New International Version
Matthew 7:6
6“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.
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.
- 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.
- New Living Translation (NLT)“Don’t waste what is holy on people who are unholy. Don’t throw your pearls to pigs! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you.
Context of Matthew 7:6
4How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. “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. 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; 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 will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet.
- Matthew 15:26He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
- Proverbs 9:7Whoever corrects a mocker invites insults; whoever rebukes the wicked incurs abuse.
- Proverbs 23:9Do not speak to fools, for they will scorn your prudent words.
- Proverbs 26:11As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly.
- Acts 13:45When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy. They began to contradict what Paul was saying and heaped abuse on him.
- Philippians 3:2Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh.
- Hebrews 6:6and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
- Hebrews 10:29How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?
- 2 Peter 2:22Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”
- Proverbs 11:22Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion.
- Matthew 22:5“But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business.
- Matthew 24:10At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other,
- 2 Corinthians 11:26I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers.
- 2 Timothy 4:14Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done.
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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