Reference: Dog
Easton
frequently mentioned both in the Old and New Testaments. Dogs were used by the Hebrews as a watch for their houses (Isa 56:10), and for guarding their flocks (Job 30:1). There were also then as now troops of semi-wild dogs that wandered about devouring dead bodies and the offal of the streets (1Ki 14:11; 16:4; 21:19,23; 22:38; Ps 59:6,14).
As the dog was an unclean animal, the terms "dog," "dog's head," "dead dog," were used as terms of reproach or of humiliation (1Sa 24:14; 2Sa 3:8; 9:8; 16:9). Paul calls false apostles "dogs" (Php 3:2). Those who are shut out of the kingdom of heaven are also so designated (Re 22:15). Persecutors are called "dogs" (Ps 22:16). Hazael's words, "Thy servant which is but a dog" (2Ki 8:13), are spoken in mock humility=impossible that one so contemptible as he should attain to such power.
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After whom is the king of Israel come out? After whom do thou pursue? After a dead dog, after a flea.
He who dies of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat, and he who dies in the field shall the birds of the heavens eat, for LORD has spoken it.
He of Baasha who dies in the city shall the dogs eat, and he of his who dies in the field shall the birds of the heavens eat.
And thou shall speak to him, saying, Thus says LORD, Have thou killed and also taken possession? And thou shall speak to him, saying, Thus says LORD, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, eve
And LORD spoke also of Jezebel, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the rampart of Jezreel.
And they washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood (now the harlots washed themselves [there]), according to the word of LORD which he spoke.
And Hazael said, But what is thy servant, who is but a dog, that he should do this great thing? And Elisha answered, LORD has shown me that thou shall be king over Syria.
But now those who are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.
For dogs have encompassed me. A company of evil-doers have enclosed me. {They pierced (LXX/DSS)} my hands and my feet.
They return at evening. They howl like a dog, and go round about the city.
And at evening let them return, let them howl like a dog, and go round about the city.
His watchmen are blind. They are all without knowledge. They are all mute dogs. They cannot bark, dreaming, laying down, loving to slumber.
Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workmen, beware of the excision.
Outside are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and every man who loves and makes a lie.
Fausets
The watch of the house, and of the flock (Isa 56:10-11; Job 30:1). Sometimes domesticated, as the Syrophoenician woman's comparison and argument imply, "the household (kunaria, 'little' or 'pet') dogs eat of the crumbs (Mt 15:26-27; Mr 7:27-28) which fall from their master's table." More commonly ownerless, and banded in troops which divide cities into so many quarters; each half-starved, ravenous troop keeps to its own quarter, and drives off any intruder; feeding on blood, dead bodies, and offal; therefore regarded as "unclean" (1Ki 14:11; 16:4; 21:19,23; 22:38; 2Ki 9:10,35-36). Their dismal howlings at night are alluded to in Ps 59:6,14-15; "they return at evening, they make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city"; perhaps in allusion to Saul's agents thirsting for David's blood coming to Michal's house at evening, and to the retribution on Saul in kind, when he who had made David a wanderer himself wandered about seeking vainly for help against the Philistines, and went at last by night to the witch of Endor. As unclean (Isa 66:3), dog, dead dog, dog's head, are terms of scorn or else self-abasement (1Sa 24:14; 2Sa 3:8; 9:8; 16:9; 2Ki 8:13). A wanton, self-prostituting man is called a "dog" (De 23:18). One Egyptian god had a dog form. "Beware of the (Greek) dogs," those impure persons of whom I told you often" (Php 3:2,18-19); "the abominable" (Re 21:8; compare Re 22:15; Mt 7:6); pagan in spirit (Tit 1:15-16); dogs in filthiness, snarling, and ferocity against the Lord and His people (Ps 22:16,20); backsliding into former carnality, as the dog "is turned to his own vomit again" (2Pe 2:22). The Jews regarded the Gentiles as "dogs," but by unbelief they ceased to be the true Israel and themselves became dogs (Isa 56:10-11). "Deliver my darling from the power of the dog," i.e. my soul (literally, my unique one, unique in its preciousness) from the Jewish rabble; as "deliver My soul from the sword" is Messiah's cry for deliverance from the Roman soldiery and governor. The Assyrian hunting dog as vividly depicted on Assyrian sculptures resembled exactly our harrier or foxhound.
