Matthew 15:28

Parallel Verses

New American Standard Bible

Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed at once.

King James Version

Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

Holman Bible

Then Jesus replied to her, “Woman, your faith is great. Let it be done for you as you want.” And from that moment her daughter was cured.

A Conservative Version

Then Jesus having answered, said to her, O woman, great is thy faith. Be it done for thee as thou desire. And her daughter was healed from that hour.

American Standard Version

Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it done unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was healed from that hour.

Amplified

Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, your faith is great; it will be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that moment.

An Understandable Version

Then Jesus answered her, “O, woman, how great your faith is. May what you want be done for you.” And her daughter was healed that very moment.

Anderson New Testament

Then Jesus answered and said to her: woman, great is your faith; be it to you as you desire. And her daughter was restored to health from that hour.

Bible in Basic English

Then Jesus, answering, said to her, O woman, great is your faith: let your desire be done. And her daughter was made well from that hour.

Common New Testament

Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

Daniel Mace New Testament

then Jesus answered her, O woman, great is thy faith: as you desire, be it done. and her daughter was healed from that very hour.

Darby Translation

Then Jesus answering said to her, O woman, thy faith is great. Be it to thee as thou desirest. And her daughter was healed from that hour.

Godbey New Testament

Then Jesus responding said to her, O woman, great is thy faith; let it be done unto thee as thou dost wish. And her daughter was healed from that hour.

Goodspeed New Testament

Then Jesus answered, “You have great faith! You shall have what you want.” And her daughter was cured from that time.

John Wesley New Testament

And Jesus answering said to her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee as thou wilt. And her daughter was healed from that hour.

Jubilee 2000 Bible

Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith; be it unto thee even as thou desire. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

Julia Smith Translation

Then Jesus, having answered, said to her, O woman, great thy faith: let it be to thee as thou wilt. And her daughter was healed from that hour.

King James 2000

Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is your faith: be it unto you even as you will. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

Lexham Expanded Bible

Then Jesus answered said to her, “O woman, your faith great! Let it be done for you as you want.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.

Modern King James verseion

Then Jesus answered and said to her, O woman, great is your faith! So be it to you even as you wish. And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

Modern Spelling Tyndale-Coverdale

Then Jesus answered, and said unto her, “O woman great is thy faith, be it to thee, even as thou desirest.” And her daughter was made whole even at that same hour.

Moffatt New Testament

At that Jesus replied, “O woman, you have great faith; your prayer is granted as you wish.” And from that hour her daughter was cured.

Montgomery New Testament

Then Jesus answered her. “O woman, great is your faith. It shall be for you even as you desire.” And from that hour her daughter was healed.

NET Bible

Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, your faith is great! Let what you want be done for you.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.

New Heart English Bible

Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith. Be it done to you even as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.

Noyes New Testament

Then Jesus answering said to her, O woman, great is thy faith; be it done to thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was cured from that hour.

Sawyer New Testament

Then Jesus answered and said to her, O woman, great is your faith! Be it to you as you wish; and her daughter was cured from that hour.

The Emphasized Bible

Then, answering, Jesus said to her – O woman! great, is, thy faith! Be it, done, for thee, as thou desirest. And her daughter was healed, from that hour.

Thomas Haweis New Testament

Then Jesus answering said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith! be it unto thee even as thou desirest. And her daughter was cured from that hour.

Webster

Then Jesus answered and said to her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it to thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

Weymouth New Testament

“O woman,” replied Jesus, “great is your faith: be it done to you as you desire.” And from that moment her daughter was restored to health.

Williams New Testament

Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, wonderful is your faith! You must have what you want.” And her daughter was cured at that very moment.

World English Bible

Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Be it done to you even as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.

Worrell New Testament

Then Jesus, answering, said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! be it done to you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.

Worsley New Testament

Then Jesus answering, said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it therefore unto thee as thou desirest. And her daughter was cured from that very hour.

Youngs Literal Translation

then answering, Jesus said to her, ‘O woman, great is thy faith, let it be to thee as thou wilt;’ and her daughter was healed from that hour.

Interlinear

English(KJV)

Strong’s

Root Form

Definition

Usage

be it

Ginomai 

be,

come

to

pass

, be

made

, be

donecomebecomeGod forbidarisehave

, be

fulfilled

, be

married

to, be

preferred

, not tr, , vr

done

Usage: 531

Apo 

from

, of,

out

of,

foroff

, by, at, in,

since

9, on, not tr., .

Usage: 490

bible.knowing-jesus.com

Matthew 15:10-28With thanks to page sponsor 2014:
Laura Csellak
St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church, Easton PA.

