2 Peter 2:22

22 These proverbs have come true for them: "A dog goes back to its vomit," and "A sow that has been washed goes back to roll around in the mud."

2 Peter 2:22 Meaning and Commentary

2 Peter 2:22

But it is happened unto them, according to the true proverb,
&c.] 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, ( Proverbs 26:11 ) .

The dog [is] turned to his own vomit again, and the sow that was
washed to her wallowing in the mire;
which expresses the filthy nature of sin, signified by vomit, mire, and dirt, than which nothing is more abominable and defiling; and also the just characters of these apostates, who are filly compared to dogs and swine and likewise their irreclaimable and irrecoverable state and condition, it being impossible they should be otherwise, unless their natures were changed and altered. In the Hebrew language, a "sow" is called (ryzx) , from the root (rzx) , which signifies to "return", because that creature, as soon as it is out of the mire and dirt, and is washed from its filthiness, naturally returns to it again: so such apostates return to what they were before, to their former principles and practices: in this manner the Jews explain the proverb,

``Tobiah returns to Tobiah, as it is said, ( Proverbs 26:11 ) ; as a dog returneth to his vomit ^F18.''

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FOOTNOTES:

F18 Vajikra Rabba, sect. 16. fol. 158. 4.

2 Peter 2:22 In-Context

20 People can know our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and escape the world's filth. But if they get involved in this filth again and give in to it, they are worse off than they were before.

21 It would have been better for them never to have known the way of life that God approves of than to know it and turn their backs on the holy life God told them to live.

22 These proverbs have come true for them: "A dog goes back to its vomit," and "A sow that has been washed goes back to roll around in the mud."