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Thou shall not bring the hire of a harlot, or the wages of a dog, into the house of LORD thy God for any vow, for even both these are an abomination to LORD thy God.
After whom is the king of Israel come out? After whom do thou pursue? After a dead dog, after a flea.
He who dies of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat, and he who dies in the field shall the birds of the heavens eat, for LORD has spoken it.
He of Baasha who dies in the city shall the dogs eat, and he of his who dies in the field shall the birds of the heavens eat.
And thou shall speak to him, saying, Thus says LORD, Have thou killed and also taken possession? And thou shall speak to him, saying, Thus says LORD, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, eve
And LORD spoke also of Jezebel, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the rampart of Jezreel.
And they washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood (now the harlots washed themselves [there]), according to the word of LORD which he spoke.
But now those who are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.
For dogs have encompassed me. A company of evil-doers have enclosed me. {They pierced (LXX/DSS)} my hands and my feet.
Deliver my soul from the sword, the only one of me from the power of the dog.
They return at evening. They howl like a dog, and go round about the city.
And at evening let them return, let them howl like a dog, and go round about the city. They shall wander up and down for food, and tarry all night if they be not satisfied.
His watchmen are blind. They are all without knowledge. They are all mute dogs. They cannot bark, dreaming, laying down, loving to slumber.
His watchmen are blind. They are all without knowledge. They are all mute dogs. They cannot bark, dreaming, laying down, loving to slumber. Yea, the dogs are greedy; they can never have enough. And these are shepherds who cannot understand. They have all turned to their own way, each one to his gain, from every quarter.
Yea, the dogs are greedy; they can never have enough. And these are shepherds who cannot understand. They have all turned to their own way, each one to his gain, from every quarter.
He who slaughters an ox is as he who kills a man. He who sacrifices a lamb, as he who breaks a dog's neck. He who offers an oblation, [as] swine's blood. He who burns frankincense, as he who blesses an idol. Yea, they have chosen t
Do not give what is holy to the dogs, nor cast your pearls before the swine, lest they trample them by their feet, and having turn back may lacerate you.
And having answered, he said, It is not right to take the children's bread and cast it to the house dogs. But she said, Yes, Lord, for even the house dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from the table of their masters.
And Jesus said to her, Allow the children first be filled, for it is not right to take the children's bread and cast it to the house dogs. But she answered and says to him, Yes, Lord, for even the house dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs.
Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workmen, beware of the excision.
For many walk, who (I told you often, and now also say while weeping) are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is the belly, and the glory in their shame, who mind earthly things.
Truly to the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but in their works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and worthless for every good work.
But that of the TRUE proverb has happened to them, The dog returning to his own vomit, and the sow that washed to wallowing in mire.
But for the cowards, and unbelieving, and sinful, and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.
Outside are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and every man who loves and makes a lie.
Hastings
All the Bible references to dogs breathe the modern Oriental feeling with regard to them; they refer to the common pariah dogs. These creatures are in all their ways repulsive, and in the majority of cases they have not even outward attractiveness. They live in and around the streets, and act as scavengers. In the environs of Jerusalem, e.g. the Valley of Hinnom, where carcases are cast out, they may be seen prowling around and consuming horrible, putrid bodies, or lying stretched near the remains of their meal, satiated with their loathsome repast. Whole companies of dogs consume the offal of the slaughter-house. There is not the slightest doubt that they would consume human bodies to-day had they the opportunity; indeed, cases do occur from time to time (cf. 1Ki 14:11; 16:4; 21:19,23; 22:38; 2Ki 9:10,36; Jer 15:3; Ps 68:23). All night they parade the streets (Ps 59:6,14-15), each company jealously guarding that district which they have annexed, and fighting with noisy onslaught any canine stranger who ventures to invade their territory. Such a quarrel may start all the dogs in the city into a hideous chorus of furious barks. In many parts these creatures are a real danger, and the wise man leaves them alone (Pr 26:17). When they attach themselves, quite uninvited, to certain houses or encampments, they defend them from all intruders (Isa 56:10). To call a man a 'dog' is a dire insult, but by no means an uncommon one from an arrogant superior to one much below him, and to apply such an epithet to himself on the part of an inferior is an expression of humility (2Ki 8:13 etc.). A 'dead dog' is an even lower stage; it is an all too common object, an unclean animal in a condition of putridity left unconsumed even by his companions (1Sa 24:14 etc.). The feeling against casting bread to a dog is a strong one; bread is sacred, and to cast it to dogs is even to-day strongly condemned in Palestine (Mr 7:27).