• Reading the Text:
  • NRSV (with link to Anglicized NRSV) at Oremus Bible Browser.
  • Greek Interlinear Bible, ScrTR, ScrTR t, Strong, Parsing, CGTS, CGES id, AV.
  • The Bible Gateway: NRSV, RSV, NIV, NASB, CEV, The Message, KJV, etc.
  • The Blue Letter Bible. KJV, alternate versions, Greek text with concordance, commentaries.
  • The World Wide Study Bible includes commentary, exposition & sermons.
• Historical References, Commentary and Comparative Texts:
  • The Five Gospels Parallels, John W. Marshall, University of Toronto.
  • At Mahlon H. Smith’s (Rutgers University) Into His Own: Perspective on the World of Jesus:
    • Beggar At A Banquet (Babylonian Talmud, Berakoth 31b)
    • Comparative texts about Spirit Possession and Exorcism, and comparative primary texts about Purity and Social Relations, from Philo, Josephus, Lucian, Pseudepigrapha, Babylonian Talmud, Midrash, Philostratus.
    • Comparative texts about Pharisees & Sadducees from Josephus, Tosefta, Mishnah & Babylonian Talmud.
  • “Of David’s Lineage,” “What Goes In,” The Jesus Database, an online annotated inventory of the traditions concerning the life and teachings of Jesus. Dr. Gregory C. Jenks, FaithFutures Foundation.
  • Chapter XI, The Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallians, Ignatius of Antioch (c. 110). (Longer Version – 4th cent interpolation)
  • XX.35-38, 41, 45-46, 49-55, 57; Tatian’s Diatessaron (c. 150-160).
  • Chapter VI, On Prayer,  Tertullian (c. 199)
  • I.3,  II.1, II.6, Paedagogus, Clement of Alexandria (c 200)
  • II.11, Stromata, Clement of Alexandria (c 200)
  • Chapter III, Chapter VIII, Chapter XIV, The Prescription of Heretics, Tertullian (c. 200)
  • IV.7, Against Marcion, Tertullian (c. 210)
  • VII.XXXIII, VIII.XXIX, Against Celsus, Origen. (c.246)
  • XI.12-17, Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, Origen. (c.247)
  • On the Unity of the Church, Cyprian of Carthage (c. 250)
  • Epistle XXXIX — Epistle XLVIII — Cyprian of Carthage (c. 251)
  • Epistle LXXII — Cyprian of Carthage (c. 256)
  • Homilies on the Gospel of St. Matthew, St. Chrysostom (c. 380):
    • Homily LII – Matthew 15:21, 22
  • Chapter IX, Historia Calamitatusm: The Story of My Misfortunes, Pierre Abélard / Peter Abelard, c. 1140.
  • From the Catena Aurea, Patristic Commentary by St Thomas Aquinas.
  • “The Faith of the Syrophonecian Woman,” Martin Luther, c. 1522.
  • From the Geneva Notes.
    • “In that Christ sometimes shuts his ears, as it were, to the prayers of his saints, he does it for his glory, and our profit.”
  • From Matthew Henry’s Commentary.
    • “Nothing will last in the soul but the regenerating graces of the Holy Spirit; and nothing should be admitted into the church but what is from above.”
  • From Wesley’s Notes.
    • “Thy faith – Thy reliance on the power and goodness of God.”
  • From the Commentary on the Whole Bible (Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, 1871).
    • “…nothing which enters from without can really defile us; and that only the evil that is in the heart, that is allowed to stir there, to rise up in thought and affection, and to flow forth in voluntary action, really defiles a man!”
  • From The People’s New Testament, B.W. Johnson, 1891.
    • “We can see how greatness of faith is manifested: (1) She came to Christ under difficulties. (2) She persevered when her prayer seemed to be denied. (3) She still pleaded when obstacles were presented. (4) She waited at the feet of the Lord until he had mercy. Such faith always prevails.”
  • “The Perserverance of Faith; Matthew 15:28,” Charles H. Spurgeon, 1892.
    • “…faith alone can keep a soul seeking after Christ under discouragement.”
• Contemporary Commentary, Studies, and Exegesis:
  • Commentary, Matthew 15: 21-28, Mitzi J. Smith, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2017
    • “When Jesus entered Tyre and Sidon, an indigenous Canaanite woman formed a one-woman welcoming committee.”

    “Blind Privilege and the Kingdom of Heaven,” Andrew Prior, 2017.

