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Pearls Before Swine. “Do not give what is holy to dogs,[a] or throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces.(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 7:6 Dogs and swine were Jewish terms of contempt for Gentiles. This saying may originally have derived from a Jewish Christian community opposed to preaching the gospel (what is holy, pearls) to Gentiles. In the light of Mt 28:19 that can hardly be Matthew’s meaning. He may have taken the saying as applying to a Christian dealing with an obstinately impenitent fellow Christian (Mt 18:17).