Dog in the Bible Encyclopedia - ISBE

kelebh; (compare Arabic kelb, "dog"); kuon; and diminutive kunarion): References to the dog, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, are usually of a contemptuous character. A dog, and especially a dead dog, is used as a figure of insignificance. Goliath says to David (1 Sam 17:43 ): "Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves?" David says to Saul (1 Sam 24:14): "After whom dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea." Mephibosheth says to David (2 Sam 9:8): "What is th servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am?" The same figure is found in the words of Hazael to Elisha (2 Ki 8:13). The meaning, which is obscure in the King James Version, is brought out well in the Revised Version: "But what is thy servant, who is but a dog, that he should do this great thing?" The characteristically oriental interrogative form of these expressions should be noted...