What is a biblical dog?

Question

The bible says dogs don't go to heaven...What is a dog? Besides those furry, loving and obedient pets. I don't think it means oposite of god, as English is not the original language it was written in. So who/what do you believe "dog" in the bible and in the qu'ran refers to?

I don't think I will get any good answers here. I don't think anyone really knows what it means :-(

Answer 1

In the Middle East culture, dogs are not generally considered to be sweet, furry pets and companions--they are vermin and scavengers. To call a person a "dog" is to insult him, much like we would call someone a pig, weasel, skunk, etc., because of the negative connotations we've attached to these animals. (In fact, we use "dog" to refer to an ugly woman!) It was no different in biblical times, which is why the word "dog" is used negatively throughout both the Old and New Testaments.

Matt. 7:6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

Most people leave out the first part of the verse and quote the part about swine, but it is clear that Jesus thought of dogs as lowly beasts, unworthy of receiving anything good, and compared them to people who are unworthy of anything holy.

Matt. 15:22 begins the story of the Canaanite woman who came to Jesus, begging for help. He brushed her off with the following insult (v.26):

But he answered and said, "It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs."

Canaanites were looked down upon by the Jews, as Jesus demonstrates by insulting this woman as a dog. The woman responds with, "Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table," an indication of the dog's status as scavenger. (And, as an aside, this story reveals Jesus as an unkind and unloving individual. Would you want to be friends with someone who insults people the way he did?)

Finally, in Rev.22:15 is where we read, "For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie." Once you understand what the word "dog" meant, this verse is easy to understand--dogs are those who are lowly, undesirable, of little value. The Bible writers simply saw no use for these scavenging animals and it is reflected in their writings.

Answer 2

Your first premise is wrong. The Bible doesn't directly tell us whether or not dogs or any other animals will go to heaven, it does tell us that "all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

However that is a side issue. Your basic question is "What do dogs symbolize in scripture?"

In the East the dog is still held in abhorrence, as the scavenger of the streets. “Him that dieth in the city shall the dogs eat” (1 Kings 14:11).
Whether dead or living, is a most degrading expression: “After whom is the King of Israel come out? After a dead dog?” (1 Sam. 24:14.) “Beware of dogs” (Phil. 3:2), i.e. sordid, noisy teachers. Again, “Without are dogs” (Rev. 22:15), i.e."false teachers and sinners, who sin and return to their sins" (2 Peter 2: 21).

There is no expression in the Bible of the fidelity, love, and watchful care of the dog.

Answer 3

Andrew, Adam, Alan, Aaron, Benjamin, Patrick, Henry, Samuel, Maxwell, Robert, Richard, David, Daniel, Dominic, Nicholas, Christopher, Christian, Caleb, Noah, Moses, Elijah, William, Zachary, Thomas, Timothy, Elliott, Charles, Victor, Walter, Frederick, Harold, Martin, Ulysses, Nathaniel, Jeremiah, Gregory, George, Joseph, James reliable success :-)

Answer 4

You appear to want to treat the Bible as if it were some sort of rebus or puzzle. I don't think dogs mean one and only one thing in every mention in the Bible.

Answer 5

Live spelled backwards is Evil

Lived spelled backwards is Devil

God spelled backwards is Dog

Dog spelled backwards is God

This is the bible code. God is a dog.

Answer 6

Dog is God spelled backwards! Woah!!!!

Answer 7

spot or fido