Augustine of Hippo : You shall not offer a harlot's reward or a change of dog in the house of the Lord your God in relation to any vow, because both are abominable to the Lord your God. This must be understood in the sense that it is an abomination to the Lord your God not one of these things, but both. In relation to the dog, it is forbidden to make the change of the firstborn, which he orders to be made with the other impure animals, such as horses and donkeys and other similar ones, which serve as a help to man, and in Latin receive the name of iumenta ( jumentos), because it is derived from iuvando (help). In relation to the dog, he has not allowed it. It is necessary to investigate if it has not allowed it with respect to the pig and why, and if it has not been allowed regarding these animals why in this passage only the dog has been excepted. The reason for mentioning the reward of the prostitute seems to be because before it was forbidden that there were prostitutes among the children of Israel and it was forbidden for anyone of them to approach one of them (Cf Deuteronomy 23,17). And so that no one would think that this sin could be expiated by offering in the temple something of the obtained for that sin, it had to be said that it was an abomination to the Lord. 39 (Deuteronomy 24.7). That thief will die-he who has stolen a man-and you will drive the wicked from among you. The Scripture repeats this many times when it commands to kill the wicked. The Apostle used an expression like this, saying: Why do I have to judge the outsiders? Is it not to those within who you judge? Cast out the wicked one among you. Greek has ton put, a term that also appears here. But this word is usually translated as "malignant" rather than "bad." And the text does not say: to put, that is, the bad; but ton put, that is, the evil one. From this it follows that he wanted to refer to the one who does something for which he is worthy of excommunication. In effect, the excommunication now makes in the Church what then did the death penalty. In spite of everything, that saying of the Apostle could also be understood in another way, that is, in the sense that each one will receive the order to cast out of himself the evil or the evil one. This sense would be more acceptable, if the evil or evil, and not the evil one, was found in Greek. Now, it is more credible that this has been said of man than vice. Although it could also be understood very well in the sense that man should remove the bad man from himself, according to that text which says: You undress the old man. And to explain who it is, he adds: He who stole, who no longer steals (Ef 4,22.28). — QUESTIONS ON DEUTERONOMY, Q. 38 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)