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NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat_7:6
6"Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces."
Mat_7:6 "Do not give what is holy to dogs" This is an aorist subjunctive with the negative particle which implied "never think of doing this activity." The Didache, an extra-canonical book used by the early Church, applied this verse to unbaptized people being excluded from the Lord's Supper (Didache 9:5 and Tertullian, Depraesc. 41). The real questions have always been: (1) What are the "holy things?" and (2) To whom do the terms "dog" and "hog" refer? The "holy things" must be taken in context of the entire Sermon on the Mount, which would be the teachings about God embodied in the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. Or, to put it another way, the gospel.
Jesus' reference to some human beings as "dogs" (cf. Mat_15:26-27) or "swine" has caused great consternation among commentators. Both of these animals were vicious and repulsive in the society to which He spoke. There has been much discussion as to whom these terms refer. In the life of Jesus, it could have referred to the self-righteous Jewish leaders, as well as the apathetic and indifferent people of Palestine. This may be a prophetic reference to Jesus' rejection and death by the Jewish leadership and the Jerusalem crowd. However, in the life of the Church, it is not so obvious to whom these terms refer. William Hendricksen, wrote in his commentary on Matthew, "This means, for example, that Christ's disciples must not endlessly continue to bring the gospel message to those who scorn it" (p. 359). An example of this is recorded in Mat_10:14, "shake the dust off your feet" (cf. Act_13:51; Act_18:5-6.) It is used of Jews in Php_3:2-3. It is used in Rev_22:15 for unbelievers excluded from heaven.
▣ "pearls" These were very valuable in the ancient world.