  • Pulpit Fiction, plus podcast. Reflections of lectionary text, pop culture, current events, etc. Robb Mc Coy and Eric Fistler, 2017.
  • “Holy Surprise: Great Faith and the Canaanite Woman,” Janet H. Hunt, Dancing with the Word, 2017.
  • The Center for Excellence in Preaching, resources from Calvin Theological Seminary: Comments & Observations, Textual Points, Illustration Ideas, 2017.
  • “Surprise, Surprise,” Glenn Monson, Law & Gospel Everywhere, 2017.
  • Commentary, Matthew 15: 21-28, Carla Works, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2014.
    • “She just wants a crumb, recognizing that even a crumb is powerful enough to defeat the demon that has possessed her daughter.”
  • “What the Canaanite Woman Teaches,” David Lose, …in the Meantime, 2014.
    • “This week, before you write your sermon, ask someone who’s not in church why they don’t find it meaningful.”
  • “‘Getting’ Great Faith,” Karoline Lewis, Dear Working Preacher, 2014.
    • “I worry that the story of the Canaanite woman’s faith will become one more simplistic sermon about the benefits of faith, or an appeal from the pulpit to have more faith.”
  • Pulpit Fiction, plus podcast. Reflections of lectionary text, pop culture, current events, etc. Robb Mc Coy and Eric Fistler, 2014.
  • “The Gospel Is Going to the Dogs,” D. Mark Davis, Left Behind and Loving It, 2014.
    • “This geographical marker may carry significance since this region is where the town of Zarephath is. There, Elijah boarded with a widow, whose vessels of meal and oil did not empty and whose son Elijah brought back to life. The food and healing of the Elijah story seem to be at play in this story.”
  • “Dog’s Dinner,” video, J.M. Coleman and Family, YouTube, 2014.
  • “Of Dogs and Dirty Hands,” Lia Scholl, Question the Text, 2014.
    • “In a week with frightful news about Israel and the Palestinians, disturbing news of viruses in Africa, and aggression in the Ukraine, we ask the hard question again… ‘In the ever evolving community of humanity, who are God’s people?'”
  • Preaching Matthew 15:(10-20) 21-18, Dawn M. Mayes, Lectionary Preacher, 2014.
    • “This is the kind of text that can perplex the preacher, but when we approach it aright, we have the great joy of expanding minds to see a difficult passage in a new way, and expanding hearts to take in the good news of the great grace of God.”
  • “Leftovers for all!” Christopher Burkett, PreacherRhetorica, 2014.
    • “Jesus … actually lets the nuisance engage him.”
  • “A Mother’s Cry,” Janet H. Hunt, Dancing with the Word, 2014.
    • “I know I am probably venturing into new territory when I compare this woman to God. What do you think? Does that comparison work? Why or why not?”
  • “Modern Christian Legacy!” Thomas Beam, 2014.
  • “Out of the Heart,” Nancy Rockwell, The Bite in the Apple, 2014.
    • “…love is not about the position in which you pray or your knowledge of ritual prayers, said Jesus, but the state of your heart when you are praying.”
  • “Well bred or the bread that makes well?” Andrew Prior, One Man’s Web, 2014.
    • “He is fully human because like us he has limitations. He has to learn. His horizons need to be expanded. He is truly human— sinless— because, unlike us, when he sees how he has been fenced in, he does not shore up his defences.”
  • The Moonshine Jesus Show Lectionarycast, Mark Sandlin and David Henson, 2014.
  • “Gifts are for Sharing,” Alan Brehm, The Waking Dreamer, 2014.
    • “We receive God’s mercy not to boast about it, or to show the world that we are God’s special favorites. We receive God’s mercy as a gift so that we will in turn share it with others—all others.”
  • The theme of crossing hostile boundaries found in the story of the foreign woman Jesus is similar to that in Babe, a delightful story in which a little pig crosses many boundaries to bring hostile animals together. Ed McNulty, Visual Parables.
  • Evangelio Comentario del San Mateo 15:21-28 por Mercedes García Bachmann, Working Preacher, 2014.
  • “Messiah,” sermon discussion from Frederick Buechner, Frederick Buechner Blog.
    • “As far as I know, there is only one good reason for believing that he was who he said he was. One of the crooks he was strung up with put it this way: ‘If you are the Christ, save yourself and us’ (Luke 23:39). Save us from whatever we need most to be saved from. Save us from each other. Save us from ourselves. Save us from death both beyond the grave and before. If he is, he can. If he isn’t, he can’t. It may be that the only way in the world to find out is to give him the chance, whatever that involves. It may be just as simple and just as complicated as that.”
