Beauty and the Pig
Week 2
“As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion.”
Proverbs 11:22
What does the Bible say about pigs? How are gold rings like beautiful women, and how are gold rings in pigs’ snouts like beautiful women without discretion? To better understand the meaning of Proverbs 11:22, we need to do some more studying.
You will need a concordance for this type of study. If you have an exhaustive concordance, such as Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, you will be using it throughout the book of studies. Or you may go online to http://www.eliyah.com/lexicon.html. If you have a concordance in the back of your Bible, it may list some of the verses we are seeking, but may not list them all.
Pigs in the Bible
Use your concordance to look up the word swine. Under the word swine, you will see a listing that looks like the one below.
Lev 11:7 the s, though he divide the hoof 2386
Matt 7:6 neither cast ye….pearls before s 5519
Etc
The abbreviation and numbers at the beginning of each line indicate the reference of each verse in which the word swine is used. The words in the center of each line quote the portion of the verse that contains the word swine. The “s” in each quote stands for the word swine. If you are unfamiliar with standard abbreviations for the books of the Bible, refer to the list of abbreviations provided at the beginning of the concordance.
2. What is the first reference listed?
3. Read this verse. What does it say about swine?
4. To fully understand this verse, you should also read the verses that precede it in the chapter, and the verses that follow it. These verses are called the context.
If you were to overhear only one sentence in a conversation between two people, you might very well misunderstand what they were talking about. In the same way, if you only read one Bible verse by itself, out of its context, you may misunderstand what the passage is actually saying. Read the other verses around this verse. Then note anything else you have learned about swine from the passage.
5. Look again at the concordance listing. What is the next verse that is listed?
6. Read this verse and it’s context. What does it say about swine?
7. Repeat numbers 5 & 6 for all the verses listed. (Continue to examine the context of each verse you look up as you do this study). Note that if the listing does not include an abbreviated name of a book of the Bible. This means that the verse is found in the same book of the Bible as the previous listing. If the previous verse was found in Matthew, so this next verse is also found in Matthew.
8. When you get to the listings for Matthew 8, read the entire account given. (Matthew 8:28-34) Note what you learn about the swine.
9. Did you notice anything new about the same story of the swine in Matthew, when you read it in Mark?
10. What do you notice about the verses from the Gospel of Luke?
11. Now that you have learned how to use the concordance and read its listings, look up the word swine’s in your concordance. List the references for verses that include this word.
12. Read each of these verses, with their context, and record your observations below.
13. Another word used in Scripture for a pig is the word boar. Locate this word in your concordance. List the reference of the verse that includes this word.
14. Read the verse and record your observations.
15. One more word that the King James Bible uses for the pig is sow. Look this word up in your concordance, record the verse’s reference, and note your observations.
16. Review the notes you have taken on all the verses that speak of pigs. Summarize your finding. What does the Bible say about pigs?
Week 2
“As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion.”
Proverbs 11:22
What does the Bible say about pigs? How are gold rings like beautiful women, and how are gold rings in pigs’ snouts like beautiful women without discretion? To better understand the meaning of Proverbs 11:22, we need to do some more studying.
You will need a concordance for this type of study. If you have an exhaustive concordance, such as Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, you will be using it throughout the book of studies. Or you may go online to http://www.eliyah.com/lexicon.html. If you have a concordance in the back of your Bible, it may list some of the verses we are seeking, but may not list them all.
Pigs in the Bible
Use your concordance to look up the word swine. Under the word swine, you will see a listing that looks like the one below.
Lev 11:7 the s, though he divide the hoof 2386
Matt 7:6 neither cast ye….pearls before s 5519
Etc
The abbreviation and numbers at the beginning of each line indicate the reference of each verse in which the word swine is used. The words in the center of each line quote the portion of the verse that contains the word swine. The “s” in each quote stands for the word swine. If you are unfamiliar with standard abbreviations for the books of the Bible, refer to the list of abbreviations provided at the beginning of the concordance.
2. What is the first reference listed?
3. Read this verse. What does it say about swine?
4. To fully understand this verse, you should also read the verses that precede it in the chapter, and the verses that follow it. These verses are called the context.
If you were to overhear only one sentence in a conversation between two people, you might very well misunderstand what they were talking about. In the same way, if you only read one Bible verse by itself, out of its context, you may misunderstand what the passage is actually saying. Read the other verses around this verse. Then note anything else you have learned about swine from the passage.
5. Look again at the concordance listing. What is the next verse that is listed?
6. Read this verse and it’s context. What does it say about swine?
7. Repeat numbers 5 & 6 for all the verses listed. (Continue to examine the context of each verse you look up as you do this study). Note that if the listing does not include an abbreviated name of a book of the Bible. This means that the verse is found in the same book of the Bible as the previous listing. If the previous verse was found in Matthew, so this next verse is also found in Matthew.
8. When you get to the listings for Matthew 8, read the entire account given. (Matthew 8:28-34) Note what you learn about the swine.
9. Did you notice anything new about the same story of the swine in Matthew, when you read it in Mark?
10. What do you notice about the verses from the Gospel of Luke?
11. Now that you have learned how to use the concordance and read its listings, look up the word swine’s in your concordance. List the references for verses that include this word.
12. Read each of these verses, with their context, and record your observations below.
13. Another word used in Scripture for a pig is the word boar. Locate this word in your concordance. List the reference of the verse that includes this word.
14. Read the verse and record your observations.
15. One more word that the King James Bible uses for the pig is sow. Look this word up in your concordance, record the verse’s reference, and note your observations.
16. Review the notes you have taken on all the verses that speak of pigs. Summarize your finding. What does the Bible say about pigs?
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