κύων G2965
A dog; used literally for scavenging street dogs and figuratively as a term of contempt for the morally impure.
In the ancient Near East, dogs were not beloved household pets but semi-wild scavengers that roamed streets and refuse heaps. This cultural backdrop illuminates every NT use. Jesus warns against giving holy things to 'dogs' (Matt 7:6), a metaphor for the profane or unworthy. In the Lazarus parable, dogs lick the beggar's sores — a mark of his utter destitution (Luke 16:21). Paul's sharp 'Beware of dogs!' (Phil 3:2) targets Judaizing opponents. Second Peter 2:22 quotes the proverb about a dog returning to its vomit, and Revelation 22:15 bars 'dogs' from the holy city.
Senses
1. sense 1 — A dog — literally a scavenging canine, but in every NT occurrence carrying strong connotations of ritual impurity, moral contempt, or abject lowliness. The multilingual glosses (spa: perro, fra: chien, deu: Hund) map directly to the common word for dog in each language, yet the biblical usage is overwhelmingly pejorative. In Matt 7:6, dogs represent those unworthy of sacred truth; in Phil 3:2, Paul uses it as invective against false teachers; in Rev 22:15, it denotes the morally impure excluded from the New Jerusalem. Only Luke 16:21 approaches a literal sense, where street dogs lick Lazarus's wounds. 5×
AR["الكِلابَ", "الكِلابُ", "كَلبٌ", "كِلابِ", "كِلَابُ"]·ben["কুকুর", "কুকুরদের", "কুকুরেরা"]·DE["Hund", "Hunde"]·EN["dog", "dogs"]·FR["chien"]·heb["הַ-כְּלָבִים", "כְּלָבִים", "כְּלָבִים;", "כֶּלֶב"]·HI["और", "कुत्ता", "कुत्ते", "कुत्तों-को", "कुत्तोन;"]·ID["Anjing", "anjing", "anjing-anjing"]·IT["cane", "kunas", "kunes", "kuōn"]·jav["Asu", "segawon"]·KO["개가", "개들", "개들과", "개들도", "개들을;"]·PT["Cão", "cães"]·RU["псам", "псов", "псы", "собака"]·ES["Perro", "perros", "perros,"]·SW["Mbwa", "mbwa", "mbwa,"]·TR["Köpek", "kopeklere", "köpekler", "köpeklere"]·urd["کتوں", "کتّا", "کتے", "کُتّوں-سے"]
Related Senses
H6629 1. flock, sheep/goats (small livestock) (274×)H1241 1. cattle, herd (bovine livestock) (183×)H0352a 1. ram (male sheep) (156×)H6499 1. young bull, bullock (130×)H3532 1. lamb, young male sheep (105×)H2543 1. donkey (male ass) (96×)H7794 1. ox, bull (79×)H7462b 1. shepherd (agent noun) (76×)H5795 1. she-goat(s), female goat(s) (68×)H7462b 2. to shepherd, tend, pasture (60×)H1581 1. camel (domestic animal) (54×)H0738b 1. lion (46×)G4263 1. sheep (39×)H5739 1. flock or herd of livestock (38×)H5695 1. calf, young bull (35×)H0738a 1. lion (large predatory feline) (34×)H0860 1. female donkey (34×)H3611 1. dog (animal) (32×)H3715a 1. young lion, lion cub (31×)G0721 1. Lamb (29×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
κύων [ῠ], ὁ and ἡ, both in Refs 8th c.BC+, vocative κύον Refs 8th c.BC+, Epic dialect κύνεσσι Refs:—dog, bitch, Refs 8th c.BC+; of shepherds' dogs, Refs 8th c.BC+; watch-dogs, Refs; but in Refs 8th c.BC+ more frequently of hounds, Refs 8th c.BC+; later, when of hounds, mostly in feminine, Refs 5th c.BC+; Μολοττικαὶ κ. Alexis Hist. cited in Refs 5th c.BC+ 'not fit for a dog', Refs 4th c.BC+; κύνα…