  • Radical Gratitude, lectionary-based stewardship, Northwest United Methodist Foundation. (.pdf)
  • “Teaching Jesus,” Barbara Kay Lundblad, ON Scripture, 2011. Commentary and association with current news events, links and videos.
    • ” Jesus was converted that day to a larger vision of the commonwealth of God.”
  • Commentary, Matthew 15: 21-28, James Boyce, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2011.
    • “Like the story of the woman who as an outsider experiences God’s mercy and so challenges a too-narrow tradition that would want to restrict God’s mercies to a chosen few, so these sayings invite a reexamination of our hearts and call us to a new appraisal of the expansive reach of God’s mercies.”
  • Healing of Canaanite Woman’s Daughter, audio telling, story in episodes, graphic, audio and written commentaries. Go Tell Communications, Biblical Storytelling for the Global Village, 2011.
  • “All Are Welcome,” David Lose, Dear Working Preacher, 2011.
    • “Yes, all are welcome. All. Everyone. All.”
  • “Faith Like a Dog’s Breakfast,” Peter Woods, I am Listening, 2011.
    • “This is the tipping point where orthopraxis (correct action) overrules orthodoxy(correct doctrine). Chutzpah, temerity, guts, desperation; what it was we will never know, but this woman in the dust at Jesus’ feet winkles into a crack in his argument and unlocks the Master’s heart, with both fierce logic and evocative need. ‘Dogs can live off scraps'”
  • “Mean Jesus?” Mike Stavlund, The Hardest Question, 2011.
    • “Who got up on the wrong side of the bed?”
  • Lectionary Blogging, August 14, 2011, John Petty, Progressive Involvement, 2011.
    • “This is yet another variation on a common theme of Jesus, namely:  That ritual and religious actions are, or should be, trumped by compassion and mercy.”
  • Holy Textures, Understanding the Bible in its own time and in ours, Matthew 15:(10-20), 21-28, David Ewart, 2011.
    • “But this incident is a beautiful illustration of the teaching Jesus has just made. Outwardly, this woman has nothing about her that is “clean.” But she has two things in her heart that make her right with God: her unwavering, nagging, persistent care for her daughter; and, her unwavering, nagging, persistent trust that Jesus can cure her daughter. And these two things cause Jesus to undergo a change of heart himself.”
  • “Hold Your Tongue,” Fr. Rick Morley, a garden path, 2011.
    • “The irony here is that the Pharisees who have dedicated their lives to the study and implementation of God’s Law are far worse examples of faith than this woman of another religion.”
  • “Canaanite Woman,” Ruth Farrent, pilgrimwr.uniting church.org.au, 2011.
    • “A very Australian version of the Gospel reading this week…”
  • “From cursed to blessed!” Peter Lockhart, Reflections on Faith and Spirituality, 2011.
    • “The good news is that Jesus reaches out and heals a girl, a girl who had not done anything in and of herself to pursue that healing. She receives the gift of a new chance and new life and is restored to her mother and her community.”
  • Comentario del Evangelio, San Mateo 21-28, Guillermo Hansen, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2011.
  • Commentary, Matthew 15: 21-28, Marilyn Salmon, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2008.
  • “First Thoughts on Year A Gospel Passages in the Lectionary,” Penteocost 10, William Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in Australia.
    • “What extraordinary power the woman exercises – over Jesus! But then Jesus came to enable us to learn from others and discern God’s call and not to assume we can never learn or that we know it all.”
  • Exegetical Notes by Brian Stoffregen at CrossMarks Christian Resources.
    • “She didn’t move a mountain. She probably had never been to church in her life. She certainly had never read the Bible. What’s so great about her faith?”
  • “Igniting the Imagination of Jesus,” Mary Hinkle, Pilgrim Preaching.
    • “I have thought that fear makes it impossible to imagine things. ‘Perfect fear casts out all imagination,’ I have thought. But you were afraid – you must have been afraid of the demon and of your daughter’s suffering. You could be afraid and see a new thing ‘healing’ at the same time. You saw it and you showed it to Jesus and the rest of us.”
  • “Yelping Puppies, The Canaanite Woman,” Gospel Analysis, Sermons from Seattle, Pastor Edward F. Markquart, Grace Lutheran Church, Seattle, Washington. Detailed background and exegesis.
