Frequently mentioned both in the Old and New Testaments. Dogs were used by the Hebrews as a watch for their houses ( Isaiah 56:10 ), and for guarding their flocks ( Job 30:1 ). There were also then as now troops of semi-wild dogs that wandered about devouring dead bodies and the offal of the streets ( 1 Kings 14:11 ; 16:4 ; 21:19,23 ; 22:38 ; Psalm 59:6,14 ). As the dog was an unclean animal, the terms "dog," "dog's head," "dead dog," were used as terms of reproach or of humiliation ( 1 Samuel 24:14 ; 2 Samuel 3:8 ; 9:8 ; 16:9 ). Paul calls false apostles "dogs" ( Philippians 3:2 ). Those who are shut out of the kingdom of heaven are also so designated ( Revelation 22:15 ). Persecutors are called "dogs" ( Psalm 22:16 ). Hazael's words, "Thy servant which is but a dog" ( 2 Kings 8:13 ), are spoken in mock humility=impossible that one so contemptible as he should attain to such power.
Source
- part_of
source-manifest/easton— Easton's Bible Dictionary (PD)