2 Peter 2:22
in 2 Peter 2Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
It has happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog turning to his own vomit again, and the sow that had washed to wallowing in the mire.
KJV
But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.
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This verse in 2 Peter 2
Commentary
12 notes on this verseAccording to the true proverb - This seems to be a reference to Pro 26:11: ככלב שב אל קאו kekeleb shab al keo; as the dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool repeateth his folly. In substance this proverb is found among the rabbins; so Midrash Ruth, in Sohar Chadash, fol. 62: Orphah is returned to her mire, Ruth persevered in spirit; and again, Ibid. fol. 64: “Orphah, which is נפש הבהמית nephesh habbehemith, the bestial soul, is returned to her mire.” The Greeks have something like it; so Arrian, Dissert. Epict. l. iv. c.
This site's exposition
If indeed they have escaped the corruption of the world
on 2 Peter 2:20-22
To escape through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and be overcome again leaves a condition worse than it was at first. The proverbs of the dog and the sow, from Proverbs 26:11 and daily life, show a nature the washing never changed.
This site's exposition
dog returns to its vomit
Peter closes with two proverbs from ordinary life. John Wesley applies them to all people before grace and to those who have wrecked their faith. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the point as a nature that stayed the same: dogs and swine before, dogs and swine still.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: A dog returns to its own vomit, and a pig, having washed, to her rolling in the mud. For since a dog returns to its own vomit is more abominable. For what nature had …
Repentance consists in no longer doing the same things, for he who reverts to the same sins is like a dog returning to his vomit.
A commentator
Lucius Caecilius Firmianus LactantiusThe Divine Institutes, Book 3, Chapter VIII · Written before 325.
proposed
Shall we then seek precepts of living from these men, who have no other feelings than those of the irrational creatures? The Cyrenaics say that virtue itself is to be praised on this account, because it is productive of pleasure. True, says the filthy dog, or the swine wallowing in the mire. For it is on this account that I contend with my adversary with the utmost exertion of strength, that my valour may procure for me pleasure; of which I must necessarily be deprived if I shall come off vanquished. Shall we therefore learn wisdom from these men, who differ from cattle and the brutes, not in feeling, but in language? To regard the absence of pain as the chief good, is not indeed the part of Peripatetic and Stoic, but of clinical philosophers. For who would not imagine that the discussion was carried on by those who were ill, and under the influence of some pain? What is so ridiculous, as to esteem that the chief good which the physician is able to give? We must therefore feel pain in order that we may enjoy good; and that, too, severely and frequently, that afterwards the absence of pain may be attended with greater pleasure. He is therefore most wretched who has never felt pain, because he is without that which is good; whereas we used to regard him as most happy, because he was without evil. He was not far distant from this folly, who said that the entire absence of pain was the chief good. The forbidding of the flesh of swine also has the same intention; for when God commanded them to abstain from this, He willed that this should be especially understood, that they should abstain from sins and impurities. For this animal is filthy and unclean. […]
The Medieval Church2 voices
For the truth of the proverb happened to them: The dog returns to its vomit, etc. He says this is a true proverb because he takes testimony from the Proverbs of Solomon, which is placed there with explanation: As a dog, he says, which returns …
He also adds a proverb confirming the same thing (Prov. 26:11). For even a dog returning to its own vomit becomes still more disgusting, just as a pig seeking to wash itself of filth, if it does so in filth itself, turns out even filthier …
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The dog, the sow - Such are all men in the sight of God before they receive his grace, and after they have made shipwreck of the faith.
