Matthew 7:6

a Do not give what is holy to the dogs,

b Nor cast your pearls before the swine,

b Lest the result is that they trample them under their feet,

a And turn and rend you.

These words close down with a firm warning the major chiasmus commencing at Matthew 6:1, the sub-section chiasmus commencing at Matthew 6:19 and the passage chiasmus commencing at Matthew 7:1, each of which have been dealing with ‘what is holy', and they lead in to what follows. They act as a warning that much of the teaching that He has been giving is for believers who have entered under the Kingly Rule of Heaven, and that they should therefore be careful to whom they pass it on. And at the same time they act as an introduction to and contrast with what follows. For while what is holy is not for dogs and pigs, it certainly is for God's holy people (1 Peter 2:9), the children of the Kingly Rule of Heaven (Matthew 13:38), and is certainly something that must be sought unceasingly by them.

In each of the preceding passages and ‘sections' Jesus has been revealing something of the inner ‘secrets' of the Kingly Rule of Heaven. These have included the contents of the Lord's Prayer, with special emphasis on their pleas in it for God's Name to be hallowed, for His Kingly Rule to come, and His will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven; His teaching concerning laying up treasure in Heaven, the need for singleness of eye, and the call to serve God and not mammon; the call to seek first the Kingly Rule of God and His righteousness; and the approach they are to adopt towards fellow believers in the matter of judgment on failure. All these are ‘holy' matters. They are for the disciples. They refer to something that is more valuable than pearls (Matthew 13:45). So He now gives warning to them against their taking these holy things and offering them to those who will treat them lightly. For He points out that all that will happen if they do is that these holy things will be trodden underfoot, and unnecessary persecution may result.

They are to beware therefore of treating ‘outsiders' in quite the same way as they treat fellow-believers, and especially outsiders who are not amenable to the Good News they bring. It is one thing to offer these things to ‘sheep' who love the Shepherd, and of whom they can therefore be required, it is quite another to offer them to packs of dogs and herds of swine. Thus dogs and pigs must be approached differently, and they must show careful discernment in what they reveal to them and offer to them. They must not give them what is holy, they must not offer them pearls of spiritual wisdom or of spiritual guidance for insiders, which is only for those who are spiritual (1 Corinthians 2:11). They must not profane holy things.

As we have pointed out above, the dogs in mind in the illustration were the ones which roamed around in a semi-wild condition, often in packs, scavenging for food and living on the outskirts of society. They thus well pictured non-disciples who were ‘outside' the new congregation of the new Israel, and especially those who made clear their desire to keep their distance and who growled when approached. Jesus may well have had in mind here the use of this term ‘dogs' by Jews when speaking of the Gentiles, with a similar idea in mind. For they saw them as outside the control of the Law and of the living God, in the same way as dogs were outside the control of the city elders.

Swine on the other hand were seen by Jews as something to be avoided at all costs. They were ritually ‘unclean' animals. No Jew would wish to have anything to do with them. Jesus may well therefore in this picture have had in mind those Jews who proved themselves unclean by refusing Jesus' message. Elsewhere He says that His disciple must shake the dust of such Jews off their feet, as an indication that they were as unclean as the Gentiles (Matthew 10:14). Calling them pigs therefore would be no more insulting, but would be equally revealing. It is pointing out that they are the very opposite of what they claim to be. They prided themselves on being ‘clean', but in fact they were revealing by their refusal to respond to Jesus an evil heart of unbelief, in other words that they were very much unclean. Thus by describing them as ‘pigs' Jesus might well be emphasising that those Jews who did not respond to His message were those who were truly unclean. The Pharisees accused him and His disciples of being ritually ‘unclean' because they did not follow the strict requirements of the Pharisees with regard to ritual washings. But He wanted His disciples to know that in point of fact it was they who were unclean, for uncleanness results from what is in the heart (Matthew 15:18; Mark 7:20), and their hearts had never been cleansed.