    • “It is the Jewish gospel of Matthew that underscores this woman was a Canaanite which meant that she was symbolic of abominable and detestable religious practices.”
  • Comments (commentary) and Clippings (technical notes for in-depth study), Chris Haslam, Anglican Diocese of Montreal.
  • Dylan’s Lectionary Blog, Proper 15. Biblical Scholar Sarah Dylan Breuer looks at readings for the coming Sunday in the lectionary of the Episcopal Church.
    • “She challenged him, and by answering, Jesus made her his equal in the eyes of the crowd. But then, after acknowledging that she is not an Israelite, Jesus engages her in more argument …”
  • Matthew in the Margins, by Brian McGowan, Anglican priest in Western Australia.
  • Sermon Preparation Thoughts and Questions by Wesley White, 2005.
    • “Even crumbs of goodness are available to go in the mouths of dogs. Will we not diligently be about the business of seeing goodness, food, go into the mouths of all as well as seeing evil, poverty, kept from the mouths of all?!”
  • “A Woman’s Faith,” Rev. Bryan Findlayson, Lectionary Bible Studies and Sermons, Pumpkin Cottage Ministry Resources. Includes detailed textual notes.
    • “Our passage for study has held an important place in the life of the Christian church. The Clementine homilies (late 2nd century) even went so far as to name the woman Justa and her daughter as Berenice.”
  • Wellspring of the Gospel, Ordinary 20A, Catherine McElhinney and Kathryn Turner, Weekly Wellsprings.
  • “Prejudice and Faith,” Larry Broding’s Word-Sunday.Com: A Catholic Resource for This Sunday’s Gospel. Adult Study, Children’s Story, Family Activity, Support Materials.
    • “Are you at ease in today’s multi-cultural climate? Or, do you find your dealings with people of other cultures difficult? (Be honest!)”
  • “The Savior and the Dog: An Exercise in Hearing,” Word & World, 1997.
    • “Was it simply by chance that the Canaanite woman responded to Jesus’ rejection by speaking of the ‘dogs who eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table’? … Or was she diving deep into the poetic rhythms and images of scripture?”
  • Reflection on Matthew 15:21-21, Rev. Wanda Copeland. At Environmental Reflections, Lectionary Year A, Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota, Environmental Stewardship Commission.
    • “It is not enough to just ask Jesus to come to us and help fix our brokenness.  We are then called to walk as he did and share our healing with others as he did.”
  • “The Syrophoenician Woman in Mark 7:25-30/Matthew 15:21-28,” James Still, at The Secular Web.
    • “We do know that first-century Jews (the ‘children’ in this passage) referred to the pagans as dogs because of their failure to observe ritual purity laws (Downing, 1992: 137).”
  • “Scraps from the Table,” Kenneth W. Collins, at Ken Collins’ Web Site.
    • “We have a lot to learn from the Canaanite woman’s style of prayer.”
  • “Ritual Cleanliness,” “Feeding the Dogs,” wikipedia.
  • “Can We Free Ourselves for Transformation?” Elaine Wainwright.
    • “In this paper, I seek to explore some of the diverse stories which we tell and how these together with the symbols and images they carry can either stifle our imagination or can evoke new possibilities for a future which will enable the full human/spiritual potential of each person who calls Australia home.”
  • “Meals, Food and Tablefellowship.” Jerome H. Neyrey, in The Social Sciences and New Testament Interpretation, 159-82. R. L. Rohrbaugh, ed. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1996.
    • “How can readers understand the particular ceremony of meals and table fellowship? Why are meals so important as symbols of broader social relationships? How can we peer below the surface and grasp the social dynamics encoded in meals and commensality, what anthropologists call “the language of meals”?”
  • “Miracles, In Other Words: Social Science Perspectives on Healings,” Jerome H. Neyrey, University of Notre Dame, 1995.
    • “…we should attend to the institution in which the healing takes place, either kinship or politics. What roles does the family have in an illness? How are they socially and economically affected? What role do they play in the seeking of a cure? What costs do they pay or debts to they incur? What if the healing occurs in the political realm, even if this is a healing shrine such as the temple of Asclepius at Epidaurus? Healings, moreover, might have important political implications, for “prophets” arose, echoing themes of liberation and freedom. The political significance of the account of the healing by the Jewish Eleazar before the emperor Vespasian and his retinue should not be discounted (Josephus. Ant. 8.45-48).”