The shepherd dog (Job 30:1) is, as a rule, a very superior animal; many of these are handsome beasts of a Kurdish breed, and have the intelligent ways and habits of our best shepherds' dogs at home.
Greyhounds are still bred by some Bedouin in S. Palestine, and are used for hunting the gazelle; they are treated very differently from the pariah dogs. Pr 30:31 is a very doubtful reference to the greyhound; Revised Version margin has 'war horse,' Septuagint 'cock.'
The 'price of a dog' (De 23:18) evidently has reference to degraded practices of the qed
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Thou shall not bring the hire of a harlot, or the wages of a dog, into the house of LORD thy God for any vow, for even both these are an abomination to LORD thy God.
After whom is the king of Israel come out? After whom do thou pursue? After a dead dog, after a flea.
He who dies of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat, and he who dies in the field shall the birds of the heavens eat, for LORD has spoken it.
He of Baasha who dies in the city shall the dogs eat, and he of his who dies in the field shall the birds of the heavens eat.
And thou shall speak to him, saying, Thus says LORD, Have thou killed and also taken possession? And thou shall speak to him, saying, Thus says LORD, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, eve
And LORD spoke also of Jezebel, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the rampart of Jezreel.
And they washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood (now the harlots washed themselves [there]), according to the word of LORD which he spoke.
And Hazael said, But what is thy servant, who is but a dog, that he should do this great thing? And Elisha answered, LORD has shown me that thou shall be king over Syria.
But now those who are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.
They return at evening. They howl like a dog, and go round about the city.
And at evening let them return, let them howl like a dog, and go round about the city. They shall wander up and down for food, and tarry all night if they be not satisfied.
that thou may dash thy foot in blood, that the tongue of thy dogs may have its portion from enemies.
He who passes by, [and] meddles with strife not his, [is like] he who takes a dog by the ears.
the greyhound, also the he-goat, and the king against whom there is no rising up.
His watchmen are blind. They are all without knowledge. They are all mute dogs. They cannot bark, dreaming, laying down, loving to slumber.
And I will appoint over them four kinds, says LORD: the sword to kill, and the dogs to tear, and the birds of the heavens, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and to destroy.
And Jesus said to her, Allow the children first be filled, for it is not right to take the children's bread and cast it to the house dogs.
Morish
Constantly referred to in scripture as an unclean and debased animal: hence the unclean Gentiles or heathen are compared to dogs. Ps 22:16; 59:6,14. The price of a dog was forbidden to be put into the Lord's treasury, it was an abomination. De 23:18. Hazael, a heathen, said, "Is thy servant a dog?" and the most offensive epithet was to call a man a dead dog. They were, and are, the scavengers of Eastern cities. All refuse is thrown into the streets and the dogs eat it. It was the dogs who ate the body of Jezebel, and licked up the blood of Naboth and of Ahab. In the N.T. it is the same: 'without are dogs,' ' beware of dogs' used symbolically of those cut off and of the unclean: they return to their vomit again. The only apparent exception to the above is when the Lord compared the Syrophenician woman to a dog, and she said, "Yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." In these passages the diminutive of the word is used, implying 'little dogs or puppies,' and these are often kept in houses until they grow up. But this does not remove the contempt implied in the term. Mt 15:27. Wyclif translated 'houndis' and 'litil whelpis' in Mr 7:27-28.
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Thou shall not bring the hire of a harlot, or the wages of a dog, into the house of LORD thy God for any vow, for even both these are an abomination to LORD thy God.
