Foxes and Hogs
Beasts, Plants, and Mountains in the Bible by Fr. Claudio Doglio The Fox and the Hog Since it was impossible that a prophet died outside Jerusalem, Jesus told the Pharisees to go tell Herod that He meant to continue his ministry for all the necessary time, even though the tetrarch didn’t want Him to. "Go and tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and I perform healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I accomplish my purpose.' ” (Luke 13,32) In that phrase Jesus used an animal metaphor to depict the character of Herod Antipas negatively. In this case, the image of the fox did not call to mind shrewdness but filth. Because the fox was an unclean and impure animal that unearthed dead bodies and lived in tainted places. In our language, we instead employ the pig as the animal symbol of dirtiness, therefore Jesus’s expression should be translated as “Go tell that pig….” Linking an animal to a person means to highlight a trait of that animal th