Pe 2:22) are the scriptural associations. Ps. 59:6, 14; 1Ki 14:11, 16:4, 21:19-compared with 1Sa 17:43; 2Ki 8:13. In Hebrew (this concept) was the epithet of the vilest and foulest sinners. Deut. 23:18; Rev. 22:15. The term was therefore a strong expression of contempt, and was given by the Jews to the heathen, Mt. 15:26, as it is by Mohammedans to a Christian at the present day, when, without often meaning a serious insult, they are in the habit of calling him Giaour (A giaour [Turkish: Gavur] is the Turkish word for infidel or nonbeliever and is similar to the Arabic word kafir). We must suppose the apostle to use the word in its general acceptation, and as indicative of impurity and profanity. To indicate more minute points of comparison, such as those of shamelessness, selfishness, savageness, or malevolence, is merely fanciful. (Epistle of St. Paul to the Philippians - 387 page book in Pdf) Later in this same chapter Paul describes those who might qualify as dogs or evil workers writing that... many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. (see note Philippians 3:18-19) There are 32 uses of kuon in the Septuagint (LXX) (Exod 11:7; 22:31; Deut 23:18; Judg 7:5; 17.43" class="scriptRef">1 Sam 17:43; 14" class="scriptRef">24:14; 2 Sam 3:8; 9:8; 16:9; 1 Kgs 12:24; 16:4; 21:19, 23f; 22:38; 2 Kgs 8:13; 9:10, 36; Job 30:1; Ps 22:16, 20; 59:6, 14; 68:23; Prov 7:22; 26:11, 17; Eccl 9:4; Isa 56:10f; 66:3; Jer 15:3) Below are some figurative uses in the OT Deuteronomy 23:18 "You shall not bring the hire of a harlot or the wages of a dog into the house of the LORD your God for any votive offering, for both of these are an abomination to the LORD your God. Comment: The parallel use of "hire of a harlot" and "wages of a dog" suggests that "dog" is a Hebrew "epithet" for a male cult prostitute which was a common practice in Canaanite so called "worship". This may help explain the somewhat enigmatic term used by our resurrected Lord Jesus to define those who will not be allowed to inhabit the New Jerusalem. see Rev 22:15 below. 1 Samuel 17:43 And the Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 1 Samuel 24:14 "After whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom are you pursuing? A dead dog, a single flea? 2 Samuel 9:8 Again he prostrated himself and said, "What is your servant, that you should regard a dead dog like me?" Below are the other 4 uses of kuon in the NT. Peter instructs us to remember that false teachers are true to their nature no matter how "spiritual" they may appear for a time... It has happened to them according to the true proverb, "A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT," and, "A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire." (see notes 2 Peter 2:22) In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus instructed believers... "Do not give what is holy to dogs (see discussion of kuon), (see this turning away put into practice in Mt 10:14-15, Acts 18:1-6, etc) and do not throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces." (Mt 7:6-note) Luke uses kuon in his description of Lazarus and the rich man writing that the poor man Lazarus was longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man's table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. (Luke 16:21) The last occurrence of kuon is in a figurative description in Revelation, John writing... Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying. (Rev 22:15-note) Comment: Robert Thomas explains that here in Revelation 22:15 “The dogs”...is a metaphor for the morally impure as it is throughout Scripture. They represent male prostitutes (Dt 23:18), Gentiles (Mt. 15:26), and Judaizers (Php. 3:2, 3), among other things (cf. 2Ki 8:13; Ps. 22:16, 20; Isa. 56:10; Mt. 7:6; Mk 7:27). In the Orient dogs are scavengers and are objects of great contempt. (Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 8-22 (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1995) (Bolding added) Vine writes that the epithet 'the dogs' is metaphorical here of the Judaizing teachers and their ways, who had found their way into the churches (cp Phil 1:15). It is used to suggest defilement and savagery, and homeless, ownerless wildness, as with the prowling dogs of the east. It is likewise a term of contempt or apprehension (1Sa 24:14; 2Ki 8:13; Ps 22:16, 20; Mt 7:6; 15:26; Rev 22:15)" Wiersbe writes that Like those dogs, these Judaizers snapped at Paul’s heels and followed him from place to place “barking” their false doctrines. They were troublemakers and carriers of dangerous infection...(Wiersbe, W: Bible Exposition Commentary. 1989. Victor) Barclay has a helpful note on dogs With us the dog is a well-loved animal, but it was not so in the East in the time of Jesus. The dogs were the pariah dogs, roaming the streets, sometimes in packs, hunting amidst the garbage dumps and snapping and snarling at all whom they met. J. B. Lightfoot speaks of “the dogs which prowl about eastern cities, without a home and without an owner, feeding on the refuse and filth of the streets, quarrelling among themselves, and attacking the passer-by.” In the Bible the dog always stands for that than which nothing can be lower. When Saul is seeking to take his life, David’s demand is: “After whom do you pursue? After a dead dog! after a flea!” (1Sa 24:14, cf. 2Ki 8:13; Ps 22:16, 20). In the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, part of the torture of Lazarus is that the street dogs annoy him by licking his sores (Luke 16:21). In Deuteronomy the Law brings together the price of a dog and the hire of a whore, and declares that neither must be offered to God (Dt 23:18). In Revelation the word dog stands for those who are so impure that they are debarred from the Holy City (Rev 22:15). That which is holy must never be given to dogs (Mt 7:6). It is the same in Greek thought; the dog stands for everything that is shamelessly unclean. It was by this name that the Jews called the Gentiles. There is a Rabbinic saying, “The nations of the world are like dogs.” So this is Paul’s answer to the Jewish teachers. He says to them, “In your proud self-righteousness, you call other men dogs; but it is you who are dogs, because you shamelessly pervert the gospel of Jesus Christ.” He takes the very name the Jewish teachers would have applied to the impure and to the Gentiles and flings it back at themselves. A man must always have a care that he is not himself guilty of the sins of which he accuses others. (Barclay, W: The Letters to the Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians. The New Daily Study Bible Series, Rev. ed. