Matthew 7:6 (KJV)

Passage

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.

Nearby Context

Matthew 7:4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?

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

Matthew 7:6 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 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto 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 first cast out 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.