Christ Doesn't Seem to Regard Dogs and Swine that Highly

Mat 7:6 Do not give that which is holy to the dogs, nor should you cast your pearls before swine, for they will trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

The word used for holy is the adjective hagios , which applies to either a holy objects or a holy people. It means literally, "devoted to the gods."

The word used for dogs, kuon , means a dog but as in English, it was also the metaphor for a certain type of less than wholesome person, though most frequently in the feminine form kunas, in more or less the same way as we would use the term "bitch."

The word used for swine was choiros, which wasn't really used as an unflattering characterization in Greek but was, of course, considered to be an unclear animal by the Jews and we may assume was used by them as a derogatory term.

The world for pearl is margarites, which means pearl, but again, as in English, also means a piece of wisdom, as in a "pearl of wisdom."

The word for "trample" is katapateo, which also is also a metaphor for treating someone rudely or spurning them, treating them with neglect.

The term for "rend" rhegnumi also means to "tear apart," but also means to distort or to throw down on the ground.

So the metaphorical meaning of this passage about giving wisdom to a certain type of person is even clearer in the original Greek. Christ is not only saying that a certain type of person doesn't recognize what is holy, but if you give these people wisdom, they will treat you rudely for it and try to either tear down that wisdom or turn it against you.

The immediate context here is "you hypocrites" who Christ addressed in the previous verse as being blind to their shortcomings. Here, he extends the idea telling us that these people do not recognize wisdom when they see it.