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Topic

Swine

34 passages cited, from 5 classic reference works.

These works date from 1884–1915 and are in the public domain. They reflect the Protestant scholarship of their time: their history, archaeology and dates can be out of date, and where they interpret, other traditions read the text differently. The verses are shown in the King James Version, the wording these works were written against.

The verses

The passages the works cite, those cited by more of them first.

Leviticus 11:7Easton · Smith · ISBE · Nave · Torrey Forbidden as food
And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you.
Psalms 80:13Easton · Smith · ISBE · Nave · Torrey Wild boar
The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it.
Isaiah 65:4Easton · Smith · ISBE · Nave · Torrey Used for food
Which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine’s flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels;
Luke 15:15Easton · ISBE · Nave · Torrey Feeding of
And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
Luke 15:16Easton · ISBE · Nave · Torrey Feeding of
And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.
Deuteronomy 14:8Smith · ISBE · Nave Forbidden as food
And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto you: ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcase.
Proverbs 11:22Easton · ISBE · Nave Jewels in the nose of
As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion.
Isaiah 66:3Easton · Nave · Torrey For sacrifice
He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog’s neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine’s blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways,…
Isaiah 66:17Easton · Nave · Torrey Used for food
They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.
Matthew 7:6Easton · Nave · Torrey Viciousness of
¶ Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.
Matthew 8:32Smith · ISBE · Torrey The Gergesenes punished for having
And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters.
Luke 8:32Easton · ISBE · Nave Jesus sends demons into the
And there was there an herd of many swine feeding on the mountain: and they besought him that he would suffer them to enter into them. And he suffered them.

Show 22 more

Luke 8:33 Easton · ISBE · Nave Jesus sends demons into the
2 Peter 2:22 ISBE · Nave · Torrey Sow returns to her wallowing
Matthew 8:30 ISBE · Torrey Kept in large herds
Matthew 8:31 ISBE · Torrey The Gergesenes punished for having
Mark 5:11 ISBE · Torrey The Gergesenes punished for having
Mark 5:13 Smith · ISBE
Mark 5:14 ISBE · Torrey The Gergesenes punished for having
Leviticus 11:8 Torrey Unclean and not to be eaten
2 Samuel 17:8 ISBE
1 Kings 21:19 ISBE
1 Kings 22:38 ISBE
Proverbs 26:11 ISBE
1 Maccabees 1:47 ISBE
2 Maccabees 6:1–31 ISBE
2 Maccabees 6:18 Smith
2 Maccabees 6:19 Smith
2 Maccabees 7:1–42 ISBE
2 Esdras 15:30 ISBE
Matthew 8:28–32 Nave Jesus sends demons into the
Mark 5:11–14 Nave Jesus sends demons into the
Mark 5:12 ISBE
Mark 5:16 ISBE

In the reference works

Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897) · 11 references

(Heb. hazir), regarded as the most unclean and the most abhorred of all animals (Lev. 11:7; Isa. 65:4; 66:3, 17; Luke 15:15, 16). A herd of swine were drowned in the Sea of Galilee (Luke 8:32, 33). Spoken of figuratively in Matt. 7:6 (see Prov. 11:22). It is frequently mentioned as a wild animal, and is evidently the wild boar (Arab. khanzir), which is common among the marshes of the Jordan valley (Ps. 80:13).

Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884) · 8 references

(Heb. chazir). The flesh of swine was forbidden as food by the Levitical law, (Leviticus 11:7; 14:8) the abhorrence which the Jews as a nation had of it may be inferred from (Isaiah 65:4) and 2 Macc 6:18,19. No other reason for the command to abstain from swine’s flesh is given in the law of Moses beyond the general one which forbade any of the mammalia as food which did not literally fulfill the terms of the definition of a clean animal" viz,, that it was to be a cloven-footed ruminant. It is, however, probable that dietetical considerations may have influenced Moses in his prohibition of swine’s flesh: it is generally believed that its use in hot countries is liable to induce cutaneous disorders; hence in a people liable to leprosy the necessity for the observance of a strict rule. Although the Jews did not breed swine during the greater period of their existence as a nation there can be little doubt that the heathen nations of Palestine used the flesh as food. At the time of our Lord’s ministry it would appear that the Jews occasionally violated the law of Moses with regard to swine’s flesh. Whether "the herd of swine" into which the devils were allowed to enter, (Matthew 8:32; Mark 5:13) were the property of the Jewish or of the Gentile inhabitants of Gadara does not appear from the sacred narrative. The wild boar of the wood, (Psalms 80:13) is the common Sus scrofa which is frequently met with in the woody parts of Palestine, especially in Mount Tabor.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915) · 28 references

