Dog: Epithet of Contempt

“Am I a dog,” he said to David, “that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom are you pursuing? A dead dog? A flea?

Abner was furious over Ish-bosheth’s accusation. “Am I the head of a dog that belongs to Judah?” he asked. “All this time I have been loyal to the house of your father Saul, to his brothers, and to his friends. I have not delivered you into the hand of David, but now you accuse me of wrongdoing with this woman!

Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog like me?”

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 off his head!”

“But how could your servant, a mere dog, do such a monstrous thing?” said Hazael. And Elisha answered, “The LORD has shown me that you will be king over Aram.”

Israel’s watchmen are blind, they are all oblivious; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they are dreamers lying around, loving to slumber.

Like ravenous dogs, they are never satisfied. They are shepherds with no discernment; they all turn to their own way, each one seeking his own gain:

But Jesus replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”