Mateo 7:6

Filipino Cebuano Bible

6 "Ayaw ihatag sa mga iro ang butang balaan; ug ayaw iitsa ang inyong mga mutya ngadto sa mga baboy, kay tingali unyag ila kining yatakyatakan, ug sa pagsumbalik kaninyo ila kamong hanggaton.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

that: Matthew 10:14, Matthew 10:15, Matthew 15:26, Proverbs 9:7, Proverbs 9:8, Proverbs 23:9, Proverbs 26:11, Acts 13:45-47, Philippians 3:2, Hebrews 6:6, Hebrews 10:29, 2 Peter 2:22

cast: Proverbs 11:22

turn: Matthew 22:5, Matthew 22:6, Matthew 24:10, 2 Corinthians 11:26, 2 Timothy 4:14, 2 Timothy 4:15

Reciprocal: Genesis 19:9 - Stand Genesis 34:24 - every male Exodus 30:32 - man's Leviticus 11:7 - swine Deuteronomy 23:18 - dog 2 Kings 8:13 - a dog 2 Kings 18:36 - held their peace Job 28:18 - pearls Psalms 22:16 - dogs Psalms 39:2 - even Proverbs 29:9 - General Isaiah 36:21 - General Matthew 9:1 - he Mark 5:40 - when Mark 7:27 - Let Mark 8:13 - General Luke 23:9 - but 1 Corinthians 14:38 - General

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Give not that which is holy to the dogs,.... Dogs were unclean creatures by the law; the price of one might not be brought into the house of the Lord, for a vow, Deuteronomy 23:18 yea, these creatures were not admitted into several temples of the Heathens h. Things profane and unclean, as flesh torn by beasts, were ordered to be given to them, Exodus 22:31 but nothing that was holy was to be given them, as holy flesh, or the holy oblations, or anything that was consecrated to holy uses; to which is the allusion here. It is a common maxim i with the Jews,

"Myblkl Nlykahl Myvdqh ta Nydwp Nyav, "that they do not redeem holy things, to give to the dogs to eat".''

Here the phrase is used in a metaphorical sense; and is generally understood of not delivering or communicating the holy word of God, and the truths of the Gospel, comparable to pearls, or the ordinances of it, to persons notoriously vile and sinful: to men, who being violent and furious persecutors, and impudent blasphemers, are compared to "dogs"; or to such, who are scandalously vile, impure in their lives and conversations, and are therefore compared to swine;

neither cast ye your pearls before swine. But since the subject Christ is upon is reproof, it seems rather to be the design of these expressions, that men should be cautious, and prudent, in rebuking and admonishing such persons for their sins, in whom there is no appearance or hope of success; yea, where there is danger of sustaining loss;

lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you: that is, despise the admonitions and reproofs given, and hurt the persons who give them, either by words or deeds; see Proverbs 9:7. The Jews have some sayings much like these, and will serve to illustrate them k;

"Myryzxh ynpl Mynynph wkylvt la, "do not cast pearls before swine", nor deliver wisdom to him, who knows not the excellency of it; for wisdom is better than pearls, and he that does not seek after it, is worse than a swine.''

h Vid. Alex. ab. Alex. Gaeial. Dier. l. 2. c. 14. i T. Bab. Temura, fol. 17. 1. & 31. 1. & 33. 2. Becorot, fol. 15. 1. Hieros. Pesachim, fol. 27. 4. & Maaser Sheni, fol. 53. 3. k Mischar Happeninim apud Buxtorf. Florileg. Heb. p. 306.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Give not that which is holy ... - By some the word “holy” has been supposed to mean “flesh offered in sacrifice,” made holy, or separated to a sacred use; but it probably means here “anything connected with religion” - admonition, precept, or doctrine. Pearls are precious stones found in shell-fish, chiefly in India, in the waters that surround Ceylon. They are used to denote anything especially precious, Revelation 17:4; Revelation 18:12-16; Matthew 13:45. In this place they are used to denote the doctrines of the gospel. “Dogs” signify people who spurn, oppose, and abuse that doctrine; people of special sourness and malignity of temper, who meet it like growling and quarrelsome curs, Philippians 3:2; 2 Peter 2:22; Revelation 22:15. “Swine” denote those who would trample the precepts underfoot; people of impurity of life; those who are corrupt, polluted, profane, obscene, and sensual; those who would not know the value of the gospel, and who would tread it down as swine would pearls, 2 Peter 2:22; Proverbs 11:22. The meaning of this proverb, then, is, do not offer your doctrine to those violent and abusive people who would growl and curse you; nor to those especially debased and profligate who would not perceive its value, would trample it down, and would abuse you. This verse furnishes a beautiful instance of what has been called the “introverted parallelism.” The usual mode of poetry among the Hebrews, and a common mode of expression in proverbs and apothegms, was by the parallelism, where one member of a sentence answered to another, or expressed substantially the same sense with some addition or modification. See the Introduction to the Book of Job. Sometimes this was alternate, and sometimes it was introverted - where the first and fourth lines would correspond, and the second and third. This is the case here. The dogs would tear, and not the swine; the swine would trample the pearls under their feet, and not the dogs. It may be thus expressed:

Give not that which is holy unto the dogs,

Neither cast ye your pearls before swine,

Lest they (that is, the swine) trample them under their feet,

And turn again (that is, the dogs) and rend you.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Matthew 7:6. Give not that which is holy — το αγιον, the holy or sacred thing; i.e. any thing, especially, of the sacrificial kind, which had been consecrated to God. The members of this sentence should be transposed thus: -

Give not that which is holy unto the dogs,

Lest they turn again and rend you:

Neither cast ye your pearls before swine,

Lest they trample them under their feet.

The propriety of this transposition is self-evident. There are many such transpositions as these, both in sacred and profane writers. The following is very remarkable: -

"I am black but comely;

"As the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon."

That is,

"I am black as the tents of Kedar,

"Comely as the curtains of Solomon."

See many proofs of this sort of writing in Mr. WAKEFIELD'S Commentary.

As a general meaning of this passage, we may just say: "The sacrament of the Lord's supper, and other holy ordinances which are only instituted for the genuine followers of Christ, are not to be dispensed to those who are continually returning like the snarling ill-natured dog to their easily predominant sins of rash judgment, barking at and tearing the characters of others by evil speaking, back biting and slandering; nor to him who, like the swine, is frequently returning to wallow in the mud of sensual gratifications and impurities."