2 Peter 2:22

22 Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,”^[a] and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”

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2 Peter 2:22 in Other Translations

KJV

22 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.

ESV

22 What the true proverb says has happened to them: "The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire."

NLT

22 They prove the truth of this proverb: “A dog returns to its vomit.” And another says, “A washed pig returns to the mud.”

MSG

22 They prove the point of the proverbs, "A dog goes back to its own vomit," and, "A scrubbed-up pig heads for the mud."

CSB

22 It has happened to them according to the true proverb: A dog returns to its own vomit, and, "a sow, after washing itself, wallows 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.''

FOOTNOTES:

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

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

2 Peter 2:22 In-Context

20 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.

21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them.

22 Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”