Spiritual Zoology 101: Dogs and Pigs
“Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.”
–Matthew 7:6 NKJV
When Jesus says, “Don’t cast your pearls before swine,” what does He mean by “swine?” What are the characteristics of a “swine-like” person? Why aren’t we supposed to cast our “pearls” before swine?
First of all, what are “pearls?” A clam (or other mollusk) makes a pearl by enclosing an irritant (such as a grain of sand) with progressive layers of a substance called “nacre” over the course of several years. (1) Thus, pearls are valuable gems that were formed through adversity over a long period of time.
According to Proverbs 11:22, “As a ring of gold in a swine’s snout so is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion” (NKJV). This verse compares a person lacking “discretion” to a “swine.” The next verse in the book of Proverbs that contains the word “discretion” says, “A man’s discretion makes him slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression.” (Proverbs 19:11 NKJV)
If discretion makes a person slow to anger, then by implication, a person who lacks discretion will be easily angered or offended. “A person’s wisdom yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.” (Proverbs 19:11 NIV)
From such passages we can gather that a “swine-like person” lacks discretion, gets easily angered or offended, will reject valuable information or correction, and may lash out at a person.
What will happen if we waste our valuable, treasured, secret things within us with a certain kind of arrogant, hostile, or spiritually-closed person who couldn’t care less? According to Jesus in Matthew 7:6, such a proud person will trample those pearls [of wisdom] under their feet and then turn on you to tear you to pieces.
In other words, these “swine” may not listen to what you have to say. Rather, they will reject you and your message to them. Then they’ll be offended, get mad at you, and attack your character, because they are not interested in changing.
Jesus’ command to not cast one’s pearls before swine lest they tear you to pieces is a paraphrase of Proverbs 9:7-8: “He who corrects a scoffer gets shame for himself, and he who rebukes a wicked man only harms himself. 8 Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you; rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.” (NKJV)
How is a swine like a “scoffer?” Do swine represent “scoffers” throughout the Bible? The first and the final time that pigs are mentioned in the Bible can give us some clues.
The first pig passage:
The first time that “pigs” are mentioned occurs in Leviticus 11, where the pig is classified as an unclean animal because it does not “chew the cud.” What does it mean to “chew the cud?” When ruminant animals (such as cows, sheep, deer, goats, camels, etc.) chew the cud, their stomachs regurgitate food back into their mouths in order for them to chew on that food longer for their digestion process.
“Chewing the cud” represents biblical meditation–listening to God’s Word and “chewing on it” day and night through intimate, honest conversation with God. In the Hebrew understanding, meditation even included singing and dancing to God’s words, such that one could better remember, “ingest,” and retain God’s words, promises, commandments, and instructions. What then is implied by the pig being a creature who does not chew the cud?
A scoffer is somebody who does not listen to the advice, wisdom, rebuke, correction, or principles of God’s Word. A scoffer may be very educated, but an intellectual “know-it-all” will assume that they have nothing more that they need to learn, especially from the God of the Bible.
They may “divide the hoof,” being able to parse or to analyze information well in their various fields of work and study, but they don’t “chew the cud” or make the spiritual reality found in Jesus’ words a part of their lives.
The last pig passage:
For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”…knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.”
–2 Peter 2:21-22; 3:3-4 NKJV
In 2 Peter 2:22, both dogs are pigs are mentioned, just as in Matthew 7:6 when Jesus warns not to give dogs what is holy nor to give one’s pearls to pigs. Two verses after mentioning a dog and a sow (that is, a mother pig), Peter mentions “scoffers.”
Contextually, Peter is describing people (notably professing-Christian teachers) who are controlled by their lusts and assert that they can live any lifestyle they please without being held accountable to God for their beliefs, habits, choices, and actions.
Another passage with both dogs and pigs:
For all those things My hand has made, and all those things exist,” says the Lord.
“But on this one will I look: on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word. 3 “He who kills a bull is as if he slays a man; he who sacrifices a lamb, as if he breaks a dog’s neck; he who offers a grain offering, as if he offers swine’s blood; he who burns incense, as if he blesses an idol. Just as they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations, 4 so will I choose their delusions, and bring their fears on them; because, when I called, no one answered, when I spoke they did not hear; but they did evil before My eyes, and chose that in which I do not delight.”
–Isaiah 66:2-4 NKJV [bold emphasis mine]
Isaiah 66 is the final chapter in the book of Isaiah, and it describes the “End Times” when Jesus returns to the earth to rule the earth as king for a thousand years at His headquarters in the city of Jerusalem. In Isaiah 66:2 and Isaiah 66:3, the LORD gives a contrast concerning heart postures or attitudes before God.
Isaiah 66:2 highlights God’s favor and blessing on the person who is humble, contrite, and poor in spirit, and “who trembles at My word.” However, for those who do not give an open ear to what the Bible may have to say about a matter, humble themselves before God, or take God’s Word seriously, verse 4 says that God will bring their fears on them, because they wanted nothing to do with God or what God said.
That attitude of scorning or rejecting God’s leadership over one’s life is compared to breaking a dog’s neck or offering swine blood as an offering to God. Dogs are compared to foolish people who follow their own lusts rather than submitting to God’s instructions, wisdom, and discipline. Such people get caught up in cycles of addiction and relational dysfunction (see Proverbs 26:11; Isaiah 56:10-11; Philippians 3:2; Revelation 22:15).
How can we better identify what folly (dog-like mindsets) looks like? For more information, see post “The Fool Detector Test” for a list of 75 biblical characteristics of a “fool,” so that you can continue to make better decisions for your health, finances, and relationships.
For more information on knowing God personally, see “Would You Like to Be God’s Friend?” here.
- https://www.purepearls.com/pages/what-are-natural-pearls
