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"Do not give what is holy to the dogs; This verse is rendered thus by numerous translators and theologians, in which line 3 makes no sense [if it concerns pigs] and presents Jesus as knowing little or nothing about animals. Pigs do, as part of their nature, "trample" things in the mud under their feet, but when was the last time you heard of pigs "turning" on someone and "rending" or "tearing" them? Most readers, unable to make sense of this, simply shrug their shoulders and move on. Thus, seemingly, line 1 is about dogs, and lines 2,3,4 are about pigs. Most translations punctuate the verse this way, although a very few do manage to give the correct thought. It seems that scholarly translators are mostly unaware of the "figure of speech" being utilized here. What is a "figure of speech"? It is not slang, nor street language, but definite rules. We are familiar with some of them, such as parenthesis, ellipses [...], and quotation. "A figure is simply a word or a sentence thrown into a peculiar form, different from its original or simplest meaning or use. Bible translators have, through inattention to figures of speech, made blunders as serious as they are foolish. Sometimes they have translated the figure literally, totally ignoring its existence...sometimes they have taken literal words and translated them figuratively. Commentators and interpreters, from inattention to the figures, have been led astray from the real meaning of many important passages of God’s Word. "A figure is, as we have before said, a departure from the natural and fixed laws of Grammar or Syntax; but it is a departure not arising from ignorance or accident. Figures are not mere mistakes of Grammar; on the contrary, they are legitimate departures from law, for a special purpose. They are permitted variations with a particular object…Therefore they are limited as to their number, and can be ascertained, named, and described…Many misunderstood and perverted passages are difficult, only because we have not known the Lord’s design in the difficulty." [Figures of Speech Used in the Bible, E. W. Bullinger] Let us begin with parallelisms. These are very common in the Psalms and prophets of the Hebrew O.T., and to a lesser extent in the Greek N.T. While there are various forms of parallelisms, the basic concept is that a thought is presented in lines 1,2 and then repeated [using different words] in lines 3,4. Parallelisms Hosea 6:2 Isaiah 1:18 Matthew 10:27 Simple enough; no need for confusion here. But then we come to a slightly more complex arrangement, the inverted parallelisms, in which lines 1,4 are related and lines 2,3 are related. They are not to be read sequentially. Inverted Parallelisms Isaiah 5:7 Mark 2:27 This type of inverted parallelism is what is found in our original text, and it should properly be rendered thusly: a. "Do not give what is holy to the dogs; Lines 1,4 [a, a] should be read together first; lines 2,3 [b, b] should be read together next. If this is done, then the meaning of the text becomes clear. Thus, we could read: Do not give what is holy to the dogs, lest they turn and tear you in pieces. Nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet. There are a few translations that actually do render the text in this manner, such as the CEV and GNT. Otherwise, most translators seem oblivious to the inverse parallelism. "Do not give what is holy to dogs—they will only turn and attack you. Do not throw your pearls in front of pigs—they will only trample them underfoot." (GNT) One Bible commentator, at least, has the correct thought: "This verse furnishes a beautiful instance of what has been called the ‘introverted parallelism.’ The usual mode of poetry among the Hebrews, and a common mode of expression in proverbs and apothegms, was by the parallelism, where one member of a sentence answered to another, or expressed substantially the same sense with some addition or modification…Sometimes this was alternate, and sometimes it was introverted—where the first and fourth lines would correspond, and the second and third. This is the case here. The dogs would tear, and not the swine; the swine would trample the pearls under their feet, and not the dogs." (Barnes) Here is an example of a N.T. possible inverted parallelism that is widely misunderstood. "Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea." (Revelation 20:7‑8 NKJV) Most intuitively feel that the nations, whose "number is as the sand of the sea," are the righteous billions of the resurrected human race at the end of the Kingdom age—and not the deceived ones. But this passage is written in such a way that it can be difficult to interpret properly. Will billions, after 1,000 years of training in righteousness, still have personal characters that are evil and undeveloped, like unto those of Gog and Magog, and thus be deceived? No, we answer, that cannot be. Once it is seen that this is an inverted parallelism, the meaning becomes clear. The billions are not those deceived by Satan; his deceived followers will be a tiny minority. God’s plan of salvation for the human race will be a resounding success. This is an inverted parallelism, a‑b‑b‑a, with a‑a read first and b‑b read last. Thus— a ‑ Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Another misunderstood example is Amos 9:13:"Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, Lines 2,3 are considered, almost intuitively as a parallelism. Thus, a typical interpretation of line 2 is that the "plowman" of the great "Time of Trouble" shall overtake the harvesting "reaper," and put a stop to that work. But, what about line 3? Is it really like line 2, but using different words? Very seldom do you hear anything about the "treader of grapes," and the one that "soweth seed." The thought might be given that the "treader of grapes" is about the same as the "plowman" [i.e., "Time of Trouble"], and this "treader" overtakes the one "sowing seed." But there is a problem about visualizing what the prophet is literally describing. We might be able to visualize a "plowman" overtaking a "reaper" in the same field. But how can we visualize a "treader of grapes" [in a wine vat] overtaking a "sower of seed" in a field somewhere? If we cannot visualize the literal, then how can we even begin to make a figurative interpretation? When it is seen that this is an inverted parallelism, then the difficulty vanishes, and we have the following: Behold, the days come, saith the LORD Lines b‑b go together, since both are harvest related. Lines a‑a also go together, as both of them are activities at the beginning of the new agricultural cycle. What we have in this prophecy is a statement of abundant harvests—so much so, that they are still reaping grain and treading grapes for the year just past, when it is already time for plowing and planting work to begin for the next agricultural year. This is a picture of the Kingdom and its abundant blessings. This is not about the "Time of Trouble" at the end of this age. So, we need to be careful students of God’s word, rightly dividing it. If some view seems weird or mysterious, it is likely not being understood correctly. "Test all things; hold fast what is good." (1 Thessalonians 5:21 NKJV) LS |
When Pigs Attack