On the other hand 2 Peter 2:22 demonstrates that dogs and pigs were regularly cited together in illustrations and proverbs, being seen as equally to be avoided. So they may here only indicate those who have to be treated carefully because they are not under the Kingly Rule of Heaven and are antagonistic or indifferent towards it. Like the dogs they keep well out of the way of those who are ‘within', and like the pigs they are unsuited for it and have no appetite for it.

So Jesus warning is that what is to be holy and precious to the disciples, the words that He has been teaching them, was not to be introduced to such people, for it would arouse wrong reactions within them. They would treat it with contempt, and reject it, and trample it under foot, and would even retaliate violently against it because of the sinfulness in their hearts. We have examples of such a reaction to ‘holy things' in Matthew 26:68; Matthew 27:29; Luke 16:14; Acts 2:13; Acts 4:3; Acts 4:21; Acts 6:10; Acts 7:57; Acts 9:29; Acts 13:45; Acts 14:2; Acts 14:19; Acts 17:5; Acts 17:13; Acts 17:32; Acts 18:12; Acts 19:9; Acts 19:28; Acts 22:22; Acts 26:24, and while in many of these cases it was unavoidable because it was a reaction to the preaching of the Good News, in some of these cases it resulted in the decision to cease preaching to certain people and going elsewhere in accordance with what Jesus says here.

In the near context the main idea in mind has been that of dealing with the failures of others. So the initial point that is being made is that they are not to involve outsiders in such judgments. Community judgments must be kept within the community. Furthermore, while quite clearly it is true that they are to demonstrate to ‘outsiders' that they are sinners and in need of mercy, nevertheless they are not to have the same expectations of them as they have of fellow-believers. They are not to approach them in the same way, nor to judge them on the same basis, for they are not party to the teaching of the Kingly Rule of Heaven. Dealings with such ‘outsiders' are thus to be on a very different basis from dealings with believers, for outsiders not only do not walk in the light, but have often turned against it. Thus they cannot be upbraided for much of their behaviour in quite the same way, and to do so may well provoke unnecessary and unwelcome retaliation, or might even result in blasphemy or their treading these holy things underfoot. In the words that they bring to such people this must always be remembered

The fierceness of wild dogs and full grown pigs, especially bad tempered boars, and sows in heat or protecting piglets, was well known. Thus they well illustrated the fierceness of men's hearts. And it was a warning to use discernment in what they preached to whom. If we live in circumstances where we think man not so fierce we must not underestimate how much of our society today has been influenced by the areas in which we live having had their ideas shaped by Christian belief from childhood, especially if we live in areas whose lifestyles are partly based, often unconsciously, on those beliefs. But the sad fact is that there are still many parts of our society and of the world today where life is tough. And there are even more parts where the preaching of Jesus would and does arouse violent reaction. However, while there is certainly much fierceness and bitterness in the world, it should not be so amongst true Christians, (nor will it often be among those who have been influenced by them).

‘That which is holy.' The thought here is of teachings such as those that He has been giving them, which are dear to the hearts of God's people but which yet might seem strange to indifferent or antagonistic non-believers, especially if similar requirements were being laid on them. Such teachings were therefore best kept ‘within the fold'. His point is that there are many such spiritual truths, and many kinds of behaviour requirement, which are only for those ‘within', (those who can compare spiritual things with spiritual - 1 Corinthians 2:13), and should not be revealed to, or expected of, those ‘without', and Jesus is saying that we must thus use discernment in our witnessing. For those ‘without', the central message must be that of the saving message of Christ, ‘repent for the Kingly Rule of Heaven is at hand'. It must be the message of the Gospel. But we should not meanwhile seek to press on them other types of spiritual experience, nor call on them to conform to other spiritual requirements, nor expect them to understand other spiritual truths, for if we do the effect may well be off-putting, and even worse.

Some have suggested that the basis of the phrase concerning ‘giving what is holy to the dogs' has in mind meat that has been sacrificed (and is therefore holy), and scraps of which should not then be thrown literally to the dogs, and it may well be that He had that in mind. But if that is so it is simply as an illustration of what we have just stated. He is saying ‘just as you would not throw what remains from holy sacrifices to the dogs, so must you not toss these holy things of which I have spoken to those who are not ready to receive them'. Jesus is not giving instructions about Temple procedure but preaching discernment and commonsense. And besides, however much of a reaction such an action as casting sacrificial meat to dogs might bring from Jews, such meat would hardly be unacceptable to the dogs, nor would it cause the dogs to turn on them. The principle is in fact rather that unholy and lawless people will not appreciate holy things.

