Talmud and Bible Dog Quotes

These 35 Talmud and Bible dog quotes (Old Testament and New Testament) are almost an anthropology lesson for us today. They describe a time when dogs were not always looked upon fondly, let alone with love and compassion.

There is also a page of dog quotes from religious leaders and other writers. Click on the Religious Dog Quotes link in the navigation to read them.

The Talmud

Breed not a savage dog, nor permit a loose stairway.

Old Testament Bible Dog Quotes

But against all the Israelites, whether man or beast, not [even] a dog will snarl, so that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.

Exodus 11:7

Be My holy people. You must not eat the meat of a mauled animal in the field; throw it to the dogs.

Exodus 22:31

So he brought the people down to the water, and the Lord said to Gideon, "Separate everyone who laps water with his tongue like a dog. Do the same with everyone who kneels to drink."

Judges 7:5

He said to David, "Am I a dog that you come against me with sticks?" And David said, "No! Worse than a dog!"

1 Samuel 16:43

Who has the king of Israel come after? What are you chasing after? A dead dog? A flea?

1 Samuel 23:14

Abner was very angry about Ish-bosheth's accusation. "Am I a dog's head who belongs to Judah?" he asked. "All this time I've been loyal to the house of your father Saul, to his brothers, and to his friends and haven't handed you over to David, but now you accuse me of wrongdoing with this woman!"

2 Samuel 3:8

Mephibosheth bowed down and said, "What is your servant that you take an interest in a dead dog like me?"

2 Samuel 9:8

Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, "Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut his head off!"

2 Samuel 16:9

Anyone who belongs to Jeroboam and dies in the city, the dogs will eat, and anyone who dies in the field, the birds of the sky will eat, for the LORD has said it!

1 Kings 14:11

Anyone who belongs to Baasha and dies in the city, the dogs will eat, and anyone who is his and dies in the field, the birds of the sky will eat.

1 Kings 16:4

Tell him, "This is what the LORD says: Have you murdered and also taken possession?" Then tell him, "This is what the LORD says: In the place where the dogs licked Naboth's blood, the dogs will also lick your blood!"

1 Kings 21:19

The dogs will eat Jezebel in the plot of land at Jezreel: He who belongs to Ahab and dies in the city, the dogs will eat, and he who dies in the field, the birds of the sky will eat.

1 Kings 21:23-24

Then someone washed the chariot at the pool of Samaria. The dogs licked up his blood, and the prostitutes bathed [in it], according to the word of the LORD that He had spoken.

1 Kings 22:38

Hazael said, "How could your servant, a mere dog, do this monstrous thing?" Elisha answered, "The LORD has shown me that you will be king over Aram."

2 Kings 8:13

The dogs will eat Jezebel in the plot of land at Jezreel, no one will bury her.

2 Kings 9:10

So they went back and told him, and he said, "This [fulfills] the LORD's word that He spoke through His servant Elijah the Tishbite: 'In the plot of land at Jezreel, the dogs will eat Jezebel's flesh.'"

2 Kings 9:36

But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to put with my sheep dogs.

Job 30:1

For dogs have surrounded me; a gang of evildoers has closed in on me; they pierced my hands and my feet.

Psalm 22:16

Deliver my life from the sword, my very life from the power of the dog.

Psalm 22:20

They return at evening, snarling like dogs and prowling around the city.

Psalm 59:6

The Lord said, "I will bring [them] back from Bashan; I will bring [them] back from the depths of the sea so that your foot may wade in blood and your dogs' tongues may have their share from the enemies."

Psalm 68:22-23

As a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool repeats his foolishness.

Proverbs 26:11

A passerby who meddles in a quarrel that's not his is like one who grabs a dog by the ears.

Proverbs 26:17

But there is hope for whoever is joined with all the living, since a live dog is better than a dead lion.

Ecclesiastes 9:4

Israel's watchmen are blind, all of them, they know nothing; all of them are mute dogs, they cannot bark; they dream, lie down, and love to sleep. These dogs have fierce appetites; they never have enough. And they are shepherds who have no discernment; all of them turn to their own way, every last one for his own gain.

Isaiah 56:10-11

One slaughters an ox, one kills a man; one sacrifices a lamb, one breaks a dog's neck; one offers a grain offering, one offers swine's blood; one offers incense, one praises an idol—all these have chosen their ways and delight in their abominations.

Isaiah 66:3

"I will ordain four kinds [of judgment] for them"—[this is] the LORD's declaration—"the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, and the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the land to devour and destroy."

Jeremiah 15:3

New Testament Bible Dog Quotes

Don't give what is holy to dogs or toss your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them with their feet, turn, and tear you to pieces.

Matthew 7:6

He said to her, "Allow the children to be satisfied first, because it isn't right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." But she replied to Him, "Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs."

Mark 7:27-28

He answered, "It isn't right to take the children's bread and throw it to their dogs." "Yes, Lord," she said, "yet even the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."

Matthew 15:26-27

He longed to be filled with what fell from the rich man's table, but instead the dogs would come and lick his sores.

Luke 16:21

Watch out for "dogs," watch out for evil workers, watch out for those who mutilate the flesh.

Philippians 3:2 (here "dogs" means those not of the people of God—the unclean)

But has happened to them according to the true proverb, The dog returns to his own vomit; and a sow that after washing itself, wallows in the mire.

2 Peter 2:22

Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.

Revelation 22:15