Philippians 3:8 - Translation of "skybala"

[Joe Belisle]

I'm trying to figure out how "skybala" should be translated here.

"More than that, I consider all things to be loss compared to the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and regard them as skybala, in order that I may gain Christ,"

Reading through a good number of commentators, "skybala" has two main uses:

1. Feces
2. Table scraps

In either case, it is generally considered a more profane word and most scholars tend to agree Paul intended this to be somewhat shocking for his readers.

I have heard before that "skybala' would be akin to "crap" or "shit" today, agreeing more with translations like the NET and KJV which translate the word (somewhat softly/inoffensively) as "dung." It is also very possible though for this to be "garbage" or "refuse" as is used in translations such as the NASB, ESV, NCV, etc.

The only other use of the word in the "bible" appears in the Septuagint in the apocryphal Sirach 27:4. Here it refers to what is left over after shaking a sieve (which would lend toward "garbage" unless you're sifting out feces...). It is not possible to find the Hebrew word from which this was translated as Sirach 27:4 only appears in the Septuagint and not in any Hebraic texts.

There is an interesting argument put forth in Philippians: The Crossway Classic Commentaries on this word.They say,

"The Judaizers spoke of themselves as banqueters seated at the Father's table, of Gentile Christians as dogs greedily snatching up the refuse meat which fell form there. St. Paul reversed the image. The Judaizers are themselves the 'dogs' (verse 2)...."

This does seem fitting with the reference to the Judaizers in verse 2 as dogs, and the fact that the Pharisaic life is exactly what Paul is counting as "skybala" here.

So how should "skybala" here be translated?

[Joe Belisle]

I decided (for now, unless someone has points to make to the contrary) to go with the translation "garbage."

Along with the arguments on the side of "garbage" given in the original posting, garbage is also something that was at one point valuable, but now is worthless, which describes what Paul is talking about. I would not have considered my old laptop to be garbage, but compared to my much more powerful, much lighter, much more sleek and much more useful current laptop, it was garbage, which is why I got rid of it. It had value at one point, but in light of what I have no, it no longer has value to me.

This seems to fit with what Paul is saying. "I once valued my life as a Pharisee and all that came with it, but now in Christ, all of that is worthless in comparison and not even worth keeping around."

[Barry Smith]

Yeah in Spanish the issue is the same estiércol or basura i guess it all boils down to which family of manuscripts one is going to choose the Byzantine, Western, Eclectic, Egyptian or Alexandrian text-types. Which me personally the Spanish Translation im working on is going to be TR based so im going to go with estiércol. I would also probably call my old cell phones garbage and alot of old stuff I normally throw out in the trash but things that I have accomplished are crap or "dung" compared to having eternal life in Christ.   

Interesting that the Latin Vulgate translated as stercora with comes from the word stercus which stercora is droppings of dung.      

The Septuagint is shaky to say the least...Supposedly the way the Legend goes it does't seem like it was a God inspired translation to me more like a satanic driven King wanting to publish a manuscript to put into his worldly Alexandrian library...so who is to say God didn't give the King what he wanted for to "heap burning coals on his head". Remember the Jews wanted a King and they got Saul well Ptolemy wanted a greek manuscript and was given the Septuagint. It wouldn't surprise me if he killed all 72 Elders after they finished.  

 

(Greek King of Egypt Ptolemy II Philadelphus once gathered 72 Elders. He placed them in 72 chambers, each of them in a separate one, without revealing to them why they were summoned. He entered each one's room and said: "Write for me the Torah of Moshe, your teacher". God put it in the heart of each one to translate identically as all the others did.)