It may also include a warning against continually pressing the Gospel, which is in itself essentially holy, on those who have had the full opportunity of responding to it, and have continually rejected it. For by doing so they would be in danger of bringing it into ridicule and causing people to blaspheme (e.g. Acts 13:45; Acts 19:9). We should note in this regard how Jesus told His disciples, that when they proclaimed the Gospel in a town and had persevered with it, and then found that town totally unwilling to hear them, they should turn from that town, shaking their dust from off their feet, so that they might move on to another (Matthew 10:14; Matthew 10:23). And we can compare how He Himself also eventually refused to reveal the truth to those who had despised it or were treating it lightly, such as Herod (Luke 23:9), while He had been willing to speak to an interested Pilate (John 18:33). Compare also Acts 18:5; 1 Corinthians 2:14; Titus 3:10. It is true that we must witness to all. But once men begin to react in blasphemy and have become hardened it does no good to continue to press the Gospel continually on them. It will only result in more blasphemy, and worse.

‘Pearls.' That is, that which is most precious to believers, but which unbelievers would ridicule, or treat with contempt. It is a reminder that we should consider carefully the message that we present to outsiders. Pearls are regularly seen as indicating what is most precious, including the Kingly Rule of Heaven (Matthew 13:45) and the foundations of the new Jerusalem (Revelation 21:21). Thus they may also be seen as including here some of the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount concerning that Kingly Rule and what is connected with it. For as well as reacting to the Lord's Prayer, most unbelievers of those days would also, for example, have scoffed at Matthew 6:19. Such exhortations were best kept for believers, and revealed to outsiders through the lives of those believers, rather than through words.

We can compare Jesus' words here in Matthew 7:5 with the words of Proverbs 9:8, ‘do not reprove one who is contemptuous or he will hate you, rebuke one who is wise and he will love you'. That is the lines along which Jesus is thinking, and He may well have had it in mind here.

It should be noted how well this last verse (Matthew 7:6) adequately caps off the larger part-section, paralleling and contrasting with Matthew 6:19 where the treasures on earth would be attacked by moth, rust (or rats) and thief, whereas here the misuse of spiritual treasures results in attacks on believers by dogs and swine, and how well it also parallels Matthew 7:1, where wrong judgments similarly result in definite repercussions. It also closes this whole section from Matthew 6:1 onwards with the warning that, while they must heed His teaching, they must remember that outsiders will not see things in quite the same way as believers. For example, to outsiders not aware of the coming of the Kingly Rule of Heaven, Jesus' ideas about prayer and what to pray for might seem strange (and it might even be dangerous to pray ‘your Kingly Rule come' in front of representatives of Caesar), and the idea of not laying up treasure on earth, and of trusting God for the supply of their needs, might well be seen as foolish (see Luke 16:14), while on the other hand the suggestion that the Gentiles did not do these things because they were Gentiles, or could not see God as their heavenly Father in the same way, although true, might well have been seen as infuriating.

A further lesson from this parable, with its depiction of unbelievers in terms of ‘wild animals' may be an indication of the need for a work of the Spirit in order for such people to become believers. The only way that such ‘dogs' and ‘pigs' could be saved would be by being humanised, and having new life put within them. We can compare here how the nations were seen as wild beasts while Israel, who did believe on the living God, were looked on as ‘human', as the son of man (Daniel 7), and further, how Nebuchadnezzar was ‘humanised' as a result of his repentance (Daniel 4:28; Daniel 7:4). But new life is what the Messiah has come to bring, the life of the coming age (John 1:12; John 3:1; John 3:16; John 5:24). So it can always be borne in mind that such a ‘humanisation' is available from Jesus as the Messiah (John 1:12; John 3:1) even to the dogs and pigs (Matthew 7:6 above) if they repent, and thus it is that message that they must take them, not one that assumes that they are already believers.