Question Concerning Luke 16:21 and the dogs' licks

[ethereality]

The March 4, 2010 daily reading has for the Gospel Luke 16:19-31, the poor man Lazarus story. I have never known how to interpret verse 21:

[Lazarus] desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

Searching through the Faith Database references, the only useful thing appears to be Augustine of Hippo’s statement in Sermon 36 on the New Testament,

[Lazarus] fed the dogs with his sores, but he was not fed by the rich man.

As a child, I used to think that Lazarus was in a sense being “attacked” by these dogs, that their licks were irritating but unavoidable for him, just another daily challenge he faced while the rich man did nothing. (Generally, I don’t like being licked by dogs. It’s slimy and uncomfortable.) Today, it occurred to me – as the NAB writes “Dogs even used to come” – that perhaps it was saying dogs came to help him, while the rich man didn’t, suggesting that the rich man was below dogs in terms of the kingdom of heaven: It recalls an old saying, I think in the Old Testament: one would say, “I am but a dead dog” to indicate one’s lowliness in comparison with someone greater. (For example, I think David says it once to Saul, when Saul thinks David wants to overthrow him as king.)

So, were the dogs helping Lazarus, hurting Lazarus, or neither and Lazarus was helping them?

 

[Cachonga]

This might fall under the category of an “Old wives tale”, but I’ve heard that a dog licking a sore could help it. The idea is that the courseness of the tongue would scrape away dead skin and the saliva would help to kill any bacteria. It seems likely that the licking might also help circulation in the affected area, thereby speeding up healing. I am unaware of any actual research in this, though, and so I selected “I don’t know” as my answer to the poll.

 

[GEddie]

As a child, I used to think that Lazarus was in a sense being “attacked” by these dogs, that their licks were irritating but unavoidable for him, just another daily challenge he faced while the rich man did nothing. (Generally, I don’t like being licked by dogs. It’s slimy and uncomfortable.) Today, it occurred to me – as the NAB writes “Dogs even used to come” – that perhaps it was saying dogs came to help him, while the rich man didn’t, suggesting that the rich man was below dogs in terms of the kingdom of heaven: It recalls an old saying, I think in the Old Testament: one would say, “I am but a dead dog” to indicate one’s lowliness in comparison with someone greater. (For example, I think David says it once to Saul, when Saul thinks David wants to overthrow him as king.)

So, were the dogs helping Lazarus, hurting Lazarus, or neither and Lazarus was helping them?

They were trying to help him. Dogs will lick their own wounds (we still use the expression to lick one’s wounds) and they see that a human being cannot effectively lick his own limbs or body; so they did it for Lazarus. As compared to the rich man, a fellow human being, who never tried to relieve him.

(BTW being compared to a dog – an unclean critter – was a slap in the face in that place and time. Presumably our LORD intended just that.)

ICXC NIKA.