But it is happened unto them, according to the true proverb,.... Which is true, both in fact and in the application of it, and which lies in the Scriptures of truth, at least the first part of it, Pro 26:
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
But--You need not wonder at the event; for dogs and swine they were before, and dogs and swine they will continue. They "scarcely" (2Pe 2:18) have escaped from their filthy folly, when they again are entangled in it.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb - The meaning of the proverbs here quoted is, that they have returned to their former vile manner of life. Under all the appearances of reformation, still their evil nature remained, as really as that of the dog or the swine, and that nature finally prevailed. There was no thorough internal change, any more than there is in the swine when it is washed, or in the dog. This passage, therefore, would seem to demonstrate that there never had been any real change of heart, and of course there had been no falling away from true religion. It should not, therefore, he quoted to prove that true Chrisfinns may fall from grace and perish. The dog and the swine had never been anything else than the dog and the swine, and these persons had never been anything else than sinners. The dog is turned to his own vomit again - That is, to eat it up. The passage would seem to imply, that whatever pains should be taken to change the habits of the dog, he would return to them again. The quotation here is from Pro 26:11; “As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a feel returneth to his folly.” A similar proverb is found in the Rabbinical writers. Of the truth of the disgusting fact here affirmed of the dog, there can be no doubt. Phaedrus (Fab. 27.) states a fact still more offensive respecting its habits. In the view of the Orientals, the dog was reckoned among the most vile and disgusting of all animals. Compare Deu 23:18; 1Sa 17:43; 2Sa 3:8; 2Sa 9:8; 2Sa 16:9; Mat 7:6; Php 3:2. See also Horace, II. Epis. 1, 26: Vixisset canis immundus, vel amica luto sus. On the use of this proverb, see Wetstein, in loc. And the sow that was washed ... - This proverb is not found in the Old Testament, but it was common in the Rabbinical writings, and is found in the Greek classics. See Wetstein, in loc. […]
The words behind it
18 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| συμβέβηκεν | sumbebeken | Has happened | G4819 → | |
| αὐτοῖς | autois | to them | G846 → | 5565 times |
| τὸ | to | the [thing] | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| τῆς | tes | of the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἀληθοῦς | alethous | true | G227 → | |
| παροιμίας· | paroimias | proverb: | G3942 → | |
| κύων | kuon | A dog | G2965 → | |
| ἐπιστρέψας | epistrepsas | having returned | G1994 → | |
| ἐπὶ | epi | to | G1909 → | 883 times |
| τὸ | to | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἴδιον | idion | [its] own | G2398 → | 114 times |
| ἐξέραμα· | exerama | vomit; | G1829 → | |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ὗς | hus | A sow | G5300 → | |
| λουσαμένη | lousamene | having washed | G3068 → | |
| εἰς | eis | to [her] | G1519 → | 1755 times |
| κυλισμὸν | kulismon | rolling place | G2946 → | |
| βορβόρου.¶ | borborou | in [the] mire. | G1004 → |
συμβέβηκενHas happened
sumbebekenG4819 →
αὐτοῖςto them
autoisG846 →5565 times
τὸthe [thing]
toG3588 →19766 times
τῆςof the
tesG3588 →19766 times
ἀληθοῦςtrue
alethousG227 →
παροιμίας·proverb:
paroimiasG3942 →
κύωνA dog
kuonG2965 →
ἐπιστρέψαςhaving returned
epistrepsasG1994 →
ἐπὶto
epiG1909 →883 times
τὸ<the>
toG3588 →19766 times
ἴδιον[its] own
idionG2398 →114 times
ἐξέραμα·vomit;
exeramaG1829 →
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ὗςA sow
husG5300 →
λουσαμένηhaving washed
lousameneG3068 →
εἰςto [her]
eisG1519 →1755 times
κυλισμὸνrolling place
kulismonG2946 →
βορβόρου.¶in [the] mire.
borborouG1004 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
2 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 26:11As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.
it leads to
- Matthew 12:45
Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and dwell there; and the final plight of that man is worse than the first. So…
- Exodus 8:15
When Pharaoh saw that there was relief, however, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said.
- Matthew 12:45
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies16
On this verse
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About 2 Peter
This page draws on 12 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on the Catholic Epistles; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on 2 Peter; John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON JOHN 34; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius, The Divine Institutes, Book 3, Chapter VIII; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, Commentary on 2 Peter and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 2 Peter.