Michael Angelo Immenraet - Jesus and the Woman of Canaan

The Exorcism of the Syrophoenician woman's daughter is one of the miracles of Jesus in the Gospels and is recounted in the

Gospel of Mark The Gospel of Mark), or simply Mark (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). is the second of the four canonical gospels and of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells of the ministry of Jesus from his baptism by John the Baptist to h ...

in Chapter 7 () and in the

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew), or simply Matthew. It is most commonly abbreviated as "Matt." is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people and form ...

in Chapter 15 (). In Matthew, the story is recounted as the healing of a Caananite woman's daughter.''Jesus the miracle worker: a historical & theological study'' by Graham H. Twelftree 1999 pages 133-134 According to both accounts, Jesus exorcised the woman's daughter whilst travelling in the region of Tyre and

Sidon Sidon ( ; he, צִידוֹן, ''Ṣīḏōn'') known locally as Sayda or Saida ( ar, صيدا ''Ṣaydā''), is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast. ...

, on account of the

faith Faith, derived from Latin ''fides'' and Old French ''feid'', is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or In the context of religion, one can define faith as "belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". Religious people ofte ...

shown by the woman.

Passage

The relevant passage in Matthew 15:22-28 reads as follows: A Canaanite woman from that region came to Jesus, crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly." Folio 164r - The Canaanite Woman

Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us." :He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel". The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said. :He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs". "Yes Lord," she said. "But even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table." Then Jesus said to her: :"Woman, you have great faith! Your daughter is healed." And her daughter was healed from that very hour. Many English translations of the Gospels state that Jesus was in the region of Tyre and Sidon and had ''withdrawn'' from

Galilee Galilee (; he, הַגָּלִיל, hagGālīl; ar, الجليل, al-jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and Lower Gali ...

where he had entered in discussion with the

Pharisees The Pharisees (; he, פְּרוּשִׁים, Pərūšīm) were a Jewish social movement and a school of thought in the Levant during the time of Second Temple Judaism. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, Pharisaic beliefs b ...

over their interpretation of the Jewish law. The

Geneva Bible The Geneva Bible is one of the most historically significant translations of the Bible into English, preceding the King James Version by 51 years. It was the primary Bible of 16th-century English Protestantism and was used by William Shakespea ...

and the

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of K ...

suggest that the visit was to the coast (i.e. the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

), but the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges argues that Jesus went to "the neighbourhood, rdistrict, not the sea-shore, as might be thought". This episode is, according to Graham H. Twelftree, an example of how Jesus emphasizes the value of faith, as also shown in the Healing the Centurion's servant episode.

Syrophoenician woman

The woman described in the miracle, the Syrophoenician woman (; Συροφοινίκισσα, ''Syrophoinikissa'') is also called a "Canaanite" (; Χαναναία, ''Chananaia'') and is an unidentified

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chris ...

woman from the region of Tyre and

. "The woman is ... described as Syrophoenician by race. It is unclear whether Mark seeks to distinguish between a

Phoenicia Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their his ...

n from Syria and one from northern Africa or between someone living in the coastal area of Syria and someone living in the central part." Her other notable characteristic is her non-Jewish status: the Gospel of Mark adds that she is a

Gentile Gentile () is a word that usually means "someone who is not a Jew". Other groups that claim Israelite heritage, notably Mormons, sometimes use the term ''gentile'' to describe outsiders. More rarely, the term is generally used as a synonym fo ...

(Ελληνις, ''Hellēnis'', literally Greek). The third century pseudo-Clementine homily refers to her name as ''Justa'' and her daughter's name as ''Berenice''. Also at 3.73 and 4.1.

Commentary

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, Dominican Order, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino, Italy, Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest who was an influential List of Catholic philo ...

comments on this passage on his homily on the sinful soul saying,

Five things are noted of this woman of
Canaan Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...
which availed for the liberation of this demoniac. (1) Humility: “ Yet the dogs eat.” (2) Her patience, since she patiently endured the seeming reproaches of Our Lord. (3) Her prayer, “ Have mercy on me, O Lord.” (4) Her perseverance : she did not cease asking till she obtained what she desired. (5) Her faith: “O woman, great is thy faith.” If we had had these five qualities we should be delivered from every devil, that is, from all sin; which may Christ grant us to be. Amen.

References

External links

{{New Testament people Exorcisms of Jesus Women in the New Testament Gospel of Matthew Gospel of Mark Tyre, Lebanon History of Sidon Phoenicians in the New Testament

Passage

Syrophoenician woman

Commentary

See also

References

Further reading

External links