  • “Magic, Miracles, and The Gospel,” L. Michael White. PBS From Jesus to Christ.
    • “Probably in some ways, and more than any other issue within the development of early Christianity and the gospels tradition, miracles present one of the problematic areas.”
  • “Clean/Unclean, Pure/Polluted and Holy/Profane,” Jerome H. Neyrey, in The Social Sciences and New Testament Interpretation, 80-104. R. L. Rohrbaugh, ed. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1996.
    • “The specific use of the two anthropological models of (a) “clean” and “unclean” and (2) body symbolism can equip a reader to understand a wide but interconnected series of issues, such as dietary concerns (Acts 10-11), mission to “unclean” people (Mark 5; Acts 8), sexual morals (1 Thess 4:1-9), and hand washings (Mark 7). A reader knowing this material has a firm basis for sympathetically understanding the conflicts between Jesus and Pharisees which run through the gospel stories.”
  • “On the Dignity and Vocation of Women,” Pope John Paul II, September, 1988.
    • “And finally, there is the Canaanite woman, whom Christ extols for her faith, her humility and for that greatness of spirit of which only a mother’s heart is capable. ‘O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.'”
• Recommended articles from ATLAS, an online collection of religion and theology journals, are linked below. ATLAS Access options are available for academic institutions, alumni of selected theological schools, and clergy/church offices. Annotated list of “starting place” articles at ATLAS for this week’s texts (includes direct links).
  • Burkill, T.A., “The Historical Development of the Story of the Syrophoenician Woman,” Novum Testamentum, 1967.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Dahlen, Robert W., “The Savior and the Dog: An Exercise in Hearing,” Word & World, 1997.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Derrett, J., Duncan, “Law in the New Testament: The Syro-Phoenician Woman and the Centurion of Capernaum,” Novum Testamentum, 1973.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Dube, Musa W., “Consuming a Colonial Cultural Bomb: Translating Badimo into ‘Demons’ in the Setswana Bible (Matthew 8.28-34; 15.22; 10.8),” Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 1999.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Dube, Musa W., “Readings of Semoya: Batswana Women’s Interpretations of Matthew 15:21-28,” Semeia, 1996.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Gingrich, Rhonda Pittman, “Gathering Up the Crumbs,” Brethren Life and Thought, 2005. (Sermon)
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Guardiola-Sáenz, Leticia A., “Borderless Women and Borderless Texts: A Cultural Reading of Matthew 15:21-28,” Semeia, 1997.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Gundry-Volf, Judith, “Spirit, Mercy, and the Other,” Theology Today, 1995.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Harrington, Daniel J., S.J., “Problems and Opportunities in Matthew’s Gospel,” Currents in Theology and Mission, 2007. See especially section on this text beginning on page 421. See entire issue of Currents in Theology and Mission 34, image focus on Matthew’s gospel.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Harrisville, Roy A., “The Woman of Canaan, A Chapter in the History of Exegesis,” Interpretation, 1966.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Haughey, John C., S.J., “There’s No ‘Them’ There,” The Living Pulpit, 2004.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Hawkins, Peter S., “Dogging Jesus,” The Christian Century, 2005.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • “Homiletical Helps on LSB Series A,” Concordia Journal, 2005. (Section on this text begins on page 229)
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerial
