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 hath the king of Israel come out? after whom art thou pursuing? -- after a dead dog! after one flea!
him who dieth of Jeroboam in a city do the dogs eat, and him who dieth in a field do fowl of the heavens eat, for Jehovah hath spoken.
him who dieth of Baasha in a city do the dogs eat, and him who dieth of his in a field do fowl of the heavens eat.'
and thou hast spoken unto him, saying, Thus said Jehovah, Hast thou murdered, and also possessed? and thou hast spoken unto him, saying, Thus said Jehovah, In the place where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth, do the dogs lick thy blood, even thine.'
'And also of Jezebel hath Jehovah spoken, saying, The dogs do eat Jezebel in the bulwark of Jezreel;
and one rinseth the chariot by the pool of Samaria, and the dogs lick his blood -- when the armour they had washed -- according to the word of Jehovah that He spake.
And Hazael saith, 'But what, is thy servant the dog, that he doth this great thing?' And Elisha saith, 'Jehovah hath shewed me thee -- king of Aram.'
And now, laughed at me, Have the younger in days than I, Whose fathers I have loathed to set With the dogs of my flock.
And to the dust of death thou appointest me, For surrounded me have dogs, A company of evil doers have compassed me, Piercing my hands and my feet.
They turn back at evening, They make a noise like a dog, And go round about the city.
And they turn back at evening, They make a noise like a dog, And they go round about the city.
Blind are his watchmen -- all of them, They have not known, All of them are dumb dogs, they are not able to bark, Dozing, lying down, loving to slumber.
look to the dogs, look to the evil-workers, look to the concision;
and without are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the whoremongers, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and every one who is loving and is doing 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 dost not bring a gift of a whore, or a price of a dog, into the house of Jehovah thy God, for any vow; for the abomination of Jehovah thy God are even both of them.
After whom hath the king of Israel come out? after whom art thou pursuing? -- after a dead dog! after one flea!
him who dieth of Jeroboam in a city do the dogs eat, and him who dieth in a field do fowl of the heavens eat, for Jehovah hath spoken.
him who dieth of Baasha in a city do the dogs eat, and him who dieth of his in a field do fowl of the heavens eat.'
and thou hast spoken unto him, saying, Thus said Jehovah, Hast thou murdered, and also possessed? and thou hast spoken unto him, saying, Thus said Jehovah, In the place where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth, do the dogs lick thy blood, even thine.'
'And also of Jezebel hath Jehovah spoken, saying, The dogs do eat Jezebel in the bulwark of Jezreel;
and one rinseth the chariot by the pool of Samaria, and the dogs lick his blood -- when the armour they had washed -- according to the word of Jehovah that He spake.
And now, laughed at me, Have the younger in days than I, Whose fathers I have loathed to set With the dogs of my flock.
And to the dust of death thou appointest me, For surrounded me have dogs, A company of evil doers have compassed me, Piercing my hands and my feet.
Deliver from the sword my soul, From the paw of a dog mine only one.
They turn back at evening, They make a noise like a dog, And go round about the city.
And they turn back at evening, They make a noise like a dog, And they go round about the city. They -- they wander for food, If they are not satisfied -- then they murmur.
Blind are his watchmen -- all of them, They have not known, All of them are dumb dogs, they are not able to bark, Dozing, lying down, loving to slumber.
Blind are his watchmen -- all of them, They have not known, All of them are dumb dogs, they are not able to bark, Dozing, lying down, loving to slumber. And the dogs are strong of desire, They have not known sufficiency, And they are shepherds! They have not known understanding, All of them to their own way they did turn, Each to his dishonest gain from his quarter:
And the dogs are strong of desire, They have not known sufficiency, And they are shepherds! They have not known understanding, All of them to their own way they did turn, Each to his dishonest gain from his quarter:
Whoso slaughtereth the ox smiteth a man, Whoso sacrificeth the lamb beheadeth a dog, Whoso is bringing up a present -- The blood of a sow, Whoso is making mention of frankincense, Is blessing iniquity. Yea, they have fixed on their own ways, And in their abominations their soul hath delighted.
Ye may not give that which is holy to the dogs, nor cast your pearls before the swine, that they may not trample them among their feet, and having turned -- may rend you.
and he answering said, 'It is not good to take the children's bread, and to cast to the little dogs.' And she said, 'Yes, sir, for even the little dogs do eat of the crumbs that are falling from their lords' table;'
And Jesus said to her, 'Suffer first the children to be filled, for it is not good to take the children's bread, and to cast it to the little dogs.' And she answered and saith to him, 'Yes, sir; for the little dogs also under the table do eat of the children's crumbs.'
look to the dogs, look to the evil-workers, look to the concision;
for many walk of whom many times I told you -- and now also weeping tell -- the enemies of the cross of the Christ! whose end is destruction, whose god is the belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who the things on earth are minding.
all things, indeed, are pure to the pure, and to the defiled and unstedfast is nothing pure, but of them defiled are even the mind and the conscience; God they profess to know, and in the works they deny Him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work disapproved.
and happened to them hath that of the true similitude; 'A dog did turn back upon his own vomit,' and, 'A sow having bathed herself -- to rolling in mire.'
and to fearful, and unstedfast, and abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all the liars, their part is in the lake that is burning with fire and brimstone, which is a second death.'
and without are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the whoremongers, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and every one who is loving and is doing 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 dost not bring a gift of a whore, or a price of a dog, into the house of Jehovah thy God, for any vow; for the abomination of Jehovah thy God are even both of them.