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press. John Knox Press) Marvin Vincent has a lengthy note on "dogs" writing... Dogs. Rev., correctly, the dogs, referring to a well-known party — the Judaizers. These were nominally Christians who accepted Jesus as the Messiah, but as the Saviour of Israel only. They insisted that Christ’s kingdom could be entered only through the gate of Judaism. Only circumcised converts were fully accepted by God. They appeared quite early in the history of the Church, and are those referred to in Acts 15:1. Paul was the object of their special hatred and abuse. They challenged his birth, his authority, and his motives. “ ‘Paul must be destroyed,’ was as truly their watchword as the cry for the destruction of Carthage had been of old to the Roman senator” (Stanley, “Sermons and Lectures on the Apostolic Age”). These are referred to in Phil. 1:16; and the whole passage in the present chapter, from Phil 3:3 -11, is worthy of study, being full of incidental hints lurking in single words, and not always apparent in our versions; hints which, while they illustrate the main point of the discussion, are also aimed at the assertions of the Judaizers. Dogs was a term of reproach among both Greeks and Jews. Homer uses it of both women and men, implying shamelessness in the one, and recklessness in the other. Thus Helen: “Brother-in-law of me, a mischief-devising dog” (“Iliad,” vi., 344). Teucer of Hector: “I cannot hit this raging dog” (“Iliad,” viii., 298). Dr. Thomson says of the dogs in oriental towns: “They lie about the streets in such numbers as to render it difficult and often dangerous to pick one’s way over and amongst them — a lean, hungry, and sinister brood. They have no owners, but upon some principle known only to themselves, they combine into gangs, each of which assumes jurisdiction over a particular street; and they attack with the utmost ferocity all canine intruders into their territory. In those contests, and especially during the night, they keep up an incessant barking and howling, such as is rarely heard in any European city. The imprecations of David upon his enemies derive their significance, therefore, from this reference to one of the most odious of oriental annoyances” (“Land and Book,” Central Palestine and Phoenicia, 593). See Ps 59:6; 22:16. Being unclean animals, dogs were used to denote what was unholy or profane. So Mt 7:6; Rev 22:15. The Israelites are forbidden in Deuteronomy to bring the price of a dog into the house of God for any vow: Deut 23:18. The Gentiles of the Christian era were denominated “dogs” by the Jews, see Mt 15:26. Paul here retorts upon them their own epithet. (Philippians 3: Greek Word Studies) Matthew Henry comments that Paul... calls the false prophets dumb dogs (Isa 56:10), to which the apostle here seems to refer. Dogs, for their malice against the faithful professors of the gospel of Christ, barking at them and biting them. They cried up good works in opposition to the faith of Christ; but Paul calls them evil workers: they boasted themselves to be of the circumcision; but he calls them the concision: they rent and tore the church of Christ, and cut it to pieces; or contended for an abolished rite, a mere insignificant cutting of the flesh. BEWARE OF THE EVIL WORKERS: blepete (2PPAM) tous kakous ergatas: (Phil 3:19; Ps 119:115; Mt 7:22,23; 2Cor 11:13; Gal 5:13; 1Ti1:19; 2Ti 3:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6; 2Ti 4:3,4; Titus 1:16; 2Pe 2:18-20; Jude 1:4,10, 11, 12, 13; Rev 21:8) Pritchard writes that... The passage begins with a stern word of warning. Evidently some false teachers had infiltrated the church at Philippi and Paul wanted to make sure the congregation knew how to handle them. In verse 2 he uses three exceedingly harsh terms to describe these false teachers. He calls them “dogs” (not house pets but wild dogs that roamed the streets) and “men who do evil” and “mutilators of the flesh.” These men were immoral, influential and injurious. They were zealous but wrong, active in the church but evil in their influence. (From Rubbish to Jesus - sermon by Dr. Ray Pritchard - November 1998) Eadie notes that The verb (Beware) is repeated for the sake of emphasis, and not because a second class of persons is pointed out to their wary inspection. Spurgeon... However prettily they may talk, if they are workers of evil, beware of them.” By their fruits ye shall know them.” Their speech may be clever, but if their lips be unclean, beware of them. Paul meant those Jews who made a great point of circumcision; he calls them here “the cutters”, for they mangled and cut the Church of God in pieces: “Beware of the concision.” Beware (991) (blepo) (see above) means perceive with your eyes. Have your eye on so as to beware of. Paul says to pay especially close attention to these men. Evil (2556) (kakos) morally descriptive of those characterized by godlessness with the implication of harmful and damaging bad. Kakos describes their character as base and malicious. Workers (2040) (ergates from ergázomai = engage in an activity involving considerable expenditure of effort) describes one who labors or toils. They did not just do evil in the general sense, but in this context they actually worked against the gospel of grace. As Eadie says these men were... but they were set on evil; theirs was no inoperative speculation; they were not mere opinionists, but restless agitators; they were not dreamy theorists, but busy workers—earnest and indefatigable (unable to be tired out; unflagging, persisting tirelessly) in the support and propagation of their errors. (Epistle of St. Paul to the Philippians - 387 page book in Pdf) In the Gospel of Luke Jesus illustrates with the story of a house where the head gets up and shuts the door. When some come to the door and seek to enter he replies... 