# General Information:

Paul begins to warn the Philippians against people who say that Christians have to obey the Jewish ceremonial law. Obedience to this law is symbolized by the synecdoche of circumcision. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-synecdoche]])

# Watch out for

"Beware of" or "Be on guard against"

# the dogs ... those evil workers ... the mutilation

These are three different ways of describing the same group of false teachers. Paul is using strong expressions to convey his feeling about these Jewish teachers who claim to be Christians.

# dogs

The word "dogs" was used by the Jews to refer to those who were not Jews. They were considered unclean. Paul speaks of the false teachers as though they were dogs, to insult them. If you have a different animal in your culture that is considered unclean or whose name is used as an insult, you could use this animal instead. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-metaphor]] and [[rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-irony]])

# the mutilation

This exaggeration plays on the idea of circumcision. Paul speaks of those who wanted to trim off the foreskin as if they were totally mutilating the body. The action of mutilation is a metonym for the people who would perform the action. Alternate translation: "those who mutilate the body" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-hyperbole]] and [[rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-metonymy]])