Matthew 7 · a question people ask
Who are "the dogs" and "the pigs" in 7:6?
Jesus doesn't say. His words are "Don’t give that which is holy to the dogs, neither throw your pearls before the pigs, lest perhaps they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces" (7:6). He doesn't say whom he means, or what "that which is holy" and "your pearls" are. Favor's Proverbs 9 draws a line from "Don’t reprove a scoffer, lest he hate you" (Proverbs 9:8) to this verse, labelled as a reading, and there sets out two ways Christians read 7:6: with the verses just before it, about correcting a brother (7:3-5), or as speaking of something other than correction. These notes add no other reading, and name no one, then or now.
The verses
““Don’t give that which is holy to the dogs, neither throw your pearls before the pigs, lest perhaps they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.”
“Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but don’t consider the beam that is in your own eye? Or how will you tell your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye,’ and behold, the beam is in your own eye? You hypocrite! First remove the beam out of your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother’s eye.”
“One who corrects a mocker invites insult. One who reproves a wicked man invites abuse. Don’t reprove a scoffer, lest he hate you. Reprove a wise person, and he will love you.”