'I tell you, I do not know where you are from; DEPART FROM ME, ALL YOU EVILDOERS.' (literally workers [ergates] of iniquity" or unrighteousness) (Luke 13:27) Comment: These workers are not specifically immoral men, but workers of the law, who because of a legalistic approach to salvation are producing only "unrighteousness." They are typical of the group seen here in Philippians. Paul appears to describe Judaizers who taught circumcision was necessary for salvation and thus were evil workers for the kingdom of God. In his second letter to the Corinthians Paul addresses another group of "workers"... For such men (those were attacking the credibility of Paul) are false apostles, deceitful (dolios - describes Satan's servants who deliberately attempt to mislead other people by telling lies & desire to gain advantage by deceiving using deceitful cunning or duplicity) workers (ergates), disguising (transfiguring, changing their outward appearance - Satan's worker's most destructive efforts are accomplished when they transform themselves, changing their outward appearance) themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.(2Cor 11:13,14) Wiersbe tells the following story A lady was arguing with her pastor about this matter of faith and works. “I think that getting to heaven is like rowing a boat,” she said. “One oar is faith, and the other is works. If you use both, you get there. If you use only one, you go around in circles.” ‘’There is only one thing wrong with your illustration,” replied the pastor. “Nobody is going to heaven in a rowboat!” There is only one “good work” that takes the sinner to heaven: the finished work of Christ on the cross (John 17:1-4; 19:30; Heb. 10:11-14).(Wiersbe, W: Bible Exposition Commentary. 1989. Victor) BEWARE OF THE FALSE CIRCUMCISION: blepete (2PPAM) ten katatomen: (Phil 3:3; Ro 2:28; Gal 2:3,4; 5:1, 2, 3,6; Rev 2:9; 3:9) Literally this reads "Beware of the mutilation"! The KJV says "beware of the concision" where concision is an archaic term which means to mutilate. Concision describes the mark on the flesh of the Israelite who had submitted to the outward rite, but had never been circumcised in heart. Spurgeon comments... Beware of the cutters off, those who excommunicate and cut off others because they do not happen quite to agree with them in certain rites and ceremonies. The Judaizers in essence were "mutilating" the message of the gospel of grace by adding law. The danger of these deceivers (and remember deceivers are usually also deceived which makes them especially dangerous because they really believe the false dogma they are teaching! 2Ti 3:13-note) was that this false teaching affected not only their own spiritual lives but also those of their converts. Thus Paul used strong language to warn those who would dare tamper with the Gospel writing... As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you received, let him be accursed (anathema - given up to the curse and to destruction). (Galatians 1:9) In Galatians 5:12 Paul again does not spare words writing... Would that those who are troubling you would even mutilate (emasculate) themselves (or cut themselves off as when one was made a eunuch)! Beware (991) (blepo) in its simple definition denotes voluntary observation. Blepo has the idea of constantly observing with a view to avoiding. In this context of course Paul commands (present imperative = calls for continued vigilance - don't let down your guard because the enemy deceivers are relentless - in this case they are Jewish legalists, but practically speaking legalists are in most if not every evangelical church) the saints at Philippi to continually be on the "look out" for these characters. It appears likely that all three terms refer to the same group of men, all of whom were false teachers who sought to put believers under the Law, teaching that righteousness was attained by works (keeping laws and rituals such as circumcision). Eadie comments on the false circumcision observing that this term occurs only here, and the apostle, in his indignation, characterizes the class of Judaizers by it. Not that he could speak so satirically of circumcision as a divine institute, but of it only when, as a mere manual mutilation, apart from its spiritual significance, it was insisted on as the only means of admission to the church—as a rite never to be discontinued, but one that was obligatory as well on the Gentile races as on the descendants of Abraham. The term justly designates the men whose creed was, “Except ye be circumcised and keep the whole law of Moses, ye cannot be saved.” Viewed in this light, and as enforced for this end, it was only a cutting, and so the apostle calls those who made so much of it “the slashers.” Chrysostom well says of them, that so far from performing a religious rite,—“they merely cut their flesh.” (Epistle of St. Paul to the Philippians)

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Dogs (2965) kuon

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