MATTHEW 7:6

Q: Are there really people that we should not preach to?

First look at the physical picture and its background

This saying takes a chiastic form:

dogs

        swine

        trample

maul

NICNT: The imagery may come from Exodus 22:31 where unclean food was thrown to the dogs and only the priest's family could eat of consecrated food.

Hendricksen: There is the suggestion that pigs would think the pearls are acorns and angrily trample on them when they find they are inedible.

Dogs are sometimes metaphors for wicked people who attack God's anointed – Psalm 22:16

“Holy” may be a mistranslation from Aramaic for “gold.” This would fit in with Proverbs 11:22 – a beautiful woman without discretion is like a gold ring in a swine's snout.”

Dogs and swine were terms used by Jews for Gentiles. The meaning was later transferred to those outside the Christian community.

AB: This could be a prohibition against preaching to Gentiles. See Philippians 3:2, Matthew 10:5 and Revelation 22:15, but,

NICNT: There is an anti-gentile feeling in Matthew 15:24, but the story ends with the dogs being fed and inclusion of Gentiles seen in 28:19.

NAC: “Jesus obviously is obviously not telling his followers not to preach to certain kinds of people, but he does recognize that after sustained rejection and reproach, it is appropriate to move on to others [as Paul did].” “There is a form of evangelism that urges Christians to use every opportunity to share the gospel.” This may be insensitive and turn people away from Christ.

Hendricksen: “A moment arrives when constant resistance to the gracious invitation must be punished by the departure of the messengers of good tidings.”
NICNT: “While one should not prejudice who may receive one's message, neither should one try to force it on those who show no inclination to accept it.”

Look at the example of Jesus who refused to answer any of Herod Antipas' questions (Luke 23:9).

Didache 9:5: “Let no one eat or drink of your Eucharist except those who have been baptized in the Lord's name. For concerning this also did the Lord say, 'Do not give what is holy to the dogs.'”

NCBC: Liturgical form used before Catholic communion: “Holy things to the holy.”

NICNT: The setting may be within the church rather than one of evangelism. Welcome people but not for disputes. Devil's advocates in the church, etc. “There may be times and situations when a responsible assessment of the likely response requires the disciple's instinctive generosity to be limited, so that holy things are not brought into contempt.”

NCBC: This saying may be a corrective to the “do not judge” teaching which precedes it.

CS Lewis Letters: “Conversion may make of one who was, if no better, no worse than an animal, something like a devil. Satan was an angel. I wonder have any of us taken seriously enough the prohibition of casting pearls before swine? This is the point of comment after the Parable of the Unjust Steward. We are denied many graces that we ask for, etc.”