Matthew 7:6 (DRB)

Passage

Give not that which is holy to dogs; neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest perhaps they trample them under their feet, and turning upon you, they tear you.

Nearby Context

Matthew 7:4 Or how sayest thou to thy brother: Let me cast the mote out of thy eye; and behold a beam is in thy own eye?

Matthew 7:5 Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thy own eye, and then shalt thou see to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

Matthew 7:6 Give not that which is holy to dogs; neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest perhaps they trample them under their feet, and turning upon you, they tear you.

Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you.

Matthew 7:8 For every one that asketh, receiveth: and he that seeketh, findeth: and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "give", "holy", "dogs", "neither", "cast", "pearls", "before", and "swine". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "give" and "holy", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 5's "Thou hypocrite cast out first the beam..." into verse 7's "Ask and it shall be given you...", so "give" and "holy" belong inside that flow. In Matthew context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "give" and "holy" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.