Philippians 3:8

Hey John,

In Philippians 3:8, there is a certain word that in the King James Version (KJV) was translated “dung”. And in our translation it is translated “garbage”. I was wondering if that particular word could be translated either way and the choice was made to have it say “garbage” instead of “dung”? Or was the KJV simply a bad translation and in our translation it was translated correctly?

Thank you!

Billy H.

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Thanks, Billy, for the question.  Here are the possible definitions of the Greek word σκύβαλον: 

“dung, sweepings, refuse, rubbish”

So, it could be either one.  It has been a long time, but I would guess that we chose “garbage” because it encompasses more types of junk than “dung” does.

Pastor John

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https://x.com/WitnessofSpirit/status/1919417938735501359