Matthew 7:6

“Give not that which is holy to the dogs, etc.] Dogs were unclean creatures by the law; the price of one might not be brought into the house of the Lord, for a vow, (<052318>Deuteronomy 23:18) yea, these creatures were not admitted into several temples of the Heathens f470. Things profane and unclean, as flesh torn by beasts, were ordered to be given to them, (<022231>Exodus 22:31) but nothing that was holy was to be given them, as holy flesh, or the holy oblations, or anything that was consecrated to holy uses; to which is the allusion here. It is a common maxim f471 with the Jews, “µyblkl ˆlykahl µyçdqh ta ˆydwp ˆyaç, “that they do not redeem holy things, to give to the dogs to eat”.” Here…”

“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 to the Jews, and indeed to the ancients generally. lest they trample them under their feet--as swine do. and turn again and rend you--as dogs do. Religion is brought into contempt, and its professors insulted, when it is forced upon those who…”

“Give 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. In this place they are used to denote the doctrines of the gospel. “Dogs” signify people who spurn, oppose, and abuse that doctrine; people of special sourness and malignity of temper, who meet it like growling and quarrelsome curs,…”

“Here is another instance of that transposition, where of the two things proposed, the latter is first treated of. Give not - to dogs - lest turning they rend you: Cast not - to swine - lest they trample them under foot. Yet even then, when the beam is cast out of thine own eye, Give not - That is, talk not of the deep things of God to those whom you know to be wallowing in sin. neither declare the great things God hath done for your soul to the profane, furious, persecuting wretches. Talk not of perfection, for instance, to the former; not of your experience to the latter. But our Lord does in nowise forbid us to reprove, as occasion is, both the one and the other. Matthew 7:7”

“7:6 Rabbis often referred to important ideas or Scripture verses as pearls. The mysteries of the Kingdom (13:11) are holy (see Exod 29:33; Lev 2:3; 22:10-16; Num 18:8-10). • Don’t waste what is holy on people who are unholy: Literally Don’t give the sacred to dogs. Jews often referred to Gentiles as dogs (see Matt 15:26; see Ps 22:16, 20) or pigs because those animals were unclean (Lev 11). Some interpreters understand this statement as warning that the message of the Kingdom would not be well received by many Gentiles. Others see it as a warning about offering the message of the Kingdom to the resistant Jewish leaders (see Matt 5:20; 10:11-14; see also Heb 10:29) or to unbelievers in…”

“that: Mat 10:14, Mat 10:15, Mat 15:26; Pro 9:7, Pro 9:8, Pro 23:9, Pro 26:11; Act 13:45-47; Phi 3:2; Heb 6:6, Heb 10:29; Pe2 2:22 cast: Pro 11:22 turn: Mat 22:5, Mat 22:6, Mat 24:10; Co2 11:26; Ti2 4:14, Ti2 4:15 Matthew 7:7”