For dogs have encompassed me. A company of evil-doers have enclosed me. {They pierced (LXX/DSS)} my hands and my feet.
They return at evening. They howl like a dog, and go round about the city.
And at evening let them return, let them howl like a dog, and go round about the city.
But she said, Yes, Lord, for even the house dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from the table of their masters.
And Jesus said to her, Allow the children first be filled, for it is not right to take the children's bread and cast it to the house dogs. But she answered and says to him, Yes, Lord, for even the house dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs.
Smith
Dog,
an animal frequently mentioned in Scripture. It was used by the hebrews as a watch for their houses,
and for guarding their flocks.
Then also, as now troops of hungry and semi-wild dogs used to wander about the fields and the streets of the cities, devouring dead bodies and other offal,
1Ki 14:11; 21:19,23; 22:38; Ps 59:6
and thus became so savage and fierce and such objects of dislike that fierce and cruel enemies are poetically styled dogs in
moreover the dog being an unclean animal,
the epithets dog, dead dog, dog's head, were used as terms of reproach or of humility in speaking of one's self.
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After whom is the king of Israel come out? After whom do thou pursue? After a dead dog, after a flea.
He who dies of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat, and he who dies in the field shall the birds of the heavens eat, for LORD has spoken it.
And thou shall speak to him, saying, Thus says LORD, Have thou killed and also taken possession? And thou shall speak to him, saying, Thus says LORD, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, eve
And LORD spoke also of Jezebel, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the rampart of Jezreel.
And they washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood (now the harlots washed themselves [there]), according to the word of LORD which he spoke.
But now those who are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.
For dogs have encompassed me. A company of evil-doers have enclosed me. {They pierced (LXX/DSS)} my hands and my feet.
Deliver my soul from the sword, the only one of me from the power of the dog.
They return at evening. They howl like a dog, and go round about the city.
His watchmen are blind. They are all without knowledge. They are all mute dogs. They cannot bark, dreaming, laying down, loving to slumber.
He who slaughters an ox is as he who kills a man. He who sacrifices a lamb, as he who breaks a dog's neck. He who offers an oblation, [as] swine's blood. He who burns frankincense, as he who blesses an idol. Yea, they have chosen t
Watsons
DOG, ???, an animal well known. By the law of Moses, the dog was declared unclean, and was held in great contempt among the Jews, 1Sa 17:43; 24:14; 2Sa 9:8; 2Ki 8:13. Yet they had them in considerable numbers in their cities. They were not, however, shut up in their houses or courts, but forced to seek their food where they could find it. The Psalmist compares violent men to dogs, who go about the city in the night, prowl about for their food, and growl, and become clamorous if they be not satisfied, Ps 59:6,14-15. Mr. Harmer has illustrated this by quotations from travellers into the east. The Turks also reckon the dog a filthy creature, and therefore drive him from their houses; so that with them dogs guard rather the streets and districts, than particular houses, and live on the offals that are thrown abroad. In 1Sa 25:3, Nabal is said to have been "churlish and evil in his manners; and he was of the house of Caleb;" but Caleb here is not a proper name. Literally, it is, "He was the son of a dog;" and so the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic render it,
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And the Philistine said to David, Am I a dog, that thou come to me with sticks? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
After whom is the king of Israel come out? After whom do thou pursue? After a dead dog, after a flea.
Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. And the woman was of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance, but the man was churlish and evil in his doings, and he was of the house of Caleb.
And LORD spoke also of Jezebel, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the rampart of Jezreel.
And they washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood (now the harlots washed themselves [there]), according to the word of LORD which he spoke.
They return at evening. They howl like a dog, and go round about the city.
And at evening let them return, let them howl like a dog, and go round about the city. They shall wander up and down for food, and tarry all night if they be not satisfied.
He who passes by, [and] meddles with strife not his, [is like] he who takes a dog by the ears.
And I will appoint over them four kinds, says LORD: the sword to kill, and the dogs to tear, and the birds of the heavens, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and to destroy.
Do not give what is holy to the dogs, nor cast your pearls before the swine, lest they trample them by their feet, and having turn back may lacerate you.