Dogs in the Bible

#49: “Dogs in the Bible” by Brendon Wahlberg
I asked my wife, Toni Schlemmer, what she would like me to write about in a column. Evidently combining two of the things she loves most in life (Church and her Basset Hound Toby), she replied, “How about Dogs in the Bible?” Perhaps she was imagining that there was a story in the Gospel of Luke about Jesus and his faithful Basset who followed him everywhere, hoping that his two dog cookies could be multiplied into enough treats to feed five thousand dogs (which he would nevertheless try to eat all by himself).
The truth is that the Bible is not kind to dogs. Our canine companions are not described as man’s best friend in the good book. I hated to tell Toni this, but dogs were viewed very differently in that long ago time and place. Here are the facts: dogs are mentioned in the Bible approximately forty times, and nearly all of those references are very negative in tone.
A large number of those negative mentions are found in one section of the Hebrew Bible, in the long narrative of 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings. When David wants to tell King Saul that he, David, is insignificant and lowly, he compares himself to a dead dog (1 Samuel 24:14). When Saul’s grandson abases himself before David, claiming that he is a mere servant who is beneath anyone’s notice, he also compares himself to a dead dog (2 Samuel 9:8). And, when someone curses David and throws stones, David’s supporter calls the attacker a dead dog, and prepares to cut off the man’s head (2 Samuel 16:9). A dead dog is about the most contemptible thing a person can be called.
But when the subject is a live dog, the situation is even worse. In Samuel and Kings, dogs are known as carnivorous scavengers who eat unburied corpses. Dogs are said to eat the followers of the enemy, Jeroboam, who die in the city (1 Kings 14:11). Dogs also eat the body of Jezebel (1 Kings 21:23), and lick up the blood of dead people such as Naboth and Ahab (1 Kings 21:19 and 1 Kings 22:38). Jeremiah 15:3 mentions dogs as destroyers who drag away bodies. The worst fate a man can have is to be eaten by dogs after death.
The references in Psalms are no better. Psalm 59:6 reveals that dogs prowled around the city at night, howling or snarling. A group of evildoers surrounding a person is likened to a pack of such city dogs (Psalm 22:16), for the “power of the dog” is to threaten one with death (Psalm 22:20). So, dogs were dangerous animals, roaming in packs in the night.
How about the eating habits of dogs? Proverbs 26:11 has this disgusting wisdom to impart: “Like a dog that returns to its vomit is a fool who reverts to his folly.” Dogs eating their own vomit must have been somewhat common for this to become a proverb. Exodus 22:31 also has dogs eating what is unfit for human consumption, namely the meat of an animal mangled by wild beasts in the field – this meat is to be thrown to the dogs. The eating situation was better for dogs which lived around people, for those dogs had access to table scraps. Although it was wrong to toss the children’s bread to the dogs, a dog could still eat the crumbs that fell from the Master’s table (Matthew 15:26-27).
The name of “dog” was held in very low regard in biblical times. Various types of evil people were readily compared to dogs. “Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and fornicators and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.” (Revelation 22:15) “Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of those who mutilate the flesh!” (Philippians 3:2) “Do not give what is holy to dogs; and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under foot and turn and maul you.” (Matthew 7:6) “Israel's watchmen are blind, they all lack knowledge; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they lie around and dream, they love to sleep. They are dogs with mighty appetites; they never have enough.” (Isaiah 56:10-11) However, I did say that a few biblical dog references were not negative, and I have saved these for last.
Jesus may not have been followed around by a dog, but Tobias, in the Apocryphal book of Tobit, was. When Tobias sets out on his travels with the angel Raphael, he has a furry companion. “So his son made the preparations for the journey. And his father said to him, "Go with this man; God who dwells in heaven will prosper your way, and may his angel attend you." So they both went out and departed, and the young man's dog was with them.” (Tobit 5:16) The dog is still with them for the return home. “Then Raphael said to Tobias, "Are you not aware, brother, of how you left your father? Let us run ahead of your wife and prepare the house. And take the gall of the fish with you." So they went their way, and the dog went along behind them.” (Tobit 11:2-4) It isn’t much, but at least we are free to imagine a friendly companion more like a modern dog. Another dog reference in the Bible, Job 30:1, reminds us that some dogs worked with people in helpful ways, such as the domesticated dogs that guarded the sheep.
As I said, the Bible is not kind to dogs. But this was an accurate portrait of dogs in those days. The biblical dog was probably similar to the “Canaan Dog” of today, shown in the image. These dogs were typical of “Pariah dogs”, which were socially outcast, living on the fringes of society. These dogs were wild, roaming in packs, yet they could be domesticated and trained to guard sheep or houses. They were not kept as pets. There are still Pariah dogs in modern India which would match the biblical description.

In modern America, we love our Bible, and we love our dogs. It is sad to see that they do not love each other. (Well, dogs may, or may not love the Bible. I don’t know. I never see mine reading his.) But modern dogs are the result of two thousand years of breeding and shaping dogs to be what we want, and to fit into our lives. We love modern dogs because they are not the same animals that existed in biblical times. We love the dogs we have helped to create, and in this, there is a reminder of God’s creative work. God has allowed us to take his creation, the wild dog, the despised outcast scavenger of the Bible, and mold it into man’s best friend, in a huge variety of helpful and loving breeds. We have participated in the ongoing act of creation. God created us and loves us, and so we must love the dogs which we have helped to make the way they are. The unconditional way that dogs love us in return is another obvious lesson for us, teaching us how we must love God in return.