  • Kang, JP, “Matthew 15:1-28,” Interpretation, 2011.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Ortberg, John, “True Grit,” The Christian Century, 2003.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Meier, John P., “Matthew 15:21-28, Expository Article,” Interpretation, 1986.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Perkinson, Jim, “A Canaanitic Word in the Logos of Christ; or The Difference the Syro-Phoenician Woman Makes to Jesus,” Semeia, 1996.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Scherer, Paul E., “A Gauntlet with a Gift in It: From Text to Sermon on Matthew 15:21-28 and Mark 7:24-30,” Interpretation, 1966.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Scott, J. Julius, Jr., “Gentiles and the Ministry of Jesus: Further Observations on Matthew 10:5-6; 15:21-28,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 1990.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Scott, J. Martin C., “Matthew 15:21-28: A Test-Case for Jesus’ Manners,” Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 1996.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Senior, Donald, C.P., “Between Two Worlds: Gentile and Jewish Christians in Matthew’s Gospel,” The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 1999.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Thompson, Mark C., “Matthew 15:21-28, Expository Article,” Interpretation, 1981.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Wiles, Virginia, “Just a Mother,” Brethren Life and Thought, 1989. (Sermon, Mother’s Day)
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
• Sermons:
  • “Who Gets to Enter the Temple?” the Rev. William Blake Rider, Day 1, 2006.
  • “Letter to a Canaanite Woman,” Mary Hinkle, Pilgrim Preaching.
  • “Crumbs from the Master’s Table,” 13 Pentecost – 14 August 2005, Hubert Beck, Göttinger Predigten im Internet: Every Sunday Sermons based on the RCL by a team of Lutheran theologians/ pastors.
  • “Crumbs from the Table,” “Overcoming Barriers,” Richard J. Fairchild, Sermon & Lectionary Resources.
  • “Yelping Puppies – The Canaanite Woman,” Sermons from Seattle, Pastor Edward F. Markquart, Grace Lutheran Church, Seattle, Washington.
  • “Sermon for the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost,” Bishop Steven Charleston, Day 1, 2005.
  • Father Andrew M. Greeley, “Priest, Author, Sociologist,” Commentary and Homily:
    • Ordinary 20, 2011
    • Ordinary 20, 2005
    • Ordinary 20, 2002
    • Ordinary 20, 1996
• With Children:
  • Worshiping with Children, Including children in the congregation’s worship, using the Revised Common Lectionary, Carolyn C. Brown, 2014. 2011.
  • “Storypath Lectionary Links: Connecting Children’s Literature with our Faith Story,” August 17, 2014, Union Presbyterian Seminary. Genesis 45:1-15 and The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt, Romans 11:1-2a, 28-32 and No David! by David Shannon, Matthew 15:(10-20) 21-28 and She Sang Promise by Jan Godown Annino. 2011.
  • Crumbs Louder, video by David Coleman and his children.
  • Never give up, CSSPlus.
  • “A Clean Heart,” and “Crumbs from the Table,” Charles Kirkpatrick, Sermons4kids.com.
  • “Woman’s Faith,” Fr. Max Bowers, Kid’s Church.
  • “What Is Clean in the Site of God?” “A Greek Woman Asks Jesus’ Help for her Daughter,” Sunday School Lessons: Family Bible Study, art projects, music, stories, etc.
• Drama:
  • “Foreign Dogs,” from A Certain Jesus by Jose Ignacio and Maria Lopez Vigil. Ideal for catechetical and liturgical dramatization of today’s gospel. Claretian Publications.
• Multimedia, Graphics & Bulletin Materials:
  • Clip Art, Matthew 15:28, Fr. Richard Lonsdale, Resources for Catholic Educators.
  • “Crumbs from the Master’s Table,” Scripture Pics – graphics relating to RCL texts, Matt Baker, Germantown UMC, Ohio.
  • Clip Art Images: Matthew 15:21-28, Misioneros Del Sagrado Corazón en el Perú.
  • Matthew 15:21-28, Matthew 15:21-28, Matthew 15:21-28, Liturgical Drawing, Maria d.c. Zamora, Claretian Resources, Philippines. (“Download and use these for free.”)
  • Matthew 15:21-28, at Cerezo Barredo’s weekly gospel illustration. Liberation emphasis.
  • Crumbs Louder, video by David Coleman and his children.
• Hymns and Music:
  • Contemporary/Praise Song suggestions, Together to Celebrate, David MacGregor.
  • Hymnary.org, hymns, scores, media, information.
  • Hymns with Scripture Allusions: Matthew 15;25, 27. The Cyber Hymnal.
  • “Come Gather,” Brenton Prigge, NewHymn, new, relevant hymn set to traditional tunes.
  • “She Came to Jesus” an original hymn by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette, 2002, celebrates the faith of a woman with a sick child in Matthew 15:21-28 and Mark 7:24-30.  Tune:  SLANE (“Be Thou My Vision”).  This hymn is in Songs of Grace: New Hymns for God and Neighbor  and Singing the New Testament.
• Fine Arts Images Linked at The Text This Week‘s Art Index:
  • Canaanite/Syro-Phoenician Woman
  • Parables
• Movies scenes with the following themes, listed at The Text This Week’s Movie Concordance:
  • Clean/Unclean
  • Seeing/Not Seeing
• Study Links and Resources for the Book of Matthew