After whom hath the king of Israel come out? after whom art thou pursuing? -- after a dead dog! after one flea!
him who dieth of Jeroboam in a city do the dogs eat, and him who dieth in a field do fowl of the heavens eat, for Jehovah hath spoken.
him who dieth of Baasha in a city do the dogs eat, and him who dieth of his in a field do fowl of the heavens eat.'
and thou hast spoken unto him, saying, Thus said Jehovah, Hast thou murdered, and also possessed? and thou hast spoken unto him, saying, Thus said Jehovah, In the place where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth, do the dogs lick thy blood, even thine.'
'And also of Jezebel hath Jehovah spoken, saying, The dogs do eat Jezebel in the bulwark of Jezreel;
and one rinseth the chariot by the pool of Samaria, and the dogs lick his blood -- when the armour they had washed -- according to the word of Jehovah that He spake.
And Hazael saith, 'But what, is thy servant the dog, that he doth this great thing?' And Elisha saith, 'Jehovah hath shewed me thee -- king of Aram.'
And now, laughed at me, Have the younger in days than I, Whose fathers I have loathed to set With the dogs of my flock.
They turn back at evening, They make a noise like a dog, And go round about the city.
And they turn back at evening, They make a noise like a dog, And they go round about the city. They -- they wander for food, If they are not satisfied -- then they murmur.
So that thou dashest thy foot in blood, In the blood of enemies -- the tongue of Thy dogs.'
Laying hold on the ears of a dog, Is a passer-by making himself wrath for strife not his own.
A girt one of the loins, or a he-goat, And a king -- no rising up with him.
Blind are his watchmen -- all of them, They have not known, All of them are dumb dogs, they are not able to bark, Dozing, lying down, loving to slumber.
And I have appointed over them four kinds, an affirmation of Jehovah, The sword to slay, and the dogs to drag, And the fowl of the heavens, And the beast of the earth, to consume and to devour.
And Jesus said to her, 'Suffer first the children to be filled, for it is not good to take the children's bread, and to cast it to the little 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 dost not bring a gift of a whore, or a price of a dog, into the house of Jehovah thy God, for any vow; for the abomination of Jehovah thy God are even both of them.
And to the dust of death thou appointest me, For surrounded me have dogs, A company of evil doers have compassed me, Piercing my hands and my feet.
They turn back at evening, They make a noise like a dog, And go round about the city.
And they turn back at evening, They make a noise like a dog, And they go round about the city.
And she said, 'Yes, sir, for even the little dogs do eat of the crumbs that are falling from their lords' table;'
And Jesus said to her, 'Suffer first the children to be filled, for it is not good to take the children's bread, and to cast it to the little dogs.' And she answered and saith to him, 'Yes, sir; for the little dogs also under the table do 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 hath the king of Israel come out? after whom art thou pursuing? -- after a dead dog! after one flea!
him who dieth of Jeroboam in a city do the dogs eat, and him who dieth in a field do fowl of the heavens eat, for Jehovah hath spoken.
and thou hast spoken unto him, saying, Thus said Jehovah, Hast thou murdered, and also possessed? and thou hast spoken unto him, saying, Thus said Jehovah, In the place where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth, do the dogs lick thy blood, even thine.'
'And also of Jezebel hath Jehovah spoken, saying, The dogs do eat Jezebel in the bulwark of Jezreel;
and one rinseth the chariot by the pool of Samaria, and the dogs lick his blood -- when the armour they had washed -- according to the word of Jehovah that He spake.
And now, laughed at me, Have the younger in days than I, Whose fathers I have loathed to set With the dogs of my flock.
And to the dust of death thou appointest me, For surrounded me have dogs, A company of evil doers have compassed me, Piercing my hands and my feet.
Deliver from the sword my soul, From the paw of a dog mine only one.
They turn back at evening, They make a noise like a dog, And go round about the city.
Blind are his watchmen -- all of them, They have not known, All of them are dumb dogs, they are not able to bark, Dozing, lying down, loving to slumber.
Whoso slaughtereth the ox smiteth a man, Whoso sacrificeth the lamb beheadeth a dog, Whoso is bringing up a present -- The blood of a sow, Whoso is making mention of frankincense, Is blessing iniquity. Yea, they have fixed on their own ways, And in their abominations their soul hath delighted.
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 saith unto David, 'Am I a dog that thou art coming unto me with staves?' and the Philistine revileth David by his gods,
After whom hath the king of Israel come out? after whom art thou pursuing? -- after a dead dog! after one flea!
And the name of the man is Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail, and the woman is of good understanding, and of fair form, and the man is hard and evil in doings; and he is a Calebite.
'And also of Jezebel hath Jehovah spoken, saying, The dogs do eat Jezebel in the bulwark of Jezreel;
and one rinseth the chariot by the pool of Samaria, and the dogs lick his blood -- when the armour they had washed -- according to the word of Jehovah that He spake.
They turn back at evening, They make a noise like a dog, And go round about the city.
And they turn back at evening, They make a noise like a dog, And they go round about the city. They -- they wander for food, If they are not satisfied -- then they murmur.
Laying hold on the ears of a dog, Is a passer-by making himself wrath for strife not his own.
And I have appointed over them four kinds, an affirmation of Jehovah, The sword to slay, and the dogs to drag, And the fowl of the heavens, And the beast of the earth, to consume and to devour.
Ye may not give that which is holy to the dogs, nor cast your pearls before the swine, that they may not trample them among their feet, and having turned -- may rend you.