Christian Standard Bible
Matthew 7:6
6Don’t give what is holy to dogs or toss your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them under their feet, turn, and tear you to pieces.
Matthew 7:6 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.
- New International Version (NIV)“Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
- English Standard Version (ESV)"Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.
- New King James Version (NKJV)“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.
Context of Matthew 7:6
4Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the splinter out of your eye,’ and look, there’s a beam of wood in your own eye? 5Hypocrite! First take the beam of wood out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the splinter out of your brother’s eye. Don’t give what is holy to dogs or toss your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them under their feet, turn, and tear you to pieces. 7“Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Read all of Matthew 7Matthew 7:6 word by word
Μὴ δῶτε τὸ ἅγιον τοῖς κυσὶν μηδὲ βάλητε τοὺς μαργαρίτας ὑμῶν ἔμπροσθεν τῶν χοίρων μήποτε καταπατήσουσιν αὐτοὺς ἐν τοῖς ποσὶν αὐτῶν, καὶ στραφέντες ῥήξωσιν ὑμᾶς.¶Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- Giveδίδωμιdidōmi · to giveG1325
- notμήmē · notG3361
- that which is holyἅγιοςhagios · holyG40
- unto the dogsκύωνkuōn · dogG2965
- neitherμηδέmēde · norG3366
- cast yeβάλλωballō · to throw: throwG906
- yourσύsu · youG4771
- pearlsμαργαρίτηςmargaritēs · pearlG3135
- beforeἔμπροσθενemprosthen · beforeG1715
- swineχοῖροςchoiros · pigG5519
- lestμήποτεmēpote mē pote · lestG3379
- they trampleκαταπατέωkatapateō · to trampleG2662
- themαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
- underἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
- feetπούςpous · footG4228
- andκαίkai · andG2532
- turn again andστρέφωstrephō · to turnG4762
- rendῥήγνυμιrhēgnumi rhēssō · to throw violentlyG4486
Cross-references for Matthew 7:6
- Matthew 10:14If anyone does not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that house or town.
- Matthew 15:26He answered, “It isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”
- Proverbs 9:7The one who corrects a mocker will bring abuse on himself; the one who rebukes the wicked will get hurt.
- Proverbs 23:9Don’t speak to a fool, for he will despise the insight of your words.
- Proverbs 26:11As a dog returns to its vomit, so also a fool repeats his foolishness.
- Acts 13:45But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what Paul was saying, insulting him.
- Philippians 3:2Watch out for the dogs, watch out for the evil workers, watch out for those who mutilate the flesh.
- Hebrews 6:6and who have fallen away. This is because, to their own harm, they are recrucifying the Son of God and holding him up to contempt.
- Hebrews 10:29How much worse punishment do you think one will deserve who has trampled on the Son of God, who has regarded as profane the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?
- 2 Peter 2:22It has happened to them according to the true proverb: A dog returns to its own vomit, and, “A washed sow returns to wallowing in the mud.”
- Proverbs 11:22A beautiful woman who rejects good sense is like a gold ring in a pig’s snout.
- Matthew 22:5“But they paid no attention and went away, one to his own farm, another to his business,
- Matthew 24:10Then many will fall away, betray one another, and hate one another.
- 2 Corinthians 11:26On frequent journeys, I faced dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, and dangers among false brothers;
- 2 Timothy 4:14Alexander the coppersmith did great harm to me. The Lord will repay him according to his works.
Commentaries on Matthew 7:6
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6Give not that which is holy - , the holy or sacred thing; i.e. any thing, especially, of the sacrificial kind, which had been consecrated to God. The members of this sentence should be transposed thus: - Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, Lest they turn again and rend you: Neither cast ye your pearls before swine, Lest they trample them under their feet The propriety of this transposition is self-evident. There are many such transpositions as…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6Give not that which is holy - By some the word “holy” has been supposed to mean “flesh offered in sacrifice,” made holy, or separated to a sacred use; but it probably means here “anything connected with religion” - admonition, precept, or doctrine. Pearls are precious stones found in shell-fish, chiefly in India, in the waters that surround Ceylon. They are used to denote anything especially precious, Revelation 17:4; Revelation 18:12-16; Matthew 13:45…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 6Rabbis often referred to important ideas or Scripture verses as pearls. The mysteries of the kingdom of God (13:11) are holy (see Exodus 29:33; Leviticus 2:3; 22:10–16; Numbers 18:8–10). do not give dogs what is holy: Jews often referred to non-Jewish (Gentile) people as dogs or pigs because these animals were ceremonially unclean (Matthew 15:26; Psalm 22:16, 20; Leviticus 11). Some think this means that many Gentiles would not accept the message of the…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 66. Give not that which is holy unto the dogs--savage or snarling haters of truth and righteousness. neither cast ye your pearls before swine--the impure or coarse, who are incapable of appreciating the priceless jewels of Christianity. In the East, dogs are wilder and more gregarious, and, feeding on carrion and garbage, are coarser and fiercer than the same animals in the West. Dogs and swine, besides being ceremonially unclean, were peculiarly repulsive…Read the comment
Topics related to Matthew 7:6
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Matthew 7
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Catena Aurea
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- John Lightfoot Commentary
- Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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