Matthew 7:6

Matthew 7:6 is the sixth verse of the seventh chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament and is part of the Sermon on the Mount. This verse contains an ambiguous warning about placing "pearls before swine."

The original Koine Greek, according to Westcott and Hort, reads:

μη δωτε το αγιον τοις κυσιν μηδε βαλητε τους μαργαριτας

υμων εμπροσθεν των χοιρων μηποτε καταπατησουσιν αυτους

εν τοις ποσιν αυτων και στραφεντες ρηξωσιν υμας

In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads:

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.

The World English Bible translates the passage as:

“Don’t give that which is holy to the dogs, neither throw

your pearls before the pigs, lest perhaps they trample

them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.

For a collection of other versions see BibRef Matthew 7:6

This well known verse, which has no parallel elsewhere in the New Testament, is a difficult one to interpret. There is much debate over what is represented by the holy and what by the unclean animals. It also seems to contradict some basic Christian tenets. How it is linked to the previous and proceeding verses is also in question.

The phrase "pearls before swine" has become a common expression in English. There is a Pearls Before Swine comic strip, a Pearls Before Swine American psychedelic folk band, and Pearls Before Swine is an alternate title for Kurt Vonnegut's novel God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater.