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 art thou come out, thou king of Israel? After whom chasest thou? Even after a dead dog, and after a flea!
And whosoever of Jeroboam's house die in the town, him shall the dogs eat, and him that dieth in the field, shall the fowls of the air eat': for the LORD hath said it.
And he that dieth of Baasha in the city, him shall dogs eat: and him that dieth in the fields, shall the fowls of the air eat."
And say unto him, 'Thus sayeth the LORD: thou hast killed and thereto gotten possession.' And say moreover unto him, 'Thus sayeth the LORD: in the place where dogs lapped the blood of Naboth, shall dogs lap even thy blood also.'"
And thereto against Jezebel came the word of the LORD, saying, "Dogs shall eat Jezebel, under the walls of Jezreel.
And while they washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria, the dogs licked up his blood, and harlots washed him according to the word of the LORD which he spake.
And Hazael said, "What is thy servant, which am but a dog, that I should do this great thing?" And Elisha said, "For the LORD hath showed me, that thou shalt be king of Syria."
But now, they that are mine inferiors and younger than I, have me in derision; yea even they, whose fathers I would have thought scorn to have set with the dogs of my cattle.
For many dogs are come about me, the counsel of the wicked layeth siege against me.
Let them go to and fro, and run about the city, howling like dogs.
Let them go to and fro, and run about the city, howling like dogs.
For his watchmen are all blind, they have altogether no understanding. They are all dumb dogs, no being able to bark; they are sleepery, sluggish, and lie snorting.
Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers. Beware of dissension:
For without shall be dogs and enchanters, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth or maketh lies.
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 shalt neither bring the hire of an whore nor the price of a dog into the house of the LORD thy God, in no manner of vow: for even both of them are abomination unto the LORD thy God.
After whom art thou come out, thou king of Israel? After whom chasest thou? Even after a dead dog, and after a flea!
And whosoever of Jeroboam's house die in the town, him shall the dogs eat, and him that dieth in the field, shall the fowls of the air eat': for the LORD hath said it.
And he that dieth of Baasha in the city, him shall dogs eat: and him that dieth in the fields, shall the fowls of the air eat."
And say unto him, 'Thus sayeth the LORD: thou hast killed and thereto gotten possession.' And say moreover unto him, 'Thus sayeth the LORD: in the place where dogs lapped the blood of Naboth, shall dogs lap even thy blood also.'"
And thereto against Jezebel came the word of the LORD, saying, "Dogs shall eat Jezebel, under the walls of Jezreel.
And while they washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria, the dogs licked up his blood, and harlots washed him according to the word of the LORD which he spake.
But now, they that are mine inferiors and younger than I, have me in derision; yea even they, whose fathers I would have thought scorn to have set with the dogs of my cattle.
For many dogs are come about me, the counsel of the wicked layeth siege against me.
Deliver my soul from the sword, my darling from the power of the dog.
Let them go to and fro, and run about the city, howling like dogs.
Let them go to and fro, and run about the city, howling like dogs. Let them run here and there for meat, and grudge when they have not enough.
For his watchmen are all blind, they have altogether no understanding. They are all dumb dogs, no being able to bark; they are sleepery, sluggish, and lie snorting.
For his watchmen are all blind, they have altogether no understanding. They are all dumb dogs, no being able to bark; they are sleepery, sluggish, and lie snorting. They are shameless dogs, that be never satisfied. The shepherds also in like manner have no understanding, but every man turneth his own way, everyone after his own covetousness, with all his power.
They are shameless dogs, that be never satisfied. The shepherds also in like manner have no understanding, but every man turneth his own way, everyone after his own covetousness, with all his power.
For whoso slayeth an ox for me, doth me so great dishonour, as he that killeth a man. He that killeth a sheep for me, choketh a dog. He that bringeth me meat offerings, offereth swine's blood. Who so maketh me a memorial of incense, praiseth the thing that is unright. Yet take they such ways in hand, and their soul delighteth in these abominations.
Give not that which is holy to dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they tread them under their feet, and the other turn again and all to rend you.
He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread, and to cast it to whelps." She answered and said, "It is truth, nevertheless the whelps eat of the crumbs, which fall from their masters' table."
And Jesus said unto her, "Let the children first be fed. For it is not meet, to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto whelps." She answered and said unto him, "Even so, Master. Nevertheless, the whelps also eat under the table of the children's crumbs."
Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers. Beware of dissension:
For many walk - of whom I have told you often, and now tell you weeping - that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is damnation, whose God is their belly and whose glory is to their shame, which are worldly minded.
Unto the pure, are all things pure: but unto them that are defiled, and unbelieving, is nothing pure: but even the very minds and consciences of them are defiled. They confess that they know God: but with the deeds they deny him and are abominable, and disobedient, and unto all good works discommendable.
It is happened unto them according to the true proverb, "The dog is turned to his vomit again, and the sow that was washed, is returned to her wallowing in the mire."
But the fearful and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."
For without shall be dogs and enchanters, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth or maketh lies.
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 shalt neither bring the hire of an whore nor the price of a dog into the house of the LORD thy God, in no manner of vow: for even both of them are abomination unto the LORD thy God.
