2. The warning is not against three types of people (e.g., heathen, self-seeking Christian teachers, and Jews), but against one kind from three angles: their character (dogs), conduct (evil workers), and creed (concision. Cf. Robertson in Abingdon Bible Commentary, p. 1246). According to Mosaic law the dog was an unclean animal (Deut 23:18). In Eastern cities he was a scavenger and usually diseased—a “despised, shameless, and miserable creature” (SBK, I, 722). Paul reverses this term of contempt
Philippians 3:2