swin (chazir; compare Arabic khinzir; hus, Septuagint and New Testament; compare Greek sus, and Latin sus; adjective hueios, as a substantive, the Septuagint; choiros, Septuagint and New Testament): In both ancient and modern times domestic swine have been little kept in Palestine, but wild swine are well known as inhabitants of the thickets of the Chuleh, the Jordan valley, the Dead Sea, and some of the mountains. The species is Susanna scrofa, the wild pig of Europe, North Africa and Western Asia.

In the Old Testament the swine is mentioned in Le 11:7 and De 14:8 as an unclean animal: "And the swine, because he parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, but cheweth not the cud, he is unclean unto you." In Isa 65:4 and 66:3,17 the eating of swine's flesh and the offering of oblations of swine's blood are referred to as abominations. Septuagint also refers to swine in three passages where these animals are not mentioned in the Hebrew and EV. In 2Sa 17:8 where English Versions of the Bible has "as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field," Septuagint adds (translation) "and as a savage boar in the plain." In 1Ki 21:19 Septuagint 20:19), where English Versions of the Bible has "in the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth," Septuagint has "where the swine and the dogs licked"; similarly in 1Ki 22:38. In 1 Macc 1:47 there is reference to a decree of Antiochus ordering the sacrifice of swine. In 2 Macc 6 and 7 there are accounts of the torture and death of Eleazar, an aged scribe, and of a mother and her seven sons for refusing to taste swine's flesh. Swine, the property of Gentiles, are mentioned in the account of the Gadarene demoniac (Mt 8:30,31,32; Mr 5:11,12,13,14,16; Lu 8:32,33), and in the parable of the Prodigal Son (Lu 15:15,16).

Figurative: We find the following figurative references to swine:

"The boar out of the wood doth ravage it,

And the wild beasts of the field feed on it" (i.e. on the "vine out of Egypt") (Ps 80:13);

"As a ring of gold in a swine's snout,

So is a fair woman that is without discretion"

(Pr 11:22);

"The Carmonians (the King James Version Carmanians, perhaps of Kirman or Carmania, in Southwestern Persia) raging in wrath shall go forth as the wild boars of the wood"

(2 Esdras 15:30);

"The dog turning to his own vomit again, and the sow that had washed to wallowing in the mire"

(2Pe 2:22; compare Pr 26:11).

Alfred Ely Day

In the topical indexes

Nave's Topical Bible (1896) · 15 references, grouped by sub-topic

→ (Pigs)
→ Forbidden as food Le 11:7; De 14:8
→ Used for food Isa 65:4; 66:17
→ For sacrifice Isa 66:3
→ Wild boar Ps 80:13
→ Jewels in the nose of Pr 11:22
→ Viciousness of Mt 7:6
→ Jesus sends demons into the Mt 8:28-32; Mr 5:11-14; Lu 8:32,33
→ Feeding of Lu 15:15,16
→ Sow returns to her wallowing 2Pe 2:22

Torrey's New Topical Textbook (1897) · 18 references, grouped by sub-topic

When wild inhabited the woods Ps 80:13
Unclean and not to be eaten Le 11:7,8
DESCRIBED
- Fierce and ungenerous Mt 7:6
- Filthy in its habits 2Pe 2:22
- Destructive to agriculture Ps 80:13
Fed upon husks Lu 15:16
Sacrificing of, an abomination Isa 66:3
Kept in large herds Mt 8:30
Herding of, considered as the greatest degradation to a Jew Lu 15:15
The Gergesenes punished for having Mt 8:31,32; Mr 5:11,14
The ungodly Jews condemned for eating Isa 65:4; 66:17
ILLUSTRATIVE OF
- The wicked Mt 7:6
- Hypocrites 2Pe 2:22

Texts: Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897); Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884); International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915); Nave's Topical Bible (1896); Torrey's New Topical Textbook (1897), from the CrossWire SWORD modules (public domain). Verse references were parsed from the works' own markup and checked against the KJV verse list.

Swine

The verses

In the reference works

In the topical indexes

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