After whom art thou come out, thou king of Israel? After whom chasest thou? Even after a dead dog, and after a flea!
And whosoever of Jeroboam's house die in the town, him shall the dogs eat, and him that dieth in the field, shall the fowls of the air eat': for the LORD hath said it.
And he that dieth of Baasha in the city, him shall dogs eat: and him that dieth in the fields, shall the fowls of the air eat."
And say unto him, 'Thus sayeth the LORD: thou hast killed and thereto gotten possession.' And say moreover unto him, 'Thus sayeth the LORD: in the place where dogs lapped the blood of Naboth, shall dogs lap even thy blood also.'"
And thereto against Jezebel came the word of the LORD, saying, "Dogs shall eat Jezebel, under the walls of Jezreel.
And while they washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria, the dogs licked up his blood, and harlots washed him according to the word of the LORD which he spake.
And Hazael said, "What is thy servant, which am but a dog, that I should do this great thing?" And Elisha said, "For the LORD hath showed me, that thou shalt be king of Syria."
But now, they that are mine inferiors and younger than I, have me in derision; yea even they, whose fathers I would have thought scorn to have set with the dogs of my cattle.
Let them go to and fro, and run about the city, howling like dogs.
Let them go to and fro, and run about the city, howling like dogs. Let them run here and there for meat, and grudge when they have not enough.
that thy foot may be dipped in the blood of thine enemies, and that thy dogs may lick it up."
Whoso goeth by and meddleth with other men's strife, he is like one that taketh a dog by the ears.
A cock ready to fight; A ram; and a king that goeth forth with his people.
For his watchmen are all blind, they have altogether no understanding. They are all dumb dogs, no being able to bark; they are sleepery, sluggish, and lie snorting.
For I will bring four plagues upon them, sayeth the LORD. The sword shall strangle them, the dogs shall devour them, the fowls of the air, and beasts of the earth shall eat them up, and destroy them.
And Jesus said unto her, "Let the children first be fed. For it is not meet, to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto whelps."
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 shalt neither bring the hire of an whore nor the price of a dog into the house of the LORD thy God, in no manner of vow: for even both of them are abomination unto the LORD thy God.
For many dogs are come about me, the counsel of the wicked layeth siege against me.
Let them go to and fro, and run about the city, howling like dogs.
Let them go to and fro, and run about the city, howling like dogs.
She answered and said, "It is truth, nevertheless the whelps eat of the crumbs, which fall from their masters' table."
And Jesus said unto her, "Let the children first be fed. For it is not meet, to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto whelps." She answered and said unto him, "Even so, Master. Nevertheless, the whelps also eat under the table 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.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
After whom art thou come out, thou king of Israel? After whom chasest thou? Even after a dead dog, and after a flea!
And whosoever of Jeroboam's house die in the town, him shall the dogs eat, and him that dieth in the field, shall the fowls of the air eat': for the LORD hath said it.
And say unto him, 'Thus sayeth the LORD: thou hast killed and thereto gotten possession.' And say moreover unto him, 'Thus sayeth the LORD: in the place where dogs lapped the blood of Naboth, shall dogs lap even thy blood also.'"
And thereto against Jezebel came the word of the LORD, saying, "Dogs shall eat Jezebel, under the walls of Jezreel.
And while they washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria, the dogs licked up his blood, and harlots washed him according to the word of the LORD which he spake.
But now, they that are mine inferiors and younger than I, have me in derision; yea even they, whose fathers I would have thought scorn to have set with the dogs of my cattle.
For many dogs are come about me, the counsel of the wicked layeth siege against me.
Deliver my soul from the sword, my darling from the power of the dog.
Let them go to and fro, and run about the city, howling like dogs.
For his watchmen are all blind, they have altogether no understanding. They are all dumb dogs, no being able to bark; they are sleepery, sluggish, and lie snorting.
For whoso slayeth an ox for me, doth me so great dishonour, as he that killeth a man. He that killeth a sheep for me, choketh a dog. He that bringeth me meat offerings, offereth swine's blood. Who so maketh me a memorial of incense, praiseth the thing that is unright. Yet take they such ways in hand, and their soul delighteth in these abominations.
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 unto David, "Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with a staff?" And he cursed David in the name of his gods.
After whom art thou come out, thou king of Israel? After whom chasest thou? Even after a dead dog, and after a flea!
The name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife was Abigail: and she was a woman of good wisdom and beautiful. But the man was churlish and of shrewd conditions and was a Calebite.
And thereto against Jezebel came the word of the LORD, saying, "Dogs shall eat Jezebel, under the walls of Jezreel.
And while they washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria, the dogs licked up his blood, and harlots washed him according to the word of the LORD which he spake.
Let them go to and fro, and run about the city, howling like dogs.
Let them go to and fro, and run about the city, howling like dogs. Let them run here and there for meat, and grudge when they have not enough.
Whoso goeth by and meddleth with other men's strife, he is like one that taketh a dog by the ears.
For I will bring four plagues upon them, sayeth the LORD. The sword shall strangle them, the dogs shall devour them, the fowls of the air, and beasts of the earth shall eat them up, and destroy them.
Give not that which is holy to dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they tread them under their feet, and the other turn again and all to rend you.