"The Dogs" in Biblical Scholarship

It is sometimes suggested that "the dogs" of 22:15 is a summary term for all the practitioners that follow in the list. So Caird, "the dogs ... are here defined as those heathen who are indelibly marked with the qualities of the monster and the whore: sorcerers and fornicators" (285). It is also a shared scholarly understanding that "the dogs" is either a Jewish/Christian metaphor for the gentiles, even though it is used very rarely before the Common Era, or for those who are false teachers and heretics; and the vices that follow are seen to be descriptive of the practices of either grouping.

There is no question that when Jewish and Christian writers refer to someone or to a group of people as a "dog" or "dogs" they are being derogatory.It is generally known that Jews regarded dogs as "unclean" animals, despised because of their public habits of "mixed" copulation, urination, and defecation. As expected, dogs were banned from many sacred sites.

In AD 802 Nicephorus usurped the throne of the Eastern Empire. He sent ambassadors with a letter to Harun to tell him that the tribute would no longer be paid.....

"Harun-al-Rashid, Commander of the Faithful to Nicephorus, the Roman dog: I have read thy letter. Thou shalt not hear, thou shalt see my reply."