Dogs and Pigs

Who are the dogs and pigs whom Jesus warns His hearers against in Matthew 7?

[This post has been refined and included in Sweet Counsel: Essays to Brighten the Eyes.]

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This entry was posted on Sunday, November 17th, 2013 at 10:37 pmand is filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

One Response to “Dogs and Pigs”

  • Mike Bull Says:
    November 18th, 2013 at 2:04 pm

    On facebook, Jerry Bowyer said,
    “Maybe, but when the gentile woman asked for a healing, Jesus told her it was not right to take bread from the children to give to the dogs. Plus Caleb (“Dog”) in Joshua was a faithful gentile. Seems plausible that pigs and dogs are both symbols of gentiles, but different degrees of uncleanness. I’m not sure, the symbolism is dicey when it comes to proof.”
    Good objection. The answer might be that Jesus takes those “faithful dogs” and turns them into priestly rulers, while he throws out those who are abusing their office – it’s the same role reversal in Luke 16. The exalted rulers of Israel would be “deconsecrated,” the mountain thrown into the sea.