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Bible Dictionaries
Dog (2)
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament
or (κύων, Philippians 3:2, 2 Peter 2:22, Revelation 22:15)
In Palestine the dog plays a very insignificant and contemptible part, and is in consequence the symbol for all that is ignoble and mean. The ordinary pariah street-dogs are from two to three feet long, tawny in colour, have small eyes, short fur, and comparatively little hair on the tail. They act as scavengers, clearing away carcases and offal, which form the staple of their food, and which, but for them, might create pestilence (cf. H. B. Tristram, Natural History10 p. 78). They bark and howl all night (cf. Psalms 59:6; Psalms 59:14), but as a rule are afraid of men, though on occasions they attack travellers in lonely places. Sometimes they are trained to act as sheep-dogs (cf. Job 30:1), not, however, for driving the sheep, as with us, but for guarding them against the attacks of wolves and jackals at night. Dogs were seldom regarded or treated as pets; this was perhaps due to the fact that the Jews were not a hunting people. Tristram, however, informs us that he had no difficulty in making a pet of a puppy taken from pariah dogs (op. cit. p. 80), while we have clear evidence in Matthew 15:27 || Mark 7:27 that they sometimes became household pets; it is, however, noticeable that the term used in these two passages is the diminutive κυνάριον. The only other breed of dog known in Palestine is the Persian greyhound, which resembles our greyhound in general form and appearance, but is larger and stronger, though not so swift. This dog is used by shaikhs for hunting the gazelle.
When used as a personal epithet in OT and NT, ‘dog’ is a term of absolute contempt when applied to others, of extreme humility when applied to oneself. In Philippians 3:2, St. Paul applies the term to his Judaizing opponents-‘Look to, be on your guard against, the dogs, the workers of mischief, the concision’ (cf. Lightfoot, Philippians4, 1878, p. 143)-a party, clearly, well-defined and well-known to the members of the Philippian Church. In 2 Peter 2:22 the ‘dog’ is mentioned along with the ‘sow’ as in Horace (Epp. I. ii. 26)-the dog turning to his own vomit again, and the sow that hath bathed itself (in mud), to wallowing in the mire. The reference is to apostates-those who, after being converted to the way of righteousness and having abandoned the filth in which they had once so zealously ‘bathed,’ return again to wallow in the mire of their former delights. In Revelation 22:15, the ‘dogs’ are those who are corrupted by the foul vices of the heathen world, many of whom were doubtless to be found within the pale of the Church (cf. 2:14, 2 Corinthians 12:21).
Literature.-For the dog in Palestine see H. B. Tristram, Natural History of the Bible10, 1911, p. 78ff.; also SWP [Note: Memoirs of Survey of Western Palestine.] : ‘The Fauna and Flora of Palatine,’ 1884, p. 21; P. G. Baldensperger, ‘The Immovable East,’ in PEFSt [Note: EFSt Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement.] , 1903, p. 73, 1904, p. 361; J. E. Hanauer, ‘Palestinian Animal Folk-Lore,’ in PEFSt [Note: Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement.] , 1904, p. 265; W. M. Thomson, The Land and the Book, new ed., 1910, pp. 178-179. On the texts see especially J. B. Lightfoot, Philippians4, 1878. p. 143f.; C. Bigg, Epp. of St. Peter and St. Jude (International Critical Commentary , 1901), p. 287f.; H. B. Swete, The Apocalypse of St. John, 1907, p. 308.
P. S. P. Handcock.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Dog (2)'. Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdn/d/dog-2.html. 1906-1918.