www.textweek.com

This story in Matthew 15 is very troubling. A Canaanite woman cries out to Jesus to heal her daughter. By the end of the story, her daughter has been healed — but between the crying and the healing, Jesus says some terrible things. He’s arrogant, racist and just plain mean.

We may believe that Jesus was “truly human,” but we don’t want him to be too human. So over the years, people have tried to clean up this story. One attempt goes something like this: Jesus was testing this woman to see if she had enough faith. When she passed the test, Jesus said, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” That verse has caused plenty of pain because some people have heard Jesus saying, “If you had more faith your husband or wife, your mother or father or child would not have died.” But the woman in this story doesn’t make any confession of faith.

Here’s another option to soften Jesus’ words: the Greek word kunarios (translated “dogs”) really means “little dogs, puppies.” So when Jesus tells the woman, “It is not fair to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs,” he really means puppies. Does that help? There’s one more possibility. Because this woman submits to Jesus and kneels before him, Jesus heals her daughter. Go thou and do likewise. We’ll do almost anything to make Jesus who we want him to be.

But Matthew doesn’t clean up this story. Matthew dares to give us a very human Jesus and he paints a specific picture of this woman. She is a Canaanite woman. She is not one of Jesus’ people. Should he be surprised? Jesus has gone into the region of Tyre and Sidon. This is her home. Matthew’s choice of the word “Canaanite” seems a bit strange. By the time of Jesus, people were no longer called “Canaanites.” This name was no longer on the map — a bit like calling New York New Amsterdam! Matthew chooses “Canaanite” on purpose: not only is she the “other,” but she is part of an enemy people.

Yet she seems to know who Jesus is. She begs him to heal her daughter who is tormented by a demon. She’s desperate and comes out shouting. Some scholars claim that the only women who spoke to men in public were prostitutes. Is this what we do to people who are different? Do we also make them morally suspect? Maybe Matthew wants us to remember Rahab the prostitute who is named in Jesus’ genealogy at the beginning of Matthew (Matt. 1: 5). She, too, was a Canaanite who lived in the city of Jericho (Joshua 2). What’s a Canaanite prostitute doing in Jesus’ family tree? The disciples don’t want to think about such questions. They want nothing to do with her: “Send her away!” they tell Jesus. That’s what they tried to do not long ago when faced with more than 5,000 hungry people. “Send the crowds away,” the disciples said. “You give them something to eat,” said Jesus. This Canaanite woman isn’t going anywhere. She may not be Jewish but she calls out to Jesus in language of the Jewish prayer: “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David.” But Jesus isn’t swayed by familiar language. “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel,” he tells her.

She won’t give up. “Lord, help me,” she begs. This is where Jesus goes to the dogs: “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” But the Canaanite woman is feisty and stubborn. The life of her daughter is at stake. She picks up his words and throws them right back: “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” When Jesus hears this, he says, “Woman, great is your faith!” But she hasn’t made any confession of faith. There’s no sign she’s been born again. She simply spoke the truth: the children have been fed — 5,000 men, besides women and children (Matt. 14: 13-21). Twelve baskets of food were left over — 12 baskets for the 12 tribes of Israel. Surely there’s enough for me and my daughter. That’s what Jesus finally heard and came to believe. “For saying that, you may go — the demon has left your daughter.”

Jesus was converted that day to a larger vision of the commonwealth of God. Jesus saw and heard a fuller revelation of God in the voice and in the face of the Canaanite woman. The woman’s truth is evident in the way Matthew tells this story. At the end of this chapter there is another feeding story. This time 4,000 men are fed — besides women and children — and there were seven baskets left over. Seven is the number of wholeness, completeness, a number encompassing the nations. Matthew has placed the story of Jesus and the Canaanite woman between these two feeding stories. The Canaanite woman taught Jesus that she and her daughter deserve more than crumbs. After this encounter Jesus went on to feed those who had not yet been fed.

If Jesus could be changed, can we? Every generation sees some people as “other” and puts them under the table. We could make a long list of people we see as different — different race, different customs, different religion. Two summers ago at one of the raucous town meetings, a white woman who looked a bit like me spoke through her tears, “What happened to my America? I want my America back.” I guess she meant an America where people look like her and me. Over the past 10 years, many in the United States have come to see Muslims as the other. They are the Canaanites — not only in this country but in Europe and Scandinavia. In protests against a proposed Muslim Cultural Center in lower Manhattan, people carried signs that read: “All I need to know about Islam I learned on 9/11.” Really? What if someone protested outside the church I attend with a sign saying: “All I need to know about Christianity I learned from Rev. Terry Jones.” Muslims have become Canaanites to many in our country. One candidate in the presidential primary race has called for a ban on building mosques in the U.S. Three states have enacted statutes against sharia, though there is no evidence that Muslims have proposed Islamic law for this nation (Andrea Elliott, New York Times, July 30.)

This week I went to get coffee at the deli across the street from Union seminary. “I’m a little dizzy,” said the kind man who always works in the afternoon. “You know it’s Ramadan,” he said, “and I haven’t eaten all day.” I realized that I had never asked him his name.

Perhaps we will behave like the disciples: “Send the Muslims away for they are ruining our country!” Or maybe we will be as willing to learn as Jesus was. Maybe in this month of Ramadan we will catch a larger vision of the commonwealth of God.

Editor’s Note: ON Scripture is a series of Christian scripture commentaries produced in collaboration with Odyssey Networks. Each week pastors from around the country will approach the lectionary text of the week through the lens of current events, providing a religious voice that is both pastoral and prophetic.

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The Faith of a Canaanite Woman

21 gAnd Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, ha Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, i“Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” 23 But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, j“Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” 24 He answered, k“I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and lknelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26 And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and mthrow it to the dogs.” 27 She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat nthe crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, ogreat is your faith! pBe it done for you as you desire.” qAnd her daughter was phealed instantly.5

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