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.''